GPU constantly overheated in Ubuntu 20.04 when I launch I:R

[Sokratron]

Hi there!

Recently I have migrated to Ubuntu 20.04, and a problem seems recurrent when I run I: R.

The problem arises when I run I:R. No matter what I am doing inside the game (even waiting in the main menu), the GPU increases its temperature to extreme levels (80º-90º), which means that I can only play in sessions of at most half an hour. This issue never happened with other games that demands more resources than I:R.

I have tried lower the graphic to the minimum, but nothing seems to work...

My drivers are up to date (20.45) and correctly installed in my Ubuntu 20.04 system. The version of the game is 2.0.1

My PC specs:

- GPU: AMD Radeon RX 590
- CPU: AMD Ryzen 5 3600

Any advice or clue about what's happening would be very helpful.

Thanks!

P.S: I forgot to mention that in a session I have tried play more time than a half hour, with the result of a hard freeze (with glitched frozen screen) that forced me to do a hard reboot.

 

[AndrewT]

Please attach your Documents/Paradox/Imperator/pdx_settings.txt.
From your Documents/Paradox/Imperator/logs/ folder, attach system.log , error.log

File Locations on Linux
Executable, DLCs and Mod upload folder:
/home/user/.local/share/SteamApps/common/ImperatorRome/
The "Documents" equivalent is:
/home/user/.paradoxinteractive/ImperatorRome/

Also in Steam please click on Steam-Help-System Info, and paste everything there into a text file and attach that here.

 

[Sokratron]

Thanks for your reply, Andrew. Here they go.

NOTE: I downgraded the drivers to 20.20 version due to some post readed in forums were some people say that they were more stable drivers than 20.45. Same result.

 

[AndrewT]

From what i see in there the game should only be running at a refreshRate of 60hz. What fps are you seeing in the game? Because this sounds like an excessive refresh rate!

If it's any more than 60, turn off vsync and set the rate cap to 60 - any better?

 

[Sokratron]

Well, as you say, I think that the problem is localized. My framerate varies between 1300 FPS and 500 FPS.

I tried editing the line "setting_framerate_cap" to 30 fps in the Pdx_settings.txt, but FPS are still too high. Nothing seems to work.

The Vsync was enabled because I have seen that fixed the GPU stress in this old thread . The rest of the time Vsync always has been disabled.

When I turned off the Vsync in the Launcher today, the option to set the refresh rate to 60 appears. But the fps are still overwhelming.

Thanks for your efforts, a step in the right direction has been taken.

EDIT: Even setting frame rate to 30 and turned on:

}
"setting_framerate_cap"={
version=30
value="on"

The Pdx_settings.txt document always returns to the original state after launch the game:

}
"setting_framerate_cap"={
version=0
value="off"

 

[AndrewT]

That setting is a simple on/off toggle, you don't set the cap there.

There should be another section refreshRate where you can set the value at say 60. But you can do that in the launcher too, not sure why that is not working for you!

Does that setting stick when you set it in the launcher?

 

[Sokratron]

That setting is a simple on/off toggle, you don't set the cap there.

There should be another section refreshRate where you can set the value at say 60. But you can do that in the launcher too, not sure why that is not working for you!

Does that setting stick when you set it in the launcher?

Ok. I tried to set the cap there in case I was lucky and fixed the FPS issue.

Yes. When I turned off the Vsync, the RefreshRate option appears, but I cannot edit the value in the cell inside the Launcher, as you can see in the picture (The default is 60, so i guess it should be applied correctly)

Nevertheless, I open the Pdx_settings.txt document to confirm that everything is ok...

