24 replies to this topic

[ExtremeUnction]

I've been trying to reduce the impact of this game on my system ever since the first patch since I started playing. I didn't know my GPU was overheating till today when my system froze and my screen went all wild. I thought I'd just melted it but it's running fine for now. I can still run Hawken but this time I watched my temps while running it and my GPU is the only problem.

I downloaded Speedfan and followed the Help in an attempt to speed up my fans but I haven't noticed any difference and my GPU gets dangerously hot while running Hawken. If it's been this way the whole time, then I've really been pushing it. I'm already running Hawken with just under the minimum requirements and I get between 10-25 fps depending on how many players are around me. Not great but I've never had a great system so I can handle lag for the most part. So, maybe my system just can't handle it.

Hopefully someone here can help me out. I've been waiting for a miracle to get this game running smoothly for quite awhile and spent hours collectively tweaking the ini files for 5 more overall fps and looking for help online. Although my system has been holding me back almost the entire time, this is the only game I've been playing since I installed it and it would be a damned shame if I have to quit it. This has got to be one of the best if not the best game I've ever played.

Peace

[Elix]

When's the last time you cleaned the GPU fan_ Take your card out (when the machine is powered off, obviously) and blow it out with some canned air. I suggest against disassembling it. Make sure your GPU fan is at 100% in SpeedFan.

[ArnieF4440]

+1 to Elix. BTW, what are your specs and what kind of temps are you getting_

[Kazma]

I use MSI afterburner to control my GPU fan, because the fan was still running at 40% or less with ~60° C or more ...,
maybe that's helping you.

[dEd101]

Take the side off your case and put a fan blasting into it. If that helps try improve cooling of your case by adding more fans. Rough rule: air in front and side. air out back and top.

Also your heatsinks may just need a clean...

edit: +1 elix

Edited by dEd101, March 12 2013 - 01:41 AM.

[SS396]

Need graphics card info.

How about room for external case fans, to help get rid of the heat.

Like my case has 2 90mm fans right above where the graphics cards are at, and it heats up the entire room, my ambient temps are around 80-85 degrees right now.  My cards run around 70C in the menus, and in game about 20C less.  If you card is getting above 100C then its definitely overheating, anything less and it shouldn't be locking up.  Normally when they overheat they just downclock, so you lose performance instead of hurting the card, but that might be an older card.

Also, maybe you could buy a universal GPU fan and heatsink.
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835118006
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835118072


It could also be that the thermal paste has gone bad and now its not transferring the heat away like it should.  That happens a lot on old stuff.  You could simply pop the fan and heatsink, clean off the old crusty paste, and apply some new stuff like (arctic silver) and it might solve the problem completely.  I have a P4 3.2 ghz that was overheating, and all it needed was the heatsink removed and new thermal compound applied and now it no longer runs hot.

[ExtremeUnction]

Idk what my GPU is. It's whatever came with the system which is a Dell.

Processor: Intel® Core™2 CPU  6300  @ 1.86GHz (2 CPUs), ~1.9GHz
Memory: 3070MB RAM
Graphics Card: Nvidia Geforce 8800 GTS

My GPU sits around anywhere between 28-53C/fluctuates a lot and CPU around 45C. While running Hawken both rise but my GPU is much more dramatic rising up to around 65C+. It could have gone higher but I didn't want to keep running it as I don't know how safe it is. Idk how trustworthy the Vista CPU Meter is but the temp on it was between 60-70% and heading into the red.

Thanks for the help so far. I'm going to put an air compressor to it and see what comes out. I already spent 15 minutes cleaning out everything I could and there was quite a but. There were blankets of dirt and dog hair everywhere. I hadn't realized how long I've ran this thing without cleaning it out.

[ExtremeUnction]

SS396, on March 12 2013 - 01:33 AM, said:

Need graphics card info.

How about room for external case fans, to help get rid of the heat.

