Is your computer overheating?

[aculver]

I'd like to start a general survey about this wonderful plane causing computer overheating.

In my case it's a MacBook Pro, which gets hot with most any good x-plane aircraft, but so hot with this one that frame rates drop into the single digits (as Jan noted) and only an extended pause gets things back up for a while. Needless to say this makes the plane impossible to use on VATSIM.

This is such a good plane that I am considering buying a new computer, and would go back to a Windows box if overheating were less a problem than on, say, a new iMac.

SO: Mac, Windows or Linux, what are your experiences with overheating, and what are your recommendations for dealing with the problem?

Many thanks,

Andrew Culver

 

[sizziano]

No problems at all with overheating with this or any other addon or video game. Even while stress testing i barely get in the 80s on the CPU. This is with a 4790K at 4.9 and a 989Ti at stock speed in a midtower.

[aculver]

16 minutes ago, sizziano said:

No problems at all with overheating with this or any other addon or video game. Even while stress testing i barely get in the 80s on the CPU. This is with a 4790K at 4.9 and a 989Ti at stock speed in a midtower.

@sizziano thanks. Did you mean a 4790K at 4.0? I can't find a 4.9GHz anywhere. Also, do you have any extra cooling features in your mid-tower?

[poodster]

I don' have any problems at all with overheating. If I stress test my cpu, it's around 60 degrees celcius running at 4.1ghz with air cooler. (CPU is the I7 4770k)

 

[nigelmcelwee]

I don't have any issues cooling but then again I have a corsair hermetically sealed water cooler. Stays at 50c at full load on all cores stress test. Runs at about 40c in xplane. I'd recommend getting one. Easy to install and never needs maintenance since it's fully sealed

Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk

[sizziano]

@sizziano thanks. Did you mean a 4790K at 4.0? I can't find a 4.9GHz anywhere. Also, do you have any extra cooling features in your mid-tower?

It's the K model so it's overclocked to 4.9GHz with a Noctua DH-15. Other than that and a few extra case fans there is nothing else for cooling. The GPU has it's fans as well of course.

[cdu802]

I run an older 2013 iMac that is a little better than entry level.  I have no problems running this plane with decent frame rates provided I make some adaptations in how I use X-Plane such as daylight flying without metar weather.  While I know this limits me, at least I can use this plane at a reasonably respectable 30-40 fps.  I also have no problems with overheating using this plane--some others I do.  Maybe you can make some changes in how you use X-Plane as I've had to--at least until I've saved up enough to get my new iMac--the one with all the bells and whistles.

[Tom Knudsen]

http://www.macworld.co.uk/feature/mac/fix-overheating-macbook-3592266/ 

[Tchou]

on a 6700k Corei7 @ 4.5 GHz aircooled I get about 50°C under load and the max temp for today's flight is 77°C on an aircooled 980Ti (OC to 1420MHz) it's pretty warm in the room. 

No Thermal Throttling from CPU or GPU, as I had with my iMac 5K (90-95°C under load on x-plane with way less things turned on in the graphics settings). 

[Tchou]

6 hours ago, aculver said:

I'd like to start a general survey about this wonderful plane causing computer overheating.

In my case it's a MacBook Pro, which gets hot with most any good x-plane aircraft, but so hot with this one that frame rates drop into the single digits (as Jan noted) and only an extended pause gets things back up for a while. Needless to say this makes the plane impossible to use on VATSIM.

I would recommend you to open the case and Check the fans and heatsinks they might be clogged over time, you will find a step by step guide on iFixit.com showing you how to open the MBP and dismount the fans, I bet the heatsinks are dirty. 

[Ben Russell]

DO NOT OVERHEAT MAC BOOK PROS.

I have two GPU-melted systems to my name. They desolder from the boards and you end up with a lovely paper weight.

Go to absurd lengths to cool your machine. Run it on Dry Ice.

Both my machines were claimed by X-P.

 

You will kill your MBP, it's only a matter of time.

 

( I routinely clean my systems about every six months or on the very first heat crash.)

Edited May 16, 2016 by Ben Russell

[jonfrederickl]

On 5/16/2016 at 3:41 AM, Ben Russell said:

DO NOT OVERHEAT MAC BOOK PROS.

I have two GPU-melted systems to my name. They desolder from the boards and you end up with a lovely paper weight.

Go to absurd lengths to cool your machine. Run it on Dry Ice.

