Subpar WOW Performance

[RyanPaulShaffer]

Hello all. I just recently got back into WOW, and I figured with my new rig, I could max everything out and run it smooth as silk. Unfortunately, this is not the case, with frame rates often dropping into the single digits in large outdoor areas. This is nuts. My computer can run Gears of War, BioShock, Call of Duty 4, Company of Heroes, etc. all at max settings without a single hitch, yet WOW is stuttering and slowing down? Here are my (relevant) system specs:

Core 2 Duo E6750
4 Gigs of GSkill RAM
BFG 8800GT 512 MB
...
and the rest really shouldn't matter. I am using the ForceWare Beta Drivers 169.25. Like I mentioned before, they run the latest games at max settings and native resolution (1650x1080) without a hitch, yet it's getting bogged down in a 3 year old game? Grrr...

Any help would be appreciated...thanks!

 

[nullpointerus]

(Note: I'm assuming you have ruled out network connection problems.)

In my experience, the CPU and RAM are vastly more important than the GPU when running a MMORPG. The reason for this is the amount of data to be processed due to the sheer numbers of player characters in certain areas. Try turning view distance and other similar settings down a bit and see what happens, or going to an empty area vs. a full area.

If performance tanks when many characters are on the screen, then I would advise overclocking your CPU (if you haven't already). Overclocks of 33% or more are quite common C2D CPUs. And, given the problem you are trying to solve, overclocking CPU should give a rather noticable increase in FPS. (You certainly have enough RAM.)

EDIT: You could also trying connecting a second monitor and monitoring CPU/RAM usage while the game is running. Windows Performance Monitor (Start -> Run -> perfmon.msc) or just Task Manager should work fine for this. If CPU and/or RAM is pegged at a near-constant 100% during the slowdowns, then you know the what is the bottleneck.

 

[MarcVenice]

LoL, a 2.66ghz c2d getting bogged down in WoW, gimme a break. Something else is going on here, and it's not his specs. Perhaps HD, maybe network trouble, don't know, but I'm quite sure it ain't his CPU. Maybe it has something to do with HD ? Not sure what exactly happens when big area's get loaded, but it might be ram related to somehow. Swap/Page file ?

 

[videogames101]

Rofl, I have everything maxed at that res with the rig below, smooth as silk. Something else is wrong!

 

[chizow]

Mmmm ya your rig should be pooping all over WoW at that resolution. What OS are you using? Also make sure to get the latest BIOS for your mobo as it could easily be a mobo/timing issue.

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

I am running Vista 64. Every other game I run performs quite smooth except for WOW. I run Gears at everything max at 60 FPS. I don't think it's a problem with my computer, and everything is up to date. I will see if my BIOS is up to date, but I'm pretty sure it is.

This is irritating... :-/

Edit: The HDD and network aren't an issue. I'm getting green pings, and that doesn't affect FPS anyway. Overclocking my CPU won't help either, since it's well above the specs required for max performance on WOW. Either 1. Something is up with WOW or 2. There is some kind of obscure problem.

 

[nitromullet]

What AA level are you running? FPS can drop like a rock in WoW with high levels of AA, especially if you use transparency+SS. Terokkar Forest right outside of Shattrath City seems to be the most intensive for some reason. I'll dip into the teens with 8xAA tr+SS. It's been this way with everything I've used, and I've played WoW on all the high end cards - 7800GTX SLI, 7900GTX SLI (used 16x SLI AA), 7950GX2, X1900XTX, 8800GTX, and now 8800GTS 512MB, always the same.

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

Originally posted by: nitromullet
What AA level are you running? FPS can drop like a rock in WoW with high levels of AA, especially if you use transparency+SS. Terokkar Forest right outside of Shattrath City seems to be the most intensive for some reason. I'll dip into the teens with 8xAA tr+SS. It's been this way with everything I've used, and I've played WoW on all the high end cards - 7800GTX SLI, 7900GTX SLI (used 16x SLI AA), 7950GX2, X1900XTX, 8800GTX, and now 8800GTS 512MB, always the same.

Haha it's ironic you posted this! I was in WOW messing with the settings, and I couldn't really see anything wrong. So, I decided to poke around in the Color Depth, and I originally had it set to 8x Multisampling. If Multisampling is the same thing as Anti-Aliasing, then I had it set to 8x. I tried messing with 1x, 2x and 4x. They all give constant ~60 FPS performance, but 8x makes it fluctuate pretty wildly.

I think I figured it out now. Your post confirmed what I had found out by goofing around. Thanks! :thumbsup:

 

[Quiksilver]

I would think that if the 8800GT had a larger bus 8x AA wouldn't be a problem.

 

[sheltem]

Originally posted by: RyanPaulShaffer

Originally posted by: nitromullet
What AA level are you running? FPS can drop like a rock in WoW with high levels of AA, especially if you use transparency+SS. Terokkar Forest right outside of Shattrath City seems to be the most intensive for some reason. I'll dip into the teens with 8xAA tr+SS. It's been this way with everything I've used, and I've played WoW on all the high end cards - 7800GTX SLI, 7900GTX SLI (used 16x SLI AA), 7950GX2, X1900XTX, 8800GTX, and now 8800GTS 512MB, always the same.

Haha it's ironic you posted this! I was in WOW messing with the settings, and I couldn't really see anything wrong. So, I decided to poke around in the Color Depth, and I originally had it set to 8x Multisampling. If Multisampling is the same thing as Anti-Aliasing, then I had it set to 8x. I tried messing with 1x, 2x and 4x. They all give constant ~60 FPS performance, but 8x makes it fluctuate pretty wildly.

I think I figured it out now. Your post confirmed what I had found out by goofing around. Thanks! :thumbsup:

AA becomes less important at higher resolutions, for obvious reasons. For instance, I can run Hellgate London at 1920x1200 with everything maxed, except for AA, which I'll have to keep below 8x. If I really wanted to max AA, I would have to drop down to 1680x1050, which is retarded, IMHO

 

[RyanPaulShaffer]

Right now I have AA at 4x, and performance is pretty smooth, between 40-60 FPS. I didn't notice much of a difference going from 8x to 4x, so I'll keep it at 4x unless it gives me trouble, then I'll drop it down to 2x. 2x is a little jaggier, but it's not noticeable unless you're looking, and it's not worth a performance hit.

This was...an interesting find. Who knew that AA would bring a game to its knees, even if the game is 3 years old?

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: RyanPaulShaffer
Right now I have AA at 4x, and performance is pretty smooth, between 40-60 FPS. I didn't notice much of a difference going from 8x to 4x, so I'll keep it at 4x unless it gives me trouble, then I'll drop it down to 2x. 2x is a little jaggier, but it's not noticeable unless you're looking, and it's not worth a performance hit.

This was...an interesting find. Who knew that AA would bring a game to its knees, even if the game is 3 years old?

...me

On a more serious note. Yes, the game is 3 years old, but it has grown a bit over time. It didn't always allow for AA according to what I've heard, and I know it hasn't always allowed 8xAA. Weather effects were also added considerably later. So, benchmarks from years ago probably aren't as relevant today as some people may think.

 

[Freejack2]

Also get rid of any dps meters, they're nothing but headaches.

 

[Saiyukimot]

Poorly coded addons can bring fps down too.


Try it without any addons, and the performance will boom up.