Like my case has 2 90mm fans right above where the graphics cards are at, and it heats up the entire room, my ambient temps are around 80-85 degrees right now.  My cards run around 70C in the menus, and in game about 20C less.  If you card is getting above 100C then its definitely overheating, anything less and it shouldn't be locking up.  Normally when they overheat they just downclock, so you lose performance instead of hurting the card, but that might be an older card.

Also, maybe you could buy a universal GPU fan and heatsink.
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835118006
http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835118072


It could also be that the thermal paste has gone bad and now its not transferring the heat away like it should.  That happens a lot on old stuff.  You could simply pop the fan and heatsink, clean off the old crusty paste, and apply some new stuff like (arctic silver) and it might solve the problem completely.  I have a P4 3.2 ghz that was overheating, and all it needed was the heatsink removed and new thermal compound applied and now it no longer runs hot.

Thanks. I'll keep this in mind but I'm pretty broke so hopefully I don't need to do anything like this.

[Elix]

Well, the GPU, in this case, would be your 8800 GTS. What do you have Hawken set to, graphics-level-wise_ Because if it isn't Low, that's going to be the first problem: Your graphics card (and your CPU, but only barely) fails to meet the minimum system requirements for Hawken.

Set the graphics to low. Then carefully follow INI tweaking guides, like BuDeKai's, to lower things even more. I suggest reducing your shadows, primarily, because that's something the in-game options don't do much about below a certain point. If you're comfortable, you can tweak according to your own preferences. Use c0mad0r's spreadsheet for what everything in HawkenSystemSettings.ini does.

Important: Tweaking your INI is not supported by the devs. If you make a change that breaks Hawken, it's your problem. Fortunately, the solution is simple. Only edit files in your DocumentsMy GamesHawkenHawkenGameConfig folder. If you make a change that breaks Hawken and you don't have backups, delete the file you edited (remember, ONLY in the above folder, deleting Hawken files in other places is more annoying/harder to recover from) and then launch Hawken to restore it from the defaults. This will reset all of the settings in the affected file, of course.

Edit: Oh, and when the next patch arrives, the INI files will probably all get reset, just like every time (it's a problem with Unreal in general, not just Hawken), so you'll want to keep a copy of what you changed so you have something to refer to when redoing your tweaks.

Edited by Elix, March 12 2013 - 02:12 AM.

[SS396]

ExtremeUnction, on March 12 2013 - 01:58 AM, said:

Idk what my GPU is. It's whatever came with the system which is a Dell.

Graphics Card: Nvidia Geforce 8800 GTS

You answered it.  

Well, don't spend any money on a better fan then, that would be just a waste when you could put that money into a better graphics card.  Save your pennies and maybe you have a birthday or something coming up.

My guess is if you spent about 100 bucks on a better card (at least Nvidia GTX 550 ti or so), you would be able to run stuff at low/medium with an OK fps.  Once you get to a point the bottleneck is going to move to the CPU.  So buying the best card isn't going to give you much of a performance boost either.

[ArnieF4440]

yeah, dells ... i love looking at the dust clogged cooling solutions on one of my old dells XD. They don't have the best airflow either ...

For GPUs, 85 degrees is my personal limit, if you're going over that, then you're doing something wrong, or there's something wrong. But there are hardware limits also which depends on make and series also. Most CPUs and GPUs have a "T junction max", aka max temp before your rig shuts itself down. Its usually between 100 and 120 degrees for GPUs and its around 100 degrees for CPUs

From what I can tell, it should be 105 for your 8800 GTS, so "technically" you're fine. Also, there are forum posts saying that 8800s run a little hot, but since you're having some computer spasms, I would be a little concerned that you're taxing your GPU too much, especially given how old the 8800 GTS is

Anyway, as a solution for now, go ahead with Elix for a more temporary solution, but I would do what SS396 says and grab a cheap Nvidia GPU if you're under a budget. Or if you're feeling a bit adventurous, custom build a new rig

Just as an FYI, for providing specs, follow what I've provided here:
http://community.pla...120#entry190226

Edited by ArnieF4440, March 12 2013 - 03:00 AM.

