**Help**Dramatic Decrease in FPS for WoW---

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darkdrizzy

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Hello, I would like to know if my current LOW FPS issues in World of Warcraft are caused by my video card or cpu...or both? These are my specs:
I have a Dell inspiron 530
-Intel Core 2 QUAD CPU Q8200 @2.33 GHz 2.33GHz
-4GB memory Ram
-32 Bit OS
VIDEO CARD
-Radeon Hd 4600

When I first got this pc I ran wow WOTLK at around 90-120 FPS on High Video settings. However 2 years later in cataclysm I have around 20 fps... with all my settings low it max's out at 35fps.
I Cleaned the disc, ran multiple scans to remove anything slowing down my pc. I also cleaned inside of pc with Compressed Air Can...

I have recently also noticed that there is a noise it never made before coming from the inside when I Run WoW... my Fan dying? cpu? video card?

Main question is... is my cpu good enough for wow? is my video card good enough? Do I have to upgrade either or? or buy a new comp?...

Thank you...

 
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Zenthar

Zenthar

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Many MMORPG upgrade some graphics with major releases and Cataclysm, to my knowledge, was one of them.

Do you know the exact model of your video card? The 4600 series can vary a lot in performance (the higher-end models probably being at least twice as powerful as the lowest-end ones).

You can also check that article.
 
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khubani

khubani

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If your CPU was good for WoW 2 years ago, and you're playing the same game, there's no reason to think it would be bad now. Try cleaning up the PC (by that I mean getting the dust out.) Or, alternatively, try downloading HWMonitor and check to see if your GPU is over heating or if its your CPU.

If none of these bring back results, try closing background processes that may hinder performance. Browsers, Torrents, Media players, Messenger programs (AIM, MSN, Yahoo), etc. And, if that doesn't bring any results forth, try updating drivers and cleaning out your system with Disk Cleanup. Disktrix has a great software for defragging hard drives, you may want to look into it.
 
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damric

damric

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Although I do agree that you could destroy that Dell in less than two years (a descent time frame for a disposable computer like a Dell), I seriously doubt you were getting 90-120 FPS on High Video settings with the HD 4600 at any respectable resolution to begin with.

Regardless, I'm not surprised that you are getting such low FPS today with a 2.3GHZ C2Q and an HD 4600 on such a poorly optimized game. With every patch, WoW has become more and more demanding, especially for a high CPU clock, but also for graphics.

I suggest either donating that computer to charity or choosing to play a different game.
 
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dasper

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Cataclysm had some graphical increases but not that extreme. Also Blizzard prides themselves in making games that everyone can enjoy on average hardware so I assume you should not have to worry about yours being inferior for even the low setting. The bearing on a fan may be lose. It would make more sense if it was the CPU because the CPU would be under stress in the game, the fan on the heat sink would try to spin up but the bearing is off so it cannot reach the desire speed and the CPU would step down if it thinks its in danger of overheating.

I would try running Furmark or another benchmarking utility for just the GPU and see if anything seems out of what or if the noise starts up.
http://downloads.guru3d.com/FurMark-1.8.2-download-2523.html

Then do the same for your CPU with Folding Stress Test
http://www.gromacs.org/@api/deki/files/43/=stresscpu2.tgz

If neither of these cause the noise or weird performance issues, then it could be your power supply but I would expect you to get blue screens if that was the case. Next would be running msconfig and disabling everything on startup and all non windows services and scan for malware as well as a 100% fresh install of WoW using their new Cata downloaded from Battle.net to try and eliminate a software issue or conflict. New video card drivers are released every month from AMD so you can try that too.

If none of that helps then I am at a loss.
 
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darkdrizzy

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Thank you for everyone's Input.

I did the Furmark Stress test and the noise def started up...So now I know its def the Graphics card.

The test showed temperatures above 100Celcius max fps 29 and stuck around 12 fps... Is the card just failing? It's not supposed to be that bad from what I remember.

As for the CPU test...I am not quite sure how to read it...It just keeps on going with " Tested *insert number here* FP operations".

I did clean out the dust and have updated the drivers and the problem isn't changed. Ive never gotten a blue screen either so I'm willing to count out the power supply.

Before my last resort ( system restore cd's ) should I get a new video card? The thing is...IF I buy a new "awesome" graphics card, will my CPU back it up? I am not sure how strong it really is and have no idea how to even start understanding what is capable of what. I did read the FULL article on Graphics/cpu on wow. But I still wouldn't know about my cpu's results with a brand new card.

Thanks!

 
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correon

correon

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Your fan is failing on you Gfx - and the board slows down trying not to overheat - that could be the reason - and as Dasper writes above Cataclysm - have been getting some overhaul in the Engine - both Gfx and CPU - but be sure that your computer is getting enough airflow - cold air in and warm air out - it won´t help trying to cool a hot Gfx with hot air
 
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diellur

diellur

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I used to run WoW on an Acer laptop with an AMD 3650 GPU, and it was fine until Cata came along (one of the reasons that prompted me to upgrade to my current system, as it happens). I'm surprised that a 4xxx card struggles, but as has been said in this thread, the capability of the range varies.

I don't think you need to spend a lot to get a top-end GPU if it's only WoW you want to play. Have a look at the AMD 5xxx or even the lower end 6xxx series cards, and check out Nvidia as well. I wouldn't think the upgrade would be extortionate, and I doubt there would be a bottlenecking issue either.
 
