M15x and WoW

I've been noticing that my m15x with 8800 Geforce performs quite poor with World of Warcraft. Other games like UT3 or COD4 run smooth with maxed settings. In wow, it was okay at first, but when I entered Outlands with big areas I noticed my FPS have decreased. If I go to a big open area I get about 30FPS, while in smaller areas it's allways quite high. Was doing an instance today and got stable 60 fps (because I had v-sync) on. So I can't understad what's the problem. Here's a screen:
http://img235.imageshack.us/img235/9175/15112801lq5.jpg


As you can see I'm in a big area and my fps is 30.

I have bios x36 and 179.13 drivers from LV2G.

 

If you take v-sync off you should notice an improvement. Also, WoW is quite a demanding game due to the huge number of particles that have to be loaded, each person and charachter has tons, so the more people the more has to be loaded. But in an instance, you don't have much to load because its a confined area, and WoW doesn't load stuff it can't see (e.g other rooms). Whereas the screenshot above is everything, and really far into the distance.

 

While I don't have an m15x, I do have a desktop with an 8800GT on a Intel q6600 and I experienced significant frame drops in Outlands. The beginning zones like Hellfire, Zangarmarsh and Shattrath have lowered my framerate. Back on Azeroth, frames are just fine.

Consider turning down draw distance a little, that may help.

 

What you said is true, but still I think my card is capable of more.
Here's another screen, not looking far, still 30 FPS.
http://img509.imageshack.us/my.php?image=22341209bk1.jpg

And my friend has a geforce 8600, all maxed, never below 45fps (as he claimed )

EDIT: AW James, just as you said, frames are better outside outland. I saw a thread in wow forums with some people complaining about performance of 8800 in wow. Maybe it's a problem with wow? Turning viewing distance helps, but I am a person who likes everything maxed

 

Yes, but whats you're freinds resolution? There's a difference between 1280x800 and 1440x900.

I can max out COD5! I bet your mates 8600 can't

 

yea, ur right, his res is smaller. So yo guys think 8800 is performing how it should be?

 

well, run 3dmark06. if the score's between 9k and 10k, you're good.

 

There's one more idea as well, if you don't mind sacrificing a tiny proportion of graphic detail and gain quite alot of performance:

Control Panel > Nvidia Control Panel > "Use my preference emphasising:" > Choose Balanced. Works a dream

 

I think someone discussed on these forums why this happens:

I'm not too sure if it's the case with WoW since I've never played WoW before, but I suppose this might be an explanation for that problem.

 

This is interesting, I will try it Oceanus.

 

Like I said before, I'm not too sure on this one but the quotes I have listed above might be an explanation for why that is happening. I haven't really performed any tests to confirm or deny the statements above.

Worth a shot though.

 

Just tried it out, same fps I still think this card is capable of more.

 

Hmm!

Have you tried disabling NVIDIA's powermizer? You can find those settings in the NVIDIA Control Panel.

 

I don't think WoW would qualify to be that old of a game, for the 8800 not to acknowledge it as a game because of the graphics.

What driver version are you using btw Impressive?

Oh and you can also turn off v-sync, if that's one of the options in the graphics tab. What V-sync does is kinda like giving a limit to your fps

 

I know FFXI still suffers under vista compared to xp, was your friend also using vista?

 

v-sync just prevents tearing. it usually will give framerates higher than the v-sync hz though.

EG: v-sync:60hz, max theortical FPS is 60.
with v-sync off, it can render frames faster than the computer can draw them, giving you the ability to show multiple frames in one vertical sync. the problem is that the frames will update as the sync moves down your screen (or is it up?)... which will give a weird "tearing" effect. v-sync prevents this.

triple buffering gives the frames somewhere to go in the event that they're rendering faster than the v-sync, and will improve performance for higher-demand areas where v-sync is on. the theory is that when you're moving through an area of lower-demand, the graphics card will buffer the easier-to-render frames. so when it gets to the harder-to-render areas, it has that buffer of extra time to render frames. this is usually an option labelled "triple buffering".
generally there are two "screens" the one being displayed, and the one being drawn (so that it is displayed on v_blank )... I believe triple buffering give more of these screens.

as for lower-framerates, yes, turning off v-sync CAN help, but it's only a marginal thing. maybe a few frames a second, but IMHO, the loss of QUALITY of images is unacceptable. but I'm the type of person that HATES seeing tearing in games or movies.

I don't attempt to assume I'm right on everything so I'd encourage people to learn for themselves and correct me if I'm wrong. kind of a "don't take my word for it" policy.

 

I did a little research, and it seems that WoW is not fully compatible with the DX version included with Vista (DX10)... my main point of concern is that, I KNOW that I've seen or read somewhere that Vista has a problem with OpenGL... but you can always try that.

add -opengl to the command line when you run the game (right click on launcher icon, add "-opengl" (without quotes) after the quotes for launcher.exe... or even better, make a direct link to the game's exec (probably wow.exe) and put it in there).

it's an idea, and it might make it run better (or worse)... but it might help you know where you're at.

They needed to add OpenGL support so that WoW would run on Mac OS X (which doesn't have DirectX)... coincidentally, this also allows it to run fairly well in WINE for linux...

 

Thanks for your answers. I tried using latest drivers from Laptop video 2 go and AW beta drivers.

Opening in OpenGL decreased my fps.

 

Hmm, when I play Dead Space with VSync turned on, I get only 30 fps max. But with it turned off, i get on average about 70 fps. This is on 1440x900 resolution.

Same is true with Guild Wars, Vsync turned on = 60 fps constantly. Vsync turned off =100+ fps.

