WoW And the 1640 + 4670

Can anyone tell me how their system performs with WoW? cause i can't go past fair video quality, w/o the game just being choppy and unplayable. i can't even get past 30 fps, this just seems ridiculous to me. i have all the latest drivers, my pc undervolted, a cooling pad, so i doubt its overheating. i'm using W7, if anyone has any suggestions for me other than a fresh install i'd greatly appreciate it. if worst comes to worse i'll do a fresh install, but i'd rather not redownload all the i have on my laptop. thanks

 

I am using Windows XP, so that might do quite a difference.

But I can assure you that this situation is not normal, I can play Call of Duty 4 with everything maxed, 4AA and 1600x900 resulotion. And the FPS stay always above 30FPS.

Perhaps you should try reinstalling your drivers, other than that I am not sure what the problem might be.

Cheers

 

maybe i'll try playing crysis and see how it fares
then see if its something wrong with the drivers and not the game

 

Yeah you could do that mate.
Have you checked your temperatures yet by the way? Maybe something is blocking the vent? That used to be an issue with my vostro.

 

yeah, they're only running at around 50C, it was running at upwards of 70 til i undervolted and got this laptop cooler.

 

and when i ran a stress test it got to 86C

 

WoW is probably lagging because of server side problems.

Either that, or its a problem with W7. I could get 30FPS in raids with integrated graphics back when I played, so your 4670 should be going into medium settings fluently.

 

WoW is cpu intensive; not so much graphics card.

I use a 8800GTS in my desktop and I get like 20-30fps in the cities. (But my cpu is a AMD 2.7ghz AM2 Dual Core -_-) so its pretty outdated.

You'd have to have a pretty cpu to get better fps in that game.

Also some graphic settings may cause ur fps to drop too. Read about it in the WoW forums. I'd love to help more but I don't really play the game much anymore.

 

I have the T9900 (3.06 Ghz) in my new laptop and I am having the same exact issues. Anyone having any luck resolving this?

 

i have the T9500 (2.80Ghz) and im having the problem with the 4670 1GB. and as soon as i got the computer i wiped the main partition and did a clean install of W7. so unless i installed the drivers wrong, i don't see what the problem could be(yeah i rhymed, what of it?). i tried reinstalling the video drivers last night with mobility modder and its still the same. i turned powerplay off in my CCC, undervolted and everything. pleeeeeeeeease help!

 

I've found that Windows 7 lags horribly for games. When I first got my SXPS 16, I got rid of Vista and installed W7 RC1 and every game ran like crap. Once I switched back to Vista SP2, everything was smooth sailing. If some of you are already on Vista, I'd suggest upgrading to service pack 2, disabling windows firewall, setting up port forwarding on your router (if you are using one), and downloading the latest directx update (march 2009). Be sure to check that your laptop is not throttling from heat as well by placing it on a flat surface and raise the back a few inches if possible (this is accomplished by the 9 cell battery). If none of that resolves the problem, try another game and see if it has FPS problems. If it does not, then the culprit is WoW and you should contact Blizzard.

 

Thanks for the input Joker. I'll try out Crysis:Warhead when i get home, if that lags as well then i guess im gonna have to unistall W7. :-( As much as i love it, i love my games in high quality even more. And if it lags, then Blizzard will get an earful.

 

I dont think your CPU´s are the problem, most games run already fine with a Core 2 Duo 2.0 GHZ.

To check what is bottlenecking your system you could run WOW in window mode, and use some tool like RM clock to check your CPU stress level.

cheers

 

I have done that, and underclocked it accordingly, shaved off almost 15C off of my max temp. So i doubt it's heat that is the issue, but i'm gonna check the WoW forums when i get some to see if there's anything on there about it.

 

For your information, wormald444, i am running wow @ around 60 fps ans it's very smooth. Everything is maxed out in the graphics settings. I haven't raid yet i only did some questing to test my system and it's running good. My system is stock, i haven't remove any bloatware yet, i'll wait until i get windows 7 and then i'll make a clean install. My system gets hot, but not hot enough imo to consider undervolting it. I don't even turn my NC2000 on when i played wow, but i play on an external monitor, and i put the lid almost closed to help the heat go out the rear vent.