Spoiler: Pdx_setting after the Vsync was turned off in the launcher

"Graphics"={
"province_mapname_mode"={
version=0
value="always_on"
}
"fill_in_impassable_terrain"={
version=0
enabled=yes
}
"mapobject_quality"={
version=0
value="low"
}
"bloom_enabled"={
version=0
enabled=no
}
"refraction_quality"={
version=1
value="disabled"
}
"terrain_smoothing"={
version=0
enabled=no
}
"renderer"={
version=0
value="OpenGL"
}
"display_mode"={
version=0
value="fullscreen"
}
"vsync"={
version=0
enabled=no
}
"display_index"={
version=0
value="0"
}
"setting_framerate_cap"={
version=0
value="off"
}
"mesh_lod_bias"={
version=1
value="low"
}
"mesh_lod_fade"={
version=0
enabled=no
}
"shadowmap_resolution"={
version=2
value="disabled"
}
"texture_quality"={
version=1
value="low"
}
"fullscreen_resolution"={
version=0
value="1920x1080"
}
"windowed_resolution"={
version=0
value="1920x1080"
}
"device"={
version=0
value="default"
}
"anti_aliasing"={
version=0
value="DISABLED"
}
"anisotropic_filtering"={
version=0
value="x4"
}
"quality"={
}
"refreshRate"={
version=0
value=60
}
"quick_access_bar"={
"quick_actions_1"={
version=0
value="map_mode:cool_map_effect"
}
(...)

But when I return to the desktop from the game, with the FPS too high (as you can see in the picture)... The refresh rate value has gone. So I think that the value never is applied... (Permissions problem? should I set the Pdx_settings to 'Read only' to avoid that the content is edited?)

Spoiler: Pdx_setting after return to desktop

"Graphics"={
"province_mapname_mode"={
version=0
value="always_on"
}
"fill_in_impassable_terrain"={
version=0
enabled=yes
}
"mapobject_quality"={
version=0
value="low"
}
"bloom_enabled"={
version=0
enabled=no
}
"refraction_quality"={
version=1
value="disabled"
}
"terrain_smoothing"={
version=0
enabled=no
}
"renderer"={
version=0
value="OpenGL"
}
"display_mode"={
version=0
value="fullscreen"
}
"vsync"={
version=0
enabled=no
}
"display_index"={
version=0
value="0"
}
"setting_framerate_cap"={
version=0
value="off"
}
"mesh_lod_bias"={
version=1
value="low"
}
"mesh_lod_fade"={
version=0
enabled=no
}
"shadowmap_resolution"={
version=2
value="disabled"
}
"texture_quality"={
version=1
value="low"
}
"fullscreen_resolution"={
version=0
value="1920x1080"
}
"windowed_resolution"={
version=0
value="1920x1080"
}
"device"={
version=0
value="default"
}
"anti_aliasing"={
version=0
value="DISABLED"
}
"anisotropic_filtering"={
version=0
value="x4"
}
"quality"={
}
}
"quick_access_bar"={
"quick_actions_1"={
version=0
value="map_mode:cool_map_effect"
}
"quick_actions_2"={
version=0
value="map_modeolitical"
}
"quick_actions_3"={
version=0
value="map_mode:culture"
(...)

 

[NorthernXY]

This has been a problem for at least 3 months. That's when I had the game minimized on the menu screen and watching the temp on my GPU skyrocket from 45 C to 90 C inside 30 seconds. Just bought the game again because I forgot about this problem and heard the game is starting to be playable. Can't get a refund but should be getting a new PC soon so it might work on that.

Personally, I'm really only waiting for EUV and M&T 3.0 (though I don't want to pay for DLC for an 8 yo game because of modders).

 

[AndrewT]

(Permissions problem? should I set the Pdx_settings to 'Read only' to avoid that the content is edited?)

If you edit it manually first, I guess that's worth a shot. But from what NorthernXY says this may be a bug in fact.

@NorthernXY you are on Linux too, is that right?

 

[NorthernXY]

If you edit it manually first, I guess that's worth a shot. But from what NorthernXY says this may be a bug in fact.

@NorthernXY you are on Linux too, is that right?

Windows 10

 

[AndrewT]

Windows 10

Interesting, on Win10 with Vsync on I see a modest 60 fps.

