My GPU and CPU issues

[DakAttack]

I'm pretty sure I already know what the problem is, but I thought I toss it out there to see if there was a consensus.

I'm pretty sure there are two separate problems here. My CPU fails to overclock to 4GHz, which it used to do with ease. Anything beyond its TB frequency and it reboots with the CMOS set to its defaults. So I gave up on that for now. 3.2Ghz isn't so terrible. My feeling is that the years of experimenting that I've done with it are finally taking its toll.

The graphics card appears to be running just fine according to all the numbers I can pull on it. But, in a game, it's a completely different story. Sometimes it runs perfectly fine, and others I have to drop the settings to their lowest just to get 30 frames per second. I'm running a GTX 570 on its factory settings, which used to hand BF3 with ease. Now I'm having trouble running BF3, LoL, and Skyrim. I did a lot of experimenting with this as well, so I'm left to conclude that it's close to the end of its life.

Anybody know if it might be something else?

[Malacite]

Re: My GPU and CPU issues

What's your cooling like?

I'm thinking you may have overclocked it too much/too often and it's been gradually doing damage over time. This is pretty much why I dislike overclocking in general. Even if you stay within the safety threshold for OC you can still potentially damage the card.

Sometimes GPU's just fail as well though. Starcraft 2 is notorious for frying GPU's because Blizzard didn't put in a framerate cap (honestly how retarded is that?) which causes your GPU to render everything on the map all the time and just puts too much stress on the card. It's an extremely easy problem to fix, but that's not the point - it's a case of gross incompetence/negligence on Blizzard's part.

[Armando]

Re: My GPU and CPU issues

Starcraft 2 is notorious for frying GPU's because Blizzard didn't put in a framerate cap (honestly how retarded is that?) which causes your GPU to render everything on the map all the time and just puts too much stress on the card. It's an extremely easy problem to fix, but that's not the point - it's a case of gross incompetence/negligence on Blizzard's part.

What? Most PC games run as many frames as they can unless V-sync is involved.

[Malacite]

Re: My GPU and CPU issues

Yes but they don't all process what's going on way off in the distance as if it were on screen as well. SC2 is weird in that regard and just pushes your GPU to it's limits unless you set a framerate cap manually.

[Firewind]

Re: My GPU and CPU issues

Problem with that type of RTS is that it sort of has to do something very similar to that in order to process everything; otherwise you would have armies that seem to teleport right into the middle of your base because the game hasn't processed them moving into your base. Combine it with latency and yeah...

As for the CPU and GPU problem, Mal summed it up, Overheating damages your components and also your fans have moving parts, and as with anything with moving parts, they can very easily break at any time for no other reason than the world seemingly hating you; which is like what happened with my laptop fans (all 3 of them, cost a fortune to replace them because parts that fit Toshiba laptops are stupidly priced) a few weeks ago.

[Armando]

Re: My GPU and CPU issues

Yes but they don't all process what's going on way off in the distance as if it were on screen as well. SC2 is weird in that regard and just pushes your GPU to it's limits unless you set a framerate cap manually.

I'm not an expert on GPUs but I'm fairly sure they don't waste processing power on shit that's beyond the camera. That's why shortening your draw distance improves performance, after all.

[Raydeus]

Re: My GPU and CPU issues

Make sure your heat sinks are working properly, that are clean and that the fans are running like they are supposed to. As odd as it may sound in my experience it is heatsink decay rather than over clocking what seems to kill components. <_<;

As your heat sink loses efficiency the resulting increase in temperature can make overclocked components unstable. So lower the settings to default, and if it works properly without any bsod or without texture and poly errors on 3D games then there's a very good chance your GPU and CPU are still fine, and only need a new heat sink, preferably as big as possible since there really isn't overkill on heat sinks.




PS > And while the sink may look clean residues start building up due to humidity and dust, so it needs an special solvent to dissolve it but it's rarely worth the hassle if you can upgrade to a better heatsink.

