Why do I get low FPS in WoW?

[EliteScouter]

Ok

Time to ask the experts =)

I build my computer not too long ago, I know a lot a bout computers BUT even with an good system, I still manage to drop down to 12 FPS in some places in WoW.

Can someone please explain to me why I would be getting low FPS with a computer like this? The setting on my video in game are not even high... some are even low!

I got DirectX 10, I am using Vista Ult 32 bit

Thanks!

Processor Name: Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200
Original Processor Freqency: 2333.3 MHz
Motherboard Model: ASUS P5Q-PRO
Video Chipset: nVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT (G94-300)
Video Memory: 512 MBytes of GDDR3 SDRAM
Memory 4096 MB DDR2-SDRAM (5-5-5-15)
Power Supply Antec 500W


HARD DRIVES:

DRIVE 1:
Drive Controller: Serial ATA 3Gb/s
Drive Model: Seagate ST3500320AS
Drive Revision: SD15
Drive Serial Number: 6QM0L5YM
Drive Capacity: 476,940 MBytes (500 GB)


DRIVE 2:
Drive Controller: Serial ATA 3Gb/s
Drive Model: Seagate ST3320620AS
Drive Revision: 3.AAE
Drive Serial Number: 3QF09365
Drive Capacity: 305,245 MBytes (320 GB)


DRIVE 3: (C:\ DRIVE - PRIMARY)
Drive Controller: Serial ATA 3Gb/s
Drive Model: MAXTOR STM31000340AS
Drive Revision: MX15
Drive Serial Number: 9QJ0QJQE
Drive Capacity: 953,869 MBytes (1000 GB)


DRIVE 4:
Drive Controller: E-IDE (ATA-7)
Drive Channel: Secondary, Slave
Drive Model: Maxtor 6L300R0
Drive Revision: BAJ41G20
Drive Serial Number: L629RVEG
Drive Capacity: 286,188 MBytes (300 GB)


DRIVE 5:
Drive Controller: E-IDE (ATA-7)
Drive Channel: Tertiary, Master
Drive Model: Maxtor 6Y080L0
Drive Revision: YAR41BW0
Drive Serial Number: Y2BQK06E
Drive Capacity: 78,167 MBytes (81 GB)


TEMPS AND VOLTAGES:


[CPU Digital Thermal Sensor]
CPU#0 Core0 58.0 °C
CPU#0 Core1 52.0 °C
CPU#0 Core2 51.0 °C
CPU#0 Core3 51.0 °C
[Winbond/Nuvoton W83627UHG]
Motherboard 41.0 °C
CPU 29.0 °C
VcoreA 1.17 V
Vccp2 3.47 V
+3.3V 3.28 V
+5V 5.46 V
+5VSB 5.67 V
Chassis 1854 RPM
CPU1 2556 RPM
[ASUS EPU2 (ASP0800)]
CPU VID 1.18 V
CPU Power 14.97 W
CPU Current 9.11 A
[S.M.A.R.T.]
ST3500320AS 36.0 °C
ST3320620AS 43.0 °C
MAXTOR STM31000340AS 65.0 °C
Maxtor 6L300R0 43.0 °C
Maxtor 6Y080L0 39.0 °C
[nVidia On-die @ GPU[#0] nVIDIA GeForce 9600 GT (G94-300)]
GPU Temperature 56.0 °C

 

[Trotter]

First off, 32-bit can only handle a max of 3.5GB including your graphics card. You have RAM that your system cannot use. It isn't slowing you down, but 64-bit could use it and help you out.

The main problem I see is your 9600GT, superclocked or not. WoW keeps ading to the game which makes it more graphically demanding. Sure, you can turn the options down, but it is still a lot of polygons to generate. A beefier card would make a world of difference.

If you decide to upgrade, what kind of budget would you have? That way we know what to match you up with.

 

[EliteScouter]

First off, 32-bit can only handle a max of 3.5GB including your graphics card. You have RAM that your system cannot use. It isn't slowing you down, but 64-bit could use it and help you out.

The main problem I see is your 9600GT, superclocked or not. WoW keeps ading to the game which makes it more graphically demanding. Sure, you can turn the options down, but it is still a lot of polygons to generate. A beefier card would make a world of difference.

If you decide to upgrade, what kind of budget would you have? That way we know what to match you up with.

I'd have to say max up to 250$

 

[overlord20]

Didn't know they made a 32 bit version of vista ultimate.

 

[meat_helmet]

Before you go looking into hardware options make sure all you drivers are up to date.

What is you screen resolution?

Has your fps recently taken a big dive? Or is this basically how it has always been with this comp?

 

[EliteScouter]

Before you go looking into hardware options make sure all you drivers are up to date.

What is you screen resolution?

Has your fps recently taken a big dive? Or is this basically how it has always been with this comp?

My drivers are up to date.

The screen resolution I run is 1680x1050 on a 22'

The fps has always been like that. Most of the time its at 58-60fps but when it comes to lot's of glowing objects and stuff it drops down to like mid 20-30s.

I just read about the SLI. I always thaught people get 2 vid cards because they want to run 2 screens... I never thaught of them actualy working together which blows my mind...

Not sure if it's even possible but I would like to get two GTX 295's in my comp. I am pretty sure that would be an overkill. If I had my setting on all high I am pretty sure they would be able to handle it.

 

[aliasaid]

Your resolution is really high. I'm sure if you tried it out on a regular 17" LCD screen with a native resolution of 1280X1024 you'll get much better frame rates. If you want to keep your current resolution, then you'll need a different video card. As for the SLI setup you mentioned, waaay out of your budget of $250. Just go for a single card solution; for $250, you'll be able to get a pretty nice card. And as trotter already suggested, go for 64bit windows to utilize all your memory.

 

[Muffin Man]

Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100269HDMI Radeon HD 4890 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFire Supported Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

thats a good card for the price.

 

[Burn]

+1 to the 4890. i have one and it dominates every game i play @ 1680x1050

 

[Druid]

Oh man, those babies keep dropping. After MIR, they're only $175. That's a steal.

A card that has decided not to drop in price is the 285. It has been pretty much the same price since it came out. Even the 295 has dropped some. You can get some of them for $470 now. Although out of stock, an xfx 4870x2 on newegg is only $370, not much more than a 285.

I guess Nvidia is just inefficient.