Laptop Seizing Up

[Brennis]

My Dell Inspiron L502 (Specs below in the FF System Specifications format, but to summarize NVIDIA 540M, 8 GB Ram, Windows 7 x64 Pro, Intel Core i7-2720QM CPU@2.20 GHz) keeps seizing up, to the point of not allowing alt-ctrl-del or alt-tab input to attempt to terminate the process without physically restarting the system (on about 5 occasions, it resulted in a BSOD). This occurs regularly in Haukke Manor, on chocobos, and while attempting leves. After extensive analysis (since Beta 3!) of this phenomenon, running speedfan in the background while playing this vs other games (Planetside 2, Skyrim, etc.), I do not think it is heat related, as the heat profile is largely similar (and its peak temperature/sustained high in FFXIV:ARR is lower than in other products.) Heat graph is available below for those who desire such data. I have tried running both on default Laptop (standard) and with further customization to reduce graphics load. My benchmark score for Laptop (high) was in the 8000-9000 range (differed based on attempt/other background processes/etc.) I have tried with PhysX on GPU, and with PhysX on CPU. It seems to be a problem unique to this game in my experience, and there does not seem to be a logical reason for it. The event is such that it terminates processes in such a way as to not leave a windows error code until the restart (except, of course, when it proceeds to the full bsod, in which case it is the standard bsod error code.) Memtest, chkdisk, dxdiag, and sfc /scannow all show perfectly clean.



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FINAL FANTASY XIV: A Realm Reborn
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[Dragonbait]

You are running very hot!
Intel CPU's auto shut down at 100 degrees to prevent damage, you're only 3 degrees off that.
You don't want a cpu running much over the low 70's.

[Pygar]

Well documented problems with ALL Nvidia drivers for the past 6 months now. Every driver past 314.22 has these problems being reported...

https://forums.geforce.com/default/b...force-drivers/ (Loads of threads in there covering all the same problems or related problems, read the beta driver feeback thread for a summary of all the problems regardless of beta drivers)

Your best bet is to completely uninstall your drivers and install 314.22, since they are the last known driver release to not show this problem at all. Here's the bigger bummer (than 6month old drivers), There's a good likelyhood, that whatever exists in post 314.22 drivers will not get uninstalled properly and the only way to "ensure" a stable platform is a complete clean OS install with only 314.22 installed.

I had the exact same problems on two machines and only 314.22 drivers cleared it up. One needed a clean install the other was ok just with a driver uninstall.

[Brennis]

While I appreciate your feedback (and run my system on a pair of cooling fans for this very reason), sustained temperatures in the 95-98 C range are not at all uncommon for the CPU on this system (and no, I don't overclock). I take it apart for a solid de-dust about every 3 months, but find it to be typically "clean" and not running any cooler after this process. This is an ongoing problem I've seen with Dell gaming laptops (including Alienwares), but does not typically impact system performance (I have never had an actual heat-related shut-off.)

[worldofneil]

sustained temperatures in the 95-98 C range are not at all uncommon for the CPU on this system

Your problems are without a doubt heat related. As Dragonbait already said further up this thread, the maximum temperature for this processor is 100 degrees. For confirmation of this see Intel's page:

http://ark.intel.com/products/50067/

Scroll down to the T-junction value. De-dusting alone isn't necessary going to fix it, you might need replacement (more efficient) fans, or possibly carefully removing the heatsink from the CPU, cleaning/changing the thermal paste between them and reconnecting the heatsink. Overtime that thermal paste gets less effective and needs replacing. I just changed mine on my desktop after 4 years (I'd been neglecting it) and it took my idle temperature down a whopping 20 degrees!

Also, turning off when it overheats isn't guaranteed. You're right in that the processor SHOULD turn off if it overheats, but all that heat in there is possibly overheating another component which is causing the lockup. Get the temperature down and you'll likely fix your issues. Changing the graphics quality down is probably the quickest fix.

[Mowbray]

This is an obvious heat issue. You should be careful not to let this happen to much, because you may just fry your processor out. They aren't made to over heat multiple times without being damaged.

Try lowering you in game Graphics settings to low and go from there. test at low and work up to what doesn't overheat it.

If the laptop is a few years old it wouldn't hurt to disassemble and clean the fan out good, I have had many friends who had me clean theirs because of overheating issues. Its amazing how much crap gets stuck in that single fan in a laptop. You can generally youtube a disassembly video for most laptop models and see how to disassemble and clean it properly. If not comfortable doing it yourself, seek a professional.


Link for your laptop cleaning http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=74BVvlWcbSU

[Brennis]

FINALLY managed to get logged in again, having rolled back my NVIDIA drivers to 314.22 and set my CPU to not do the Intel TurboBoost thing (which reduces the heat and just makes it difficult to multitask from in-game). Crashed after playing ~30 minutes (the below temperature log shows the entire time I was attempting to log in.) Again, no background processes other than SpeedFan. Again, froze up, stopped responding to input devices, had to be restarted. As you can see, heat does not seem to be a contributory issue. Does anybody have any feedback that does not involve "clean out your fans and fix your thermal paste", as temperature is a completely controllable factor in this case and does not result in a playable game. Spending 5 hours trying to log in, only to have it "bug out" after 20 minutes, to spend another 5 hours trying to get in doesn't make for a playable game!

[edgefu]

FINALLY managed to get logged in again, having rolled back my NVIDIA drivers to 314.22 and set my CPU to not do the Intel TurboBoost thing (which reduces the heat and just makes it difficult to multitask from in-game). Crashed after playing ~30 minutes (the below temperature log shows the entire time I was attempting to log in.) Again, no background processes other than SpeedFan. Again, froze up, stopped responding to input devices, had to be restarted. As you can see, heat does not seem to be a contributory issue. Does anybody have any feedback that does not involve "clean out your fans and fix your thermal paste", as temperature is a completely controllable factor in this case and does not result in a playable game. Spending 5 hours trying to log in, only to have it "bug out" after 20 minutes, to spend another 5 hours trying to get in doesn't make for a playable game!

I can make one of those in Excel too.

[SionnachFox]

try putting an ice pad under it, haha j/k. I R GRUNT

[Brennis]

I can make one of those in Excel too.

Would you like my original SpeedFan file? Or take a Dell system and go into the BIOS to turn off the Intel TurboBoost mode, and observe the effect for yourself Point is, I reduced the heat, rolled back the graphics drivers to the suggested ones, and am still having this problem. (The AppCrash file from the crashes that were "recoverable" is also available, but those don't bother me as much as the ones that can't be alt-tabbed/alt-ctrl-del.) Is anybody else having problems with the software simply crashing out? Is anybody else running a similar system configuration and NOT having problems with the software crashing out?