Civ4 Temporary Leave Announcement Thread

[Imperator Knoedel]

Sounds like the(a) fan has quit working, I'd open the side and sweep it all out and blow a house fan on it

I did that already months ago, and I can confirm that all three fans are clear of dust and working, maybe not at maximum capacity though. I have a feeling that there's a problem with the processor itself, like if it's trying to bite off more than it can chew no matter how much the fans try to cool it. The side has been open for days and my temporary solution so far was to put the PC in the middle of the room with the windows and door wide open. The good news is that it seems to cool it down quite a bit, the bad news is that it cools me down quite a bit, so currently I have the choice of either trying to squeeze everything I need to do into the half hour I get before it shuts down or freeze my butt off while playing.

 

[Tigranes]

Just a heads up, my computer is overheating like all the time since some weeks ago and at times it doesn't even last half an hour before shutting itself off. I'm desperately working on a solution but don't know how soon I can fix this. I'm even thinking of getting a new computer or maybe laptop as this piece of junk has some years under its buckle already. I wouldn't count on me getting any turns done for now unless they are really short.

Sorry to hear this. Looks like you owe yourself a good New Year present. My laptop was overheating as well, when I had it on recommended power option. However Power Saver mode allowed me to use my laptop for many hours without overheating, while under-performing. I suggest you to try that before you/your father buy yourself a new one.

 

[Imperator Knoedel]

Sorry to hear this. Looks like you owe yourself a good New Year present. My laptop was overheating as well, when I had it on recommended power option. However Power Saver mode allowed me to use my laptop for many hours without overheating, while under-performing. I suggest you to try that before you/your father buy yourself a new one.

I don't have a laptop so no dice. Or can I somehow tell my PC to use less power? Maybe that would help.

 

[Luthor_Saxburg]

Happy New Year to all!

Knoedel, it seems you do need a new PC!

In my Windows version the power options can be changed in the following Control Panel option:
Control Panel\Hardware and Sound\Power Options\Create a Power Plan

Good luck! We need you to do long turns even though nothing good cames out of it!

Good luck!

 

[Zacar]

If it is either the CPU or the GPU, I'd try underclocking the component in question moderately and see if it happens again. You might be able to see temperatures with HWmonitor or a similar program.

You can also check the Event Viewer or something similar in windows if it gives a hint about the cause.

 

[Imperator Knoedel]

If it is either the CPU or the GPU, I'd try underclocking the component in question moderately and see if it happens again. You might be able to see temperatures with HWmonitor or a similar program.

You can also check the Event Viewer or something similar in windows if it gives a hint about the cause.

Does the attached photo give any answers? Sorry it's not a screenshot, but I was afraid the PC would crah before I could upload it, and I was right as it rebooted less than two minutes later. It seems the GPU is at fault, but I'm not sure what to do about it. I did underclock a bunch of stuff related to the CPU though but nowhere in BIOS can I find anything about the GPU. What do?

Now that I think about it, it might be the thermal paste. I can't remember ever replacing it, so maybe I should take a look at that.

 

[Imperator Knoedel]

So I had a repair guy take a look at it and according to him I should replace the GPU, so I guess that's what I'm gonna do. Except none of the electronic stores in my vicinity seem to have any in storage barring one, and I'm not sure the one model they have is gonna be a good fit for my processor. Eh, maybe I'll go and buy that one tomorrow.

 

[Zacar]

I use "ati tray tools" to set lower clocks (and voltages but those are sensitive) automatically when windows starts. But getting used to those settings and buttons can be a bit of work, and I don't know if the tool works with your card, though it probably does. It is always possible that the GPU is just not doing very well (and if the repair guy is wrong, replacing GPU won't help - but that's what these things are like).

CPU is indeed usually very reliable as a part when compared to GPUs.

 

[Imperator Knoedel]

So because Apple sucks I had to spread my three photos across three posts instead of attaching them to only one as all images I take are just named 'image' and I can't rename them without third party apps.

Anyway I think I dun goofed. I did buy a new GPU and built it in, only it now occurred to me that what I removed might also contain the processor instead of only the GPU which would explain why now my PC doesn't show anything on screen when I boot it up.

