Helpful DL to help with Floating Head Glitch Hi everyone, I checked at MATY because I have this occasional, random problem where my sim's head starts floating above a flat body, the lot fills with blobs of color and the game eventually crashes. Someone at MATY suggested it could be my video card is overheating, which given the heat wave we've had lately is no surprise. There's a free DL she recommended called Speedfan. If your case is above 60 degrees F you need to do something to lower the heat. You can open the case, clean out the dust, and blow a small fan on it. Or do something to better ventilate your case. I'm going to talk to my computer genius friend and see how I can modify my setup for better ventilation. If he has any suggestions I'll post them here. In the meantime, you can get Speedfan at http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php. Sorry. Forgot to say what it does. It monitors your computer's internal temps and lets you change your fan speeds.
Sorry. I meant 60 degrees C. Also, this program has advanced features you should NOT use unless you know what you're doing. But the basic readings won't hurt anything. It just tells you what your PC is doing. Mine's at 33 C before sims 2. I'm going to play for an hour and check it again, while the game is running. I also need new drivers, but the thought of uninstalling my old ones first is kind of intimidating so I'm not going to do it right now. Yes, I know I'm a wimp.
If your case is above 60C your CPU Video card and anything is the case is melted to the floor. The case would also need to be sealed completely but anyway, please report back the temps after TS2. Hardware: Main rules: Keep the CPU below 60C. The case should be less that 35C. Hard Drives below 40C. As many fans as your case can handle is best, preferably front intake and back out-take. 120mm is the best but 80mm if that's all you case can do. In summer remove the side cover and place a floor fan blowing into the case. A/C would also be good. If you have old IDE hard drives change their cables from ribbon to sleeved or rounded. Buy a can of compressed air and use it on every heatsink you can see. Sleeve as many wires as possible. Install you new video card drivers over the old ones. If it doesn't work I'll explain how to reinstall you video card with the new drivers.
Hi Flamey, The Nvidia site said to remove the old drivers first. I have Windows XP. Should I do that, or just install over them? So, I can still use my machine even if my drivers aren't working? Just checking. Thanks! SBW P.S. Even after playing sims for more than 2 hours my machine was at 33C. That's OK, right? I took off the case and have a fan blowing on it. I'm going to put the case back on after I turn everything off again.
With Nvidia and many others, yes, you need to remove the old ones first. Otherwise it won't be able to update all of the files. Just go to Add/Remove Programs in the Control Panel and remove them from there. Your PC will run fine with the drivers removed. It will revert back to Windows default drivers... the resolution will go down to 800x600 and the color depth and refresh rates will be reduced, and it will generally look cr@ppy, but it will all go back the way you had it once the new drivers are installed.
Thanks. And I can come running to you if it still doesn't work, right? The reason I'm so chicken is last time I tried to download drivers it screwed up my machine. So I'm just trying to pluck up my courage to do it again.
Good I can post again. Sorry about not replying SBW. Just try installing the drivers over the old ones, you should be fine, and windows can boot up without drivers anyway.
