Lev ([info]lev) wrote in [info]wow_ladies,
@ 2007-09-20 09:13:00
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Current mood: sad
Entry tags:technical

FPS technical question.
I have a problem.

My fps sucks. Really sucks. Sucks to the point when guildies complain about having 12 fps, I envy them.

I know performance dips when you have 25 toons in Mag's Lair with AoE shadowbolts, but I usually run at 2 or 3 fps there which makes me pretty damn worthless. (Even in Kara I sometimes get pwned by Aran's arcane blast because my fps/lag doesn't let me get to the wall in time.) Outside 25 mans my fps probably averages between 8-15.

Every video option I can possibly turn down/turn off "to improve performance" has been taken care of. I do not play in windowed mode. The only other program I have running while playing WoW is Vent. My graphics card/CPU are not that old, they are good enough to (mostly) run The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion if anyone is familiar with that game.

What else can I do to improve my fps? What could possibly be causing this sucktasticness? Heeeeeeeeelp.


edit: I have 2GB of RAM, so that's not the problem, and I'm at work so I can't remember what my video card is off the top of my head. Geforce... something with 256MB memory.


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[info]amiyuy
2007-09-20 02:37 pm UTC (link)
I might just be weird, but my fps seemed to improve when I started playing in windowed mode. I also turned on "Sound in background" so when I left the window it didn't spend extra time lagging because it was starting/ending sound.

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[info]lev
2007-09-20 02:39 pm UTC (link)
I used to/still do play in windowed mode for ease of alt tabbing, but it definitely makes my fps worse in 25 mans so I switch out back to non-windowed then. =/

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[info]archangelbeth
2007-09-20 03:08 pm UTC (link)
When my FPS went down in non-windowed mode, I boggled about it, and my spouse said, "It's because the computer has to calculate more pixels -- when you have a smaller screen, you have fewer calculations to do, and the frame rate goes up." And I said, "Oh! And have since run in windowed mode.

Other things that slow me down are having lots and lots of other apps running in the background. For EverCrack, I have to turn off the background SETI@home and whatnot that I leave running and clean off the tower so it won't overheat and crash me out of EQ. (Warcrack is more tolerant of both.)

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[info]amiyuy
2007-09-20 03:57 pm UTC (link)
I got a fan that goes under my laptop when I started playing WoW because my fps was HORRID and we couldn't figure out why until I realized it was really hot. It's gotten to the point that the cheap fan is barely doing anything so I have a normal fan sitting on the dresser next to me pointed at my laptop whenever I'm playing WoW. It's amazing the difference heat makes.

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[info]archangelbeth
2007-09-20 08:33 pm UTC (link)
Dust, too -- I need to clean out this tower. The old one, we had to open it up and blow out the dust now and then, to stop the EverCrash crashes...

But. Yeah. Heat and dust can be silent killers.

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[info]equiraptor
2007-09-20 02:41 pm UTC (link)
Are you running at a large resolution?

I hate to ask, but have you checked for viruses / trojans / runaway processes?

If there's something else using CPU time, you'll see crappy performance in WoW, but depending, you may not notice it anywhere else. :/

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[info]lev
2007-09-20 03:22 pm UTC (link)
Ummm I suppose 1280x1024 is large, yes? *cough* I hate running in smaller resolutions but I guess I'll try it.

My comp is virus/trojan free, just ran a scan yesterday actually. =)

I guess when I next log on I'm going to make extra sure nothing is running in the background.

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[info]equiraptor
2007-09-20 03:32 pm UTC (link)
Hrm. That's... Not huge, but not tiny (for comparison, I'm running at 2560x1600 on a very, very beefy system at 30-60fps). My old computer was able to handle 1280x1024 ok (25-30fps, 15 in 40 man raids).

It might be worthwhile to keep an eye on Task Manager, see if anything's sucking up processor time unexpectedly.

