i Need some techy help

[TanAxys]

well first I'd start inside WoW.

go to the video options and check to make sure resolutions are the same (this way you are comparing apples to apples) and make sure your Vertical Sync is disabled.

then I'd do some kind of test, that is somewhat repeatable. An easy (but not especially accurate) test the the /timetest in WoW itself. In WoW, you can test frame rates, by going to a flight master and typing /timetest. Do the same flight path a couple times to get a good average, and then switch computers and do the same test again.

The /timetest won't really give you an accurate frame rate, but it will allow you to judge the relative performance of the 2 systems.

If you are still seeing a lesser GPU perform much better, then there's probably a problem somewhere... like drivers or something else. If the two systems perform nearly the same, then you'll know that your CPU is your bottleneck.

fwiw, you can upgrade that CPU without much difficulty... the AMD Phenom II X4 820 is the same socket and wattage, so it would drop right in ($90 USD on newegg atm).

[Devylknyght]

ok so i: verified dx11 is on, downloaded leatrix, downloaded the new ati drivers, and none of that helped. i tried turning the verticle sync off multiple times and it actually made things worse without helping the fps. some more examples are: stonecore 60 fps throughout the instance. uldum in the oasis area only 20-30 fps. theonly pattern i see is it is much lower whenever i am outside. that shouldnt be a problem for this gpu. the only thing i can think of is to check out my dads this weekend and see if maybe i was mistaken and it is performing the same in those areas, in which the processor would be a bottleneck. if it is performing better than mine, then i have no idea...

[TanAxys]

i tried turning the verticle sync off multiple times and it actually made things worse without helping the fps.

If this is true, then there is definitely a software issue of some kind. All V sync does is reduce screen glitches. If it make things worse when disabled, meaning no fps boost and more glitches, the you probably want to try something else. Find different drives to try, or maybe step down to dx10 and see if that helps.

but you definitely want to try both computers back to back--During the same time of day (so that you get similar server traffic and connection speed), and doing the same activities... again a /timetest would be a great way to do this.

also... outside, things like view distance and ground clutter have a greater effect. that could explain why you get a dip outdoors, but not why the better gpu is performing worse with the same cpu.

I know it sounds dumb, but make sure the cpus are really the same, maybe one is althlon and the other is phenom, or maybe one is athlon x4 and the other is althon ii x4.

[Deleted]

might sound odd, but is this on a fresh install of windows ?
or did you just move your boot drive from one machine to another ? if you did have you tried running a driver cleaner in safe mode to remove all possible drivers then reinstall ?

[Devylknyght]

both were brand new computers out of the box with fresh windows 7