InsaneJournal

Tweak says, "And eyes and ears..."

SkySong (plasmashot) wrote in girlgamers,
@ 2008-04-25 13:09:00

WoW Framerate Problems.
Greetings all, I'm SkySong, and I come seeking guidance.

I play WoW. I play a lot of WoW. But I'm having difficulty with my framerate, which seems to vary depending solely on how my computer is feeling about me day to day, but typically runs in the 4-8 range (even when feeling friendly). This has prevented me from doing a number of things as I reach higher levels - such as maybe joining a guild or attempting that PVP thing - because I'll often find myself lagging two to four seconds behind everyone else. This also makes traveling, anywhere take twice as long as it needs to be. I run WoW off a laptop (with the aid of an external harddrive), but this has never posed a problem for me in the past and I do not believe it is the problem now. This has been occurring long before the new patch, and I don't have any UI's installed.

I've tried numerous things. I have defraged. I have closed all but the most vital background programs. I've run all sorts of system cleans and removed a lot of old programs I didn't realize I still had and long ago ceased using. I do not want to reformat (though I probably should anyway) because everything else works just fine.

I'm hoping there is something I have overlooked or simply not been able to find in my own research on the topic, and any adivce would be welcome.

Ads by Project Wonderful! Your ad here, right now: $0

(Post a new comment)

	helens78 2008-04-25 06:22 pm UTC (link)
	What's your video card, operating system, how much RAM and CPU power, and is your laptop plugged in while you play? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	plasmashot 2008-04-27 03:14 pm UTC (link)
	I got my laptop about three years ago, so I don't recall what the RAM or CPU for it is. (I just know that when I first got WoW back then, it worked perfectly fine.) The graphics card is listed as an "Intel(r) 82852/82855 GM/GME Graphics Controller." For some reason it says I have two of them, but I'm pretty sure there's just one. (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

helens78
2008-04-27 03:53 pm UTC (link)

WoW's demands have been getting higher since BC was released (especially in Shattrath and other densely-populated zones), so it's possible that what was good enough for the initial release is reaching its limits now.

Upgrading RAM generally makes a huge amount of difference. You didn't say what OS you're running, but if it's a Windows-based laptop, you can right-click on the "My Computer" icon and select "Properties", and that'll tell you how much RAM you've got. I've had serious performance issues with 1GB or under, but 2GB and over seems to make all the difference in the world. The good news is that RAM is generally quite cheap and easy to replace/install -- it's by far the easiest machine upgrade, even on a laptop.

(Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	plasmashot 2008-04-27 04:08 pm UTC (link)
	Yep, Windows-based laptop (IBM). alleyne Showed me how to check my CPU ussage when running WoW - yeah, it looks like I have a RAM problem. I haven't checked what kind of RAM I have yet - but definately not enough it looks like. (Reply to this) (Parent)

sakura
2008-04-25 06:37 pm UTC (link)

WoW has terrible framerate issues. One of the neater tricks is to use the launcher. You will want to use the launcher so when launcher.exe is running, bring up the task manager to kill explorer.exe and then start the game. It frees up a significant amount of lag that way, especially if you play the game in full screen. Do note it'd be difficult to do anything else without explorer.exe running (like access your task bar or other programs).

There are other methods I can search around for you as well, in the forums. I have a couple of nerd friends that are experts when it comes to this, so I'll direct them to this post if my solution doesn't help any.

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	plasmashot 2008-04-27 03:14 pm UTC (link)
	Thank you! I'll give it a shot. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	rlftw 2008-04-25 07:31 pm UTC (link)
	I believe it pretty much boils down to your graphics card, maybe do a serious upgrade? (Reply to this) (Thread)

	plasmashot 2008-04-27 03:15 pm UTC (link)
	In the past it worked just fine with my graphics card. But as time went by it just got worse. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	chimerawinds 2008-04-25 07:37 pm UTC (link)
	A video card upgrade would be ideal, but if you are not wanting to spend the cash right now for one reason or another, try sakura's idea definately. It should free the space you need to play more efficently and best of luck to you. :) (Reply to this) (Thread)

	plasmashot 2008-04-27 03:16 pm UTC (link)
	Thanks. The thing is, I don't think it has to do with my graphics card - when I first started playing WoW, it worked without problems with my system. (Reply to this) (Parent)

alleyne
2008-04-27 07:42 am UTC (link)

How much RAM do you have?

When the expansion came out, things got a little slower for my PC. As each successive patch came out, things got worse. It was getting to the point where the game was crashing regularly, particularly if I was catching a taxi anywhere. I thought it was my video card, until a guildie asked me to check out my CPU usage (listed in the Task Manager) when I was just idling in Shattrath... it was nearly 100%. So definitely not the video card; I bought an extra 2GB of RAM and things got much, much better.

Hope this helps!

(Reply to this) (Thread)

	plasmashot 2008-04-27 03:17 pm UTC (link)
	Thanks. I'll have to check this out. (Though if it's the RAM, I have no idea what I'll do. I don't know how to put that into my laptop.) (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	alleyne 2008-04-30 08:18 am UTC (link)
	Yeah, laptops are tricky, I don't know a lot about them but I think the best bet is to talk to the people who sold it to you, or the supplier who made it, and see what they recommend. (Reply to this) (Parent)

	plasmashot 2008-04-27 03:52 pm UTC (link)
	I checked it out when in Darnassus (Shattarath I avoid at all costs from the dreaded 2frp) - yep, hitting the 100 in the CPU usage. Looks like a RAM issue. Thank you! (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

	alleyne 2008-04-30 08:18 am UTC (link)
	Wow... that bad in Darnassus? Ouchies :/ (Reply to this) (Parent)