On the first two photos (my last two posts) you can see whatever it is I removed, at least my old GPU though maybe it contains the processor as well, in the one in this post here you can see the new GPU I built in. If my assumption is correct and the processor and my old GPU are indeed on the same piece of metal I guess I'm up a creek as there's no way both fit onto my main board.

Soooooo... wat do?

Edit: Oooooooor maybe th HDMI cable just wasn't plugged right in or this is one of those stupid graphic cards that don't work for TVs. Whaddaya know, I put the computer in my room again and connected it to my regular display. Hmmmmmm, things seem to be working for now, call me cautiously optimistic but I think I might just have solved all my problems...

Edit #2: Aaaaaaaaaand two minutes later the PC rebooted, because things can never just be easy. I was even editing another screenshot of HWMonitor as it happened, but now you'll just have to be content with the old photo I took and reuploaded in this post. While all other temperatures are now fine the third TMPNUM thingy in the first entry (Gigabyte Technologies something, my motherboard I believe) is way above the rest, 40 degrees Celsius versus 30.

Another Edit: A friend of mine has brought the possibility to my attention that the power supply unit might be at fault as 40 degrees is not even close to overheating. I guess that's as good an explanation as any.

 

[Imperator Knoedel]

So I just ordered myself a new power supply unit which will arrive either Monday or Wednesday, Tuesday being some holiday or other. If that truly is the cause then that will be the day I will finally be able to play all my turns.

Fun-Fact: I already did play my Crazytown turn, but the PC crashed right before I could upload it. I am wary of booting him up at all before I build in the new power supply, all those crashes sure can't be healthy.

 

[Zacar]

Does it crash if you boot windows in safe mode and try to crash it (eg be optimistic about it not crashing)? That would rule out a pure software problem like bad drivers or corrupted system files, though I'd imagine these give a blue screen. Did something happen before the crashes started?

Replacing parts without clues is annoying because you have a high chance of getting useless parts. If it keeps crashing after PSU, the next part with similar probability would be the motherboard, which is about as convenient to replace as building a new PC would be.

 

[Imperator Knoedel]

Does it crash if you boot windows in safe mode and try to crash it (eg be optimistic about it not crashing)?

Hm, how exactly would I go about that?

The motherboard would have indeed been my next guess.

 

[Zacar]

Varies a bit between windows versions: http://www.computerhope.com/issues/chsafe.htm

 

[ruff_hi]

Sounds bad. My PC was slowly getting hotter and I put in a request for better fans with Santa. Installing the new fans didn't help ... it got worse. This was because I removed and reapplied the Corsair H60 liquid CPU cooler and that just speed up its decision to crap out on my. Temps in the 80c at boot up is not nice to see.

I've since installed a Noctua NH-U12S and I can't seem to get temps above 55c no matter how hard I push it.

 

[Imperator Knoedel]

Good news everybody! My new power supply has arrived and been built in after some hiccups. (CPU? Eh, I don't think I'm gonna need that.) The fact that my PC hasn't crashed for at least the time it took to start my browser, type up and submit this post is a good sign that my troubles should now be over. Still, I'm wary of challenging fate and fully expect that it's gonna reboot the second I hit Submit Reply. If it doesn't you will see a flood of new turns being sent out from my address or uploaded to the Tracker over the next few hours. Let's hope for the best, shall we?

 

[ruff_hi]

You might want to add a utility (core temps) that can put a temp guide on your desktop. Mine is currently saying '35', no '34', no '36' ...

You get the idea.

 

[Imperator Knoedel]

You might want to add a utility (core temps) that can put a temp guide on your desktop. Mine is currently saying '35', no '34', no '36' ...

You get the idea.

I'm not sure what for, I already established that the problem was with the power supply unit, not any component's temperature.

 

[Luthor_Saxburg]

I am going to take a small spying business trip to Germany to check their defenses industries out!

I shall be back in full to crush my enemies (and some annoying allies as well) on the 23rd!

 

[ricketyclik]

PC issues and no time to address them. Out for a week or so.

 

[kiwitt]

Make sure you re-install Civ 4 in a separate folder = c:\Games\Civ4, if you use Windows Vista/7/8 etc.