Recently I build a new PC to improve performance for WOW as frame rates in MOP have dropped by a noticable amount. Below are the specs of the new PC.
Gigagabye 990FXA-UD3
AMD Phenom II X4 965be (overclocked to 4.1ghz) - Upgraded from AMD athlon X2 250
Coolermaster 412 Slim Series CPU cooler
Gigabyte Radeon 2G HD7870 OC (from my old PC)
Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 Memory Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9B)
128GB 2.5-inch SSD 840 Pro Series
Thermaltake PSU TR2 800w 80 plus
I did try a crossfire setup with 2 x HD7870's but in wow the FPS was pratically the same as a single card and the micro stuttering was terrible. I've gone back to a single card setup but unsure if I upgrading to a HD7970 GHz model will improve frame rates in 25 man raids and in MOP areas at 1920 x 1080. I'm really happy with the phenom 965 and temp doesnt go much over 40c in wow and in prime95 the temp is around 50-51 degrees when run for 8hrs.
To get a gauge of the frame rates I'm currently getting I've listed the FPS for each graphic setting while at Anglers area in MOp with a few other players around. I disabled max forground fps otherwise low - high would be capped at 100fps and doesnt really highlight the differences in fps etc.
Low 169 fps
Fair 130 fps
Good 100 fps
High 88 fps
Ultra 45 fps
Now when flying and in more crowded areas the fps on ultra sometimes drops to 30-35. In Stormwind I get 50-60 fps. In MOP 25 man raids the fps during boss fights ranges from 21-34fps which is still pretty good but when it drops to 25 or below it's noticable and impacts game play. Based on the frame rates I've provided I'm assuming the CPU isnt a bottleneck as the frame rates are only dropping as the graphic settings are increased. If they were low for all settings that would indicate the CPU would be a bottleneck? CPU usage in a MOP 25 man raid seems to be a consistent 40-45% and gpu usage is about 15% under that. With this in mind do you think a HD7970 would make a noticable difference in performance while still using the phenom 965? I've read through so many threads about bottlenecks and GPU benchmarks but never found someone in my situtation and setup. I've read a lot of negative feedback about the phenom 965 performance but with the setup I have I think I'm getting good performance and dont think it's worth upgrading to a FX-8350. I've also read that to get good performance in WOW and other current games you need intel. But overall I'm pleased with what I have. I would appreciate anyones feedback in regard to advising whether the HD7970 ghz edition would increase performance in WOW using ultra settings while still using the Phenom 965 and confirming the HD 7870 is the bottleneck at the moment.
Thank you.
Gigagabye 990FXA-UD3
AMD Phenom II X4 965be (overclocked to 4.1ghz) - Upgraded from AMD athlon X2 250
Coolermaster 412 Slim Series CPU cooler
Gigabyte Radeon 2G HD7870 OC (from my old PC)
Corsair Vengeance Low Profile 8GB Dual Channel DDR3 Memory Kit (CML8GX3M2A1600C9B)
128GB 2.5-inch SSD 840 Pro Series
Thermaltake PSU TR2 800w 80 plus
I did try a crossfire setup with 2 x HD7870's but in wow the FPS was pratically the same as a single card and the micro stuttering was terrible. I've gone back to a single card setup but unsure if I upgrading to a HD7970 GHz model will improve frame rates in 25 man raids and in MOP areas at 1920 x 1080. I'm really happy with the phenom 965 and temp doesnt go much over 40c in wow and in prime95 the temp is around 50-51 degrees when run for 8hrs.
To get a gauge of the frame rates I'm currently getting I've listed the FPS for each graphic setting while at Anglers area in MOp with a few other players around. I disabled max forground fps otherwise low - high would be capped at 100fps and doesnt really highlight the differences in fps etc.
Low 169 fps
Fair 130 fps
Good 100 fps
High 88 fps
Ultra 45 fps
Now when flying and in more crowded areas the fps on ultra sometimes drops to 30-35. In Stormwind I get 50-60 fps. In MOP 25 man raids the fps during boss fights ranges from 21-34fps which is still pretty good but when it drops to 25 or below it's noticable and impacts game play. Based on the frame rates I've provided I'm assuming the CPU isnt a bottleneck as the frame rates are only dropping as the graphic settings are increased. If they were low for all settings that would indicate the CPU would be a bottleneck? CPU usage in a MOP 25 man raid seems to be a consistent 40-45% and gpu usage is about 15% under that. With this in mind do you think a HD7970 would make a noticable difference in performance while still using the phenom 965? I've read through so many threads about bottlenecks and GPU benchmarks but never found someone in my situtation and setup. I've read a lot of negative feedback about the phenom 965 performance but with the setup I have I think I'm getting good performance and dont think it's worth upgrading to a FX-8350. I've also read that to get good performance in WOW and other current games you need intel. But overall I'm pleased with what I have. I would appreciate anyones feedback in regard to advising whether the HD7970 ghz edition would increase performance in WOW using ultra settings while still using the Phenom 965 and confirming the HD 7870 is the bottleneck at the moment.
Thank you.
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