Qustions about cpu/gpu usage and frames

[Deleted]

Hi all,

I've attached a screenshot from a bossfight where you can see on the top left my statistics
In that fight I played on the level 2 preset graphics because otherwise Ill drop below 60 fps in this 20man raid during bossfights

My gpu usage never goes above 20% and my cpu doesn't go over 50%

I have a gtx 1070 and an i5-6600 (not K)

Is it normal for the usage to be that low? Can I somehow increase the usage so that I can put the graphics up a bit as well? It feels a bit weird that my computer is struggling on low specs but doesn't make use of its recources

http://i.imgur.com/mLp4Lcy.jpg

edit: more details http://i.imgur.com/SwagXAO.jpg

[potis]

Welcome to discovering how old games dont use hardware properly.

Secondly, next time track CPU respectively as Core 0 1 2 3, not as CPU.

That 38% on your screenshot probably means, Core 0 is 100% load, core 1 is half load, hence that number, while Core 2 and 3 are sleeping, cause WoW doesnt use more than 2 cores, ever, mostly uses 1, second does extra stuff but not much.

[Deleted]

2 questions. What resolution are you playing on and what is your render scale set to?

1080p and render scale is at 100%

[Deleted]

any other ideas or suggestions?

Also I run elvui, healbot and skada if that matters

[Soisoisoi]

any other ideas or suggestions?

Also I run elvui, healbot and skada if that matters

Read post #2. There's nothing else to be said. Addons, unless they are bugging out, shouldn't make much of a difference to your FPS (besides nameplate stuff).

Welcome to discovering how old games dont use hardware properly.

Secondly, next time track CPU respectively as Core 0 1 2 3, not as CPU.

That 38% on your screenshot probably means, Core 0 is 100% load, core 1 is half load, hence that number, while Core 2 and 3 are sleeping, cause WoW doesnt use more than 2 cores, ever, mostly uses 1, second does extra stuff but not much.

[Deleted]

Read post #2. There's nothing else to be said. Addons, unless they are bugging out, shouldn't make much of a difference to your FPS (besides nameplate stuff).

I see, but doesnt that mean that pretty much most players get awful framerate in raids unless you have a top end cpu?

[Deleted]

I see, but doesnt that mean that pretty much most players get awful framerate in raids unless you have a top end cpu?

Ours IS a top end cpu lol For wow, sort of.

Are you overclocking it? I'm at 4.5GHz with no problems for about 9 months now.

[MrPaladinGuy]

@potis is correct if that % next to the CPU temp is usage and not fan speed.

[Soisoisoi]

I see, but doesnt that mean that pretty much most players get awful framerate in raids unless you have a top end cpu?

Awful relative to what you'd expect decent hardware to do, yep. You can increase your max framerate by a shitload with a good GPU, but you're still going to dip low during spikes like boss pulls (Skorpyron pull + all adds is an easy example), even if on average the FPS is "okay".

[chazus]

You want to use an actual CPU monitor instead of the built in, to see what is going where. As others said, 38% probably means ~100% of CPU1, 25% CPU2.

That said, it's hardly a 'top end cpu' as far as performance. I'm not saying it's BAD, but my 5 year old 3570K @ 4.5ghz will perform better than your 1 year old 6600 at 3.5ghz. Either way, wow raids will max out cpu usage easily, especially with monitoring addons

[Deleted]

Ah I have the 6600k hence my 4.5ghz oc.

The extra clock speed helps a fair bit with wow.

[Deleted]

Here an updated image with all cores shown http://i.imgur.com/SwagXAO.jpg

apparantly theres none at 100%

[potis]

Here an updated image with all cores shown http://i.imgur.com/SwagXAO.jpg

apparantly theres none at 100%

Right so you will stop getting confused.

What you are seeing, is WoW "using" all those cores by assigning tasks for them to do, threads pretty much.

Reality is, the main assignment, the main "thread" that matters how your FPS will be in game, is running on one core.

Imagine you want people to carry stuff, you have 4 people and you have pieces of 1 kilogram but you only make Person 1 carry 50 kilograms in 50 different pieces , while person 2-3-4 have to carry only 1-2 pieces aka 1-2 kilogram, they all have a workload, but you can see there is something wrong and there is nothing you can do about it.. Thats how WoW works.

Its an issue with draw calls, people that can explain this better can take over.

Now, the faster that one core is, the more "pieces" can be moved over for the GPU to draw, your i5 6600 despite being a strong CPU, is not as strong as example an i3 at 4Ghz because that 500Mhz extra will allow for more "pieces" to be moved over for the GPU to draw.

I am not counting the turbo mode cause it craps around for no reason many times so i am using its default value.

Now a i5 6600 and a i5 6600K are the same CPU, but the person that has overclocked his 6600K to 4.5Ghz, can pretty much carry more "Pieces".

Imagine in random example numbers, your Core at 3.5Ghz can carry 1000 pieces at a time, the 4.5Ghz can carry 1300-1400 pieces at a time averagely, the 1Ghz difference is a good 25-40% increase in minimum FPS when it comes to WoW.

Thats why your GPU at both your screenshots is barely working, cause the CPU is not telling it to.

[Lathais]

In addition to the whole CPU not being used, mainly 1 core and then some other stuff split up among the other cores, WoW is also not very efficient at using individual cores. The draw calls that must be made, serially, waiting for one to finish before the next starts, don't use all of the core either. So one core is not at 100%, but it is using as much of it as WoW's old engine is able, while everything else is being put on the other cores. It's just the way WoW is. It will never max out your CPU and will not even max out a single core yet increasing clock speed increases FPS. The CPU is not the real limiting factor here, it's WoWs old engine.

[Deleted]

Cheers all very informative.
Maybe Ill look in investing in an unlocked cpu so I can overclock a bit.

[Lathais]

Cheers all very informative.
Maybe Ill look in investing in an unlocked cpu so I can overclock a bit.

Generally speaking, though will vary a bit from generation to generation, you can expect about a 1% increase in performance for every .1 gHz you OC. So if you got a 6600k and OCed it to 4.5, you'd see about a 6% increase on what you already have. So if you are dipping below 60, it depends how low below 60 you are going if it is worth it. It may not be. On the situations you describe, nearly all PCs struggle to stay above 60. Even top of the line OCed to high heaven and back, still have dips below 60 in certain situations. People will tell you they don't, but those people have certain specific settings turned down or are lying.

[Deleted]

Generally speaking, though will vary a bit from generation to generation, you can expect about a 1% increase in performance for every .1 gHz you OC. So if you got a 6600k and OCed it to 4.5, you'd see about a 6% increase on what you already have. So if you are dipping below 60, it depends how low below 60 you are going if it is worth it. It may not be. On the situations you describe, nearly all PCs struggle to stay above 60. Even top of the line OCed to high heaven and back, still have dips below 60 in certain situations. People will tell you they don't, but those people have certain specific settings turned down or are lying.

I found at that especially the last part is very true lol. I've asked many different people and most of them say that they run ''high'' fps on ''high'' settings in 25 man raids. Which is kind of weird because apparently you need a pretty beast computer for that. But when you ask specifics it ends up being very high settings but terribe fps or the other way around.

I guess what is doable is a bar you set for yourself. I really like to stay above 60 fps in the most intense scenarios so I just put the slider further down, down to 3 or 2 even. That being said, Im interested to see how much an overclocked cpu would give me, so I'm going to sell my current 6600 and try to get 7600k and overclock it. Always wanted to try that out so probably a good time for that.

[Lathais]

I found at that especially the last part is very true lol. I've asked many different people and most of them say that they run ''high'' fps on ''high'' settings in 25 man raids. Which is kind of weird because apparently you need a pretty beast computer for that. But when you ask specifics it ends up being very high settings but terribe fps or the other way around.

I guess what is doable is a bar you set for yourself. I really like to stay above 60 fps in the most intense scenarios so I just put the slider further down, down to 3 or 2 even. That being said, Im interested to see how much an overclocked cpu would give me, so I'm going to sell my current 6600 and try to get 7600k and overclock it. Always wanted to try that out so probably a good time for that.

Not as much lately, but we used to see it quite frequently here on the forums people making those claims. So we would ask for video proof with settings shown. Every single time there were settings turned down or dips below 60. It's kinda sad that people lie to themselves about it. It's just WoW and the way WoW always has been and likely always will be, unless they revamp the whole engine or make WoW 2.

[Deleted]

Would an i7 6700k be better than an i5 7600k for wow?

[chazus]

Would an i7 6700k be better than an i5 7600k for wow?

No, if anything it would be worse. Lower IPC (if only marginally), higher cost, and clock for clock, an i7 can perform worse due to hyperthreading.

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That being said, Im interested to see how much an overclocked cpu would give me, so I'm going to sell my current 6600 and try to get 7600k and overclock it.

I almost wouldn't bother. It would be an increase, yes... But the costs/work involved in doing that, to me, wouldn't be worth it. I'd personally just wait til your next upgrade cycle around ~2019/20