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Mrazerty
26-02-2008, 03:39 PM
Sometimes when I play certain Dos games, the ventilation in my computer suddenly starts working like hell!! Why is that? I even experience it with Dosbox and modernised remakes of dosgames! :(

EDIT: In most cases (which still doesn't mean always) opening my window helps. But it's still pretty odd.

The Fifth Horseman
26-02-2008, 03:58 PM
Check your CPU usage and temperature graphs.
It's likely your machine has some sort of fan speed control configured in BIOS and the fans kick in to full speed once your CPU reaches a certain temperature.

Japo
26-02-2008, 05:19 PM
In DOSBox, decrease the cycles (Ctrl+F11) if it doesn't make the game slow down. As for amateur games, they're usually designed for ease of coding instead of optimization so it's normal they spend much horsepower even if they're graphically not great.

The Coop
26-02-2008, 07:52 PM
Sounds like DOSBox is running full tilt, causing your CPU to get hot, which kicks the cooling fan for it into high gear. As TFH suggested, bring up your CPU usage graph (Ctrl+Alt+Delete), and under the "Performance" tab, see how much DOSBox is using in the "CPU Usage" line. If you have a single core CPU, see how close it is to 100%. If it's a hyperthreading CPU, see how close to 50% it is. If it gets close to those numbers often, then there is why your cooling fan is cranking up.


Just out of curiosity, when was the last time you gave the inside of your PC a cleaning? If it's been a while, there's probably dust collecting in there that's causing your CPU to heat up quicker than normal. Might wanna give it a cleaning if that's the case.

Mrazerty
26-02-2008, 07:58 PM
I'm trying to run Duke3D for modern computers. So it's not an amateur game and I don't have to use Dosbox!

dosraider
26-02-2008, 08:06 PM
Check if your heatsinks aren't dirty, fans, power supply.....
My PC needs a cleanup every year (I'm a smoker ....... bad me :amused:)

Close your window and let your fridge open. :nuts:

Eagle of Fire
26-02-2008, 08:12 PM
What do you mean by "like hell"?

If you have a computer with variable fan speed, you have a pretty recent computer. Chances are that the "like hell" setting is the setting my 4 year old computer have by default and which never change. ;)

Scatty
26-02-2008, 08:14 PM
Close your window and let your fridge open. :nuts:
Why not instantly moving to North Pole instead? :worried:

The Fifth Horseman
27-02-2008, 12:38 PM
Of course, there is also a chance your fans simply need oiling - a mixture of silicon grease and machine oil applied to the axle may fix them up just fine.