Upgrade -- Vid Card the weak link?

[cortright]

Hey guys. I've got the system below, and am starting to run into the dreaded screen chop/etc when playing WoW in Cataclysm expansion. Am I wise to upgrade the video card, or just rebuild with the new intel chipset?

Cost isn't a huge issue but I see no reason to build a new system if I can just throw in a newer vid card and be fine for another year or two. Appreciate any advice.

So, upgrade card, or upgrade whole system (or something else?) If so, what would you recommend?

MEM 2Gx4|MUSHKIN
CPU INTEL|C2Q Q9550 2.83
PSU ANTEC|TPQ-1000 1000W
MS WIN VISTA HM PREM SP1 64BIT
MB ASUS RAMPAGE FORMULA
HD 640G|WD 7K 16M WD6400
VGA SAPPHIRE 100251SR HD4870X2 2G

 

[Just a nickname]

I heard wow had issue with crossfire (worse performance). Try to run single GPU and see if it gets better.
Use MSI afterburner to monitor the FPS thus you can compare CF enabled or off.

Hope this helps.

 

[wa1]

Your current system is still decent enough even for today's standard, I would say Oc that CPU to 3.0GHz or above and get a new GPU like HD6870 or HD6970 if you can.
What about the other games? Does it chop as well? To be honest, if your HD4870x2 is fine, that card is still fast for modern games...

 

[Just a nickname]

cortright, test how it does single GPU first before attempting anything.

It`s well known that WoW wasn't suppose to support multi GPU.
Also, it may helps to update catalyst to the latest version here:
http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/Pages/downloads.aspx

 

[wa1]

^
Agree, Wow is not get benefit from dual GPu...

 

[mrjericho1991]

but even with 6950,he wont see any performance increase and 6950s are over priced tooo.a hd 4870x2 is still awesome and incrediable at performance.i would say that he should keep his current gpu.dont upgrade for just one crappy game.

 

[cortright]

I disabled crossfire and I am absolutely seeing better performance. (boggle)

So there's simply no way for WoW to effectively take advantage of both GPUs?

That sucks, but I am seeing much better framerates. Thanks guys for the advice!

 

[cortright]

Best answer selected by cortright.

 

[Just a nickname]

I disabled crossfire and I am absolutely seeing better performance. (boggle)

So there's simply no way for WoW to effectively take advantage of both GPUs?

That sucks, but I am seeing much better framerates. Thanks guys for the advice!

I don't know for the 4870x2 but with driver update, the 5970 (dual gpu card) performed better in wow according to some benchmarks I can't find .

The latest version of catalyst (not to confound with catalysm ;p ) can be available here:
http://sites.amd.com/us/game/downloads/Pages/downloads.aspx

You can give it a try and see if you can get better results.

Edit: Also it is not wrong that you can get extra performance with higher frequency on your CPU (by overclocking it). I'd recommend you to search on the web for guide "how to overclock q9550" by example. I don't think it is really important for WoW (might not worth the trouble if you're only playing WoW) but you could surely get extra FPS on other games...

 

[jitpublisher]

Your system as it is should be plenty enough to run WOW. As you have disabled Crossfire and seen a big improvement, I wouldn't spend any money, you will see little return.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey