Help with computer! I want to throw out window

[Hakaslak]

Problem: Very bad performance in Wrath. FPS barely goes over 30-34 in Dalaran.

No matter what I enable or disable, such as vsny, tri buffering, 8x, 4x, 2x, MSAA, full screen or windowed, its sits at 30fps. >.<

I just noticed that in GPUz, cards 1 2 and 3 have 0% load, and card 0 is running at 60% load, and clocks of 500/500 instead of 500/900

Pic: http://www.hakaslak.com/private/img/badfps3.jpg

Computer in question:

Core i7 920 stock, 2.66
12GB DDR3 1333
150GB 10k rpm raptor for wow and OS
2x 4870X2 2gb, crossfire enabled
Windows server 2008 with all updates
Catalyst 8.11 x64

Tried so far:

Disable CrossfireX, Performance does not improve or worsen.
Fiddle with processaffinitymask, CPU does not seem to be a factor, fps remains the same
Delete everything but data and redo WTF settings from blank file, same
Format and sinatll WIndows 7, about 10 fps increase, nothing major
Format and install WIndows Vista Ultimate, 4 fps drop. o.O
Format and install Server 2008, still sits at 35 fps.

Have not tried XP yet, I can't find the discs and I can't be bothered to redownload from MSDN atm.

I noticed that the fps will randomly spike up to 230-300 for a couple minutes, and everything is perfectly smooth, then it will drop and chug at 30 again. NO clue why, temps sit at 87-95 and hover there. Seems to be nominal for the cards. Processor usage sits at 100% for core 4 and 50% for core 5.

I don't understand computers. My other computer gets 60 fps locked with vsync on and 4x MSAA.


FX-55 @ 3.2 ghz
4gb PC3200 DDR
random 160GB RAID-0
Leadtek 6800 GT

help :(


I want to throw this thing back at Frys and buy a Mac... at least they work

Yes, all drivers are updated, I have no viruses, my PSU is a Corsair 620watt with 50amps on the 12v. Enough for the cards, please don't tell me to buy a new PSU like everyone else does, wattage is not everything, and this computer tested perfectly fine on a 15 hour vantage loop on extreme.

And dows keyclone handle cpu affinity ok on an i7? I cannot set it in the program at all :(

[ahtremblay]

How many copies of WoW are you running?

[Hakaslak]

1 for testimg

[not5150]

Open up your computer and tell me if the Fan/cooler is the stock Intel one? The Intel coolers are barely adequate for the Core i7. This chip runs MUCH hotter than Core 2 Duo/Quad and it will clock itself down or shut off cores if it gets too hot. Your temps are quite high.

Also, go into your bios and make sure the mobo is set to triple channel memory. Sometimes, the techs putting together computers mess up and set it to single or double channel. That gimps your performance (although it really wouldn't be the magnitude that you are experiencing here).

So just so I understand correctly... fps goes to 230-300, drops down to 30 something, then goes back to 230-300... this cycles like a sine wave? Or is it just completely random.

EDIT - Are you able to set the CPU fan to max instead of auto? Try that. Also to completely negate the temperature variable from the equation, leave the side panel off and aim a box fan at the insides. Yes, it's crazy, but this is all in the name of troubleshooting.

What brand of PC is it and which Fry's did you buy it from?

[Nairi]

For cpu affinity do it thru config.wtf file.

[Hakaslak]

Stock intel cooler. I will reboot after I finish my term paper to check the memory settings. I put this computer together myself, so it is not built by anyone but my nubbery hands. board is a Asus P6T Deluxe. And the FPS spikes to 300 plus randomly, not often, but neough to make me savor the smooth framerates and raise my blood pressure :P



Some HWMon output on temps.


CPUID Hardware Monitor 1.1.2.0
-----------------------------------------------------

Mainboard Vendor ASUSTeK Computer INC.
Mainboard Model P6T DELUXE (0x2C1 - 0x16A45D68)

LPCIO
-----------------------------------------------------
Vendor Winbond
Model W83667HG
Vendor ID 0x5CA3
Chip ID 0xA5
Revision ID 0x13
Config Mode I/O address 0x2E

Dump config mode register space, LDN = 0xB
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 A B C D E F
00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF 0B FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
10 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
20 A5 13 FF 00 44 00 00 FD 40 00 00 7F 20 00 00 40
30 01 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
40 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
50 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
60 02 90 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF
70 00 FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF FF


Hardware monitor
-----------------------------------------------------

Winbond W83627DHG hardware monitor

Voltage sensor 0 1.25 Volts [0x9C] (CPU VCORE)
Voltage sensor 1 11.88 Volts [0xD5] (+12V)
Voltage sensor 2 3.30 Volts [0xCE] (AVCC)
Voltage sensor 3 3.26 Volts [0xCC] (+3.3V)
Voltage sensor 4 1.66 Volts [0xD0] (DRAM)
Voltage sensor 6 1.88 Volts [0xEB] (VIN3)
Temperature sensor 0 61°C (141°F) [0x3D] (SYSTIN)
Temperature sensor 1 56°C (131°F) [0x6F] (CPUTIN)
Fan sensor 1 2058 RPM [0x29] (CPUFANIN0)
Fan sensor 3 1534 RPM [0x6E] (CPUFANIN1)
Fan sensor 4 1493 RPM [0x71] (AUXFANIN1)

Hardware monitor
-----------------------------------------------------

Intel Core i7 920 hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0 51°C (123°F) [0x31] (Core #0)
Temperature sensor 1 52°C (125°F) [0x30] (Core #1)
Temperature sensor 2 53°C (127°F) [0x2F] (Core #2)
Temperature sensor 3 53°C (127°F) [0x2F] (Core #3)


