CPU overheating and game lag

hdja18 · December 2016

Used to be able to run this game semi-smoothly on my computer. Could play for a few hours, without experiencing anything TOO major (other than lag whenever the game loaded a new area).

I dropped the game for a few weeks for personal reasons, and when I came back to it, it had been updated with the Dangerous Creatures update. Ever since, I've had constant troubles playing.

Now, I can't play the game for any longer than 10-15 minutes because my CPU overheats, and it's built in safety precautions shut my computer down, which results in a corrupted save file, and then I have to start all over again with my game. So I have to play in windows mode with an additional program running to monitor how hot my computer gets, so that I can save and close the game before I lose everything, and possibly damage my computer.

I could deal with performance issues, lagging here or there because the game is still in alpha and isn't completely optimized yet, but my computer costs several thousand dollars, and I literally just installed brand new fans, so I'm a little annoyed that I can't play this game anymore. I'm hoping that with future updates, you guys are able to optimize it a little better so this doesn't happen.

Lag? Sure. I have no problem getting my ass eaten by a boneshark because the game was loading and wouldn't let me move out of the way fast enough. Just means I have to go back out and gather my stuff again. But I don't want to risk my computers CPU, and other valuable internals because it's constantly overheating.

Soul_Rider · December 2016

If your cpu has started overheating and shutting down when running it, I would check that your CPU cooler etc are seated correctly etc, or it may be your thermal sensor is playing up. Are your fans spinning on your heatsink?

A great little tool to download is CPU-z it gives loads of info about your CPU and system - http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

How high are your temps getting before the system shuts off?

0x6A7232 · December 2016

Alrighty, try running Prime95 in stress test mode. If it shuts down when using that, there's something wrong with your CPU cooling solution, as your CPU should be able to handle running a stress test.

Check:

1) Is the CPU fan running? Is it making loud grinding noises? If it's not running, is it plugged in? If it's plugged in, and not running or it's making loud noises, replace it.
2) Is your heatsink clipped on still? It's possible one of the clamps holding it down to the motherboard got loose / was never installed correctly.
3) Is the thermal paste too old? Is there even thermal paste on the CPU? Replace the thermal paste with Arctic Silver (get it on Amazon or eBay - not that expensive, but not garbage either, which does make a few degrees difference and lasts longer). Apply a thin, even layer (spread it after you put a tiny drop on) so thin you can almost read through it DO NOT PUT EXCESSIVE PASTE ON!
4) Are there BIOS updates for your motherboard? It's possible that a bug could be preventing the CPU from handling correctly (I doubt it, but best to cover all the bases).

If you have a laptop, try blowing it out with a can of compressed air, but be careful to not allow the can to spray liquid (like if you hold the can upside down). Short, 1-3 second bursts. You can also do 1-4 on a laptop, but everything except checking the BIOS updates is going to be a major pain to do, be sure to view some disassembly videos for your laptop model if you do that.

hdja18 · December 2016

Soul_Rider: My desktop shuts off at about 85-86c.

0x6A7232: We just updated the tower with fresh fans and new thermal paste. The tower belongs to my boyfriend, but I paid for the upgrades JUST to play this bloody game. He works with computers for a living, taking them apart and building them, so he's always on top of making sure everything is in place and stays updated.

I shouldn't have made it seem like the game was completely at fault for this problem, but it's frustrating that I have to upgrade our computer with money I don't have to play a game that I feel should be a little better optimized. Of course, I realize it's still being made, and there are many things that need to be changed and made more efficient, but I love the game too much to just drop it and wait for it to be able to run better on my desktop.

Hell, No Man's Sky, a game that I would have expected to run like crap on PC's in general, runs like a DREAM on the desktop, and I can play for hours without worrying about overheating.

I'll double check to make sure everything else is in order, because obviously if this was a more serious problem, more than just a few people would have issues. Otherwise, I guess I'll just have to wait around until the game is a little more complete before trying again.

0x6A7232 · December 2016

See, the thing is, your CPU should throttle itself to run slower before it hits the safety shut-off. Leading me to believe something else is up. Not sure what, but something isn't right. It's possible it's been tweaked to run past spec with some safeties removed, but when that's the case, usually better cooling modifications would have been made as well.

Silveressa · December 2016

It's likely the Unity 5 engine your PC's graphics card is having trouble with. (How new is the card?)

Back when I used a Nvida 550 Ti I had similar heat issues to yours with any game that used the Unity 5 engine. (Planetary Explorers, 7 Days to Die, etc.) It would push the GPU so hard it would heat up to around 178F, in addition to the CPU reaching a near shutdown point.

After upgrading to a Geforce GTX 760 my heat issues vanished completely.

If upgrading to a newer GPU is not in the budget try turning the gfx in Subnautica down to the lowest possible level? (the f3 menu has additional gfx options you can turn off in game too.) See if it helps with the heat problem?

CPU overheating and game lag

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