Do I just need a videocard upgrade?

H

Hostile

Gawd
Joined
Feb 24, 2004
Messages
694
I'd like to up my framerate up in WoW and Left4Dead. For WoW I'm typically around 70fps or so if I'm in an unpopulated area but I'm in the 20s running through Dalaran and can dip into the teens during raids. I keep most of the video settings maxed out (textures, spell effects and view distance) but have stuff like shadows turned off altogether.

With L4D I'm forcing DX9 at the command line and keeping the settings at medium

Current specs:
Core2Duo E6550 Conroe 2.33GHz 1333MHz fsb
4 x 1GB DDR2
BFG 8800GT OC
Dell 2407WPF 21" @ 1920x1200

Can I get away with just a videocard upgrade? If so, what's a good upgrade in the ~$200 range? I'd prefer to stick with nVidia, but if ATI has something worth looking at I'll make the switch. I've justhad bad experiences with their drivers in the past.

Thanks.

EDIT: The ATI Radeon HD 4770 looks pretty promising at only $100.
 
I wouldn't get a 4770 if you already have a 8800gt, that's almost more a side step than anything. I would probably get a GTX260 or better if you had to get a new video card. I would also bump that cpu up 2.8+ghz if you could.

I'm kinda curious why you have L4D at medium, your system should be able to play it pretty good with high settings.
 
I'll have to double-check the L4D settings, when I first go it the game was choppy as hell with high settings. I've since rebuilt the computer so I might be mis-remembering.

If I can OC the CPU to 2.8 on stock air cooling I can certainly give it a shot. I haven't bothered to oc a processor since my old Celeron 300a. :p

I'm looking at the EVGA GTX 260s at NewEgg and I'm guessing that the 216-core version is worth the extra $5 over the 192-core version? They have a 896MB 216-core 260 for only $160 after MIR.
 
The things you're noticing in WoW have more to do with your older C2 Duo at stock than anything. I would investigate OCing it.
 
What you really need is like a GTX 275 or better. Left 4 Dead and WoW are not that demanding, but they will push an 8800GT at higher settings, especially Lich King which added some graphical features.

The reason why you should get another Nvidia and not an ATi is because of ambient occlusion. Ambient occlusion is a new feature that adds additional depth to the scene by darkening parts of the scene that would be darker in real life--corners and places where walls meet, ect. It is a subtle but important feature and it will make both of those games look better. I thought it made a big difference in Team Fortress 2. The GTX275 probably has more than enough power to max out the settings and enable ambient occlusion in those games.
 
Thanks for all the responses. :)

The 275s are about $100 more than that 216-core 260, I can't swing $250 right now vs $150.
 
First I would overclock that processor. If "all" you want is 2.8Ghz, you should be able to just bump the fsb up to 400 provided you have ddr2-800 RAM.

You might have to bump the voltage on the north bridge and south bridge chips by one or two notches.. but I would try it with stock CPU voltages... make sure to take it off of AUTO for the voltages first.

WoW is going to push a dual core at only 2.33Ghz.

My card is probably a bit faster than yours... and I only play at 1280x1024, but with all detail all the way up and 4xAA with edge detect turned on, and the shadows turned down 2 notches.

I don't drop below about 46fps in Dalaran.

You will also want to make sure you have vsync AND triple buffering on in WoW.
 
Jeffredo said:
The things you're noticing in WoW have more to do with your older C2 Duo at stock than anything. I would investigate OCing it.
Click to expand...

I agree with this. WoW is very CPU-limited in most situations (unless you're sitting in Dalaran with max view distance), including raids. This is why a lot of people have been noticing huge performance increases using the new tweak that allows multi-core utilization (more than two cores, that is).

For more information, http://elitistjerks.com/f15/t40955-wow_performance_issues_tweaks_etc/ might be useful. http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=1778017311&sid=1&pageNo=1 gives a bit more background on the multi-core utilization of WoW.

Although, L4D should be GPU-limited on your machine, I'd guess, especially at that resolution. Source engine games can be CPU-limited at times, but you should still be able to run fairly high settings on your machine.
 
I would try OC'ing your CPU 1st. I've seen some extreme cases of people getting that CPU 3.5ghz+. It should at least reach 3ghz. I had a E6420 running at 3ghz with a 8800GT OC (MSI) and I could run L4D close to max settings.
 