 

[Sokratron]

If you edit it manually first, I guess that's worth a shot. But from what NorthernXY says this may be a bug in fact.

@NorthernXY you are on Linux too, is that right?

Nothing is working. Even I have installed an app called 'libstrangle', wich should limit the fps, but when I configure the program and set the fps to 40, the game doesn't launch... I apply the app directly to the Imperator shortcut, not in the launcher, but there was no lucky.

Is it possible to introduce a native FPS limiter for I:R in future patches? It would be very great!

Thanks again for your work, Andrew!

 

[AndrewT]

You can certainly suggest that improvement here!

Imperator: Rome - Suggestions

forum.paradoxplaza.com

Given they have one in CK3, which is built on the same engine, it shouldn't be hard.

 

[EustaceCS]

One more Win10 user for whom Imperator: Rome is literally frying the GPU. Steam version, all latest, all DLCs.

pdx_settings and dxdiag attached.

FTGJ I disabled vsync and set FPS cap to 60 through launcher.
Can't verify if it fixes the issue with overheating: with vsync enabled, screen flickers a little bit (noticeable at white screen parts mostly). Tolerable although impossible to play for more than two hours (in a global strategy by Paradox, hehe).
Without vsync the flickering becomes completely unbearable.

P. S. Why a suggestion? The issue puts extra strain on hardware and power consumption. Even if the hardware is more than capable of running the game. Not a showstopper - but nothing to give up that easily either.

 

[AndrewT]

By all means report it as a bug if you feel that is a better fit for the requested change.

That settings file shows Vsync is off - is that what you see in the launcher ? I ask because I'd have assumed from what you said above, that you would have it on all the time.

What actual refresh rate do you see in the game?

 

[EustaceCS]

Did some intense googling, then some intense experimenting, then some invoking of my memories about being on the other side of game dev...

>By all means report it as a bug if you feel that is a better fit for the requested change.

The irony is, it doesn't possess attributes of a bug: I can bet my best hat that not a single person included resource hogging prevention at extra powerful hardware into requirements - 99% of time minimal performance is a concern You're right (and I'm not), it's a suggestion indeed.

> That settings file shows Vsync is off - is that what you see in the launcher ? I ask because I'd have assumed from what you said above, that you would have it on all the time.

Somehow, disabling vsync and enforcing FPS cap through Paradox Launcher did no good - GPU still tried to burn itself. The flickering only got worse with vsync disabled, as usual.

>What actual refresh rate do you see in the game?

FPS monitoring through Overwolf displayed 30FPS during game start (i. e. from hitting Play in Launcher to main menu appearance).

As soon as menu appears - the engine attempts to eke out 200+ FPS with occasional jumps to 1300 and above.

Well, limiting FPS through NVidia Control Panel did solved this part of the problem. But that pesky flickering persisted.

Now, for the tastiest part... Flickering itself. I seen few occasional reports around the forum - the intel I got might do some good in advance.

As per what I managed to gather, the problem is somewhere in NVidia G-Sync implementation.
The problem is, I was unable to find a way to disable this technology on Win10 in reasonable amount of time.
The issue MAY occur on Linux too - and there are a plenty of ways to disable G-Sync there, it should help them.

For me, the only thing which worked in a pinch was connecting the display with GPU by HDMI cable (used d-sub cable before).

(still no idea why flickering happened in Imperator: Rome only)

 

[AndrewT]

Well yes, I'd definitely recommend HDMI when available!

But the failure to limit fps is a definite issue, IMO there's no benefit in our games over about 60. Either having Vsync on, or off and a 60cap set in the launcher, ought to work to enforce that limit.

 

[NorthernXY]

Tried no VSync and it's still overheating. At one point the GPU was 10 C higher than the CPU. Went into NVidia CP, made Imperator exclusively use GPU and frames to 30/s, then turned off or down every graphical option. It seems to be stabilizing in the low 60s.

This game is harder on my computer than EUIV and The Witcher combined.