News StarCraft 2 doesn't limit framerates

I heard about the reason for a lack of AA being they use a deferred renderer. Since you seem quite knowledgable on the subject, I don't suppose you know of anywhere I might find a decent explanation of why Starcraft doesn't have AA (obviously incorporating some info on deferred rendering, mutiple render targets etc).

I would just scout google or wikipedia, but they are hard to find exactly the information you need.

 

Coolers aren't shite, they work just fine in normal operating conditions. Bench stress testing and bad programming lead to higher temps than normal operation. Failsafes temperature triggers are too high, thats where the issue is.

 

My guess is that during the menus it is running at a 2D clock and fan speed and for some reason the GPU software doesn't spin the fan up with a temperature increase. Most people who install vendor programs that dynamically increase fan speed with temperature will be ok. Those who set high constant fan speeds will also be fine.

 

Doubt 2d speeds would fry a card. Moreover is this really happening in the menus or was that just an example in this thread?

All that was stated was "Screens that are light on detail"

 

Wow... where have all the real computer enthusiast gone.

Is the internet just full of noobs these days?

I think those of you that don't understand a computer needs cooling should really just stick to consoles and leave the PC scene for those of us that know what we are doing.

 

care to explain why Starcraft 2 Beta has Anti-Aliasing option?

 

Update:

Im an idiot, after updating CCC and reinstalling afterburner my fan curve was disabled and set to default... Haha back to normal temps now, definately user error. Whoops.

 

I have to agree with the general sentiment that this isn't blizzard's fault. As someone who has done quite a bit of graphics programming, I can tell you, there's really nothing you can do purposely or otherwise that should cause a graphics card to overheat. If you application runs at a high framerate, that means you AREN'T asking the graphics card to do very much work, the graphics drivers should take care of how it behaves when being underutilised during the individual cycles of the main loop.

 

Woah! Hold on a minute. So you're saying that the reason these cards are fried is because the owners are incompetent? That's a total elitist attitude you have there and it's what puts people off buying or tinkering with their PC's. An average user shouldn't have to have an in depth understanding of how to monitor and manage their temps in order to play games.

If everyone had the the attitude you do then joe average wouldn't be buying and building PC's and would defiantly buy a console instead. Which would lead to PC game publishers releasing less and less games and sticking to console only releases.

It's up to the manufacturers to worry about these problems not the users.

I have no understanding of how a car works. If my engine is running too hot and it blows then it's my fault? I get what I deserve? Rubbish!

 

it's your fault for not monitoring engine temperature gauge, (graphics card temperature) and for not properly maintaining coolant levels. (clear out dust in your computer case, maintain suitable fan control)

 

He never said that. He said those that don't understand a PC needs cooling, not those that don't understand cooling itself. Frankly, I agree with him entirely. There should be no situation based entirely on coding where a GPU can fry itself. If there is anything you can do, be it certain prgrams or certain software conditions, that cause your GPU to fry, then, well, it is unstable and it is the manufacturers fault.

Sure, in this case it has only come to light because of an oversight in the coding, but it isn't the codings fault that the card can not handle any and all conditions it could face.

 

I agree with what your saying. These are things you should be checking on a regular basis. I do all of the above to my car and PC. However the point I'm making is that if my engine/GPU was defective because of poor manufacturing/poor cooling then I shouldn't have to keep a closer eye on my temps because of it.

 

Fair enough I misread the post slightly. But still, why should a user have to be aware of cooling? Current gen consoles need cooling too and nobody goes on about it. Even though it's obvious that the xbox360 had a poor cooling system which led to all the fried consoles. Again it was manufacturing issues not the users fault.

 

And cars actually give warnings. GPUs don't by default, they're supposed to throttle down! I said it before, it happened with furmark and ATI a few months ago. It's a driver/firmware issue. Cooling is not the issue, the cards here are pushed to the extreme (for bad reasons) and the driver/firmware failed to protect the card.

 

that is true, a situation i can think of is 48x0 VRM dies when running Furmark.

but Starcraft 2 taxes the actual GPU chip heavily, and the GPU chip has a huge heatsink on top of it, so surely it should never kill the GPU is there is no dust/fan problem.

 

Sorry if I came off as elitist but it needs to be said. PCs are complex electronic devices that require regular maintenance just like cars as many have said in here. Just because people are ignorant to the inner workings of a PC doesn't give you an excuse. I 100% agree with if its a manufacturing defect in the stock cooler they are at fault.

Ignorance is not bliss when it comes to PCs because it means lost or damaged hardware. If your parents are footing the bill its whatever but for those of us that build our own that is unacceptable.

Some of you are obviously new to this game. GPU's have steadily gotten hotter and pulling more watts every generation at the top end. You might want to start paying attention now!

 

But as TAG said your graphics drivers should then kick into life and protect the card if it's overheating. Even if your PC was as clean as a whistle it might still overheat if the cooler/GPU was defective and not keeping up with the heat dissipation.

 

Thats what the whole post was about! Shoddy cards/coolers/graphics drivers which have been exposed through a bug in a game. It wasn't about people not being clued up on PC's and how to maintain them. I don't believe people are being ignorant. Some just either don't want to learn this as they have other interests or they can't understand it. Most people that fall into this category wouldn't be building their own PC's. They would be bought from a PC vendor which uses all stock cooling.

Bah! I wish my parents would foot the bill for my upgrades! I do agree with you on this. If you build your own PC's using custom coolers etc then yeah it's your own fault.

I've been building computers since I was 15 so i've been around for a while Things have become much hotter but we wouldn't need to start paying attention if manufacturers could build suffienent coolers to tame the heat in the first place!

 

I agree, that is why I never trust stock coolers and always replace with aftermarket but then again I don't classify myself as a novice user.

In the end I think the manufactures take the biggest part of the blame here they coolers should be able to run the gpu's at 100% load at all times not for only 2 hours a day. For me next in the chain to play the blame game with would be the end users for not monitor their hardware, then blizzard last for not putting in a fps cap at the menu's.

However i've seen games in that past with no fps caps in menu's so for me #1 blame still goes to the Card vendors for using shitty coolers.

End users still need to play closer attention to what going on with their computers regardless if they want to learn or not

If it happens to you and you burn something the vendor is not going to just give you a new GPU you are going to have to fight teeth and nail for it sometimes. And why put yourself through that mess just be alittle more informed about your box and temperatures.

popcornuk1983 you have been very gracious with your replies and want to thank you for not turning this into a flame war not saying you would but its good to have the back and forth banter and it be productive.

 

Totally valid points. It would be beneficial if people were a bit more clued up on PC maintenance just to be on the safe side. I doubt it will actually happen though

I don't trust stock cooling either. I have a Radeon 4890 and the stock cooler I felt, was letting the GPU get wayyyy to hot and sounded like a bloody jet when it was spinning @100%. The new one keeps it much cooler while also cooling the VRM's which IMO should have had more cooling from the start!

Likewise, good banter and valid points all round people who flame just look for the nearest comment they disagree with and don't listen to anyone's opinion! The big drama queens