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[info]lev
2007-09-20 04:34 pm UTC (link)
I'll do that, iTunes seems to like to have some random "helper" program running a lot for no apparent reason.

Thank you for your advice!

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[info]equiraptor
2007-09-20 04:38 pm UTC (link)
Oh, yeah. iTunesHelper.exe is TOTALLY safe to kill. If you know how, you can remove it (and quicktime) from startup, but as that may require registry editing, it's not something you should just stumble through.

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[info]lev
2007-09-20 06:08 pm UTC (link)
Quicktime eludes my Startup modifying skills for some reason, but I always close out of it. I suppose I should go back in and kill the iTunes helper, I was never terribly sure of what that program actually did.

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[info]pyoska
2007-09-20 03:02 pm UTC (link)
You might want to check what resolution you're running at, but it just might be the card. My old laptop used to run at a stead 15 fps and it was torture. Its not that youre video card isn't good, but it isn't great either. My new laptop runs at a steady 60 fps, but it has a top of the line graphics card in it. It might just be a hardware thing that won't really improve until it gets replaced. :( I know this doesn't really help, but I think that might be the problem.

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[info]lev
2007-09-20 03:24 pm UTC (link)
I was hoping it wasn't the graphics card, but the last time I upgraded it was probably a year ago. =/ One of my guildies has a $600 graphics card and he gets sad when he runs at 40fps.

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[info]pleiades829
2007-09-20 03:24 pm UTC (link)
Usually the biggest culprit for us is the computer getting too hot. Check for a dirty fan/heatsink - they need to be cleaned every so often because they get a lot of dust over time. As soon as we clean it out, performance improves. Additionally, you can try getting a little desktop fan and pointing it at your computer. Make sure that the vents for your computer are not obstructed.

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[info]lev
2007-09-20 03:26 pm UTC (link)
If the computer was getting too hot wouldn't it affect other things too, not just WoW? I haven't noticed a problem with anything else, including playing movies and the like. Haven't had my computer open for a while though, so it probably is dusty...

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[info]thematrixhasme
2007-09-20 03:29 pm UTC (link)
It may not be much, but if you don't defragment your computer often, that can attribute to low frame rates. Try defragging it, then if things still aren't good, reinstall WoW and defrag again. Sometimes the game just gets hung up in itself.

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[info]lev
2007-09-20 04:35 pm UTC (link)
The drive partition my WoW is on doesn't get messed with much, but that's worth a shot at this point. Thanks! =)

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[info]shinefire
2007-09-20 05:30 pm UTC (link)
My guess is it's your video card or ram issues or both. What card do you have and how much ram do you have? If you have below 1gb of ram, that could easily be part of the problem.

Also, make sure you don't have a lot of random programs running in the background. If your anti-virus tries to update or scan or windows updates start, that can kill WoW.

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[info]glitterbats
2007-09-20 05:41 pm UTC (link)
I can attest to under 1gb of ram being a kicker; my computer has 200-something megabytes of it. Let's just say that I have to time my visits to more populated areas of WoW Very Carefully.

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[info]artistic_g4m3r
2007-09-20 08:11 pm UTC (link)
256? That sucks, I'm pretty sure that the minimum on the box is 512mb. =/

I'm running something with 512, and I really only lag badly in Stormwind/Ironforge.

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[info]glitterbats
2007-09-20 08:27 pm UTC (link)
You'd be right, the minimum is 512mb. I'm just incredibly stubborn.

Funnily enough, Ironforge was where I discovered why WoW requires 512mb. I walked my character in and BAM! I was suddenly taking one, two steps per minute. Then I tried hearthing out. Oh no no, very bad idea.

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[info]lev
2007-09-20 06:02 pm UTC (link)
2g RAM, I can't tell you the video card off the top of my head =/ It's a geforce something with 256mb of memory.

that can kill WoW.

