Facebook Games Cause Problems?

Ray Waldo — Fri, 22 Jan 2010 05:21:46 +0000

Bishop of Technology

We are here to help "ordinary" people understand, acquire, and utilize technology in their personal & business environments.

Today, on the Bishop’s Facebook Page, we had a question about playing the game applications available on Facebook:

Windows Vista Home Premium
AMD Phenom 9850 Quad Core Processor 2.50 GHz
8.00 GB RAM

Hope that’s enough info

I know the Bishop probably dislikes the Facebook games; however, I enjoy them. My question is this: When I play the games (farmville, cafe world) my processor will become louder and you can hear it running. This really frustrates my husband and he thinks it is a problem with my computer.

I need to know is this normal? Or should I call for service.

Thank you!

Hey xxxxxx! Thanks for your question.

Since I don’t use the Facebook games, I cannot be certain. But let me try to explain some things: (as you mentioned, “processor” refers to the Central Processing Unit (CPU) chip in the computer – which is actually the “brains” of the machine.

Most modern computers have a “throttling” device of some type. It keeps the processor running at a slower speed while it is “idling” or doing very simple processes.
When some software makes calls on the processor that require additional power, the processor speeds up to perform the requested task. This will cause the processor to run hotter and (consequently) caused the fans to run faster (probably the noise that you hear).
On most modern computers, there are also fans on the display processor (the chip that presents all the stuff you see on the screen).
Like the CPU, this chip will speed up and get hotter when the software starts sending fast moving and detailed displays. Again, hotter means that the fans must run faster to keep everything cool.

Bottom line (what to do):

If your computer is under warranty, you may wish to call the warranty service and tell them what is going on and let them diagnose it.
You may want to check the computer for viruses. Be sure to use an UPDATED version. The virus checking software generally has updates EVERY DAY and will automatically update when you go online.
You probably should see if the sound is duplicated when using other high-demand software. This might be another game which is installed on the local hard drive or something online. However, be VERY careful about online or downloaded games. These are a common source of virus infection.

My “gut” feeling is that this is entirely normal. But please let me know what you find out..

Do you have more/better advice for this user? If so, the comments are open below…

——-

Updated Jan 22, 2010:

The user agreed with this diagnosis:

Yes, I do [believe that is the problem] and since it only happens when the games have a lot of activity, I figured that was why.

It has happened sometimes when the anti-virus is running an in-depth scan. Phil is worried it is going to blow up. I have protection with the geek squad where they come to your house, so I am going to call them just to make sure.

I really don’t play any other online games and don’t want to because of viruses, so I am not going to try that.

Thanks for your help.

Facebook Games Cause Problems?

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Facebook Games Cause Problems?

Bishop of Technology

We are here to help "ordinary" people understand, acquire, and utilize technology in their personal & business environments.