Did you check you power setting to make sure it's on performance when plugged in ?

 

Good point, the systems default setting is balanced so that could very well be the culprit for some people.

 

windows 7 or bust.. the awesome features of W7 offset the ~1% performance decrease.. do it

 

I believe that its more than just 1 %.
Also, I am very used to Windows XP, I know all the tweaks and tricks.
I wont update to windows 7. Not with this notebook at least, everything works like a charm. So I dont see why I should spend hours to update to a system that will be actually slower and just provide some unecessary screen effects.

 

chrusti: its not just unnecessary screen effects, most of the new features are really pretty useful. i'm testing it on another computer and didn't tried games yet, but the os and the basic things are actually faster then were with xp sp3. and since almost everything works on it perfectly and has bunch of cool features, i saw really no reason to stick with xp.

 

Or what?
Have you tested Windows 7?

Windows 7 compared to Vista is great, 7 is better on memory, performance, battery life, most areas.

Disabling the firewall to get the latest direct x update? Jesus christ, don't do that. Google the update and download it. You should never need to DISABLE YOUR FIREWALL.

Most issues when games are running crappy is people aren't changing the ATI Powerplay options, or the built in Vista/7 performance/battery saving mode. (Go to control panel > power options).

Also remember Vista and 7 by default put power saving on the HDD's and laptops BY DEFAULT. So if your laptop is running slow, make sure to change these things.

Simpletons don't know that XP doesn't have this option built in, so it runs great (and people just think Vista/7 runs worse).

7 takes under 30 minutes to install, doesn't require as many updates/patches as XP, and just runs perfectly.

I've had 7 installed on my SXPS since day one and it's ran like a charm. Screem effects? Never had an issue.

 

Are you getting low fps outside of the major cities? Cuz on my desktop even w/ an old cpu w/ 8800GTS, I get around 60-70fps just flying around. It's only slow (15-30s) in a crowded town.

Also under the graphics options, make sure you uncheck something about reducing Input Lag. That made me gain like 5-10 fps in town.

 

Too bad hardly any of the above is true. W7 has been tested to be slower in games than Vista SP2 overall. It's performance in other areas matches Vista SP2 and it only excels in some things. Go look at some of the RTM benchmarks. And yes I did test W7 from beta to RC1, it's nice but it still needs work.

The windows firewall is worthless. It causes more headaches than anything else. Latest directx is always a good thing to have installed.

Powerplaly options are fine by default and need no changing.

 

Powerplay by default, goes into battery saving mode and makes the 3d side of the card work slower if you're running on batteries. Windows by default is not set to "performance" mode, which means games will run slower.

I don't need to look at benchmarks, I run it everyday here at work, with customers, at home, the difference is great. Vista with SP2 is very good, but I still find 7 is easier on drivers, and memory.

Yes Windows Firewall is useless, but it's better than nothing. More headaches? I've never had a headache in my life with XP/Vista or 7's firewall. If you're running crap like Limewire, then yes, but if you're running that you obviously don't know much about PC's and the stuff it can do to your machine for just having it installed/allowed in your firewall/router ports.

 

Powerplay is working as designed, conserving battery while in battery mode and giving max performance while the laptop is plugged in. Nobody said Windows is set to performance by default.

Edit: Recent benchmarks show W7 has gained and is on par with Vista and XP now so I take back my statement. Gaming benchmarks can be found here: http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/windows_7_gaming/default.asp

 

this is one of the most idiotic statements i've seen thus far here

http://www.maximumpc.com/article/reviews/windows_7_review (comparison between XP SP3, Vista, W7) and W7 isn't even RTM.. i'm running a full legitimate microsoft copy of W7 Pro RTM