Ohhh yeah, I know. That only happens at certain times though obviously, not all the time, and my problem is all the time. =/

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[info]shinefire
2007-09-20 06:37 pm UTC (link)
Hmm, you should be fine then. I have 2gbs of ram and used to have 256 mb ddr3 card and never had a problem with WoW and have everything cranked. Maybe try updating your video card drivers?

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[info]lev
2007-09-20 06:58 pm UTC (link)
Oo, haven't done that in a while. I'll give that a try too. =)

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[info]tviokh
2007-09-20 05:40 pm UTC (link)
Buy a better video card.


"Old" doesnt' really factor into it, a lot of new computers come with shite onboard graphics to help keep the price down.

Keep in mind that, with a better graphics card, you may need a power supply with more hookups and wattage.

If this is a laptop, the answer is buy a better laptop.

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[info]lev
2007-09-20 06:04 pm UTC (link)
It's not a laptop, and I replaced my (not onboard) video card around a year ago.

Hooray for newegg.

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[info]cadey
2007-09-20 05:44 pm UTC (link)
1. New video card.
2. More RAM. (2 GB is preferable.)

:)

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[info]goddessvampyre
2007-09-20 05:49 pm UTC (link)
ditto on the ram. I had only 1g of ram but with bio Shock Crashing a everything I bought another gig stick and now *not only BS* WoW is working much better.

To add something else it maybe because of addons. Before I would try to keep mine to what I need and not what I want *but that music add on is soo cool >< lol*

Addons are killers of memory... lol

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[info]lev
2007-09-20 06:06 pm UTC (link)
My addons take up about 2MB, so I'm pretty sure that's not a problem. =/

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[info]mergemsichi
2007-09-20 05:52 pm UTC (link)
I was having the same problem with FPS. I tried upgrading RAM first from 1GB to 2GB. No difference. Then I upgraded my video card and that made all the difference.

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[info]lev
2007-09-20 06:05 pm UTC (link)
1. Why must they be so expensive. /cry
2. I have 2 GB already.

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[info]roooof
2007-09-20 06:32 pm UTC (link)
Unfortunately I can't help much but thanks for asking this question.

My fps is between 3 and 10 at most times in-game, staying between 2-5 in some dungeons (when I'm healing this really upsets my guildees - is a good thing we so far haven't wiped due to my healing not keeping up) so I'll definitely be seeing if some of the comments can help me out as well.

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[info]lev
2007-09-20 06:57 pm UTC (link)
It sucks for us, but I'm glad I'm not alone.

I was just dealing with the shitty framerate, but when you gotta click a cube in Mag's Lair, Lag Matters.

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[info]artistic_g4m3r
2007-09-20 08:14 pm UTC (link)
You're not alone, my fps is a constant 15, once in awhile it goes up to 30.

I have a laptop, so heat could easily be part of the issue, but I also only have 512mb of ram and I'm going to upgrade to 2gig in the near futrue. That should help.

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[info]meltface
2007-09-20 10:05 pm UTC (link)
I think 2GB of Ram is more than enough, I think it's because of your comp getting hot. I have heard that the video cards themselves run very hot and some require fans installed. My GeForce (8600?) actually came with a fan mounted on top of the card but some older ones probably didn't. You can buy them cheap and they are easy to install. It's worth a try before spending hundreds on something else anyway. And yes processes in the background are the enemy, lol. Especially instant messenger/chat programs (not vent)and things that auto update. Usually when mine starts to lag I'll usually find something updating in the background. Nothing, NOTHING is worse than lag!!! And it always happens at the worst times.

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[info]lev
2007-09-21 02:00 am UTC (link)
My video card already has a fan on it. =/ Maybe I'll try repositioning my computer for better air flow or something.

Yeah, I noticed the messenger thing right away and rarely, rarely run it at the same time as WoW.

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[info]_____projectile
2007-09-21 10:44 am UTC (link)
I agree with the person who said clean the inside of your computer. I had the exact same problem. Just clean the inside of your comp

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