I looked into the multi-core settings for WoW, from what I can tell it is automatically set to work with dual core CPUs- the customization comes into play if you want to assign the game to specific cores on tri- and quad-core CPUs. If I'm wrong please tell me.

During our raid tonight I played around with the EasyTune6 gigabyte software and bumped the C.I.A. 2 settings up to "racing". From what I can tell this will only OC the CPU as necessary during software loads? I guess it was forcing the CPU to max out constantly?
 
I am unsure of the EasyTune6 answer, but I would personally throw either a better cpu or a better heatsink on that motherboard, and crank up the mhz.

At 3.0+ ghz, you would be more than fine with your current setup. The 8800GT is no slouch.
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Hostile said:
I'd like to up my framerate up in WoW and Left4Dead. For WoW I'm typically around 70fps or so if I'm in an unpopulated area but I'm in the 20s running through Dalaran and can dip into the teens during raids. I keep most of the video settings maxed out (textures, spell effects and view distance) but have stuff like shadows turned off altogether.

With L4D I'm forcing DX9 at the command line and keeping the settings at medium

Current specs:
Core2Duo E6550 Conroe 2.33GHz 1333MHz fsb
4 x 1GB DDR2
BFG 8800GT OC
Dell 2407WPF 21" @ 1920x1200

Can I get away with just a videocard upgrade? If so, what's a good upgrade in the ~$200 range? I'd prefer to stick with nVidia, but if ATI has something worth looking at I'll make the switch. I've justhad bad experiences with their drivers in the past.

Thanks.

EDIT: The ATI Radeon HD 4770 looks pretty promising at only $100.
Click to expand...

I have a 4870. Was getting around 20fps in dalaran on my 6400 X2@3.5ghz

Upgraded to a p2 940, now I get around 50+ fps (thats with 4xAA and 16xAF on)

I would have to say its your CPU holding you back. And yes I do game at 1920X1200 as well.

Upgrade your CPU, not your video card
 
Hostile said:
I looked into the multi-core settings for WoW, from what I can tell it is automatically set to work with dual core CPUs- the customization comes into play if you want to assign the game to specific cores on tri- and quad-core CPUs. If I'm wrong please tell me.
Click to expand...

No, you're correct. The settings in that link are automatically set for dual core processors that don't have hyperthreading (like yours). I was merely linking that to show you how reliant WoW is on your CPU, and how that's probably your bottleneck. I probably should have clarified.

Until those masks were discovered, there was no way to allow WoW to run on more than two physical cores. When the other cores were unlocked for use, people were seeing dramatic framerate increases.

I too play WoW with a C2D without hyperthreading, at 1.86 GHz, and it's drawn me to stop raiding 25-mans until I upgrade, haha. Can't overclock either because it's a laptop. My next WoW build is going to be an i7 920/GTX 260. I think that should be a good balance of CPU-to-GPU power for WoW, at least at 1680x1050. I think, once you've overclocked your CPU, you should be pretty well-balanced, too.

My guild leader plays on a system almost identical to yours, except I think he's on a C2D running at 3.2GHz or so, and he plays at max settings and runs fraps, and his video of Sartharion +3 ran without hiccups at a steady 45 fps (with triple buffering on) at 1920x1200. With the exception of some Ulduar encounters, I think that's the most taxing situation in WoW for any computer. It dropped me to 5-7 fps at minimum settings, whereas Naxx/Malygos/Ulduar run at 15-20.
 
Hmm, ok. Looking at prices at Newegg the only options I really have in my price range are:

Intel Core 2 Duo E7500 Wolfdale 2.93GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80571E7500 - Retail - $139.99 (1066MHz fsb)
Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 2.33GHz LGA 775 95W Quad-Core Processor Model BX80580Q8200 - Retail - $164.99 (1333MHz fsb)
Intel Core 2 Duo E8400 Wolfdale 3.0GHz LGA 775 65W Dual-Core Processor Model BX80570E8400 - Retail - $167.99 (1333MHz fsb)

Playing with the CIA2 settings seemed to help. While in Ulduar I bumped it up a step at a time and was able to put it to "racing" and I saw a noticeable increase/and steadiness in my framerate. Also, logging out and switching characters was noticeably quicker too.

I really don't think any of them are worth the price if I can decently OC my E6550. I guess I'll just look at a better heatsink/fan- any suggestions?
 
