To Kill Lag While playing WoW

[demetrius202]

this gets long so this thread isnt for the faint of heart

I'm a newb when it comes to computers and such and have been reading what I can, but here's the deal. Been playing WoW off and on since 12/04 and since I've come back to cata and liked it so much I've decided I'm tired of the periods of lag which mostly happen in 5-mans and pvp, basically when the game gets fun and requires fast reflexes and I dont need to run in place for 5-10 secs and wipe/get owned.

I've updated all my drivers, software... still lagging w/ a drop in FPS

I turned down all the visuals to suckiness... still periods of lagging (as above)

Started reading different tech forums, cleared computer of temp files, etc. and my computer sped up some but... when playing WoW, still periods of lagging

Then I started slowly upgrading my computer:

Dell Inspiron 530
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4 GHz
3 GB RAM
ATI Radeon HD 3600 Series
Windows Vista OS 32-bit

Decided that it was my GPU being outdated causing my lag and bought a Radeon HD 6850 graphics card.

While it was working (and not causing my screen to go black which only happened when I played WoW) my lag was a little better but still there--instead of lagging for 5-10 secs it was 4-8 secs (/cry)
This graphics card required a better power supply so I bought an Thermaltake TR2 600W PSU. Since my card caused the BSOD (black screen of death) during WoW, I now have the following:

Dell Inspiron 530
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4 GHz
PSU: Thermaltake TR2 600W
GPU: ATI Radeon HD 3600 Series
3 GB RAM
Windows Vista OS 32-bit

My question is this: how do I destory Wow lag? Specifically, what is holding me back? Is it my
1. CPU: what's a good speed to get good performance and consistent FPS/no lag? I've seen people happy with > 3 GHz. Should I overclock mine to > 3 GHz then?
2. RAM: buy more? Overclock?

I've run windows task manager and looked at cpu usage and physcial memory usage while playing WoW to figure which is the problem. While in Orgrimmar surround by 20-30 ppl my cpu usage goes to 45-50% and my memory stays around 2-2.2 GB (70-75%). Is this a good diagnostic tool to figure out what my issue is and what I should focus on?

I know it's a lot of questions but these are what I can't find specifically answered anywhere else without paying for it. Thanks dudes. Game on.

 

[charon711]

i would say the gpu... i have the ati radeon 3650 1gb and i can get lag in major cities but nothing that bad. i have a amd 3800+ single core and 4gb or ram. are you playing on max settings?

 

[sleepybp]

I have heard that it may be a windows vista glitch. I was experiencing random periods of about 5 seconds where the game is completely frozen, and then it would all speed back up when in instance or raid. I had a 3.6GHZ core 2 duo with 4gb ram and ATI 6870 video card. Some of my friends said its most likely vista and I should try windows 7. Just something you may want to look into. Good luck

 

[ghnader hsmithot]

Almost everything looks fine to me..
You did say that you did a registry clean up right?
There are a few things that could influence the lag.
Are you playing WOW online?
Playing online depending on the speed of your connection can cause lag. did any problems occur during installation?Also try a memtest.Memtest is used to find if you have any faulty ram.

 

[A_Real_Overclocker]

this gets long so this thread isnt for the faint of heart

I'm a newb when it comes to computers and such and have been reading what I can, but here's the deal. Been playing WoW off and on since 12/04 and since I've come back to cata and liked it so much I've decided I'm tired of the periods of lag which mostly happen in 5-mans and pvp, basically when the game gets fun and requires fast reflexes and I dont need to run in place for 5-10 secs and wipe/get owned.

I've updated all my drivers, software... still lagging w/ a drop in FPS

I turned down all the visuals to suckiness... still periods of lagging (as above)

Started reading different tech forums, cleared computer of temp files, etc. and my computer sped up some but... when playing WoW, still periods of lagging

Then I started slowly upgrading my computer:

Dell Inspiron 530
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4 GHz
3 GB RAM
ATI Radeon HD 3600 Series
Windows Vista OS 32-bit

Decided that it was my GPU being outdated causing my lag and bought a Radeon HD 6850 graphics card.

