CPU Performance of the game (no “will it run”)

[Xaratas]

I have it observed the performance a bit, and saw, that PoE can not idle.

 

It takes 100% cpu at all times:

• ingame
• ingame with battle running
• ingame with battle running and many monsters to kill
• ingame with battle running and many monstres to kill and heavy spell effects
• ingame paused
• gamewindow has no focus but is visible
• gamewindow has no focus but is visible while other program has focus and fullscreen (my terminal is semi transparent so i can see the game, it is paused but updates the green moving line around the sneak icon (with 60 fps))
• gamewindow has no focus and is not visible because an other fullscreen window is on top

 

At least for the background cases it should not render at fullspeed. Diablo 3 for example has an option “Background FPS” to limit the cpu usage.

 

But why does the mainloop not slow down on paused game? There is only to redraw the same picture, over and over again, nothing moves, nothing counts, nothing ticks, noting changes, so why?

 

 

Interesting enough although PoE spawns 20 threads only the main thread doing cpu heavy stuff:

https://xaratas.privatepaste.com/download/91973aa7ac

 

 

Other observation: Its not the count of enemies which hit the performance of my Nvidia Geforce 330M, it's the size of the monster.

Full party + 6 Dragul + 4 Skeletons + 3 summoned Skeletons: minor slowdown

Full party + 6 Xaurip + 1 young dragon: heavy lag

[LadyCrimson]

It takes 100% cpu at all times:

Not for me it doesn't. Which isn't to say it's not for you and others or that there isn't a problem somewhere. Just giving my own experience.

 

My i7-920 (not OC'd) stays about 50% most of the time, when I looked at it once. I didn't check if cpu dropped to almost 0 or not if alt-tabbed to the taskbar, tho. I don't do that very often.

[Xaratas]

Can you swtich the cpu diagram of windows (if you have windows) to one diagram for each core? Then you will see that one core is at max, while the other are mostly idle (hypothesis), which windows counts as "cpu usage could be worse".

 

Thats the difference between windows and linux cpu usage counters. Linux use 100% for each core, so my pc is maxed at 400%, windows uses 100% for all cores together, so 50% means in most cases 2 of 4 cores at max.

[LadyCrimson]

Wasn't using Task Manager's graph, it was Asus's CPU suite monitor. But I get what you mean. Stuff like that can be misleading, and different programs can even seem to contradict each other at times. I have no clue how to "read" them, really and I don't tweak hardware much, so I don't often look, outside of checking temps and total usage.

 

Anyway, with my lvl10 party just idling in an Endless Path dungeon level, I get graphs like these, whatever that means - it bounces up and down I'm sure, and no idea about full-on combat. The 1st one might max out then, who knows.

 

[Xaratas]

A bit Crosslinking, post are from there
http://forums.obsidian.net/topic/72006-shuts-down-computer/page-2
 

 

I know my system, and this is not a hardware issue.  I built the system 3 years ago, and have never overclocked (this is a combo gaming/HTPC rig, so I keep things quiet and cool).  I use way more PSU than I need, and my temps/airflow are good.  Most importantly, I have 3 years of RPGs under my belt on this system, including many demanding 3D titles like Skyrim, Witcher 2, Dragon Age, and tons of others on the big screen at 1920x1080, and ONLY hit this problem when running PoE on my little desk monitor.
 
I only inquired about possible GPU types because I could see this being a driver issue of some kind.  But if both AMD and Nvidia cards are hitting this, then nevermind.
 
This definitely is a very strange issue, and I do find it very odd that a simple Windows 7 application could bring down the whole system like this, going further than even a BSOD.  You really don't see that much anymore in modern OSes.
 
And yet, after seeing this thread and that I'm not alone, I see no other alternative: Something in the PoE application code is causing an instant shutdown at random times for a VERY small sub-portion of the player base.  Very strange....

Exact same problem here, as noted in another thread as well.
 
I was advised to look at GPU temperature, and it shot up to 85c almost instantly playing the game, then crept up until the system shut down.
 
minimum graphics settings, msaa=0, vsync set off, the GPU runs at 100% and overheats in minutes.
 
NVidia GeForce GTX 570

 

 
 

 

It's NOT a GPU issue like you guys all seem to assume, the game doesnt use the GPU much at all, it's almost entirely CPU bound so i would search there for the problem: CPU overclock, Motherboard,Powersupply and so on.