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PPS > Also, check that the thermal paste is still a paste, once it solidifies and starts decaying it also affects heat transfer to the heat sink.

[Malacite]

Re: My GPU and CPU issues

I'm not an expert on GPUs but I'm fairly sure they don't waste processing power on shit that's beyond the camera. That's why shortening your draw distance improves performance, after all.

Which is exactly the point I was making - SC2 actually does this all the time unless you write in the code to cap the framerate manually. It basically kicks your GPU into overdrive constantly. A lot of angry fans gave Blizzard hell over this on the official forums back when the game came out.


EDIT: I hadn't actually considered the thermal paste, but yes it could be an issue with the heat sinks. This is why I'm hoping to get a good liquid cooling system on my next rig rather than fans (or possibly both if I can afford it/have the room). But that may not be necessary since I'm going to have a 600-series GTX in my next machine as well. They use up a lot less power and generate far less heat as well over the 400 and 500 series thanks to the new 28nm tech. The 670 is looking like the most affordable option at the moment but I'm hoping for either a price drop down the road or a $200~300 model to replace my current 465.

The 690 can DIAF, that thing is an abomination @ $1000... would love to own one, but can't really justify that kind of money on a GPU...

[Raydeus]

Re: My GPU and CPU issues

It's pretty easy to detect a paste problem because you touch the heat sink and it's warm at best, yet the system is telling you your CPU is running at 60°C or higher.

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And after the paste decays enough it actually starts acting as an insulator, so you start losing contact surface as time passes.

[Malacite]

Re: My GPU and CPU issues

Your GPU and CPU have separate heat sinks right?

My GPU is still relatively new, but I've had my PC since 2007 and so I'm wondering if maybe I should look at that... might be why my machine heats up a bit too much during long movies or games.

Of course, my tower is too small and everything only just barely fits in there so there's no doubt that I have an air circulation problem. So long as my rig holds up until I can build my next one >.<

[Raydeus]

Re: My GPU and CPU issues

Yep, but specially in small cases with less ventilation one can actually help overheat nearby components through the board.

It happens very often with the north bridges as it's usually freaking close to the CPU, but if things are hot enough they can increase overall system temperature because the heat is getting stuck in the board instead of being transferred to the heatsink, which is way easier to ventilate than the hidden parts near the board.

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One way to help things is replacing or modifying the cover and putting a big silent 200mm+ fan with a replaceable/cleanable filter so (filtered) air is being pumped in at a much higher rate, or if you are like me have silent fans connected independently from the PC that work way better than anything that would go through the PC's power supply.

[Aeni]

Re: My GPU and CPU issues

Which is exactly the point I was making - SC2 actually does this all the time unless you write in the code to cap the framerate manually. It basically kicks your GPU into overdrive constantly. A lot of angry fans gave Blizzard hell over this on the official forums back when the game came out.

Idk ... I could run FFXIV and SC2 side-by-side or SC2 and WoW side-by-side and not have problems. Sounds like driver issues to me...

[Malacite]

Re: My GPU and CPU issues

It's not a driver issue. Blizzard actually acknowledged the problem themselves on their own forums.

[DakAttack]

Re: My GPU and CPU issues

I appreciate the responses. I've always been vigilant about cooling, but I've definitely pushed both pieces of hardware when it comes to overclocking. I think it might be time to upgrade and move on, but I can't afford it at the moment. Oh, how my heart weeps. I might put the GPU on credit just so I can get back to BF3 and be ready for Dark Souls.

Ok, I broke down and ordered a GTX 670.

[Malacite]

Re: My GPU and CPU issues

^^ the 670 is a damn nice card, and it's STILL more powerful than the 580 - for the same price!

Speaking of BF3, I'm so stoked for Armored Kill! Just wish my PC was up to par for running it. I *can* run the game, but BF3 seems to give my card a harder time than FFXIV does and I really can't afford to burn out my GPU atm.