Why do my Specs still yield Low FPS

[Deleted]

Hi guys, I bought a £1000 pc not long ago, within the last year. Ill list you some of my system specs

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 @2.33ghz
Memory (RAM) 4GB
64 Bit Operating System

Graphics card is "nVIDIA GeForce 9800 GX2" graphic card

This computer is designed solely for gaming. Whilst in 10 man raids, I can have very good FPS on minimum detail, but if I raise it to fair/good, ill start dropping to 35 ish. In 25 man raids, I have to have minimum setup and even then I can drop between 20-35 FPS. Whilst it is playable without hardly any problems, I am progressing ina good guild, and for heroic modes Im going to need better detail. Easier to move from a void zone if you can actually see it! So why is my FPS so low, even though I have what I was told is a fantasic computer. In my research I've read about CPU being the main affector of FPS. Is mine not that great? and if not, will simply having the best CPU available installed onto on pc enable me to play at max detail or is it my graohics card. Either way I spent alot of money on the PC itself so dont quite understand which is dragging my FPS down. Can anyone help me? If so id appreciate it if you didnt speak in your most techical terms, your talking to a computer novice and I understand little about the techical side.

[Enola]

Pretty sure WOW will only use half of that 9800 GX2...DX9, and your processor isn't helping much probably.

[Cypher0]

While it is a quad-core CPU, it's still only clocked at 2.33 Ghz. WoW is poorly optimized for multi-cores, so you're effectively only using 2.33 Ghz from a single core. A CPU having 4 cores does not mean you get 4 x 2.33 = 9.32 ghz. You just get 2.33 ghz on 4 separate cores, each of which can run something at 2.33 ghz.

[MatsT]

Your fps seems fairly normal and expected for the system you have. If you really paid £1000 within the last year someone ripped you off because I bought a better computer than that 3 years ago for ~800.

[WarClark]

Turn off your Vsync and it should be able to better fps at higher graphic settings. Also what kind of ram/HDD speed do you have? some places will offer cheaper computers that look good but then shaft you on hard drive speeds and give you like DDR2 ram as well as poor cache on the cpu because most people don't look at those things. they see how many cores and what GHZ it is or how much hard drive/ram it has and think that it's good. haven't been in the UK for about 5 years now but for that much it should be a decent computer unless you got it from Dell or something.

Off topic: not dogging on Dell (I used to work for them) or anything their computers are fine but they over charge because of support and warranty crap.

[Deleted]

So what do I need to do to make runing the game alot better. Is it simply down to buying a better CPU as my graphics card is good enough? The computer is heavily designed to play games and has alot of additional features like blue ray, and all sorts of other TV related stuff put on it which im sure bumps the price up.

Thanks for the replies, but they only seem to confirm that my CPU is the problem but dont actually help me solve it. Can you guys recommend a CPU. money is really no issue. I have around £600 of which to bump up my specs, I may be niave in thinking this, but even the best CPU is gonna be less than that.

[Deleted]

I used to have the same problems with my 8800GTX. Somehow older Nvidia graphics are not that great for wow. I have no problems whatsoever with my ati 4890 at high graphics. Make sure you have the latest drivers maybe they fixed it.

Currently i have an amd 965 phenom II BE, gigabyte 790fx-ud5p, 4gb ddr3 ram, ati 4890, 4 seagate 500gb raid 0. have ¬60fps constant. with £600 you can probably get a spec like mine or even better.

[Deleted]

Turn off your Vsync and it should be able to better fps at higher graphic settings. Also what kind of ram/HDD speed do you have?

Can you explain how I turn that off? Im also afraid I have no idea how to find that info out for ya. I literally typed my computer make and model into a search engine and pasted them specs. I can click my computer granted, but only my CPU and RAM are displayed.

[WarClark]

Vertical Sync - it's found in the top right corner of the WoW video options menu.

[Deleted]

While it is a quad-core CPU, it's still only clocked at 2.33 Ghz. WoW is poorly optimized for multi-cores, so you're effectively only using 2.33 Ghz from a single core. A CPU having 4 cores does not mean you get 4 x 2.33 = 9.32 ghz. You just get 2.33 ghz on 4 separate cores, each of which can run something at 2.33 ghz.

since patch 4.0.1 wow utilizes multi core cpus way better, i got a q2q q9550 and overclocked it to 3,4ghz wow always uses all the cores on a even basis. And WoW now really uses newer graphics card efficiently.

Didnt really understand what setting you had in 10 man raids when ur fps dropped to around 35


Yea cpus do affect gpu performance, but your cpu should be strong enough for the 9800gtx2

About your problem i used to have a 9800gtx+ mine got unplayable around 3.3.5 only had trouble on WoW with it.
If you can try out another graphics card that is never,

i upgraded to a gtx470. After i changed my gpu i had a way better running wow

But you could also:
-Check your RAM (run memtest overnight)
-Check your gpu's temperature (easiest with speedfan, or try msi afterburner if you want to overclock it Beware of higher temperatures!
-check your cpu's temperature (speedfan)

Please correct me if i am wrong with something

Edit: Hell yeah "High Overlord" byebye alliance forum title woohoo

[Gouca]

Simply overclock your processor to 3.0 gHz - take the FPS limit off (from WoW advanced Video settings) and delete/re-install screen-card drivers.

[Deleted]

Save your £600 and get a new intel cpu, mobo and ram(if needed) on january the 9th. This build will last you some time so its a good way to spend your cash. You can always upgrade to a DX11 gpu too if you wanted.

[Deleted]

Save your £600 and get a new intel cpu, mobo and ram(if needed) on january the 9th. This build will last you some time so its a good way to spend your cash. You can always upgrade to a DX11 gpu too if you wanted.

Agree with that. What you have is a very old platform which is dead in terms of platform support. You could upgrade individual components such as the CPU, but you would have poor performance gains compared to the money you would have to spend. That £600 budget could be used to fund a whole new i5-760 platform, with strong graphics capabilities such as this

CPU: Intel i5-760 £157.95
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P55-USB3 P55 £ 88.36
GPU: Gigabyte GTX 460 OC 1GB GDDR5 £144.99
HDD: Seagate ST3500418AS 500GB £ 30.95
PSU: Corsair 650W TX Series £ 64.77
RAM:Corsair 4GB DDR3 1600MHz 1.65V £ 38.23
Case:Antec 300 Three Hundred Case £ 48.98
DVD Drive: Samsung SH-S223 22x DVD±RW SATA £11.99
Total at the time of writing £599.43

You could build it yourself if you have the confidence, but the components give you a rough idea what you should be looking for if you were to invest into a new build for the future.

Or alternatively wait for the new Sandybridge processors, which have a Socket platform known as the 1155, which are due out early to mid January. However whether you could find a decently priced and pre-built machine ready to order for January in the UK for around £600 is another question.