X2 5000 512kb L2 vrs x2 6400 1mb L2

[noquarter33]

Hi,
I primiarly use my pc for playing games primarily warcraft. My system:
Asus m2-e
x2 5000 512kb L2
geForce 8800gt
OCZ GameXtreme 600w
25" Asus widescreen

I primarily play WoW which in itself is not a graphic intensive game. However I notice that when looking around sometimes I get stutters. I dont want to upgrade my mobo at this point so I ordered a 6400 x2 and was wondering if you think this would help me see an improvment? Or if I should just send the chip back?

One other though I have is I am also using my onboard NIC. Do you think this could be a potential problem? Should I buy a seperate pci NIC?

Thanks in advance.

 

[Kraynor]

Stutters happen on my rig too. Problem is how WoW loads textures and how many textures have to be loaded while playing (think of all the different armour graphics you see when sitting in Dalaran) along with the shadows, which really eat GPU power.

With the processing power of today's CPUs, using onboard NIC and sound card don't really make that huge of a difference, 1-2 fps tops, so using the onboard NIC isn't a major factor. If you're thinking of buying one of those Killer NICs, don't. They're a waste of money.

 

[noquarter33]

So you are thinking its more of a GPU issue as opposed to a CPU?

I do notice the stutter happening even outside of Dalaran and raid instances as well.
But, its at its worst in a 25 man nax even more so then Dalaran.

 

[Kraynor]

Doubt it's a GPU issue... I've got a 4870X2 (even though WoW doesn't support crossifre so I've effectively got a single 4870 for it), it's simply how the game is.

If you're having problems in instances, turn your spell detail down a touch, mess with your settings until you're happy.

 

[noquarter33]

I do have my spell detail turned all the way down and it does help a little.
I will keep playing with the settings.

So you are thinking a new processor wont help at all?

 

[Kraynor]

Never said it wouldn't help at all, it will help some all right, but don't expect miracles from WoW's graphics engine, it's pretty ancient at this point (they've said there'll be a new engine with the next expansion, which would be welcome)

 

[bone squat]

No, it sounds more like a RAM issue or hard drive thrashing. Defrag your hard drive or clear up some space. Maybe invest in more RAM? Your pagefile could be going crazy.

 

[caamsa]

Errrr what resolution are you playing on? You have a 25 inch screen that eats up a lot of GPU power. How much memory did you say you were running?

 

[dokk2]

I do not know about the rest of y'all ,,but I am only running an AMD 5000+be @2.9g/2g ram,AND NO SWAPFILE,,only gets in the way..

 

[mike99]

Try enabling swap file, just to see. What HD? Run HDTune and post the results.

Mike.

 

[DiscoDuck]

An 8800gt might not be powerful enough to run wow at 1920 without settings turned down. Especially if its only the 256m 8800gt.

 

[Kraynor]

I ran WoW at 1920x1200 with a 256mb 8600gts, some things had to be turned down but it wasn't too bad (outside Dalaran), ground clutter and shadows were the worst.

 

[megamanx00]

I hope you made sure your board supports that 6400 before you ordered it . Anyway while the 6400 is certainly a significant improvement over the 5000, I think your bigger issue is your GPU. Even with the stock cooler your CPU shouldn't have too much of a problem passing 3GHz, assuming it has the G2 stepping anyway. Overclocking the 5000 means stepping up the 6400 will be a smaller gap, so if you're not afraid to overclock you would be better served by sending back that 6400 and investing in a better GPU like a Radeon 4870 (they are just so cheap now ^_^).