Last edited:
Note: I didn't read the whole thread. As the thread is only 1 day old.

Core 216 260 for 150-175$ would be a good bet. I'd also overclock the CPU to at least 3, is not 3.5. Should be able to do that with ease.


Just my 2 cents.
 
vengence said:
Note: I didn't read the whole thread. As the thread is only 1 day old.
Click to expand...

I'm not entirely sure what short life of this thread has to do with the necessity to read or not read 14 posts... :confused:

At this point, per my last post, I'm looking for recommendations on a good CPU heatsink/fan for some OC'ing. Thanks. :)
 
Hostile said:
I'm not entirely sure what short life of this thread has to do with the necessity to read or not read 14 posts... :confused:

At this point, per my last post, I'm looking for recommendations on a good CPU heatsink/fan for some OC'ing. Thanks. :)
Click to expand...

Well, if it was 3 days old I would have figured the question would have changed. Anyways I was admitting I was lazy.

You should take a look at this....
http://www.hardocp.com/article.html?art=MTQwMiwxNCwscmV2aWV3cw==

If I were to recommend a heatsink/fan it would be a thermalright ultra 120, BUT that is not the most cost effective cooler. I'll be honest, I never did track the price/preformance of that.
 
I max L4D at 1680x1050 with a 8800GTS 320/E6750 at stock/2gb ram. I don't see how you shouldn't be dominating that game with your setup. As far as WoW - it's been running fine for the most part on my setup, but Dalaran has a way of making you doubt your rig.

Anyway, just posting to say thanks to everyone who's responded with solid advice seeing as how I'm in the same boat. I've been meaning to test out my Abit IP35-E's OC'ing ability - this is the perfect chance.

If you have the room, get a Thermaltake Typhoon - it'll get the job done for sure.
 
Hostile said:
I'm not entirely sure what short life of this thread has to do with the necessity to read or not read 14 posts... :confused:

At this point, per my last post, I'm looking for recommendations on a good CPU heatsink/fan for some OC'ing. Thanks. :)
Click to expand...

Why don't you just buy the heatsink/fan 1st and see what you can get out of your CPU? You should be able to get at least 3ghz.
 
Xigmatek dark night is by far the most cost effective / highest performing cooler ($40 free ship + tax @ newegg). And it comes with both a bolt kit and a 1366 bracket so you can recycle it later when you go i7. TRUE is only a degree or so better, and costs 2x more. Before you do this OC the cpu first and see whether your components are capable of > 3.0 GHz. Use slack ram timings. I had that same cpu, it did 3.4 easily, and it was fine with a Ninja v1 fanless, but ymmv.

Once you verify that you can OC your system (temps will be high on the stock heatsink but that's OK for now) you can decide whether a heatsink is justified.

$144 AR 216 core MSI 260 on newegg would be great after you have OC'd the cpu. It would be a good thing to get anyway because it's cheap.
 
curtisfong said:
Xigmatek dark night is by far the most cost effective / highest performing cooler ($40 free ship + tax @ newegg). And it comes with both a bolt kit and a 1366 bracket so you can recycle it later when you go i7. TRUE is only a degree or so better, and costs 2x more. Before you do this OC the cpu first and see whether your components are capable of > 3.0 GHz. Use slack ram timings. I had that same cpu, it did 3.4 easily, and it was fine with a Ninja v1 fanless, but ymmv.

Once you verify that you can OC your system (temps will be high on the stock heatsink but that's OK for now) you can decide whether a heatsink is justified.

$144 AR 216 core MSI 260 on newegg would be great after you have OC'd the cpu. It would be a good thing to get anyway because it's cheap.
Click to expand...

Thanks for the info, I'll give it a shot.
 
I agree with curtisfong, I would buy a Xigmatek because I don't think the Noctua would be worth it on that system and won't show any improvements over the Darkknight.

The 92mm versions for 25$ could probably get the job done at 3ghz. I would still pay 15$ more for the DK as it performs better and comes with the bolt kit.
 
It's been a few months since I started this thread and I wanted to thank you all for your suggestions!

I had to hold off on any computer purchases due to personal stuff. With the holiday season approaching I'm now looking to get some more performance out of my rig by buying new RAM, overclocking the E6550 with a Xigmatek Dark Knight and maybe getting a new videocard.

Any updated videocard suggestions now that it's 6 months later?
 
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