OpenArena and GPU overheating

[NeoGeo64]

It's really nice to have a game to play on Linux Mint.  I love it - I wish there were more games though.  On a side note, I used to play OA and my Linux computer would crash - the videocard only.  I looked at the chip sensors and it reported that, after a few minutes of playing OpenArena, my GPU core temperature was, like, 111C.  At idle my GPU was around 70C and even after watching YouTube my GPU would spike to around 90C or higher.  Sometimes even watching a YouTube video would make my GPU temperature go so high that my machine would automatically shut down to prevent damage.  Google Maps in 3D mode would cause a crash/shutdown along with gaming, such as playing OpenArena.  But -- I fixed it.

One day, after having enough of that shit, I opened up the Dell XPS 8700 and got an air compressor (an industrial sized one) and blasted air all over the internal components of the PC and dust flew out everywhere in huge clouds.  Now, at idle my GPU is around 38C and at a heavy load (after a four hour long OpenArena session) it's sitting at, like 48C.

There wasn't even *that much* dust in the fans and everywhere else.  But it was enough, I guess.  Thank God for Linux, by the way.  It's nice installing an operating system that includes all the software one needs and finishes installing in under 10 minutes.  Linux Mint is so much better than Windows 10.

I'll be a Linux user for life.  Windows sucks and it always will.

[fromhell]

So this is more of an anti-dust anecdote than a linux plug

you could also com_maxfps to an absurdedly low value like 16.

[Gig]

Excuse me, I haven't really understood the reason of this thread.

To sum up, you said something like "My pc used to get overheated whlile doing things like playing OpenArena, but also when playing Youtube videos etc. So I did open my PC and cleaned the dust it had in. Now everything is fine. Linux is good because allows me to read PC temperature.". Right?

I don't know how to reply with something useful for other users, except general advices such as:
- If your PC goes too hot, try cleaning its inside with an air compressor (even a small one will work).
- If you have a laptop, you may buy a laptop stand with fans to cool it down.
- If you are getting too hot in OpenArena, you may try having lower CPU load by checking com_busywait is set to 0 (default value) and that your com_maxfps is set to a framerate your machine can handly constantly, and lower it if necessary, and do not set it to 0. (see (DO NOT LINK) h t t p s : / / openarena . wikia . com/wiki/Manual/Graphic_options#Framerate and its sub-sections).
- If you want to know your PC sensors temperatures on Windows, one of your possible choices is Speedfan. It allows to also know about power voltages and HD S.M.A.R.T. attributes, and to set alarms if temperature goes over a certain level.

[NeoGeo64]

I was just so happy that I fixed the overheating I had to post a thread about it.  I was told a million different reasons why it'd be overheating including that Xorg drivers cause overheating.  I guess that's false.