I went from XP in 2001 to Vista in 07-mid 07 then back to XP from mid 07 till April 09 when I went to W7 RC1, now as of 8/23 I'm running W7 Pro RTM... if you're trying to tell me W7 isn't faster than vista you shouldn't post anymore... if you say the 1-2% performance decrease using W7 over XP isn't worth the extra feature set you also shouldn't post anymore... my guess if you probably haven't even used windows 7... the start menu search is the nicest addition in any microsoft product i've ever used, it will search using text in files, file names, file details, hell it is also a address bar to navigate your computer "C:\Pro" and it starts searching everything there, within a split second... if that isn't enough then the "super task bar" is reason #2... I can go on and on but i'll take 1% decrease in performance over that... not to mention once W7 becomes fully retail in October we should see performance match or better XP with specialized drivers

look at those benchmarks, then refresh your computer knowledge please

 

just as a side note, with my current laptop im usually at about 30 fps all round. In Dalaran fps plummets, but in starting zones, by fps is usally 50-60 fps. I play on high settings with shadows turned off.

Also, double check your addons, sometimes they kill the performance too.

And to the above posts, there are more appropriate ways to counter an argument than start calling the poster an idiot. There's no sense in arguing, and spamming the thread.

 

Well that is good for you bro.
But I am very happy with XP right now. Perhaps I will give Win7 a shot in october, once Dell allows me to update. I am not sure yet though. As long as everything is working fine I will probably stay with XP

 

I never read maxiumum pc for gaming benchmarks and neither should anyone else. Anyhow, it looks like W7 gaming performance has gone up since last I used it and it's about even with Vista and XP now with a few losses here and there so I stand corrected. If anyone is interested in seeing the latest gaming benchmarks, here they are: http://www.firingsquad.com/hardware/windows_7_gaming/default.asp

 

looks like win 7 performs even better than vista and about as good as xp, in many cases even better. it's definitely not bad.

 

It's definitely gotten much better than it was before. I can't wait to see how good it is after the first service pack--that's about the time I usually switch to a new OS.

 

That's what I'm trying to say... it's actually pretty kick .

When Vista first came out, it was ok, XP performed better in some games, STALKER especially, XP was like twice as good on the frames.

 

I'm just saying I too was worried about the switch but it ran perfectly on my core duo, my friend has it on his 1gb netbook and it runs aero smoothly... partition and install the RC, I guarantee you will be a believer as well.. the new features are too good to say if it isn't broken don't fix it

 

Just curious guys, i am already registered to the Dell Windows 7 upgrade. Since it's an upgrade, will it let me do a clean install from scratch or i will have to upgrade the current vista 64 to Windows 7 ?

 

Hey guys,


I might have found the reason for the Slowdowns in your games.
Well, in oblivion I also had quite a few moments when the framerate dropped below 5!! fps.


This seems to be a problem with the onboard soundccard.


http://www.tesnexus.com/downloads/file.php?id=12331

After downloading this, all the problems vanished.
Perhaps you got similiar problems in your games.

Cheers

Chris

 

Not sure if the OP found the solution to his low fps, but I was bored so I installed WoW on the XP 16.

I was pretty amazed at the performance. I was in a packed city and my fps was ranging from 80-> 160.

This is pretty much 3-4x faster than my desktop running with a 320MB 8800GTS! I avg like 20-50fps on my desktop, but I am thinking it's because I'm using a AMD AM2 X2 Oc'd to 2.7ghz. The P8600 is a much better cpu?

So yea, I think OP should definitely get great fps if he wants to WoW on this laptop.

One thing I did notice was, if you set the Shadow Quality to very high, there will be a substantial drop in fps. I set it to low because it's not very important to me and my fps was just soaring. I also tried maxing the other graphic settings and I still avg pretty good fps. Over 60fps pretty much anywhere with a lot of people. It was fun and all testing it out, but realistically speaking, this game isn't meant to be played under super realistic or amazing graphic quality, so I turned the unnecessary down and just kept a few options high.

**To sum things up**
You "should" be able to get over 60fps pretty much anywhere in game with the XPS 16 running the 1gb 4670 gfx card as I have as well. There will be occasional dips when lots of stuff are happening (like in a raid) but overall, it should be a smooth gaming experience. Of course, if you disregard the XP 16's heat.

 

I have the same problem as OP, although my fps is fine to start with. But after like 20-60 min it starts throttling and lagging as hell.