Help me solve my bottleneck issues!

Storrm · 22 Jun 2010 at 12:52

Hi,

I have a 2yr old PC based on a Q6600 running at 2.4Ghx, Asus mobo, 4Gb RAM. Its running OK but I'm getting a lot of framerate issues in WoW (running at 1920x1200) when in big battles. I can't work out where the bottleneck is ie. is it the graphics card or the CPU. I've turned down the graphics options in-game to just basic and I still get issues so I'm starting to think that its the CPU causing the bottleneck.

Can anyone recommend me a course of action to see where I should be spending some money. I was thinking about upgrading the GPU but now I think about it, it may not be the cause of the problem!

TIA

Storrm · 22 Jun 2010 at 13:51

Fantastic suggestions peeps. I really appreciate the quick response. I was thinking about a new i7 (well, I need an excuse to buy one!) but guess I'll start with a new case (Antec 902) plus CPU cooler (Corsair H50?) and crank up the CPU and see if it fixes things. At least if it doesnt I can then move to a new mobo/cpu (was thinking Asus P6X58D-E + i7 920 D0 with 6Gb of Corsair XMS3). Does that sound like a plan?

Storrm · 22 Jun 2010 at 19:04

stulid said:
@Storm

did you change your sig while making this thread? swear I saw a 8800Gt?

Yes mate. I posted and saw that my sig was out of date, so I changed it but within 2mins of the original thread, so you must have been very fast off the mark!

Storrm · 22 Jun 2010 at 19:07

@Exsurgo

Yup - ICC25. Its terrible at the start of some fights like deathwhisper and morrowgar for example, I drop down to <5fps! I'm hoping some good cooling and a reasonable overclock will give me some headroom before I need to think about upgrading the CPU/GPU

*edit* Ordered an Antec 902 + H50 from OC this PM. With me Thursday (out tomorrow). Don't let me down OC !!!

Storrm · 24 Jun 2010 at 21:58

Well, I got my new Antec 902 and Corsair H50 today and am very pleased to say that the Q6600 is running rock solid at 3.2Ghz at 35deg idle, 42deg in game and 52deg at full load (these temps should come down a degree or two as the TIM beds in). I've raided tonight with no problems what-so-ever so I can safely say that the bottleneck was definately the CPU.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions guys. I can really recommend the 902+H50. Everything runs pretty quiet at medium settings (I was slightly annoyed that I wasnt able to control the fan speeds from my desktop, but only a minor issue).

Ciao!