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Can temperatures effect FPS in games?

J-Man

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Joined
May 14, 2007
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Location
Oakham, UK
System Name Watercooled beast
Processor Intel Core 2 Quad Q9550 @ 4.02GHz
Motherboard ASUS Rampage Formula X48
Cooling Swiftech Apogee GTZ, Black Ice GTX Xtreme 480, EK 250 Rev 2, EK 4870 X2, MCP655, 1/2" Tygon Tubing
Memory 4GB DDR2 OCZ @ 1066MHz 2.1V
Video Card(s) HIS ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 800 on core, 1000 on memory (overclocked in CCC)
Storage 500GB Maxtor Diamondmax 22 SATA II 32MB Cache
Display(s) Samsung 24" SM245B
Case SilverStone TJ07 black/windowed version
Audio Device(s) Creative X-Fi Xtreme Gamer Fatal1ty + Logitech Z-5500
Power Supply Thermaltake Toughpower 1200W Modular
Software Windows Vista Ultimate 64-bit Retail
I wanted to know because when I game for hours in L4D, Call of Duty 4 etc, my card reaches 65-70c during gaming and sometimes I lag a little like my FPS drops to about 50-60 then goes back to up about 90-110 again.

Edit: When I game, I have my fan speed set to 55% so my card idles at about 56c which isn't bad.
 
Yes J. Overheating can produce a lag effect.
 
Temps to high for a CPU would. As for GPU i think they get shutdown if they get o hot these days. Artifacts is the tipical effect that you will see when a v card is overheating or some times a black screen just depends on what part is overheating.

Why not higher the fan speed on your v card so those temps lower more ?. As they need to come down some really.

CPU vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSGcnRanYMM
 
55% seems to be the max I can take because any higher, my GPU fan sounds like a helicopter :P
 
Temps can cause it. Mostly because CPU's have a temp at which they clock down, to prevent them dying (usually 80C+)

video cards its unlikely. you sure its not something else, like a background app, running out of ram or needing a defrag?
 
I got 4GB of RAM so it's not that. I haven't preformed a defrag in a few weeks actually.
 
I got 4GB of RAM so it's not that. I haven't preformed a defrag in a few weeks actually.

just because you have 4GB's doesnt mean you cant use it all up. i've got some games that use 2.5-3GB on max settings, add a few background apps in and its not impossible.
 
I only run NOD32, CCC, Steam and Xfire in the background.
 
I was thinking harddrive swapping myself - maybe you can notice the HD light on your rig next time it goes to 50-60 and see if it's solid lit and cranking. That would be a good clue to check.
 
Only if the drivers throttle the card because of thermals. Heat alone will not affect the performance, unless it ends it entirely.
 
Since you mentioned HDD's, I was thinking of getting 2 or 3 10k rpm HDD's. Which is better? Raptor or Velociraptor HDD's?
 
Temps to high for a CPU would. As for GPU i think they get shutdown if they get o hot these days. Artifacts is the tipical effect that you will see when a v card is overheating or some times a black screen just depends on what part is overheating.

Why not higher the fan speed on your v card so those temps lower more ?. As they need to come down some really.

CPU vid
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BSGcnRanYMM




true - but an overheating GPU can cause not only artifacts, but stuttering and glitches as well . . . thing is, normally by the time you see this from GPU overheating, you're about seconds away from a blackscreen and system crash . . . :ohwell:
 
I've never had any black screens and/or systems crashes due to my GPU. Mainly from overclocking too high previously (weeks ago) on my CPU haha.
 
true - but an overheating GPU can cause not only artifacts, but stuttering and glitches as well . . . thing is, normally by the time you see this from GPU overheating, you're about seconds away from a blackscreen and system crash . . . :ohwell:

Indeed, When i have pushed this 2900XT to far i got black screens and noticed it go in to 2D mode. Well i persume it's 2D mode due to the power usage goes down to that usage.
 
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Temps do affect Frames Produced, thats why you have to keep your machine clean of dust and the components cool.
Good Example is this video

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pHH6u56iA0E
Yeah I think I've seen that before, might have, might not. I know CPU temperatures can effect FPS but I've wondered if GPU temperatures can. It might be a simple defrag that needs performing?
 
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