Ways to reduce the graphical intensity of KSP?

[csch2]

Hey guys,

Recently my graphics card has started overheating and crashing my computer. I can't afford to buy a new fan and heatsink for the card right now, so I'm trying to work around it so I can continue to play KSP and other games. I've reduced the graphics settings in-game to as low as they can possibly go, and I've limited the FPS to about 23, but I'm still getting crashes when the card reaches around 108°C. Mostly the card overheats when the camera is focused on a planet or moon. Any advice on ways to reduce the graphical intensity of KSP in any ways outside of the main game's settings and FPS limiting, including any add-ons or outside programs, until I can afford a new fan?

[Rath]

KSP doesn't do that much with the graphics card.  It might be another issue.  Or you could jury-rig some cooling. 

[Voyageur]

1 hour ago, Rath said:

KSP doesn't do that much with the graphics card.  It might be another issue.  Or you could jury-rig some cooling. 

I met the jury-rig of all jury-rigs not too long ago. Dude put out the "I just got done making moonshine in the Smokey Mountains" vibe, and that's exactly what was portrayed by his cooling setup. He custom-made a cooling system comprised of a car radiator, PVC pipe fittings, and a few square fans you would buy from WalMart as a last resort during an unexpectedly hot summer week. He lived in Alaska and I met him where I'm currently at, and he said that when it's extra cold out he can really crank up the cooling power by sticking the radiator outside on his porch with the fans blowing on it. The pictures were insane. 

[seaces]

Did you open your PC to check the card? Maybe your card and PC case is too dirty and dusty?

[Tex_NL]

55 minutes ago, seaces said:

Did you open your PC to check the card? Maybe your card and PC case is too dirty and dusty?

That was pretty much my exact first thought.

But don't just clean the fan and heat sink for both CPU and GPU. Also check case fans. If no clean air can enter/exit the case it will become an oven no matter how clean the CPU/GPU is.

[seaces]

4 hours ago, Tex_NL said:

That was pretty much my exact first thought.

But don't just clean the fan and heat sink for both CPU and GPU. Also check case fans. If no clean air can enter/exit the case it will become an oven no matter how clean the CPU/GPU is.

Agree, also if you are not sure what are you doing/touching better check YT and Google

[Deddly]

You could also try forcing KSP to run on Integrated graphics, bypassing the Graphics card altogether.

[sal_vager]

Hi @csch2, sorry to hear you're having heat issues.

From the information you have provided so far I'd suggest that you stop trying to run 3D software with the graphics card in this condition as you risk damaging it, it sounds like it's not being cooled at all.

It might help us if we knew what card you are using, it's unusual for a graphics card fan to go bad unless it's very old, as seaces and Tex_NL suggest make sure there's no dust (or pet hair) in the fan and heat sink, as well as the case fans and the vents into and out of the PC, the power supply extractor vent can be blocked, causing everything in the PC to overheat.

Make sure all the fans turn with your finger (with the PC off) and that they all turn under their own power with the PC on, and that no cables are touching them preventing them from working, fans that turn slowly may need their connectors checked to make sure they have good contact, any fans that won't turn should be replaced.

In my experience it's a waste of effort to repair a worn out fan motor or bearing, they are not designed for maintenance and require tiny amounts of special purpose lubricants.

The heatsinks themselves are usually fine unless clogged with dust and debris, but with very old PC's the thermal paste between the CPU or GPU and the fans can perish and crack, if the fan is working and both it and the heatsink are clean but it still overheats it's likely the thermal paste, and that can be a very cheap repair, new thermal paste comes with instructions and a tool to spread it around and isn't hard to do, just don't leave the old paste on the parts.

 

Edit:

20 hours ago, csch2 said:

my graphics card fan has stopped working and the card is now overheating and crashing at about 108°C

Seriously, do not run any 3D stuff, there's a risk that you can wreck the graphics card, even 2D stuff will cause it to heat up with nowhere for that heat to go.

There is nothing you can do to KSP to stop it overheating, any 3D geometry maths or texture rendering will generate heat that can't be dispersed with a broken fan.

