Computer gets abnormally hot when running Doom

[Jeimuzu73]

FSR my laptop becomes very hot (roughly 60-70 degrees Celsius) when running Doom. Obviously the computer heats up significantly when I fire up a game like Wolfenstein: TNO but this is a 23-year old game. It doesn't heat up as much when I do other stuff, and I remember running Doom before without much heat so it's only now that it's a bit uncomfortably hot. Any suggestions?

[wildweasel]

FSR my laptop becomes very hot (roughly 60-70 degrees Celsius) when running Doom. Obviously the computer heats up significantly when I fire up a game like Wolfenstein: TNO but this is a 23-year old game. It doesn't heat up as much when I do other stuff, and I remember running Doom before without much heat so it's only now that it's a bit uncomfortably hot. Any suggestions?

Remember that ZDoom and GZDoom literally do not know when to stop using your system's power if they are uncapped. You may try cl_capfps 1, and vid_vsync 1.

[Nevander]

Isn't the FPS capped to 200 by default? It is for me. I use vsync but only in GZDoom. ZDoom with vsync off is fine for me, as long as the FPS is capped too. I haven't tried it uncapped on my rig yet. I'm kinda afraid to. I'd probably get like 50000 FPS on E1M1.

[Jeimuzu73]

Remember that ZDoom and GZDoom literally do not know when to stop using your system's power if they are uncapped. You may try cl_capfps 1, and vid_vsync 1.

Thanks for the advice. The frame rate has somewhat dropped noticeably but the game still remains fluid enough to be playable. The temperature is also not so hot now (roughly 40-45 degrees).

[The Zombie Killer]

cl_capfps caps the FPS at 35, or rather, disables interpolation afaik
vsync is probably all you need

[edward850]

Remember computers, including laptops, are supposed to be designed to manage their temperature under full load. If it isn't, it either needs cleaning/servicing or is actually defective.

[Nash]

Thanks to this thread, I found out that cl_capfps actually works in OpenGL. I remember a time when it would do nothing in GZDoom.

(Not that I'd want to play Doom in 35 FPS, yuck no thank you)

[edward850]

Eh? cl_capfps always worked in GZDoom. It expressly disables the interpolator, which is not exactly renderer dependent (other than it being part of the result).

[Nash]

I clearly remember it not doing anything in the past. Like, 2005 past.

[Marisa the Magician]

Funny enough, my laptop handles Doom fine, but it fires up when undertale is running.

[Blox]

(Not that I'd want to play Doom in 35 FPS, yuck no thank you)

If you do it for a month you might come to prefer it.
35.x-ish fps with cl_capfps 1 is quite a lot better than you'd expect that framerate to be.

Unless of course you have motion sickness issues as it is, in which case yeah you're best to keep away.

[Clownman]

Maybe installing a new fan might help?

[leileilol]

Maybe forcing a "max battery" profile could help.

[SFJake]

Unfortunately, they never wanted to introduce a customizable FPS cap in the negine and I never understood why.

You can use the VSync setting, but VSync is bad and can cause input lag.

For a more global solution, I use MSI Afterburner or rather what comes with it (MSI On Screen Display server) to limit my FPS in most games.

There's actually quite a few games especially older ones that just don't cap FPS and causes your computer to sprint all day.



By the way, the temperatures are extremely normal for a laptop.

[Rachael]

Unfortunately, they never wanted to introduce a customizable FPS cap in the negine and I never understood why.

It doesn't really make much sense to.

With cl_capfps, as edward850 said the interpolation is disabled. At that point it is essentially half the refresh rate of most of today's monitors.

If you cap it any more than that, you're having the playsim update a lot more than it can actually render, and for Doom that actually makes it nearly unplayable. (It's why there was a "F5" detail setting in Vanilla Doom - you simply cannot play effectively below 35 fps)

With vid_vsync, you're strictly capping the framerate to your monitor's refresh rate, which itself cuts down on heat considerably, and with these two options nothing more is needed.