Old games with "newer" PC

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Z

Ztraider

Reputable
May 13, 2014
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4,510
Hello all,

First of my PC specs:
AMD Phenom II x2 550 3.10 GHz
ATI RADEON 5450 1GB DDR3 passive cooling
2GB DDR3 RAM
Windows 7 Ultimate 32-bit

I've been trying to play old games like baldurs gate, majesty HD gold, planescape torment, settlers 3 and that type of old games from GoG (good old games website) and they all use 50% of CPU no matter how many cores or compatibility mode I use. Problem is that my CPU temp. jumps to 93°C (200F) and graphics card temp. is normal temp (58-60C) without it being used in those games, it is idle.
If I try newer games like past 2008 till today CPU max temp is around 7x and graphics card around 7x-80 which is normal for this setup, but in old games only CPU is being used which causes temps of it to go high. Even in Dragon Age: Origins that is known to use 100% CPU on dual cores I had normal temperatures. Is there anyway to balance the CPU and GPU usage in old games? GPU drivers are up to date.
 
Solution
V
Just so you know, anything from the 16bit era will and MUST run on DOS emulation, as current CPUs completely lack the instruction sets that were used at the time (and I highly doubt a reseller would get down and dirty with porting game code they don't even own).

AFAIK most of their games run over a customized DOSBox or equivalent, and as per temperature, that 50% usage might be related to just one of your two cores being used constantly at 100% workload. There's kinda no way to fix that, but I'm not much into abandonware, so someone else more knowledgeable might know a way. For me, DOSBox works as a single-core DOS machine emulator, so you can't do anything. If cpu's idle temp is around 30s already, there's really nothing IMO...
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Vynavill

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Nov 30, 2013
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well, the game is not really your problem. having a 60c idle is already a problem. for most cpu, idle temps are in the 30's
Click to expand...
That's valid for Intel CPUs on a clean aftermarket cooler; AMDs have a slightly higher idle temp averagely. Even so, those 60 degrees are the idle temp of the gpu, from what I've understood...

Still, 60 degrees is too much for an idle temp, even for the gpu. Is your PC clean from dust? How is the airflow?
Edit: just noticed I missed the part saying "passive cooling"; gpu temps are ok then, but the two questions above still apply for cpu.
 
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Z

Ztraider

Reputable
May 13, 2014
6
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4,510


No, its directly from GoG website which is kinda optimized for newer systems.



60c is on my GPU that has passive cooling, this temperature was always like this on it. and CPU in idle is around 3x C

And my PC is clean from dust. I clean it every few months, it is just that these old games are causing me problems.

 
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Cristi72

Cristi72

Admirable
Jun 25, 2014
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Hello,

Please check if the CPU's cooler is properly installed, change also the thermal compound and reseat the cooler. The temperature is way too high for the Phenoms, they should top around 70 C at 100% usage, so if your CPU has already 93 C for only 50% usage denotes something happened with the cooler.
 
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V

Vynavill

Honorable
Nov 30, 2013
1,555
0
12,460
Just so you know, anything from the 16bit era will and MUST run on DOS emulation, as current CPUs completely lack the instruction sets that were used at the time (and I highly doubt a reseller would get down and dirty with porting game code they don't even own).

AFAIK most of their games run over a customized DOSBox or equivalent, and as per temperature, that 50% usage might be related to just one of your two cores being used constantly at 100% workload. There's kinda no way to fix that, but I'm not much into abandonware, so someone else more knowledgeable might know a way. For me, DOSBox works as a single-core DOS machine emulator, so you can't do anything. If cpu's idle temp is around 30s already, there's really nothing IMO...
 
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Solution
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Joseph DeGarmo

Honorable
Mar 12, 2014
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10,960
Emulators using just one core is the real issue here. The problem should not be quite as bad if running a CPU with a high clock speed, such as an FX-8350, i7-4790k, or heavily-overclocked i5-4690k. An i7-4790k running 35°C idle on a budget aftermarket cooler is one thing, but 60°C idle for an AMD CPU on a stock cooler is seriously asking for trouble. Try getting a liquid cooler and overclocking the hell out of the CPU, or just plain upgrade to one of the CPUs I mentioned earlier.
 
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