GalCiv II causing overheating?

from GalCiv2 Forums
ok so i was playing the game on a large sized map with a couple of other civs. About half an hour into the game suddenly the graphics get distorted (artifacts i presume). i'm thinking ok that's cool, never had this thing before but i heard about overheating problems in this game. I save my game and quit the game, back in windows however, the artifacts are still there! I tried rebooting my computer, installing latest ATI drivers (my opinion is if it's not broken don't fix it)

so i'm thinking has galciv fried my graphics card? Now i've shut down my computer to let it cool a little bit, will clean it out a bit tomorrow and check if there is any damage

if anyone has got an idea i'd like to know

my system specs are:
amd athlon 64 - 3200+
1024 mb ram
ati radeon 9800 pro
asus k8v motherboard

----> anything else, just ask

thanks
6,897 views 11 replies
Reply #1 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
hi i notice that the graph at the bottom of the screen and the Map to the right of the screen gets all garbled. Is that what happens when your card over heats? If so how do ya turn off that gpu thing that they put in the patch? I cant afford to have my card fried at the moment.

my system is:

AMD Athalon XP 2600+ Barton
1.5gig DDR Ram
ATI Radeon 9700 Pro w/128mb ram
KT4AV ( VIA KT400A Chipset Based) motherboard

thanks inadvance for the help.
TouchTasks - Access tasks with ease on Windows touchscreens.
Reply #3 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Did you install the latest patch (1.0X) ? It fixes some of the issues people have had with their video cards getting too hot.
Reply #4 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
@ Orophin : You have exactly the same hardware as I
If you download the latest ATI drivers ( troublesome process, it also installs ATI control center which I didn't want )
and have at least
1.0D
1.0D1 <<---- this patch
1.0X
you should have no problems with graphics.
Btw, I can't imagine GalCiv cooking your GPU unless you removed the cooling, or the cooling is malfunctioning.

@ James : I also had a "garbled" minimap at one occasion. It was fixed just by restarting GalCiv.
Also, "that gpu thing that they put in the patch" will ease the stress on your card, not increase it.
Why would you want to turn it off ?
Reply #5 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
so i'm thinking has galciv fried my graphics card? Now i've shut down my computer to let it cool a little bit, will clean it out a bit tomorrow and check if there is any damage

Sorry, but I think you're doomed. I had this happen with City of Heroes a few months ago and another graphics card several years back. It doesn't get better, it gets worse. When you buy a new graphics card, make sure your power supply can handle it.

By the way, I wouldn't blame GalCiv, it just isn't that intense. It's nice of the devs to bring the heat level down a bit but really it's the job of the card/computer makers to get that heat out of your system and your job ot keep that system clean.
Reply #6 from Stardock Forums Top
To Silent Archer , sorry thought the GPU thing they put in rasied it not lowerd it,i read the patch notes wrong sorry. And no now i know what the GPU thing is i dont want to turn it off hehe.

BTW i do have the 1.0X patch and i have the latest version of the ATI card drivers.
Reply #7 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Ati Radeon 9700 and 9800 are known to have poor cooling, and they do overheat a lot... my backup machine has radeon 9700 pro and I know how hot it gets. The real problem is that lifespan of these cards is short..there were cases that core dies after about 2yrs of use.

Solution? Try to cool it better...add more fans or whatever.
Reply #8 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
Ati Radeon 9700 and 9800 are known to have poor cooling, and they do overheat a lot... my backup machine has radeon 9700 pro and I know how hot it gets. The real problem is that lifespan of these cards is short..there were cases that core dies after about 2yrs of use.


That is utter nonsense. I have two systems running 9800 Pros and one of them has been heavily used as a gaming machine for the last 3 years - this includes more than a few all-night gaming sessions in the summer. Then again, I'm running an Antec 1080AMG case which isn't overly restrictive with its air flow. Still, the 9800 series of cars will last quite some time.
Reply #9 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
well i guess i'm crapfucked then... i tried installing latest and greatest ( -.- ) ATI drivers but that didn't help either. I tried cleaning a bit inside the case but can't get all the dust out because i don't have compressed air.

anyway, it went away after a while but when i restart galciv it get all weird on me again instantly. Guess i will have to buy a new gfx card.

that's my punishment for not taking care of my computer once in a while OLOLZ

still it's weird it had to go and do this now, i played gfx intensive games all the time. Oh well

geforce 7800GS (agp version that is) here i come... poor wallet
Reply #10 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
I am having problems similar to the OP. I'm using a laptop <1 year old with ATI Mobility Radeon x600 GPU, and while playing the initial release of GC2 I started getting horizontal line artifacts and lockups (and then I notice how hot the system is). Now it's happening in other applications too. I understand that this is more a result of questionable hardware design and inadequate cooling, but I can't help but feel that the high heat levels caused by GC2 were a contributing factor.

still it's weird it had to go and do this now, i played gfx intensive games all the time. Oh well


Weird indeed, and I don't think it's a coincidence. GPU throttling came too late to save me from a hefty repair bill.
Reply #11 from GalCiv2 Forums Top
yeah i will clean my pc every couple of months now... meh i needed an upgrade anyway