Running "Open Hardware Monitor" and watching it while the game runs, GPU Core sits at 99% and temperature shoots up even with fan running max speed. this is the only game I have ever had this issue with.

 

 

 

So for me it looks like you have the same inability to idle on the GPU. Have you coded a busy waiting?

[Xaratas]

A little bit of thread necromancy.

 

What is the state of the "can not idle" behavior? Have you found a way to seriously drop performance demands, other than limiting the framerate?

[Merina]

I've returned to PoE 1.0.6 after taking a break due to the early bugs and patches ... and It's very high cpu usage for me, too, even in the character creation menu or when sitting and watching the party standing still. This is annoying, because it drives the computer's fans up to insane levels.

 

What's the reason?

[crine]

I've returned to PoE 1.0.6 after taking a break due to the early bugs and patches ... and It's very high cpu usage for me, too, even in the character creation menu or when sitting and watching the party standing still. This is annoying, because it drives the computer's fans up to insane levels.

 

What's the reason?

Not wanting to be an alarmist but do these posts mean that if I run this game my computer/components could/will overheat and be harmed? If that is what could happen does anyone know how widespread it is so I can get an idea of how likely it is to affect me?

[Xaratas]

 

I've returned to PoE 1.0.6 after taking a break due to the early bugs and patches ... and It's very high cpu usage for me, too, even in the character creation menu or when sitting and watching the party standing still. This is annoying, because it drives the computer's fans up to insane levels.

 

What's the reason?

Not wanting to be an alarmist but do these posts mean that if I run this game my computer/components could/will overheat and be harmed? If that is what could happen does anyone know how widespread it is so I can get an idea of how likely it is to affect me?

 

To make it short: Cleaning dust (if any) from all fans and heatsinks (also from the power pack) helps alot. Modern PCs can not easily take damage from overheating because of the inbuild protection. The chips will throttle themself or issue a instant shutdown if they got to hot, but this is unlikly to occur there are very few (<3?) reports here in the forum.

[Merina]

Not wanting to be an alarmist but do these posts mean that if I run this game my computer/components could/will overheat and be harmed? If that is what could happen does anyone know how widespread it is so I can get an idea of how likely it is to affect me?

No idea... I agree with Xaratas that it could cause some temperature thresholds to get reached, leading to an emergency shutdown of the computer.

 

The character creation screen caused a high-end gaming machine (quad cpu, an expensive graphics card with two fans) to create noise and constant cpu usage of 60%. Reducing the max frame rate in PoE helped only a bit.

[AstralWanderer]

Not wanting to be an alarmist but do these posts mean that if I run this game my computer/components could/will overheat and be harmed? If that is what could happen does anyone know how widespread it is so I can get an idea of how likely it is to affect me?

PoE is far more demanding of CPU/GPU than a game of its type should be, but is no more likely to cause overheating than any other demanding game or application.

 

Computers should be designed with cooling effective enough to withstand extended periods of 100% utilisation, but there are situations where this doesn't apply (cost-cutting on a "big name" brand, excessive overclocking on a home/store-built system or dust/dirt reducing the effectiveness of heatsinks and fans on an older system).

 

The best approach therefore is to keep a regular check on temperatures - there are several programs that can do this and I would suggest CoreTemp (use these links for adware-free versions: 32-bit and 64-bit) to monitor CPU temperatures and MSI Afterburner to monitor GPU temperatues (MSI Afterburner can also control GPU fan speeds, so you can set it up to increase speeds as GPU temperatures pass certain values).

 

Once you have these temperature monitors installed and configured, test your system by running applications designed to put it under maximum load. For the CPU, I'd suggest the Torture Test facility of Prime95 (use the "small" or "in-place" options to max out CPU - the "blend" is intended more as a full system test) - leave that running for a few hours if possible and note the maximum temperature reported by CoreTemp. If it exceeds 80°C then CPU cooling needs improving (if it is overclocked, reduce the frequency - otherwise check that the heatsink is adequate, properly fitted and has a working fan).

 

After testing the CPU, test the GPU using a benchmark like Unigine Heaven - again, leave that running for a couple of hours and note the maximum temperature reported by MSI Afterburner. Again, if these exceed 80°C then cooling should be reviewed - in this case that might involve fitting extra fans in your case, replacing existing fans with more powerful ones - or consider a watercooling solution.