Hardware monitor
-----------------------------------------------------

ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0 87°C (188°F) [0x57] (GPU Core)



Hardware monitor
-----------------------------------------------------

ATI Radeon HD 4870 X2 hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0 62°C (143°F) [0x3E] (GPU Core)


Hardware monitor
-----------------------------------------------------

WDC WD1500AHFD-00RAR5 hardware monitor

Temperature sensor 0 32°C (89°F) [0x20] (HDD)


Processors Information
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Processor 1 (ID = 0)
Number of cores 4 (max 8)
Number of threads 8 (max 16)
Name Intel Core i7 920
Codename Bloomfield
Specification Intel(R) Core(TM) i7 CPU 920 @ 2.67GHz
Package Socket 1366 LGA (platform ID = 1h)
CPUID 6.A.4
Extended CPUID 6.1A
Core Stepping C0/C1
Technology 45 nm
Core Speed 2806.7 MHz (21.0 x 133.6 MHz)
Rated Bus speed 2405.5 MHz
Stock frequency 2666 MHz
Instructions sets MMX, SSE, SSE2, SSE3, SSSE3, SSE4.1, SSE4.2, EM64T
L1 Data cache 4 x 32 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L1 Instruction cache 4 x 32 KBytes, 4-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L2 cache 4 x 256 KBytes, 8-way set associative, 64-byte line size
L3 cache 8 MBytes, 16-way set associative, 64-byte line size
FID/VID Control yes
Features XD, VT
Turbo Mode supported, enabled
Max non-turbo ratio 20x
Max efficiency ratio 12x
TDP Limit 130 Watts
TDC Limit 110 Amps
Core TDP 110 Watts
Uncore TDP 20 Watts
Power @ 12x 43 Watts
Power @ 13x 50 Watts
Power @ 14x 57 Watts
Power @ 15x 66 Watts
Power @ 16x 76 Watts
Power @ 17x 87 Watts
Power @ 18x 100 Watts
Power @ 19x 114 Watts
Power @ 20x 130 Watts
Power @ 21x 147 Watts

[Hakaslak]

http://www.hakaslak.com/private/img/temps.jpg

First pic is just me cleaning out itunes, the second one should naswer most of the questions. The temps and throttling was of the 4870s, not the processor. AFAIK the i7 is running beautifully. AS far as an aftermarket cooler goes... that liquid metal one was interesting, but numbers are needed. I have a CNPS9700 from Zalmann, but no bracket T.T

http://www.hakaslak.com/private/img/temps2.jpg

[not5150]

Ok, then those cpu temps are just fine. Even the max isn't out of the range we see.

Hmmm.... lemme ask around, you got me stumped on this one.

[Nairi]

Have cpu-z running in background as you're playing, alt tab back to it soon as your fps takes a hit and see if anything changed. Are you getting 30 fps in the same spot where you get 200-300 fps? also try changing power settings to always on, and disable speedstep in bios.

[turbonapkin]

Hakaslak,

I have a similar setup to you:

Core i7 920 running stock (for now)
Asus P6T Deluxe
6GB RAM
1 4870x2
2 60GB SSD Raid0
XP x64
Catalyst 8.11 x64
850W PSU

I average 60-90fps in Dalaran.

Have you ever configured Keyclone commands on your current wow client?

Check for a maxFPS setting in config.wtf, which resides in %wow path%\WTF\ . If this has been set low, it will probably be the source of your problem.

[not5150]

If keyclone was the issue (max fps set too low), then I'd think it would just be pegged at that number instead of ramping up to 200+fps at times.

[Frosty]

I'd just like to note that it makes me /cry every time someone has FPS issues...and in their worst state it's still better than my best state. ;(

[Bovidae]

Weird FPS issue in windows mode. ('http://www.dual-boxing.com/forums/index.php?page=Thread&postID=150532#post150532')


update: It ended up being Hyperthreding. I turned off HT in the bios just to test out what a friend had suggested. Once i disabled HT and set the CPUs in keyclone. My lag problems are over.

With that said, why? hehe Why did HT screw things up? I thought HT HELPED improve performance when running multi apps, no? Any way, I'm super happy I got it fixed 8) I wanted to give this update so that those of you thinking about upgrading to Core i7 would have a heads up. Give this a shot

[Hakaslak]

http://hakaslak.com/private/img/badfps4.jpg

So I overclocked the CPU to 4.00ghz stable, and the fps went up by 9 -.-

Is my computer broken? or am I stupid and did something wrong. I did not touch the mem clocks or QPI, and only raised the cpu vcore and the CPU Differential Amplitude, to +700mv. That got it stable, and also disabled hyperthreading, and vanderpool, as I don't plan on installing hyper-v until I sort this mess out.

[Fizzler]

/me stands outside your window hoping you chuck your computer ;)

[Tsunami]

since you have tried everything already how about trying something new.

try running your system with just one video card. i seem to remember reading a tread a while back about someone complaining about 2 video cards running slower than one card.

something to do with how wow is rendered on the main card.

[Bovidae]

Your temps do not seem bad, but I found that my video card begins throttling itself over 80c.

How hot are you running while performance is good? Maybe extra cooling would help, turn the fan up to 100%....

This is an odd problem, because most people would be happy to get 40fps in Dalaran, but you should be getting better. Maybe its not video/processor related. What if your connection isn't feeding enough data to give your system what it needs to render all those players and npcs... What if Blizzrd just isn't able to send you all the data points fast enough to allow your system to generate the frames. Do you have problems with npc/players not loading instantly?


I'll be outside your window too, I'll be happy to have your problem :P