Both my machines were claimed by X-P.

 

You will kill your MBP, it's only a matter of time.

 

( I routinely clean my systems about every six months or on the very first heat crash.)

 

how do you clean your computer? I'm always seeing "don't use that" or "don't use this" on the web where everyone is contradicting each other. Guessing compressed air and some alcohol.

[mmerelles]

i do own 2 imacs for running xplane networked for a 130 FOV

 

One IMAC later 2013 m780 nvidia fully equipped, never had a temp issue with any addon/aircraft

One IMAC later 2014 retina 5k AMD295X fully equipped, during summertime where ambient temp raises fps goes up & down (the imac throttles the gpu back) and it also goes to sleep mode for a minute or two time to time until temp lowers and comes alive again.

 

After much researching and experiments i realized the FANs were kicking in quite late and low, presumably to make them quieter which causes the imac going sleep mode under heavy apps demands like xp. I have installed a free app FAN CONTROL, set the GPU DIODE temp as the trigger for kicking in the fans sooner and harder, haven't had any more issues on the past 6 month so far.

I do not know wether the extra usage of the fans may shorten their lives, the imac 5k 2014/amd gpu has certainly a design issue for apps very demanding like xplane. The 2013 imac has no issue to me. Do not know anything about the newer 2015 imac 5k.

 

Edited May 19, 2016 by mmerelles
misspelling

[Tchou]

I also have the first imac 5k with 295x optional gpu. I had throttling down but never the machine going to sleep.  It manages xplane alone so maybe it's less demanding. 

 

[aculver]

Here's a summary of what I have learned from this mini-survey so far:

First, thanks to everyone who has contributed. Keep those ideas and observations coming!

Conclusion 1: For X-Plane, cooling matters more than horsepower. If you were building a PC system, it would be more useful to put that last couple of hundred bucks into cooling than CPU or GPU speed -- because if things are overheating and then have to slow or shut down, or break, it doesn't matter how fast it says they are on the box. (However, some have very fast hardware and no special cooling, and all is well. Me? I'd definitely get liquid cooling.)

Conclusion 2: Macs, both MBPs and iMacs, have more overheating problems than PCs. This is probably obvious given the compactness that Apple favors, but it is also a factor of dust getting into small nooks and crannies. Mac owners running X-Plane should definitely become cleaning fanatics. (I plan on doing just that, and have ordered some P5 screwdrivers and compressed air to handle that -- I will report on my success when they arrive.)

Conclusion 3: The software Macs use to control the fans is too slow to respond to the sudden bursts of CPU, GPU, Power supply, and HDD demands that X-Plane puts on them. I bought a great piece of OSX software called TGPro -- Temperature Gauge Pro -- for $16 and set it to auto boost mode on the default settings. This means that whenever any of the dozens of heat sensors in a Mac rise above 80C, the fans jump up in a hurry. The result is a Mac noticeably cooler to the touch, and no frame rate drop. (Even my other Mac running my programming applications is benefitting from TGPro.) Of course, the fans will wear out sooner, but I figure that is better than something melting down.

I have been using, programming, and making music and film on computers for 33 years. I have never seen anything close to the demands that X_Plane puts on a computer. It's not just that things spike -- they go to max and stay there for a long time. The wonderful IXEG 737 seems to be the most demanding plane of all for me -- maybe because it is scripted, not coded in a lower level language like C or C++. Getting it to perform on a machine that handles it gracefully is a challenge. Well worth it though.

[Tchou]

cooling matters yes, that doesn't necessary means water cooling,

My machine is fully air cooled, but I did think it through and used selected parts for cooling. 

GPU is an ASUS STRIX with a big cooler, and i have a Noctua NH-D15 on the CPU which is in itself a beast. the case is a basic silent one (corsair) but with 4 14cm intake fans, to keep a positive pressure inside the case. 

The biggest heat producing element is the GPU peaking 74 to 80°C . And since I built this machine, I have completely shutdown the heating in the room, if i'm cold, i just have to do a few hours of flying. 

I think a lot of planes are scripted, Ixeg use Lua scripts with GIZMO, FF use also lua scripts ut with SASL, I guess it's the only way to build planes for xplane without being limited by the standard features and be able to program realistic behaviours. 

Edited May 19, 2016 by Tchou

[Tchou]

double post by mistake

Edited May 20, 2016 by Tchou