Computer Fans Spinning Wildly/Major Cpu Usage with LAG :(

I have three fans on my computer, one directly attached to the cpu, one attached to the power supply and one just attached to case blowing hot air out. After Guildwars Factions has come out i can hear my fans spinning much faster as the computer adjusts to blow more hot air out. I check my cpu by looking at the system processes and GW.Exe is always at like 300,000+K........ and no i doubt it is my computer nothing has really changed and this only happens with guildwars and just after factions came out. so im pretty sure tahts the problem. Any reason why this is happening or how i can fix it? Thanks

system and specs please?

when is the last time you cleaned dust bunnies out of your fans/heatsinks?
what is the current CPU temps?

GW is very CPU intensive to start with so it puts things under pressure and more heat is generated. (reason for asking CPU temps to see if close to overheating)

you might want to replace the fan with a larger case fan (if able to fit) and add another fan in the front of the case to pull in fresh cool air as well

My system is a Hp m1264n Media Center Pc.
1 gig ram
128 intel graphics shared with main ram
3 ghz

My computer i know is good enough to play gw, but the main thing that bothers is me is that this only happens with gw and started like the exact day factions came out. I just opened up my case too not really any dust in there, i have cleaned it out before. i have 3 fans 2 so.... o and i have xp media center edition. O and when i played gw and opened up the case at the same time the air that the cpu fan is pushing out seems to be cooler than the other 2 fans, the power supply fan is the hottest and the main case fan is the second hottest.

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?

it is completely normal and has been using 100 % since beta for all but the best systems.

if search were not down i could direct you to the same item all over the place

basically it will take everything in the CPU that is not nailed down and use it.

as long as temps dont exceed danger levels it should be fine.

on my home brew machine (inferior to yours a bit) i used one of the top rated heat pipe coolers with the 120mm fan that is very quiet and runs at about 36-41 degrees at all times

I wouldn't worry about the 100% thing. I have AMD XP 4200+ X2, and when I run it, the overall process usage is 59% which means one core is 100%.

Still this thing is freaking me out for 2 reasons....the fan sound is really annoying and scary and also i keep feeling like my computer is going to get damaged because of this.......is there nothing we poor victims can do ?

is it making any squeeking/grinding noises or simply louder from blowing more air?

My system was going slow and lagging gw out alot but also everything. I did a anti-virus scan and deleted some viruss and its sped up again so maby try that? I think it heated up quicker as well i dont know but it was running like 100% on the desktop lol so try doing a scan and see if that does anything.

No i dont have any viruses or malware i do scans everyday security is tough on my comp no its just blowing a lot more air from the fans nothing else.

100% is normal. But if you're 100% on an OEM Intel 3 GHz system, then you will want to check again for spyware or other resource-hogging apps unless you have hyperthreading or the second core disabled. Load should be at around 50-65% on a hyperthreaded or dual core system.

find out the CPU temp as that extra heat is probably coming from the CPU since a video card is not in it.

the PSU also makes a lot of heat

which fan is it? maybe it's not secured properly

I have Hyperthreading pentium 4 and yeah when i run gw the cpu is around 50 percent.....and it says gw is using like 300,000k in processes. So your saying this is normal?

I had similar fan problems on my machine back in the day. Not only were my case fans overworking while i was playing, but after 30 min to an hour, Abit's uGuru would warn me of overheating. I installed an extra exaughst fan that sucks air off of my video card, and blows it out the back.

A few can be found here:
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati....asp?CatId=804

That reduced internal temps, and reuced the load on all my other fans.

As for the 100% CPU usage, I'm not sure. Try reducing the visual quality in game a bit (like 2x anti-alias 'stead of 4x, less shadows). Also check your processes for good background apps. Winamp has an invisible agent that sux a bit. so do print monitors, virus scanners, instant messengers, etc.

Ah, thanks, I feel better now. I thought I had seen similar problems posted but the naughty search wouldn't let me find them. I'm still a little worried because there's a possibility that the game has been using 100% CPU all along and my processor hasn't gotten pissed about it until this week, so maybe it's starting to die a little. While I'm hoping the extra CPU load is from one of the game updates and it will go away with a newer game update, at least I know it's safe to leave the game on all the time even if my processor is running at 100% from it since I'm not overheating so far.

Tried turning all the options down to the crappiest settings, didn't help.


SCORE!! They're releasing the Core2Duo early so if my processor goes out I can buy a yummy new one in July. Yayyyyyy!!
http://www.tgdaily.com/2006/05/26/co...ut_on_23_july/

Here is a nice little utility from Asus that allows you to monitor your computers fan speeds, voltages, and cpu temperature.

Asus PC Probe

My computer runs at 100% as well whenver I have guild wars running; however I can still minimize and start up adobe photoshop and experience no lag whatsoever.

I know when I play GW my fans kick in and get louder. When I'm off GW they sound quite and everything sounds fine. I just think since those fans are running that hard and that much air is being pushed out I think something is wrong.

And my room gets sooo hot cause of all the air being pushed out. My computer is kind of in a corner. I'm gonna re arrange my room so it will be out in the open. I'm gonna sit the computer desk by the air vent.

But ya I hate when my fans starting kickin in real loud and stuff.

Guess what

no... you'll never guess

its

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

....... your fans are quieter in the winter when its naturally colder :? Sigh i just hope my processor doesnt get hurt because of this. What is a normal temperature for your computer insides?

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

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...

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.

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

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.

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.

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!

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.

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

Thanks for the help guys!

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