5 in 1 - How to improve frame rates

[Grizzly]

I am trying to run 5 clients all on one Core 2 Duo T7300 laptop with 4GB RAM. Frame Though the performance montior reports CPU and Memory usage to be only 80-90%, frame rates on all clients are all at 10fps. Short of setting up a new rig, is there any way to push up the frame rates? All clients are already using the lowest 800X600 resolution with all detail settings at the lowest. All clients are running from a single wow directory.

[wowphreak]

are yeh running vista?

[Grizzly]

Yea. 32 bit Vista Home Premium. Even with only a single client, my fps rarely exceed 40fps :wacko:

[Talos]

seeing this is a laptop your talking about im more concerned about the videocard...

there is enough ram and good CPU, so there is no bottleneck there... but the video, is it integrated/shared videoram ? or a seperate card ?
and if so what brand and how much meg of Ram

[Grizzly]

Video is a Geforce 8400< with 128MB dedicated graphic memory. I am using Keyclone (great s/w btw 8) ) with maximizer enabled. One main windown on the left and 4 small windows stacked on the right. Is video a factor? I thought even with 5 windows, the video card is still drawing over a the same screen size of 1280 X 800? Will performance improve if I disable maximizer and minimized all alts windows?

[Sarduci]

No, but be sure to set the foreground and background fps in Keyclone to limit what resources your smaller windows use.

[Sina]

My best suggestion, and im not joking:


Sell the laptop, and get a new 9000 series video card from nvid or a 4000 from ati.

for 4-5 client wow setup on 1 pc here is what i would suggest ( best bang for your buck )

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16 GHz Processor (1333MHz FSB) (6MB Cache)
ASUS P5N-E SLI nForce 650i SLI Motherboard
2GB 800MHz DDR2 Non-ECC Low-Latency CL4 (4-4-4-12) DIMM (Kit of 2)
GeForce 9600GT ( if you have a little extra cash iw ould go straight for the newg20 arch on the 260 GTX )

Asus DRW-2014LIT

CoolerMaster Real Power Pro RS-650-ACAA-A1


250 GB - internal - 3.5" - SATA-300 - 7200 rpm - buffer: 16 MB X2

Microsoft Windows Vista Home Basic

System shouldn't run over $1000 generally that build is around 890$




i am in the PC intergration industry, if you need help with a new system feel free to give shout.
site is going live soon! www.infamousplatforms.com

[Syro]

Two things

1) 32bit OS won't recognize anything more than ~3.2gb of memory.
2) You should have different WoW directories for each instance of WoW. If you play from the same directory, you'll see stuttering in the game and lower FPS because each instance is trying to read/write to the same files.

[BobGnarly]

Two things

1) 32bit OS won't recognize anything more than ~3.2gb of memory.

Maybe you're trying to simplify, but this isn't strictly correct. 32bit OS will recongnize 4G, but PC based OSes must allocate some of the RAM for memory-mapped IO, which steals out of the 4G. Most of the time, you will notice between 3-3.5 G of free RAM, but it can go much lower (eg: two SLI 8800gtx).


2) You should have different WoW directories for each instance of WoW. If you play from the same directory, you'll see stuttering in the game and lower FPS because each instance is trying to read/write to the same files.

Wrong. Absolutely backward, in fact. For maximum performance, you want fewer directories.

There can be no contention on writing to files. If there was, it just wouldn't work period. "Contention" on reads is actually a good thing because it can cache the data.

OP: you need to read the wiki, then "software" forums, and maybe do some searches. There is a ton of info about how to get maximum performance for various scenarios. good luck.

[Syro]

2) You should have different WoW directories for each instance of WoW. If you play from the same directory, you'll see stuttering in the game and lower FPS because each instance is trying to read/write to the same files.

Wrong. Absolutely backward, in fact. For maximum performance, you want fewer directories.

There can be no contention on writing to files. If there was, it just wouldn't work period. "Contention" on reads is actually a good thing because it can cache the data.

OP: you need to read the wiki, then "software" forums, and maybe do some searches. There is a ton of info about how to get maximum performance for various scenarios. good luck.I don't understand then how running the same executable five times creates stuttering and lag problems, yet creating 5 different directories and running from each removes the stuttering/lag and gives me a tiny FPS boost? Is it my harddrive? I have yet to look into symbolically linked files yet.