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Zenthar

Zenthar

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I'd like to point out that the graphic card generation isn't as relevant to performance as people think; a 3650 would perform about the same as a 4650, the last few digits of the model number is often more significant than the first one.
 
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dasper

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Glad to hear you deduced what the problem is but sorry to hear that you will most likely need to replace your graphics card. I had a similar thing happen with a card from HIS. The big question is what do you use your machine for and what other games do you play and what is your monitors native resolution? For straight up gaming you get much better price/performance with an ati/amd card at most price points but they are significantly lacking if you plan on folding or offloading work to your GPU. I would refer to this article fist to determine your price point for video cards http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-performance-radeon-geforce,2997.html

For the vast majority of games out there your CPU will be more than enough to handle all the current games but I would venture to say that next year will offer some great chips and some great prices for an affordable upgrade path. Rule of thumb I use when buying upgrades for my machine is I do not spend more than I would be willing to pay every 18-24 months for that component. No matter how stellar that CPU/GPU/SSD is now, the bragging rights will be deprecated two years down the line and there will always be something faster with more features to tempt you. Also, thinking you will spend extra now to have a system last twice as long only works if 1- none of the hardware fails and 2- you do not take power consumption into the equitation.
 
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Onus

Onus

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Dasper has had a couple of very good posts on figuring this out.
As for buying a graphics card, if you think you may replace or upgrade your entire system, don't worry if the card you get is bottlenecked by what you have now; you'll just move it into the new system later.
Something like a HD6670 will not be too expensive ($90 for a GDDR5 version) and will outperform what you have now. You won't need to replace your PSU. If your Dell PSU already has a PCIE power cable, I would suggest a HD6770 instead (about $120), but if your PSU doesn't have that cable, I would not suggest using an adapter unless it is at least 350W. Dell PSUs aren't junk (yours may even be 80+), but they are the minimum for the delivered system.
 
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darkdrizzy

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Good points. I think the main reason why I lost so much fps is the NEW monitor I bought that I totally forgot to put into equation. It auto adjusted to 1920-1080...So this is probably the MAIN reason why my dps dropped so drastically. I switched the resolution in WoW and my fps jumped up to 65fps...But It's smaller and doesn't look as great. I still need a new video card! I like the fact that I can just buy a solid Graphics card and put it into a new cpu when/if I switch pc's.

So these are the two cards I am thinking about:

XFX ATI Radeon HD 6870:
http://www.amazon.com/XFX-Radeon-DisplayPort-PCI-Express-HD687AZNFC/dp/B0047ZH7GE/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

OR

EVGA GeForce GTX 460 Superclocked
http://www.amazon.com/EVGA-Superclocked-External-Mini-HDMI-01G-P3-1373-AR/dp/B003VWZEBY/ref=sr_1_3?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1315543587&sr=1-3


What do you think?
 
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Onus

Onus

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The HD6870 is stronger, but Blizzard games favor nVidia, so you may want to stick to the GTX460 if your focus is on WoW.
Just noticed that both of your links go to the same HD6870.
For the same price, a GTX560 (non-ti) might be even better. For less, a GTX550ti might be decent.
Don't forget to consider your PSU. The stock Dell probably cannot handle any of these cards.
 
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nforce4max

nforce4max

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Clear your cache from time to time if there are any in game issues. I play wow every day so I know a few things compared to a lot here ;)

As for the card go for it and go ahead and upgrade. A very good card can handle more than one client so multy boxing if you have more than one account can really spice things up in game ;)
 
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darkdrizzy

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I made my final decision and am going to completely re build my PC using this guide http://www.mysuperpc.com/
Please provide any knowledge or input you have about these options, thank you!

CASE: Rosewill Challenger --> http://www.amazon.com/Rosewill-CHALLENGER-Computer-Fans-1x-Fans-2x/dp/B003YVJJ5Y/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1315680381&sr=1-1

PSU: Antec Earthwatts 750-Watt Power Supply http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B001QZMBEQ/mysuperpc-20

Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K 3.3GHz--- http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B004EBUXHQ/qid=1008036386/sr=8-4/mysuperpc-20

Ram---I currently have 4gb or Ram which I'm assuming is plenty. No replacement here.

MotherBoard--
Any good motherboard suggestions? I read some reviews about this one http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B004P3X4VU/qid=1008036386/sr=8-4/mysuperpc-20 but they weren't great. If you have any knowledge about MOBO's please put your input!

Here are some I am currently looking at:
z68-- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128502
p67-- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128487

OR
Top end z68--- http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131760
Top End --- Gigabyte GA-P55A-UD4P ??

What is the main difference and is it worth the price? Or should I stick with the first 2 options?

Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 460 1GB DDR5 $170 pretty amazing price. But anyone know if this has any Noise issues?

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 1TB 7200rpm SATA 300 MB/s

OS: Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-Bit

DvD/CD: Sony 24x SATA DVD RW/CDRW (Black)

Sound Card: I really don't want to spend any extrra $$$. So probably a good MOBO will provide a good one.

In Conclusion I really need advice on a MOBO to go along with the rest of the products I want to purchase.


I sincerely appreciate your advice, thank you!
 
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