[ScHizNiK]

Like Kazma said use MSI afterburner and set up a fan profile for your GPU.

If removing dust doesn't help then read up on cleaning and replacing your thermal putty on your GPU, iv reconditioned a few graphics cards in my time and with the older cards and cheap putty sometimes it just turns to powder next to the GPU.

Just be careful not to introduce any dust or dirt into the process and de-static yourself before you get heavy handed with the card.

Edited by ScHizNiK, March 12 2013 - 04:38 AM.

[ExtremeUnction]

Thanks for all the help. My graphics settings are medium/medium with no physX. I've spent a lot of time tweaking ini files and i rarely get any increase in fps. If I did see a change, it was negligible and the look of the game really suffers. This I don't understand. Regardless, could reducing the settings reduce the impact on my graphics card even if I don't see better fps_ I imagine it would as my fps depends on my CPU too.

I tried downloading MSI Afterburner but every time I do I get corrupted or  broken errors or something along those lines.

Unfortunately I'm almost dead broke. I'd love to build a new rig but it will likely be a long time before I have that kind of money and I'm already trying to get my car running too so I can get to work. I've got to be the epitome of 'poverty player'.

Thanks again for everyone's help. I'm going to start up the air compressor soon and then go in and gut the ini files D=

[ExtremeUnction]

SS396, on March 12 2013 - 02:26 AM, said:

Well, don't spend any money on a better fan then, that would be just a waste when you could put that money into a better graphics card.  Save your pennies and maybe you have a birthday or something coming up.

Haha I do have one coming up. This Friday. March 15th. I'm definitely not getting pc hardware though. It will be my 21st so I wouldn't be all that surprised if I just got a bunch of beer. I wouldn't ask anyone to dump any more than 20 bucks on me anyway unless it was on some absolute necessity.

[Elix]

Turn Hawken to Low detail settings. Why run at Medium when you don't even meet the minimum requirements_ Turn down the resolution, as well, if you're running it at your native resolution. You're working this GPU very hard by running Hawken on medium when it's below the minimum.

Then start tweaking the INIs if you continue to have problems. Hawken isn't going to look as good, but you're going to have to deal with a tradeoff between looks or not killing your graphics card. But do give it a cleaning if it hasn't had one anytime recently, that'll help the card fan do its job.

[ExtremeUnction]

Elix, on March 12 2013 - 12:22 PM, said:

Turn Hawken to Low detail settings. Why run at Medium when you don't even meet the minimum requirements_ Turn down the resolution, as well, if you're running it at your native resolution. You're working this GPU very hard by running Hawken on medium when it's below the minimum.

Then start tweaking the INIs if you continue to have problems. Hawken isn't going to look as good, but you're going to have to deal with a tradeoff between looks or not killing your graphics card. But do give it a cleaning if it hasn't had one anytime recently, that'll help the card fan do its job.

Again, I didn't notice much of a difference in fps so I left it there. I usually ran it on low with the inis tweaked but after the last patch, i loaded it up, forgot to change anything, and it ran decently so I left it there. I'll definitely be turning everything down now. Thanks.

[ExtremeUnction]

So, I'm not sure if, as said above, this card just runs hot or if it's still too hot. I went through c0mad0rs walkthrough of the ini files and changed a ton of settings. The game runs much better but is still pretty debilitating in big matches like Siege where everyone converges on the AA.  While playing, I didn't see my GPU rise above 57C or go under 53C.

Edited by ExtremeUnction, March 12 2013 - 02:22 PM.

[Elix]

Mid-50s seems about right, and that's more than a comfortable temperature for a fan-cooled GPU.

[ExtremeUnction]

Elix, on March 12 2013 - 02:38 PM, said:

Mid-50s seems about right, and that's more than a comfortable temperature for a fan-cooled GPU.

Awesome.


Thanks for all the help!

[Elix]

No problem. Basically, you were expecting too much out of your machine when it didn't meet the minimum specs. Unfortunately, Hawken's going to not look as pretty, but it's better for your fps and the long-term health of your machine to not push it too hard.