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

stulid · 22 Jun 2010 at 12:54

whoops, thanks PaulyD

overclock the Q6600.

done.

Gary* · 22 Jun 2010 at 12:58

The last few patches with WoW have caused a lot of fps problems for people, there's a whole bunch of topics going on over at the European forums in Tech Discussion.

I haven't had any issues though, current spec is;

Asus M4A79XTD EVO
Phenom II X2 550 3.1GHz
Corsair DHX 4GB DDR3 1333MHz
Sapphire Vapor-X 5750
OCZ Stealth 600W

PaulyD · 22 Jun 2010 at 13:21

overclock that Q6600.

Stulid - his sig says he has a 260?

Don't think that will be the problem, esp as Storm says he turned down the graphics and got the same problem, looks like CPU bottleneck to me. Heard WoW is CPU intensive over GPU and don't know whether its multi-threaded or not

WingZero30 · 22 Jun 2010 at 13:33

Yeah the CPU is the bottleneck at 2.4GHz. Overclock the CPU to atleast 3.0GHz. Anything above would be even better. I had my E6600 go from 2.4Ghz(stock) to 3.2GHz and I saw major improvements in Crysis. The game became very fluid.

Overclock the gpu aswell if you can as that will also help with larger resolutions.

Temi_D · 22 Jun 2010 at 13:33

In big battles, the bottleneck is the server and not your computer

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?

Exsurgo · 22 Jun 2010 at 14:21

Is it specifically in raids where the slowdown occurs, such as ICC 25?
If so, then it is a case of extreme demands being placed on the CPU, horrible game coding and in-game addons from not just yourself but the 24 other players in the raid unfortunatly.

Overclocking will give you major fps increases, but be aware that an i7 at 4.2Ghz will still spike down to 20ish fps during some boss fights in ICC because of the above issues.
Maybe Cataclysm will sort these issues, although I think it is unikely considering WOTLK poor optimisation and the addon culture that it nurtured caused these problems.

You can definatly hold unto your GTX260 for a while though, check GPUZ and you will see that it probably does not go above 70% load in WoW.

stulid · 22 Jun 2010 at 14:26

@Storm

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

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 !!!

stulid · 22 Jun 2010 at 19:21

Storrm said:
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!

thank god, thought i was going mental!!!!! thats why you saw the "whoops thanks PaulyD"

Admiral Huddy · 23 Jun 2010 at 08:31

You don't need an i7, you just need to get the maximum out of that Q6600:

Here's a few links that will help you get to 3.4GHz

Stock to 2.7GHz

2.7GHz to 3GHz

3GHz to 3.2GHz

3.2GHz to 3.4GHz

Hope that helps

arc@css · 23 Jun 2010 at 15:46

^^Nice one Huddy. I shall give that a read over the weekend and try and get mine stable at a higher clock.

daniel101191 · 23 Jun 2010 at 17:31

I dont know anything for certain, but I have a Pentium Dual core, currently not in the overclocked profile running at stock 2.5Ghz, and a GTX 260, and 4GB of ram, and wow runs perfect in battles etc, puzzling...

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!