Curse

Loviatar · May 28, 2006, 03:11 PM // 15:11

Quote:

Originally Posted by Terra Xin

Guess what
autumn!!! wooo!! well.... almost winter. My fans are so quiet, its nice...

guess what.............i am just getting ready for the long hot summer.

a week or so ago we had our first day over 80 and a freak late rainstorm (1/4 inch)

next rain expected late oct/nov but i have been to the beach on Christmas when it was 80+ degrees

highest here a few years ago was 112 but just over the pass at work i have been in 116 degrees

Josh · May 28, 2006, 05:22 PM // 17:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by ducktape

Hey, mine is doing that too! Whenever I have GW running (even if it sits at the login screen) my CPU is running at 100%. That doesn't make my processor very happy when it's at 100% for an extended amount of time so my fan runs a lot faster to compensate for it and it's really loud and irritating. My game is lagging, but not really more than it has ever done in the past, so I don't seem to be having any decreased game performance.

My 100% CPU thing started in the past week, so I figured it was from one of the game updates and I submitted a ticket to NC support and they were like oh well, too bad, GW uses as much CPU as it deems necessary. I told them:

It never did that before this week, I believe it's from the May 23 update
The CPU usage is only with GW running. Close GW and it goes back to normal. Run other programs and it uses low CPU percentages.
GW uses 100% CPU constantly without virus software/firewall/other programs running
Adjusting the sound and video options in Guild Wars to the lowest settings does not help
I already have the most recent directX, video drivers, audio drivers, board and chipset drivers; I know there have been many sound-related problems so I removed and reinstalled my sound and that did not help either

I also gave them my dxdiag report, told them I hadn't changed any hardware/software/drivers/options between last week and the time the problem surfaced, and they said that unless my game is crashing then there's nothing they can do.

I have:
AMD Athlon XP 2400+ (1.8GHz)
1GB Corsair ValueSelect RAM
Asus A7V333x Board
Radeon X1600 PRO 256AGP
Creative SB Audigy

Obviously my computer exceeds the recommended system requirements for the game and it shouldn't be getting so pissed off from running Guild Wars. I'd be curious to see whether anyone else with the same components is having the problem.

Also, is it ok if my CPU is at 100% for hours on end while I play? The fan is managing to keep it at 45C so I assume it's not getting damaged because it's not overheating, yet I assume it's bad to have your CPU constantly working at maximum capacity without rest for such a long time. Sounds like a good way to make the processor burn out?

My AMD Athlon 2400+ is 2.0GHz, how is yours 1.8GHz? Did you underclock it? I bought my system a few years ago, and it came 2.0Ghz, not overclocked...

ducktape · May 28, 2006, 08:13 PM // 20:13

I don't know, I'm pretty sure the box said the max speed is 1.83, I can't find the box but I have the receipt and it says mine is the Thoroughbred core. Maybe yours is a newer one or one with a different core? The only reason I bought it was because it was $95 and it was all I could afford way back when, it wouldn't surprise me if there was a better version of it that I didn't get.

The Son Of Morgoth · May 29, 2006, 05:48 AM // 05:48

Sigh lol so no one has a cure 2 this huh? o well.

kvndoom · May 29, 2006, 02:46 PM // 14:46

You probably have a Prescott CPU, and those run very hot due to insane power consumption. They didn't get the nickname PresHott for nothing. The workstation I use at work has a Prescott, and the CPU fan spins up quite often, even when doing simple stuff like surfing the web or reading PDF's and stuff. Such is the nature of those CPU's, and you really can't change it.

Guild Wars is going to use 100% of your CPU whether you have it minimized or full-screen. You can't change that, other than screwing around with the thread priority, which will make you wish you hadn't.

The memory usage you see is normal. Full screen, gw.exe on my system can use over 300MB of system memory depending upon what's being rendered, screen resolution, etc. Compare your memory usage between standing in an empty guild hall and watching Observer Mode, and you'll understand.

If you're using integrated Intel graphics with only 128MB dedicated, you haven't much right to complain of graphical lag:

1) Integrated graphics SUCK.
2) Shared Memory is your system memory, which is MUCH slower than dedicated video RAM. Not to mention data has to travel accross more busses when using integrated than with a real video card.
3) Unless you're running a low resolution, 128MB is a bottleneck. However, since you Intel graphics is sucking away from your system memory, increasing the RAM allocated to graphics to 256MB would leave you with only 768MB for system use.