While it was working (and not causing my screen to go black which only happened when I played WoW) my lag was a little better but still there--instead of lagging for 5-10 secs it was 4-8 secs (/cry)
This graphics card required a better power supply so I bought an Thermaltake TR2 600W PSU. Since my card caused the BSOD (black screen of death) during WoW, I now have the following:

Dell Inspiron 530
CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 @ 2.4 GHz
PSU: Thermaltake TR2 600W
GPU: ATI Radeon HD 3600 Series
3 GB RAM
Windows Vista OS 32-bit

My question is this: how do I destory Wow lag? Specifically, what is holding me back? Is it my
1. CPU: what's a good speed to get good performance and consistent FPS/no lag? I've seen people happy with > 3 GHz. Should I overclock mine to > 3 GHz then?
2. RAM: buy more? Overclock?

I've run windows task manager and looked at cpu usage and physcial memory usage while playing WoW to figure which is the problem. While in Orgrimmar surround by 20-30 ppl my cpu usage goes to 45-50% and my memory stays around 2-2.2 GB (70-75%). Is this a good diagnostic tool to figure out what my issue is and what I should focus on?

I know it's a lot of questions but these are what I can't find specifically answered anywhere else without paying for it. Thanks dudes. Game on.

I may not understand all of this, but are you playing on line? If so then your net connection is to be looked at seems to obvious to me so I must be wrong and it is a offline type game?

 

[demetrius202]

i'm playing on minimum settings. The reason I dont think its the gpu is because when I upgraded to the radeon hd 6850 i still had the lag when the action on the screen got hectic i.e. i'm getting ganked during pvp, big boss fights, etc. I will try the trick with the graphics. Do u think I need to upgrade the cpu? Checking cpu usage while playing wow help any? I thought since I was using so much physical memory that memory or cpu speed may be an issue.

I use Windows Vist Home Premium.

What's a good company to buy a psu from? Maybe its the reason my gpu upgrade didnt work so well...

 

[demetrius202]

and yes wow is an online game. I will do a memtest and let u know the results. What is "AA"?

 

[kingnoobe]

@ real WOW is a online game, but there is usually a really distinct difference in the type of lag you get when it's your connection vs hardware. (I know this first hand).

I personally don't know what it is. But I would diffently lean more towards a software issue then a hardware issue. (other then the ps that always good to look into).

I would "try" WIN7 and see how it runs. Then if you like it better just buy it.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

AA is anti-aliasing, and you will find it in your interface>video tab,
although since Cata released all the settings in there tell you your 'recommended setting', lol@ Zulfadhli not knowing wow hehe,
I'd personally say your issues are
Vista.
Cpu speed
Psu

You could try setting wow to use specific cores as well, theres a google guide for adjusting some part of the wtf file,
or you go into task manager and set process affinity to specific cores on realtime priority, but you have to manually do that everytime you log on
Moto

 

[demetrius202]

AA is anti-aliasing, and you will find it in your interface>video tab,
although since Cata released all the settings in there tell you your 'recommended setting', lol@ Zulfadhli not knowing wow hehe,
I'd personally say your issues are
Vista.
Cpu speed
Psu

You could try setting wow to use specific cores as well, theres a google guide for adjusting some part of the wtf file,
or you go into task manager and set process affinity to specific cores on realtime priority, but you have to manually do that everytime you log on
Moto

So I'll start with changing to windows 7.

If changing my visual preferences changes lag, then its my gpu right? Noob question but I gotta ask.

What cpu speed is considered good (especially for quad cores)? I'm thinking atleast 3 GHz. If you agree I'll also overclock my cpu if the above doesnt work.

Thanks guys. Your help is so very appreciated!!!!!!

 

[sowexly]

Well I don't think you can get it to stop lagging/shuddering

I have played for a few months and the only thing that will stop it from every shuddering is playing with the detail on good...

I have a GTX 580 and a Phenom x4 965 BE, they should handle it on Ultra (and they do) but it will shudder if you look around quickly, or during quick flight.


BTW, Lag in major cities is due to CPU speed more then anything your RAM should be fine.

 

[1965ohio]

What is your internet speed? Also, have you done a quality of service test on your internet line. Dropped packets can kill you with that kind of lag in any online multi-player game.