I will try and observe other games with vsync, especially regarding the tearing you mentioned. Thanks for that thorough explanation

 

Yeah dude, you're not the only one. I've basically got the same set up as you in my M1730 (because WoW doesn't support SLI - I've got to disable it if I don't want stuttering.) I bought this laptop thinking the 8800MGTX was the king of the world and would easily ace a game like WoW.

Unfortunately it seems that this card can't maintain 60 fps at 1900x1200 maxed out. I get more like 30-50 in shat and I experience stuttering (but that could be due to the netcode).

AH well. i've also heard that WoW isn't very efficiently using GPUs really since its written to run on such a broad range of hardware. I've heard the CPU can be very limiting even if you're running a very fast CPU like the Pernyn and lots of RAM.

 

So the conclusion is that they should rewrite the game

Quite sad, having 8800M GTX and not being able to max out WoW. Atleast it's quite good in instances.

EDIT: just found this improvement - tired to run WOW in xp sp2 compability mode and noticed an increase in FPS! Not a huge one, but better than before

 

Trust me. Do yourself a favour and UPgrade to XP!!

Gaming is far better + so is the OS

 

I did not read the whole thread therefore I'm sorry if anything I'm going to say have already been mentionned.

There is a checkbox under the NVIDIA control panel's Powermizer section - something like " Extend battery charge using less power for display" which should be unchecked if you are gaming (It gave me a 10 fps boost). Take note that this option is not available in all drivers - The original AW's drivers don't have it.

Also, with the latest patch for WoW, new graphic technology have been introduced like Dynamic Shadows (called Shadows in Wow's video settings interface) which can decrease the FPS a lot if you have its slider maxed; But if I disable all the shadows or decrease it to the first level, I can gain up to 7-10 fps depending on the area. Anyways, I do agree that there are some slowdowns in some big or heavy crowded zones.

 

hey can someone post a pic of where the powermizer tab is in the control panel? it's got some bezoomny name in german, so i can't find it

 

It should be in Mobile section (you should have 3d Settings, Display, Mobile, etc) and under the name " Change PowerMizer settings". You can't miss it.

I'm sorry I do not have any screenshot at the moment, I will be posting one later back home if you still need one.

edit : lol nevermind my post. just notice you said your control panel was in German :| - I will be posting a pic when i get home if I don't forget....

 

i've only got "3D", "Display", and "Video&Television" on the left side. no "mobile" here... i'll wait for the screenshot.

 

Now this is wierd!

I'm running farcry 2 and my card doesn't go higher clocks than:

CPU Clock: 275mhz
GPU Mem Clock: 301mhz

***.

 

Since LCDs became standard, refresh rates have been able to lower significantly. hense why V-sync can lock you into 30fps (30hz)... while a 30hz vertical refresh would be unacceptable on a CRT (the flickering would give you a headache), on an LCD, where the backlight is controlled independantly, a 30hz vertical refresh is possible. With the addition of TFT technology some years ago, it makes 30hz refresh rates not only possible, but downright practical. as most people are satisfied with the video quality of movies (which run at 30fps). however, I find, that with gaming, 40-60fps is a lot more comfortable in high-action than 25-30. though our brains can't process data coming in faster than ~85, I find that IMO the gap between even 30 and 40 is significant for comfort.

while, imo 20-30 is PLAYABLE, 40+ is comfortable. I'd never opt for a 30hz refresh, and there's probably an in-game option to correct this. I've never played the game, so I have no idea.

 

Here is the screeny of my nvidia control panel.

 

***, my control panel info thingy just informed me that powermizer isn't available under windows vista....

 

It is, but there is a different way of disabling powermizer through Vista.

http://forum.notebookreview.com/showthread.php?t=261929

A more complicated way, but a sure enough way of disabling it through Vista.

 

if you want to know if your computer is able to properly handle games, try this site: http://www.yougamers.com/games/ , choose a game, and click on hte game-o-meter, i will virtualmark check you system to see if it meets the publishers and their [the site's] standards.

 

for a laptop that cost over 2 thousand dollars it should run any game on highest quality settings no questions asked... I thought the M15x was capable of running any game on all maxed out settings but I WAS WRONG. I feel like I got ripped off...

 

$2,000?!!??!? Most here were spending CONSIDERABLY more than that. Seems like all my high end laptops have been 3k+

 

Yeah well what I am trying to say is that I spent over $2700.00 for Alienwares M15x and I feel like they really ripped me off, from DAY 1 i have been experiencing the worst problems, 1st day was a scratch on the laptop, next day was the stealth mode doesnt work, next day was repaired m15x came back to me the same, now I am getting heating issues with my laptop and also im starting to see the light coming throught the lid when I close it... SO basically if you dont have a computer from Alienware yet, DO NO BUY!!!! It is totally not worth it

When I purchased this laptop I thought i was getting the best laptop in the world, the way I see it , I can get the same performance for half the money I spent,,, and here we have someone saying they cant even run WOW on all high settings with a machine that cost them over 2gs.

Im sure 90% of the people here agree with me when I say this laptop is way overpriced but they are afraid to admit it.

 

For the raw power, it is overpriced and we've mentioned this several times. It's the other aspects that interest most of us. It's your fault for thinking any laptop can even do that. Isn't the MBP almost the same price as the m15x? I don't think it's even as strong. So in the end, it's your expectations that are unrealistic, not the laptop.

And as you can see, the OP is having issues with WoW only, where UT3 and COD4 are totally fine for him. It might not be the laptop's fault at all.

 

I still think that spending all that money on this was worth it. Apart from a few bad things, I love this computer. And I knew it had problems before buying it, because I read some info on it . And now I am quite certain that this computer is not responsible for bad wow performance. Will try to disable powermizing as well.