[-silencer-]

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 3.16 GHz Processor (1333MHz FSB) (6MB Cache)
For the same amount of money, I'd rather have a Q9300 2.5GHz CPU. You're running multiple CPU-intensive games, and having more cores is definitely better than higher clock rate. My E6600 at 3.4GHz is still slightly slower than my stock-clocked 2.4GHz Q6600 in the same machine for 4-5 instances of WoW. If a strict budget is involved, you could save $60 and I'd bet a Q6600 at 2.4GHz would be at least comparable (and probably better) to an E8500 for running 5 instances of WoW. There wasn't an architectural change in the E6600 to E8500 aside from +2MB cache, so if a 3.4GHz E6600 is slower than a 2.4GHz Q6600 for 5x WoW, it's safe to bet that a E8500 at 3.16GHz will also be slower than a 2.4GHz Q6600 for 5x WoW.

All 4 cores will be used in 4-5x WoW, so get the Q9300 for the same price as an E8500.

Also, for the sub-$200 price point, you can't beat an ATI HD4850.. and this is coming from a life-long nVidia fan. I built a new box for a friend last weekend using an HD4850, and I was more impressed than the last 9600GT and 8800GT boxes I've built. (None of which use Vista 32. If you're going into Vista, don't limit your memory to 4GB from the start. Go with Vista 64 or stick with XP-32.)

Edit:
Based on current benchmarks, reviews, and experience, here's what I would buy for myself as a new minimum-spec/lowest-price machine for 5-boxing:
Intel Q9300 ~$210
Asus P5Q-E mobo ~$160
4GB (2x2GB) Corsair XMS DDR2 800 memory ~$85
MSI 9600GT videocard ~$135 (but I'd seriously consider Asus HD4850 videocard ~$195, given that it's faster than a 8800GTX, which is faster than a 9600GT.)
Seagate Barracuda 250GB 16MB hard drive ~$55
Corsair (SeaSonic) 550W power supply ~$100
Vista 64 Home Prem. ~$110 (I've got enough machines with XP, and the Vista machines I've built have been smooth for the most part.)
Samsung CD/DVD Burner w/Lightscribe ~$30

That's about $885 pre-shipping.. and you could cut costs by re-using a hard drive, CD/DVD drive, case, keyboard, mouse, display. I'd stick with the new power supply - they do wear out over time, and SeaSonic makes some of the best.

Case/Keyboard/Mouse/Display is personal taste.. and varies by how much cash you want to spend.

[Gurblash]

Video is a Geforce 8400< with 128MB dedicated graphic memory.

That is your bottleneck and FPS problem. You only have 128mb of ram which is not nearly enough. I run an 8600M GT 256mb in my laptop and it runs aces.

[Talos]

seeing this is a laptop your talking about im more concerned about the videocard...

there is enough ram and good CPU, so there is no bottleneck there... but the video, is it integrated/shared videoram ? or a seperate card ?
and if so what brand and how much meg of Ram


Video is a Geforce 8400< with 128MB dedicated graphic memory.

That is your bottleneck and FPS problem. You only have 128mb of ram which is not nearly enough. I run an 8600M GT 256mb in my laptop and it runs aces.Aye as gurblash mentioned... your video is a On-Board geforce 8400 with 128mb dedicated memory (and probable also 128mb shared memory, which CUTS into your Ram)
google on your laptop spec, some newer laptops have the option of upgrading the video card.
if not... sell it and try again, or be contempt with the current fps

[r0guenj]

i run 5 accounts on my dell xps m1710 without any issue (4gb ram, sometimes i run the proc overclocked to 3.0ghz from 2.16 stock, and 512mb video card).

main window is 1600x1200 (sometimes a little smaller)
4 windows on 800x600 with all settings turned down.

all using a single install directory.

[wowphreak]

If yeh end up buying a new box with vista get the 64bit version with about 8 gigs of ram.


What I would do in yer place is get a copy of XP. The laptop probaly said it was "vista ready" its not :P

[Ozbert]

The GeForce 8400m GT really isn't a very powerful graphics solution.

A common alternative option in Dell laptops is the 8600m GT which is a bit better, certainly enough to run a single client at max detail at 1440x900 at 40fps.