Problems playing civ 4 on my MBP

[moridin01]

After a few hours of playing civ 4 warlords, my MBP was extremely hot and suddenly, the cities and resource locations turned black while the rest of the game played on fine. My friend who gave me the game told me that it was a problem of my graphics card and the game would be playable once my comp cooled. Now I don't know if games generally **** up like that or no but I would like to know whether it is a problem with the game or the MBP or if it is no problem, just a way of life.

I also play an emulater on my comp (pokemon fire red cause that's what all uni students do right? ) and it gets to about 80 degrees celius really quick. Should I be worried or no? Finally, should I install fancontrol if I am doing things like that on my MBP?

 

[justaregularjoe]

Please post the spec of your machine so we can help you troubleshoot?

 

[miles01110]

After a few hours of playing civ 4 warlords, my MBP was extremely hot and suddenly, the cities and resource locations turned black while the rest of the game played on fine.

That happened to me too, especially when your civ gets really big and you have a lot of units. Restarting the game usually fixes it.

 

[moridin01]

sorry, im not very good with comps so I hope this info helps. It's a general macbook pro 13 inch that I bought this summer (unfortunately) a week before snow leopard came out. This is what I found in "about this mac" on my finder. if any other info is needed, tell me where to find it.

Model Name: MacBook Pro
Model Identifier: MacBookPro5,5
Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Duo
Processor Speed: 2.26 GHz
Number Of Processors: 1
Total Number Of Cores: 2
L2 Cache: 3 MB
Memory: 2 GB
Bus Speed: 1.07 GHz
Boot ROM Version: MBP55.00AC.B03
SMC Version (system): 1.47f2





also, I play civ 4 with like 7 AIs. Would a smaller number of opponents stop that from happening? Also, is it a problem with the game? Finally, is any permanent damage being caused to my mac?

 

[miles01110]

also, I play civ 4 with like 7 AIs. Would a smaller number of opponents stop that from happening? Also, is it a problem with the game? Finally, is any permanent damage being caused to my mac?

I think it's a game problem. Using a smaller number of civs would only delay the inevitable. Don't think there's any permanent damage.

 

[snaky69]

When graphics cards overheat they tend to downclock themselves so they don't burn up. I think this may be happening.

Fan control should come from the factory, apple's stock settings suck. My fans spin at 1000rpm at idle or mild use and ramp up extremely fast with the settings I'm using.

 

[moridin01]

my comp was at 80 degrees celcius with my fan at 2600. Now it's 60 degrees and fan's at 1990. That is whatever the factory set it to. Is this good enough or too slow?

 

[snaky69]

my comp was at 80 degrees celcius with my fan at 2600. Now it's 60 degrees and fan's at 1990. That is whatever the factory set it to. Is this good enough or too slow?

That's too slow in my opinion. Apple set their fans to kick into high gear at the very last second to keep noise level down and battery life up.

Which is why I use fan control. I never do anything processor intensive on the battery, and when I'm plugged in I want my comp to stay cool.

I have my minimum fan speed set at 1000rpm, which means the computer is nearly silent when idle, it starts ramping up slowly by 50 degrees celcius, and reaches maximum fan speed(6000rpm) at 85 celcius. Since my fans kick on earlier it never has a chance to reach max speed.

 

[vant]

Download smcFanControl and set your fans preemptively fast. Not max, but like 1000RPM away from max.

The laptop should last longer, but this will just prevent the inevitable.

Another option is to vacuum your heat sink if you feel like taking apart your computer. Dust can heat up your computer insanely quick.

If you feel really ballsy, you can attempt to replace the thermal grease between your GPU and CPU.