Low FPS in WOW on a high-end system

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Henrik Antonsen

Reputable
Dec 9, 2014
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Hi everyone,

I recently upgraded my system to:

Intel Core I7 - 5930K
16 GB - 2800Mhz Dominator RAM
MSI X99Gaming 9AC motherboard
2 x GTX 980 EVGA Superclocked
1000W Seasonic Platinum PSU
256GB Samsung 850 SSD (System)
1GB Crucial 550 SSD (Games & Data)
ASUS ROG 144Hz Screen (Gsync)
Windows 7 64-Bit

The entire system is custom watercooled, and has a temperature of around 40 degrees under full load. I have not overclocked the system yet, as I wanted to test it at stock speeds before going into overclocking.

My problem is that currently I am running World of Warcraft on this system, but at 2560x1440 resolution at Ultra settings, I'm pushing between 30-90 FPS which tbh i FAR below what i would expect of this system. Worse still, when entering large fights my FPS drops below the 30 FPS mark which is completely unacceptable. Reading benchmarks for the GTX 980 I've seen FPS runs at 163 FPS average and lows at 90 FPS with Ultra settings, so why is my more powered system not pushing the same FPS?

Of the issues that i know, could it be?
1. PSU is not powerful enough?
2. I run a dual monitor setup, but only game on one screen (Both screens are connected to GFX2)
3. World of Warcraft will generally not show great framerates for any system?
4. Does the CPU need to be Overclocked on this CPu heavy game, in order to not be a GFX bottleneck.
5. Are there any know common programs in Win7 that will cause decreases in performance?

I would love to get some input on how i can Benchmark my system to determine where the bottleneck might be, I've tried some programs, but I would like to test Memory, CPU, GPU, HDD by itself to see if anything sticks out, any recommendations on this? I am just confused on how to approach this best.

Just to be sure i can confirm that:
1. Yes SLI is activated
2. PhysX can be assigned for GFX1, GFX2, and CPU, I have set it to auto
3. Yes i have installed a SLI bridge (On the leftmost connector, not on both)
4. I dont run low on Memory, I have no blue screens, and harddrives have at least 50% space left.

 
Solution
dgingeri
WoW is more processor restricted than graphics restricted, and even more restricted by internet latency. In addition, it also is restricted to no more than 4 threads. The biggest two factors that will affect performance in WoW is raw clock rate of the processor and internet latency. A Core i7 4790k at 4.4GHz will do better than your 5930k due to clock rate, but only by a couple fps.

No matter what system you have, WoW will never get more than 100fps, and even that's out in an open area with nobody else around. In Orgrimmar, the best to expect is to get around 90fps, with lag down to 60fps if a lot of people come around. In raids, expect fluctuations from 30 to 90fps, exactly as you describe. That's the best the game can offer...
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dgingeri

dgingeri

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Dec 4, 2009
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WoW is more processor restricted than graphics restricted, and even more restricted by internet latency. In addition, it also is restricted to no more than 4 threads. The biggest two factors that will affect performance in WoW is raw clock rate of the processor and internet latency. A Core i7 4790k at 4.4GHz will do better than your 5930k due to clock rate, but only by a couple fps.

No matter what system you have, WoW will never get more than 100fps, and even that's out in an open area with nobody else around. In Orgrimmar, the best to expect is to get around 90fps, with lag down to 60fps if a lot of people come around. In raids, expect fluctuations from 30 to 90fps, exactly as you describe. That's the best the game can offer.

Believe me, I know this well. I have played around with many configurations, from a Pentium G3220 (dual core 3GHz) to a 4790k (quad core 4.4GHz) to a 3930k (six core 4.0GHz), with a Geforce GT430 to single and dual GTS680s, all in the last 9 months. With my current config, I still get 30-90fps, exactly as you describe.

The biggest effect I've seen on the game was when I changed over from a home router to using a SLES 12 routing server (running on the Pentium G3220) that reduced my latency from 100-110ms to 45-60ms.
 
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Solution
H

Henrik Antonsen

Reputable
Dec 9, 2014
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4,510
@Wildcard999: Tried 1080P with a slight drop in FPS :)

@OriginalCadaver: I have a 36-55MS ping to the World server, generally my Internet connection is rock solid. In terms of other games, i run 130-150 i most titles, but its hard to count on as many of the games top out around these framerates, making it hard to count on the results, as a somewhat smaller system will get the same results.

@Dgingeri: I agree that the game is processor optimized, and processor heavy, my issue is that I can find 4-5 benchmark tests that benchmark WoW @ 2560x1440 with a framerate of 140+. Do these number have anything to do with the benchmark being synthetic (a prerun test). My issue is that regardless of game optimization, changing to a system that has roughly 300% more power should yield more than a 20% increase in performance overall... :(
 
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bystander

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Dec 9, 2009
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If WoW is like it has always been from the beginning, Dgineri is 100% correct. And if you read how they benchmark these WoW games, they always do it in the most optimal situations possible. i.e. with no one around out in the middle of no where. Real world experience is nothing like it.

In the past, which may have changed, shadows used to eat up CPU processing, and you could raise your FPS a lot by reducing shadowing. Their game has changed since that point, so it may not be the case today.
 
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