Will I be able to run Guild Wars 2?

[offsetbilly]

Hello,

This is my system:

Motherboard: ASUS P5BW-LA (Buckeye)
Power Supply: 800w
RAM: 2GB DDR2 (max allowed 8gb)
GPU: GTX 550 Ti (Engine Clock: Overclocked to 1024MHz, Memory Clock: 4104 MHz ( 1026 MHz GDDR5 ))
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6300 DC 1.86 GHz


I just purchased Guild Wars 2. I did realize I do not meet the minimum requirements to play the game (Game requires Intel Core 2 Duo 2GHz or higher) but I purchased it anyway figuring, like every other game, "it will work on low setting fine"... That's not the case, with my current processor I run this game on low settings with an average of 14-22fps... Not good. Does this game actually require that much CPU power?

If I upgrade my processor to the Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66GHz will that make any difference in the frame rate? Again, I only want to be able to play the game on low graphics setting with a decent playable frame rate.

 

[iyzik]

At the moment this game has some serious coding problems, everyone is experiencing sub 40 fps dips even on the most powerful gaming rigs. It appears to also be only optimized for a single core on cpu.
For ex; I have an i7 @ 4.6GHz and two 7970s that operate around 50% usage and the game dips to low 40s high 30s fps frequently, pretty stupid right? considering they pump out 100% usage on bf3 keeping it at 90-110 fps in combat, and we all know bf3 is a much more system intensive game on ultra.

WITH THAT SAID;
Idk much about Core 2 Duos but if you can OC your current a little? 1.8GHz is REALLY slow for modern games. If you upgrade I'm sure you will get better performance but realistically both of those CPUs are probably hugely bottlenecking your 550Ti down to about 50% gpu usage. I know from experience I had a Pentium Dual Core G860 3GHz that bottlenecked my 550Ti to 70% in bf3. You should be playing at atleast medium with 40 fps with that card even with the games ****** coding.

EDIT: Sorry if it was not totally clear, YES you will get a better framerate if you upgrade your CPU. The thing is your whole system seems pretty old to be running a gtx550ti, your current cpu is probably only allowing 40% of the power of that GPU (depending on alot of things of course). And with an upgrade you MIGHT get 50-60% of potential GPU power if you're lucky.

 

[offsetbilly]

At the moment this game has some serious coding problems, everyone is experiencing sub 40 fps dips even on the most powerful gaming rigs. It appears to also be only optimized for a single core on cpu.
For ex; I have an i7 @ 4.6GHz and two 7970s that operate around 50% usage and the game dips to low 40s high 30s fps frequently, pretty stupid right? considering they pump out 100% usage on bf3 keeping it at 90-110 fps in combat, and we all know bf3 is a much more system intensive game on ultra.

WITH THAT SAID;
Idk much about Core 2 Duos but if you can OC your current a little? 1.8GHz is REALLY slow for modern games. If you upgrade I'm sure you will get better performance but realistically both of those CPUs are probably hugely bottlenecking your 550Ti down to about 50% gpu usage. I know from experience I had a Pentium Dual Core G860 3GHz that bottlenecked my 550Ti to 70% in bf3. You should be playing at atleast medium with 40 fps with that card even with the games ****** coding.

EDIT: Sorry if it was not totally clear, YES you will get a better framerate if you upgrade your CPU. The thing is your whole system seems pretty old to be running a gtx550ti, your current cpu is probably only allowing 40% of the power of that GPU (depending on alot of things of course). And with an upgrade you MIGHT get 50-60% of potential GPU power if you're lucky.

Thanks iyzik,

So should I wait until the game is patched? Would it be worth upgrading my CPU to Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66GHz? With my current motherboard I am limited to a processor with socket LGA775.

 

[iyzik]

Thanks iyzik,

So should I wait until the game is patched? Would it be worth upgrading my CPU to Intel Core 2 Duo E6750 2.66GHz? With my current motherboard I am limited to a processor with socket LGA775.

I definitely think it would be worth upgrading, mostly bc 1.8ghz is just uber slow for your graphics card. Adding an extra .8GHz will surely give you increase in fps and then when they patch it (hopefully they do) and you can use both the cores on the E6750 then you might even be able to turn the graphics up slightly.

I know you've probably heard this lots of times but I gotta say it to be helpful lol..If you have ~160-200$ I would look into getting an LGA 1155 MoBo (there are some pretty cheap ones that still have good enough quality) and an i3, then you'd be able to use ALL of that 550 Ti.

Hope it helps!

 

[offsetbilly]

Best answer selected by offsetbilly.

 

[iyzik]

One more thing I almost forgot! What about Core 2 Quad?? If they are in your price range.

 

[offsetbilly]

One more thing I almost forgot! What about Core 2 Quad?? If they are in your price range.

yes i am looking at investing in a new MoBo... and will Guild Wars 2 take advantage of the quad core? or will it only use two? (I mean when the game is working correctly)

 

[iyzik]

yes i am looking at investing in a new MoBo... and will Guild Wars 2 take advantage of the quad core? or will it only use two? (I mean when the game is working correctly)

Good to hear, I think that is your best option as long as you get one with LGA 1155 socket, even the dual core i3 beats core 2 quad for gaming. IF they do update it I would HOPE it would take advantage of a quad core, surely a dual core, but hard to predict something like that.