Best Graphics card for a dual monitor set-up

[xcaliber501]

Hello all,

First of all here is my current system set-up.

CPU: i5-6600k
Mobo: Gigabyte Z170x-UD3
Memory: 16G DDR4 RAM
Storage: 120G SSD
Storage: 1T HD
Primary Monitor: Dell 27" 1440p (I game on)
Secondary Monitor: BenQ 24" 1080p (for web searches and videos)
GPU: ASUS OC Dual-Fan GTX 1070

I purchased my new ASUS GPU a few days ago. I mainly play WoW for my gaming plus some FO4 and Doom occasionally. I had hoped that I could run WoW at Ultra settings and get very high FPS rates with this new card. I was thinking an average of 90 FPS or better. Unfortunately that just has not been the case. Without even trying raiding, just flying around the world, I am seeing rates in the 50-60FPS range with spikes down to the low 40s and even 30s. I have gone through and made sure the drivers for the mobo, gpu and cpu are all up to date. I still just am not getting the frame rates I was expecting.

Before I start looking into my overclocking options, am I expecting to much for this card given that I am using 2 monitors? Even though I only game on one? Should I look in to overclocking or should I just take this card back (I bought it locally) and exchange it for a 1080 of 1080ti?

Thanks

 

[EpIckFa1LJoN]

WoW is heavily CPU reliant, and only uses a single core for about 80% of the processing. You could have gotten a 1050 and get the same results. I highly recommend overclocking your CPU, and only using the essential background programs. I have a 6700K at 4.2GHz and I can only get like 45fps in Nighthold in most areas, in Stormwind I get maybe 60 if not too many people are on.

And I have a 1080 Ti.

OH and I play at 3440x1440 with AA OFF and the graphics slider at 7. So not even at Ultra really.

Has nothing to do with the GPU, everything to do with WoW being an old a$$ game with a dated engine.

If it matters that much to you get a 7700k, that's the only way you'll get much more fps.

A few things you should try in order of effectiveness
1) Play in "Windowed (Fullscreen)" mode. For whatever reason WoW just does not work right in Fullscreen mode, which is the opposite of most other games.
2) Set render scale (last option on the Advanced menu on the right column) to 100% if not already there, at 1440p you can't really tell a difference when this is set higher, only if set lower. set to 200% puts the graphics upscaled to 5k which will put a very hefty strain on your GPU for an incredibly minor increase in quality. (Can't really see 5k on a 1440p monitor)
3) Turn off AA (top section of the Graphics menu) again at 1440p there is a tiny difference in quality, with a massive hit to performance.
4) Reduce Environmental sliders (Especially view distance) These will lessen the strain on both the GPU and the CPU A LOT.
5) Reduce particle density. This is a CPU effect exclusively and has a huge impact on performance. I have to set mine to good or in fights I get a MASSIVE drop in performance.

It really sucks because a ton of people are in the same boat you are and bought a great GPU to play WoW only to find out the performance increase is minimal. I changed out a 650 Ti for a 1080 and only got maybe 10-15 more fps a few slider levels up. And that was a 550% increase in GPU power. Then I changed out my 3770K for a 6700K and doubled the effective RAM (8GB > 16GB, 1600MHz > 3200MHz) and got 20fps easy. (all in the heart of Trade in SW) I also OC'd my 6700K to 4.6GHz and got another 15-20 fps. (which I undid because of outside issues thinking it might be the CPU) But when I had it at 4.6 I was getting highs 70's to low 90's in the middle of Trade district.

So yeah... worth OCing the CPU, or even upgrading entirely for WoW. Think I am going to upgrade to the 8700K when it comes out later this year.

To answer your original question, a 1070 should be perfectly fine for you assuming you have a 60Hz monitor, and aren't trying to play absolutely everything on Ultra (Doom and BF1 might give you a little bit of trouble). Anything more than that I would say a 1080 would suit you better, but at this point it's not really worth upgrading from one to the other.

 

[Wolfshadw]

Simple test. Disable the secondary monitor in your NVidia Control Panel and test to see if you get the same frame rates you do as when both displays are enabled.

-Wolf sends

 

[EpIckFa1LJoN]

I'll save you some time... It's definitely the CPU, the GPU's fine. I use a 3440x1440 main monitor and a 2560x1440 side monitor, for any other game You may get like 1-2 fps lower using a second monitor, not really enough to make a difference.

But for WoW it doesn't matter how many monitors you have up, you could have 30 theoretically and the only thing that would matter is how hard your CPU is being run. Your CPU is effectively 12.5% slower than mine, and I don't get much higher rates than those when I try to play at Ultra. Granted I have a 1080 Ti over your 1070, but I am 99.9% certain that is the problem.

If you want to know for yourself run a monitoring program such as RivaTuner Statistic Server (which comes with MSI:Afterburner) and monitor CPU per core usage and temp, and GPU usage temp and clock speed. Guarantee a single core will be stupid high usage and the other barely being used (20-30%) and your GPU will probably be around 60-70 or even lower.

 

[xcaliber501]

Yeah, I have already tried removing one of the monitors and it had a little improvement, but not that much. I have heard that WoW was a very CPU intensive game. Perhaps I can look into over clocking the i5-6600k to get closer to the performance I am looking for. I do have a enclosed water-cooler I was using on my old AMD processor. I would just need to go get the correct attachment for it.

Also, thanks for the tips. I do already play in Fullscreen (Windowed mode). But setting the rendering might be something I can do. I will check these when I get home from work.

Thanks everyone for your quick responses.