Why does OpenGL cause my computer's hard drive to go crazy?

[Inocudom]

When I use Direct X instead of OpenGL for Minetest, my hard drive is fine. However, when I use OpenGL for Minetest, my hard drive spins real fast and makes me feel as if it will blow up if I continue to use OpenGL. My computer has Windows 7 64-bit and is a 64-bit machine. It has an AMD Athlon II X4 645 quad-core processor, an EVGA GeForce GT 610 2GB video card, a 1TB hard drive, and 4GB of RAM. My version of OpenGL is 4.2, but Minetest says it is using 4.3.

[Calinou]

my hard drive spins real fast and makes me feel as if it will blow up if I continue to use OpenGL.

Are you sure it is your hard drive? Is it constantly used for reading or writing (use some system monitor like Windows 7's "perfmon")?

EVGA GeForce GT 610 2GB

rofl, you buy based on VRAM? DDR3 in a graphics card from 2011 or later is unacceptable. That graphics card can be slower than most IGPs (Athlons do not have IGPs though).

My version of OpenGL is 4.2, but Minetest says it is using 4.3.

The latest NVIDIA drivers support OpenGL 4.3 on 400/500/600 series NVIDIA graphics cards.

[Inocudom]

xyz made a new Minetest build with Direct X in it today. In games like The Sims 3, my video card works far better than the integrated graphics chip that came with my computer. Even when I did not have the graphics card, OpenGL was still hard on my hard drive. The graphics card, however, does give a noticeable boost to the frame rate I experience in Minetest. As long as I use Direct X instead of OpenGL, my hard drive will not spin nearly as fast as it does with OpenGL.

[doserj]

my hard drive spins real fast and makes me feel as if it will blow up if I continue to use OpenGL.

Are you sure it is your hard drive?

I am pretty sure he is talking about the fan, not the hard disc.

[Jordach]

My fan RPM hits about 12000RPM -- my towers general heat is about 70'C when heavy gaming, and about 55'C when not.

(Yes, I have a super powered fan, its variable speed.)