New game makes my PC overheat...

[Beorning]

So, here's a question for all you people savvy with making PC games work...

One of the presents I got for Christmas was a new PC RPG, Tyranny. I tried playing it yesterday and I noticed something troublesome: the game makes my PC overheat. Seriously, after only a few minutes of playing, the CPU temperature went from 40 C to 80 C...

Initially, I thought it was a matter of me running the game with the highest graphics settings. See, another present I got for Christmas was a new monitor with default resolution of 1920 x 1080. When I ran the game, it automatically conformed to the monitor and set its resolution to 1920 x 1080, too. So, at first I thought: sure, I'll just downscale the graphics quality and the game will play okay.

It... didn't help.

Seriously: I set the graphics to 1280 x 720, the lowest setting possible. I also lowered the FPS rate to 60. And it doesn't help! The PC keeps overheating.

For the record, my PC is Intel Core i5 2300 (2.80 GHz), 4 GB RAM, Radeon HD 6700 graphics card. The game's minimum systems requirements are Intel Core 2 Quad Q9505 (2.80 GHz), 4 GB RAM, Radeon HD 5770. The recommended system is Intel Core i3-2100 (3.10 GHz), 4 GB RAM, Radeon HD 6850. So, it seems to me that the game should run without much trouble... And yet, it seems to overtax my PC. What the heck?

Any ideas on how to solve this problem?

[The Dark Raven]

Honestly, I would say you need more memory and a better graphics card.  The game wants 4gb, but your 4gb has to run everything else on your system as well.  The graphics card upgrade would be helpful to lower the chug on your system when the game is rendering, which is probably what is making your card/system thrash.

[AmberStarfire]

My guess would be that you have a graphics card good enough to run it, but a power supply that isn't adequately supporting the graphics card. I had a similar problem playing a game on a laptop of mine in the past (it had a good graphics card, but it took about 30 seconds to overheat).

Maybe there's an additional way to cool your computer down? (or maybe there's another problem that is causing it to cool insufficiently).

[Cassandra LeMay]

My guess would be that you have a graphics card good enough to run it, but a power supply that isn't adequately supporting the graphics card. I had a similar problem playing a game on a laptop of mine in the past (it had a good graphics card, but it took about 30 seconds to overheat).

I have a similar problem with my computer. It handles everything fine - until I start playing games on it. And I know my graphics card isn't connected to the power supply as well as it could be. When I got my current graphics card installed there wasn't quite the right cable at hand to connect it as it should have been, so it was cobbled together a bit (and please don't ask me for details - it was a long time ago in a cable salad no man has seen before).

Long story short: I think it could, indeed well be a hardware thingy about the power supply. Could be as simple as rerouting a few cables, but I wouldn't know how.

[Beorning]

Hm. The PC has no trouble running other games, including Skyrim. I really don't think it's the power supply problem...

If it's about the graphics card and / or memory not being good enough - drat. I don't have money to upgrade my PC right now... So, I'm stuck with a game I can't run? :(

[AmberStarfire]

Skyrim's fairly old at this stage, so there may be big differences there.

What operating system are you running it under? Maybe it's possible to free up some memory and minimise features on the game so that it doesn't need as much. Is it just a matter of viewing quality with the game or can you personalise different features that are graphics intensive?

[Beorning]

I'm running the game under Windows 7...

As for the graphics features, there aren't that many options. There's resolution, the anti-aliasing thing, V-Sync, FPS rate... I think that I set everything as low as possible - the game still causes problems, though...

[AmberStarfire]

Have you tried running it in safe mode + networking?

If there's something else interfering with it or hogging the memory, you might have more luck with that.

[Beorning]

Could you remind me how do I do that on Windows 7?

[AmberStarfire]

There are directions here:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/2851718/windows-8-and-windows-7-safe-modes-how-to-enter-and-when-to-use-them.html

[Life in Color]

If it's overheating, it could also just be a cooling problem (Sometimes the obvious solution can be a fix!).

What's your cooling system set-up like?

[The Dark Raven]

If it's overheating, it could also just be a cooling problem (Sometimes the obvious solution can be a fix!).

What's your cooling system set-up like?

This reminds me...have you blown out your fans lately?  Canned air is cheaper than a graphics card upgrade. ;)

[Beorning]

Hmm. I have no idea how my cooling system is set up... What do you mean, exactly?

I realize that, maybe, cleaning the fans might be needed... Somehow, though, I feel it won't be enough :(

I asked about the situation at the game producer's forum and got the surprising info: supposedly, the minimum memory for this game is 6 GB, not 4 GB. Even though it's 4 GB in the official requirements... Not fun :(

[RedPhoenix]

I don't know anything about gaming and graphic cards, but I do have a lot of experience trying to run stuff on old computers, and I can tell you that minimum system requirement usually translates to "you might be able to open the program." If you're 2GB under the minimum, yeah, you're in pipe dream territory. Memory is one of the cheaper things to get more of though, and really easy to install. You might wanna reattach your heat sink while you do it if it's an older model, but I suspect memory is your real culprit.

