Torque overheats notebook (not a bug)

#1 Go to TimeManager::process in the platform layer and increase the threshold before it fires off a time event. This should reduce CPU usage (as well as framerate).

#2 First off, thank you very much. I appreciate your help. I'm just a newbie, but I'm guessing this involves editing the source. I can do that (I hope), since it sounds like a simple line change edit. I worry about the loss of framerate since I like to use trees in my game, but if this will keep things cooler, I'll just switch to billboard trees for the time being.


Thanks again Ben!

Tony

#3 Is that P4 overclocked? I didn't think the P4 went that fast.
You could try to drop the speed by 10% (I think you can do it in bios).
Dropping the speed even a little makes a giant difference in temperature.
Most games run OpenGL at full blast unless you can tweek it somehow.
And the TimeManager suggestion would require a C++ compile,
which is easy unless you've never done it before.

#4 @Mike: Not overclocked, just a standard Toshiba Satellite.

I may try to drop the speed, just to see if it helps.

Thanks!

EDIT: In BIOS, the only real processor option I have is to disable HyperThreading Technology (something about the second logical processor???)

Would that cool things off without totally destroying performance?

#5 Looks like I'm in for a C++ compile. Wish me luck!

Oh, how much should I increase the TimeManager::process threshold between events? Trial and error?

Tony

This overheating is really getting frustrating. I get about three minutes of Torque before shutdown.

#6 Have you tried any 3d games on the laptop? Something like Americas Army etc.

My old Sony laptop would do the same, mainly in the summer. Its probably not specific to Torque, and could be indicative of a faulty laptop.

#7 I think it's an issue with that era of technology. I have an Alienware (desktop replacement) Laptop of a similar build and it would easily overheat if I didn't simply elevate the back about a half-inch. Playing WoW, for instance, it would lock up after a while. Two other Alienware laptops my coworkers had managed to fry internal components (we suspect it is heat related). Anyway, as a consequence, I simply don't run it in 3D mode for extended lengths of time. Oh, and I have it sitting on a Thinsulare Insulation pad to elevate it and to keep my desk from catching fire. I don't know if it absords or diffuses any of the heat, or what, but it works for me. :)

#8 Why did you keep the laptops at all? I would've complained. They are 'gaming' computers, so it's pretty obvious that they should play games.

#9 A radeon 9000 is at best usefull to watch DVD, but it definitely is not a gamer card and never was nor was it ever advertised at such.

The "minimum" card for playing games is 9500 (or a 9100 which is a "hidden" 8500 and thus powerfull enough for 3D games).

But the heat problem is not bound to the GPU at all.
P4 HT in a notebook is a bad joke. Something that creates up to 60

#10 @Cameron - Why did we keep the laptops at all? Cause at the time they were about the only beasts capable of running 3D at desktop levels. In fact, it outperformed my desktop in all areas but disk access. In fact, again, it outlived my desktop. lol. My desktop's power supply fried the MB a few months back. Now compared to my new low-end Core 2 Duo desktop, the Alienware is a dog. A big fat hot and heavy one at that! I wish we were in the age of the Core 2's when we purchased them.

#11

Quote:Have you tried any 3d games on the laptop?

I ran Morrowind III - the Elder Scrolls without problems.


Tony