Warning: Overheating Video Cards

[kaynide]

Hi, this may or may not be a FFXIV thing, but figured it couldn't hurt to share information:

TL;DR, Update fried my dated video card, almost fried wife's.

TL version:

So, as soon as the update dropped, I started it up on my main PC and the video card FRIED. Overheated, burned out capacitors, electrical burn stink. The works. Maybe 15 minutes in game.

It's an older Geforce card (20xx series), so low-end-but-should-work. The Benchmark said we were well within "average".

I figured, hey, it's old.

Then, my wife's overheated (She also has a similar 20xx series card, slightly better than mine). It hasn't burned out, but it got blazing hot and eventually blue screened.

No other games give us this issue, and we have several that are comparable to FFXIV or run at higher settings no problem.

Be advised, but also it could just be coincidence. If anyone else is having similar problems feel free to add it here. Solutions if any, are welcome!

Note: I updated mine to a 4060 and it's running fine.

[Granyala]

TL;DR, Update fried my dated video card, almost fried wife's.

Depending on resolution, your card will run at maximum powerlevels.
My 3080 runs 100% @ 385W in 4K.

Make sure to keep your coolers clean, set your fan curves to something appropriately aggressive during summer and monitor your hardware's temperatures.

This is computing 101. You just learned this the hard way.

[kaynide]

Depending on resolution, your card will run at maximum powerlevels.
My 3080 runs 100% @ 385W in 4K.

Make sure to keep your coolers clean, set your fan curves to something appropriately aggressive during summer and monitor your hardware's temperatures.

This is computing 101. You just learned this the hard way.

I mean this is a lot of assuming;

2 regularly cleaned/maintained PCs run FFXIV fine at mid-low spec, install DT Update, video cards overheat at low-low spec.

We have cats; we clean out our PCs like once a month for dust. It's not an issue of lack-of-knowledge.

There were zero problems pre-DT.

There ARE zero problems running other games at medium-low spec (I would say the "newest" being Horizon Forbidden West).

We are not running anything even remotely high-spec'd or 4k.

-that said I'm not saying this isn't my fault- it could 1000% just be old hardware and bad timing. It could just be we were hanging on by a thread pre-DT, and now the old cards are just not minimum spec.

[Granyala]

I mean this is a lot of assuming;

2 regularly cleaned/maintained PCs run FFXIV fine at mid-low spec, install DT Update, video cards overheat at low-low spec.

Videocards don't overheat out of nothing, though what worries me is that you described a burnt smell.
That usually does not happen when a card dies to overheating (especially newer models that just clock themselves down).

You should assess the health power supply as well. It's possible that it was overtaxed, if it was a cheap one and doesn't have the proper protective circuitry.

Alternatively, limit the gpu's power level.

FPS cap is easier to implement for the average user and pretty much achieves the same result.
Provided you do not choose a resolution/FPS scenario that maxes out/overtaxes your card.

The thing people in these situations don't want to hear, is that there is simply no way for a properly cooled and well ventilated PC to overheat. Components are designed to run at 100% load for prolonged periods of time. The game is more taxing than it has ever been, yes but that is very much a user issue.

Technically: yes.
Practically: no.

I don't think monitoring the temperatures during full screen 3D applications is something the average user does. Also: repasting a card, while not difficult to do for the people so inclined is WELL beyond what is reasonable to expect of the average joe.

If a card turns non-functional because the manufacturer skimped on 2$ worth of heat transfer compound... that's not a user issue.

Yeah always cap it to monitors cap in the GPU's setting directly. Had certain cases (Crash 4 ) where the LOADING SCREEN of all things would tell the gpu to go full force netting me 400 fps 100% gpu usage and massive coil whine...

IIRC New Worlds from Amazon could actually REALLY fry GPUs due to no FPS limit in the menus. :'D

Did you monitor your GPU temperature before that including hot spot?
DT is demanding and sometimes can use 100% of 20 series GPU.