[Beorning]

Well, if I'm really 2 GB under the minimum, then it's obvious that the game could not be running properly. The thing is, according to the official requirements, I should have enough memory. I wouldn't even consider buying this game, if it wasn't the case...

[Blythe]

The minimum memory to run the PC game Tyranny is 6 GB; I checked the official Steam store page of it to confirm that. The recommended memory is 8 GB, though. If your computer has only got 4 GB, the game's not going to run right, if at all.

[Beorning]

Well, another official page for the game says otherwise:

https://www.paradoxplaza.com/tyranny

So, does the producer not know what the actual system requirements are? *groan*

[Inkidu]

Well, another official page for the game says otherwise:

https://www.paradoxplaza.com/tyranny

So, does the producer not know what the actual system requirements are? *groan*

Well you've got two options:

Upgrade your PC with about four gigs of ram (RAM's cheap).

If you got the game through Steam, request a refund.

[Beorning]

Unfortunately, I've got the game on DVD through a stationary shop. And they don't want the game back, as it's been opened! :(

Regarding the upgrade: 4 GB RAM would cost $40, I don't have that money now... Drat.

[AmberStarfire]

If it says 4GB on the box but other places say 6GB (and 4 simply won't run it), you could contact their customer support about it and explain the situation. They could perhaps send you another game in is place that you could play if your query is escalated enough (to someone who'll do something).

[Beorning]

I've been talking to various customer support services regarding this game... So far:

1. The CS at Paradox (the game's original publisher / manufacturer) forum says that 6 GB is the memory minimum. Also, he advices cleaning the cooling fans.

2. The CS at Cenega (the game's Polish publisher) says 2 GB of memory is not that big difference (huh?). Also, he advices cleaning the fans... He says that the PC shouldn't be overheating because of not enough memory.

2. The CS at Empik (the shop the game has been actually bought at) says that if the game box is opened, they won't take the game back. Even in the case of system requirements description on the game box being inaccurate...

What's your opinion, guys? Could the memory be a problem? Also, how one goes about buying and installing more memory..?

[AmberStarfire]

I'd constructively hassle Paradox a bit more, personally.

2GB RAM probably would make a difference. If the game's not running then there's a good chance that's why.

As for RAM, if you want to 'build on' what RAM you have, don't buy 2GB. You need to buy another 4GB and keep the chips the same (or just buy 8 and change it over, though buying 4GB and adding to it may be cheaper).  If the chips aren't equivalent you're likely to run into problems.

That was a really old link I posted. Here's a more recent one:
http://www.howtogeek.com/199070/would-using-unequal-amounts-of-ram-in-each-slot-decrease-performance/

[Inkidu]

I've been talking to various customer support services regarding this game... So far:

1. The CS at Paradox (the game's original publisher / manufacturer) forum says that 6 GB is the memory minimum. Also, he advices cleaning the cooling fans.

2. The CS at Cenega (the game's Polish publisher) says 2 GB of memory is not that big difference (huh?). Also, he advices cleaning the fans... He says that the PC shouldn't be overheating because of not enough memory.

2. The CS at Empik (the shop the game has been actually bought at) says that if the game box is opened, they won't take the game back. Even in the case of system requirements description on the game box being inaccurate...

What's your opinion, guys? Could the memory be a problem? Also, how one goes about buying and installing more memory..?

I'd actually demand your money back from the shop or Paradox. I'm not sure about how Polish law works, but I'm willing to bet that the nation has false-advertising laws.

Part of your purchase was contingent upon the system requirements (ie. Can I play it?). If the box was misleading and you can't in fact use the product as intended I'd call that grounds for a refund. There's a difference between buyer beware and we're going to outright have bad information that informs your purchasing decision.

[RedPhoenix]

What's your opinion, guys? Could the memory be a problem? Also, how one goes about buying and installing more memory..?

It will seem very simple to you once you've done it. The main thing is making sure the sticks you get will fit on your motherboard before you buy them.

http://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/how-to-install-ram/ Here's a tutorial that is actually more in depth than it needs to be and is only a few minutes.

You can buy ram all over, newegg is a good site for parts, amazon sometimes has deals on it, I don't know if anywhere local would do it better where you are.

[Blythe]

I'd actually demand your money back from the shop or Paradox. I'm not sure about how Polish law works, but I'm willing to bet that the nation has false-advertising laws.

Part of your purchase was contingent upon the system requirements (ie. Can I play it?). If the box was misleading and you can't in fact use the product as intended I'd call that grounds for a refund. There's a difference between buyer beware and we're going to outright have bad information that informs your purchasing decision.

I'm with Inkidu about this; the fact two official sources list different information really is a problem.

While I don't know if it'll help future potential purchasers of the game, I've poked Paradox via a support ticket about the conflicting requirements and asked them to clarify & fix whichever page is wrong, their paradox one or the Steam one.