In conclusion, the fan speed-up is normal, don't worry about it. And you need a REAL video card. Guild Wars isn't very graphics-intensive, but there are a LOT of games out there right now that won't even run on your computer at all. Not to mention you could reclaim the 128MB that's being wasted on feeding a subpar GPU.

ducktape · May 29, 2006, 07:57 PM // 19:57

Morgoth, do you know how to remove your processor heatsink and apply new thermal paste? I did that to mine and the fans aren't quite as loud now to keep the processor at 45C. Granted, your prescott will run lots hotter than mine to begin with, but you might want to try that. Don't do it unless you know what you're doing, because you could ruin your processor if you're not experienced with that kind of stuff. Also, make sure you are using Arctic Silver or some other brand of thermal paste that has a high concentration of Silver Oxide. Arctic Silver costs like an entire $5 and on PresHott you should see a decrease of a few degrees in your processor temps, thus making your fans quiet down as well.

Kvndoom is right about your performance issues being related to your video card, you need at least 64MB dedicated, ie a non-integrated card. Since you have 128 shared you might be able to get away with running in dx8 and have less problems. Right-click your GW icon and choose Properties. On the Shortcut tab, make sure the Target box says
"C:\Program Files\Guild Wars\Gw.exe" -dx8
You should have to add the -dx8 part, make sure you have a space between the " and the -. Click Apply and Ok, then when you run GW you will not be using dx9 and your game might run a lot better.

EDIT: I also wanted to mention that if you have an AGP or PCI-e slot to add a real video card, you could spend less than $50 and get a Radeon X300 or GeForce 6200 card. Those both support DX9, and I know the X300 card can have all the graphics options in GW at high and run with no problem, I believe a 6200 should as well. Of course, there are much much better cards available and for not much more, but it's up to you to factor in how much graphics power you need and how much you have to spend.

The Son Of Morgoth · May 29, 2006, 09:26 PM // 21:26

Its really weird i have a media center pc but i dont have a slot for pci or agp and im like WTF? Also i will try that direct X 8 instead of 9 thing...what is the difference between the Direct X's tho? Did guildwars prophecies use direct x 8 and now factions made it 9?

Thanks 4 all the help so far guys!

ducktape · May 31, 2006, 04:40 AM // 04:40

Sorta...they updated the GW engine to use dx9 right before factions came out, so both games can render in dx9 now. I noticed that if you are running dx8, prophecies areas look fine, but factions looks pretty crappy - probably because it was designed for dx9. If running in dx8 still isn't enough to compensate for the fact that you're stuck with integrated graphics, you can try turning off the shaders. Change your GW shortcut to:
"C:\Program Files\Guild Wars\Gw.exe" -noshaders
or you can super-gimp it with dx8 AND no shaders:
"C:\Program Files\Guild Wars\Gw.exe" - dx8 - noshaders

That's a shame that they didn't give you a board with a graphics slot, there should be some sort of law against selling computers without a graphics slot. It's not very nice since you can't upgrade and you're mega-screwed if the integrated graphics die.

Josh · May 31, 2006, 06:53 PM // 18:53

Quote:

Originally Posted by ducktape

That's a shame that they didn't give you a board with a graphics slot, there should be some sort of law against selling computers without a graphics slot. It's not very nice since you can't upgrade and you're mega-screwed if the integrated graphics die.

Haha, if only, if only. Nice idea ducky.

The Son Of Morgoth · Jun 01, 2006, 04:26 AM // 04:26

Thanks for the help guys!

Josh · Jun 01, 2006, 05:21 PM // 17:21

Quote:

Originally Posted by ducktape

I don't know, I'm pretty sure the box said the max speed is 1.83, I can't find the box but I have the receipt and it says mine is the Thoroughbred core. Maybe yours is a newer one or one with a different core? The only reason I bought it was because it was $95 and it was all I could afford way back when, it wouldn't surprise me if there was a better version of it that I didn't get.

Only just found out my Core, it's the Thorton core.