Not just 20 series. My 3080 is taxed 100% in 4K 60FPS and reaches Hot-Spot temperatures of 80°C on a custom loop setup.
Granted, it's summer and my room ambient is at 30°C as well but still.

FF-XIV now needs to be taken more seriously on the hardware front.

Except VRAM.... 4GB usage in Tuliyollal, lul.

[kaynide]

Videocards don't overheat out of nothing, though what worries me is that you described a burnt smell.
That usually does not happen when a card dies to overheating (especially newer models that just clock themselves down).

You should assess the health power supply as well. It's possible that it was overtaxed, if it was a cheap one and doesn't have the proper protective circuitry.

That's a good call;
We've had the two PCs since ARR launch and kept them in good condition, although obviously they're not tip top condition because wear and tear.

The actual power supply interior is a place I can't easily clean so it could very well have cat hair or whatever from 10+ years of use. I'll be looking into that. Thanks!

Not sure about the heat transfer compound as it was put together by a local PC shop...but with10 years good I'd like to think they did right, but I'm also leaning towards it doesn't matter how clean I think I'm being because there will always be random bits of hair/dust that I just couldn't see/notice.

[Granyala]

The actual power supply interior is a place I can't easily clean so it could very well have cat hair or whatever from 10+ years of use. I'll be looking into that. Thanks!

DO NOT OPEN YOUR POWER SUPPLY unless you are an engineer and know what you are doing!
Even plugged out it has rather large capacitors and there is still a possibility of electric shock.

Random dust/hair will always be present and should not be the culprit. Even my computer has some dust bunnies in there.
As long as the fins of the coolers / intake filters aren't clogged and the fans are spinning appropriately, you are good.

There is the possibility of HTC degradation, in order to find out, grab Hardware info and Furmark. Stress the system for a while and observe the temperatures. Both CPU and GPU should stay below 80°C at all times.

I know modern stuff can reach 100°C safely but I have never been comfortable with that for extended use.

Hihihi, that's the reason why i love the FF14 benchmark as an instability test. Because it can spoil issues, which other tests don't.

Wouldn't Furmark be a lot easier? It can even test stability of power delivery by maxing out CPU & GPU at the same time.

RTX20 is a 2018-2019 video card. Not THAT OLD.

Probably you were using DLSS + high level of shadow softening + perhaps NO lod. In short the AI part was working like crazy, and a entry level GPU card has not enough tensor core.

My advice is to let geforce experience decide the best for you, add a FPS limit (always a good idea) and if it is still overheating remove the other shadows.

Again: a GPU should not overheat even if it is pegged at 100% use. Just employing arbitrary limits is a band-aid fix. He needs to assess the root cause of the instability.

[GrizzlyTank]

Depending on resolution, your card will run at maximum powerlevels.
My 3080 runs 100% @ 385W in 4K.

Make sure to keep your coolers clean, set your fan curves to something appropriately aggressive during summer and monitor your hardware's temperatures.

This is computing 101. You just learned this the hard way.

Alternatively, limit the gpu's power level. Had some issues with coil whine on mine which was resolved by gutting it's power consumption by... 40%. And now i can still play most game in a fairly silent fan system without any issues.

3060 with i5-10600k.

[Raven2014]

I have my 7900XTX for a years now, and I can confirm this is the very first game that kick the fans into a override.

[Edelgarde]

This is why despite having a really high end PC, I still limit my fps to 100 only. Don't need anymore than that. The more you overwork your PC, the faster your components will die.

[Rekh]

Hopefully they look into this. In the end we also have to put card manufacturer's in this equation; a lot of them have really bad cooling designs; looking at you EVGA (though they no longer make cards). I personally recommend Gigabyte cards, those dudes over there really know how to make quality stuff.

I agree with OP, make sure to monitor your GPU temps; not just in xiv but in all games. But even more important than that, make sure to update your graphics drivers before you play any new game or new expansion; that will usually prevent some weird GPU operations in specific games as well.

This is why despite having a really high end PC, I still limit my fps to 100 only. Don't need anymore than that. The more you overwork your PC, the faster your components will die.

Specially with xiv with all the particle effects.