Posted August 21, 2009 It seems that The Sims 3 causes my graphics card to overheat, my last test showed the graphics cards temperature to rise to 101 degrees, though I'm not really sure what the best temperature is or at what temperature causes my graphics card to shut down. Anyway, what's the best way to keep my graphics card cool that is relatively cheap-ish. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 21, 2009 Clean the dust out of all the fans in your PC before you do anything. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 21, 2009 Are you playing on a laptop? Have you noticed graphical artefacts while playing? And yeah, clean the fans anyway. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 22, 2009 (edited) Try the suggestion by caris, then if that makes it no better get a custom fan (that's if you are on a pc as opposed to a laptop) Fans don't generally have a huge life. so if your graphics card is any considerable age, chances are the fan is buggered (this is why i love fanless graphics cards =P) oh and check the req settings for ts3. may be a case of needing a graphics upgrade. I know my 8600gt (on my laptop) struggles with ts3 on a heavy load and will get quite hot.. Edited August 22, 2009 by Raining_again Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 22, 2009 Are you playing on a laptop? Have you noticed graphical artefacts while playing? And yeah, clean the fans anyway. Nope, PC. There's no artefacts while playing the game. Works fine on my laptop though. Try the suggestion by caris, then if that makes it no better get a custom fan (that's if you are on a pc as opposed to a laptop) Fans don't generally have a huge life. so if your graphics card is any considerable age, chances are the fan is buggered (this is why i love fanless graphics cards =P) oh and check the req settings for ts3. may be a case of needing a graphics upgrade. I know my 8600gt (on my laptop) struggles with ts3 on a heavy load and will get quite hot.. The graphics card is only 8 months old, so I hope it hasn't died yet. And I have updated my graphics card drivers and everything else I could think of, even if it's unrelated. My PC does meet the minimum specification and my graphics card is on the supported cards list. I'll try cleaning it and see if it fixes it. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 22, 2009 Nope, PC. There's no artefacts while playing the game. Works fine on my laptop though. The graphics card is only 8 months old, so I hope it hasn't died yet. And I have updated my graphics card drivers and everything else I could think of, even if it's unrelated. My PC does meet the minimum specification and my graphics card is on the supported cards list. I'll try cleaning it and see if it fixes it. if you clean it be super super super careful - static WILL trash it completely if it touches the wrong place. Don't touch any of the circuity stuff at all. Blow the fan gently/spin it and remove any bits of dust that are stuck. Good way to de-static if you don't have an antistatic strap (best piece of kit i own tbh) is to touch a radiator before you work on it. And don't put it down on carpet when you are working on it Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 22, 2009 What is the card? If by chance it's a 4800 series ATI, the fan speed is notoriously low(20%) which results in extremely high temps. If that is the case, you can go into Catalyst Control Center and easily up the fan speed to something more appropriate like 50-60% but that will make it extremely loud. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 26, 2009 What is the card? If by chance it's a 4800 series ATI, the fan speed is notoriously low(20%) which results in extremely high temps. If that is the case, you can go into Catalyst Control Center and easily up the fan speed to something more appropriate like 50-60% but that will make it extremely loud. ATI 2600 which I learned today doesn't have a fan. I tried cleaning the insides (which wasn't very dusty at all) but it still overheats/Sims 3 turns the monitor off. I found a hotfix on the ATI website which was posted earlier this month which says it fixes graphical corruption in the Sims 3. I have no idea if that is what my problem is, but now my graphics card temperature stays around 75 degrees while playing the Sims 3 now. It jumped up to 88 at one point but so far hasn't caused it to shut down. I'll have to test it to make sure it fixed my problem. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted August 27, 2009 ATI 2600 which I learned today doesn't have a fan. I tried cleaning the insides (which wasn't very dusty at all) but it still overheats/Sims 3 turns the monitor off. I found a hotfix on the ATI website which was posted earlier this month which says it fixes graphical corruption in the Sims 3. I have no idea if that is what my problem is, but now my graphics card temperature stays around 75 degrees while playing the Sims 3 now. It jumped up to 88 at one point but so far hasn't caused it to shut down. I'll have to test it to make sure it fixed my problem. So it has a big metal heatsink on it? I wouldn't have thought 75 degrees to be THAT hot (maybe a bit worrying, but then it IS under strain and fanless) Be a good idea to either - change the heatsink on the card to a fan or change the cooling solution. If its sitting in a stalemate area, where not a lot of movement is happening airwise, it may be worth getting a fan in there. 75 is certainly an improvement from 100 anyway! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted September 4, 2009 clean the fan and make sure all your blower is working fine and sometime the program that says the temperature of your vdeo card is inaccurate... 1. good cooling system - add custom fan. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Posted September 6, 2009 The graphics card is only 8 months old, so I hope it hasn't died yet. Only 8 months old? Away to the tech service it goes. I assume it's still in warranty period. You won't have to worry about breaking something in it while cleaning or something. They have to deliver it back fully functional. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