 

[Tex_NL]

49 minutes ago, sal_vager said:

the power supply extractor vent can be blocked

Yes, that too. I forgot to mention the power supply.

Reminds me of a funny story from 10-15 years ago.
I had my brother over and was showing him something on my PC. He works in electrical engineering so he's very familiar with the smell. "Your PC smells like fried circuit board" he stated. He had barely finished his words when my power supply literally exploded with a loud bang. Blowing the circuit breakers and plunging my home into darkness. The fan had ceased from dust and muck.

[Mr. Peabody]

20 hours ago, csch2 said:

Recently my graphics card has started overheating and crashing my computer.

I had a problem similar to this a while back. My CPU was beginning overheat when running KSP and the protection system would automatically crash stop the computer to prevent it from being damaged. I suggest you select a higher performance power plan and if your computer is a laptop and your cooling fan is on the bottom of the computer I suggest you raise the computer up on a thick book or something similar to allow proper cooling when running KSP.

[cantab]

Reduce? Yeesh. KSP is already extremely light on graphics for a modern 3D game.

Just fix your dang PC. Whatever jury rig bodge job MacGuyver you gotta do, just get those temps back down. Open the case and point a desk fan at it if you have to.

[Rath]

22 hours ago, Voyageur said:

I met the jury-rig of all jury-rigs not too long ago. Dude put out the "I just got done making moonshine in the Smokey Mountains" vibe, and that's exactly what was portrayed by his cooling setup. He custom-made a cooling system comprised of a car radiator, PVC pipe fittings, and a few square fans you would buy from WalMart as a last resort during an unexpectedly hot sumer week. He lived in Alaska and I met him where I'm currently at, and he said that when it's extra cold out he can really crank up the cooling power by sticking the radiator outside on his porch with the fans blowing on it. The pictures were insane. 

Wow.  My friends cousin did it with a garden hose and some little hydraulic pipes.  He had to run the hose through the mailbox to attach it to the outdoor hose when he was evicted cause he spent all his money on a PC crashed at my friends house.  A random homeless guy came and cut it to steal as much of it as possible.  He repaired it by buying some of those metal bendy pipes under your sink in the uncut version and now has a 50m armored cooling system.

[csch2]

Thanks for all the advice, guys.

I have already cleaned out any dust inside the case twice now, and it doesn't seem to be helping too much. And it's only the GPU overheating (it's an NVIDIA GeForce GT 610), not anything else. The CPU is at a cool 20°C. I will take @sal_vager's advice, though; until I can get it fixed I'm just going to lay off KSP. If I can't afford a new fan a new graphics card is even more out of my budget   I'll reopen the case and check everything again once I have a little time to spare. Thanks again everybody.

[Voyageur]

49 minutes ago, Rath said:

Wow.  My friends cousin did it with a garden hose and some little hydraulic pipes.  He had to run the hose through the mailbox to attach it to the outdoor hose when he was evicted cause he spent all his money on a PC crashed at my friends house.  A random homeless guy came and cut it to steal as much of it as possible.  He repaired it by buying some of those metal bendy pipes under your sink in the uncut version and now has a 50m armored cooling system.

Lost it at "armored cooling system" lmao. Steel braid hose?

[Rath]

15 hours ago, Voyageur said:

Lost it at "armored cooling system" lmao. Steel braid hose?

Yeah.

[Kerbal101]

On 26.02.2017 at 8:43 AM, csch2 said:

Thanks for all the advice, guys.

I have already cleaned out any dust inside the case twice now, and it doesn't seem to be helping too much. And it's only the GPU overheating (it's an NVIDIA GeForce GT 610), not anything else. The CPU is at a cool 20°C. I will take @sal_vager's advice, though; until I can get it fixed I'm just going to lay off KSP. If I can't afford a new fan a new graphics card is even more out of my budget   I'll reopen the case and check everything again once I have a little time to spare. Thanks again everybody.

Slap a 80mm fan on top of the heatsink, attach it with plastic/cable straps, plug it into 5v molex. Done!