FPS on your Compal

Hello to the Comal Community!

I'm trying to wait till a refresh of the HEL80 comes out (probably within 6 months) with a DX10 card, but then I probably dont actually need it. Ultimately, the only reason I need a 3D card is for WoW...everything else will run my photoshop/illustrator/dreamweaver/indesign just fine. So my question is mainly at the WoW players in this community.

What are your framerates in group pvp playing in windowed mode? I'd like to make sure that it is at least better than my normal desktop 6800 (not gt or ultra) which yields between 20-40 fps in busy areas.

Thanks!

 

WoW gets 0-1 FPS on my HEL80... no matter what is tried the darn thing won't load onto the system. I've had some friends try to help me remedy the issue but they have all come to believe that it is just me being stubborn and disliking the game that is mucking things up

Ok, so I realise there is little benefit to that post but I couldn't help myself. I'm assuming the game will run pretty well since you are talking a fairly distinct gap in GPU's there. Ya gotta remember that most MMO's run much better on older hardware then other games released at the same time since the rendering engines are fairly old by the time the game gets into release + they are build to scale for large amounts of onscreen objects. The biggest thing you didn't mention was how much RAM you had vs how much you will order. MMO's tend to be resource hogs and I couldn't stress to you enough if money is limited get a T5500 and 2gb of ram with a 5400rpm drive (this is the source of the loading delays). Other then loading times being a few seconds behind unless your system in covered in bloatware, you won't see a difference in the game with anything faster.

For comparison my previous gaming desktop (now replaced by my HEL80) is a 2.4ghz AMD X2 system with 2gb and raid 0 7200's. When playing MMO's I generally load at the same speed on this system and neither system stutters during play or chokes at busy area's unless it's game engine related. (Not seen this since anarchy online, but I'm leaving the option there). However, when playing BF2142 the maps load about 5-7 seconds faster on the desktop then my notebook. I'm still in the match before the round starts though. (Meaning the desktop loads before the countdown usually even starts, but the notebook loads just after) Once the map has loaded once and a few maps have changed, the maps are all pre-loaded and the systems load the same. As for real FPS I get on the notebook...

BF2142 (FPS game)
1280x1024 aspect locked scaling with mid-high settings for everything I can hold 30+ in the best of Titan fights. (Loads maps the first time a few seconds before the notebook)

RF Online (MMO game)
I have the game at native resolution with everything maxed, I can't find a way to get ingame FPS (without external BS) but I've yet to find an area that isn't smooth and fluid. My roomie that has played WoW since the beginning says that RF online is the best looking MMO he's ever seen, and that the game runs way smoother on the same or higher settings on his desktop then WoW BC does. *drools over the imagery* (Loads the same as my X2)

Guild Wars
Maxed everything at native res, don't got below 40FPS in the busy area's. (This game loads the same on both my X2 desktop and my notebook)

NV Control Panel...
Always with render 0 ahead + sliders on performance or let the game decide.

 

It won't run even close to what it does on your desktop 6800. The 6800 is two levels above the 7600 (even though being an older generation), is clocked faster, and the game is tuned for the 6800's architecture. That being said, the 7600 is a pretty **** quick card. You'll probably be able to run mid to high details at 1280x800 for decent speed in WoW from what I gather. Pyro, I have no idea what you're doing with your machine that it won't run. You might try letting it render 1 or 2 frames ahead, see what happens. Tweak after you get everything running, not before I don't have WoW, and I refuse to play MMO's on principle, but I haven't run into any major problems from any game, DX7 through 9, using the laptopvideo2go.com drivers.

 

Wow...that sounds depressing. Actually, my 3dmark 05 scores on my 6800 are exactly the same as the 7600. Plus, I'm not that impressed with my framerates at all for this game (since it isn't really that demanding). I'm running an older P4 800mhz bus 2.4GHZ processor, 1 gig of ram, ledtek 6800 AGP. I guess I was hoping for some better numbers from the Compal....guess I will have to wait =(

 

Well, for one I'm not letting my friends install WoW on my system (which I guess I made a far to small hint at) so yeah... that sort of hampers the whole running it thing.

My roomie runs at 1280x1024 with maxed settings on a 9600XT on a 2.2ghz (32bit) AMD chip.. He's got raid 0 with some 7200's and 1.5gb of PC3200 and has "OK" frame rates while in places like Iron-Forge. Something makes me think I actually ran a trial of WoW back when I first got my HEL80 (my 2nd trial because I can't stand the game but was begged) and I had it maxed at native resolutions. Check my older posts to see if I had any information on the framerates. I think I made some comments about it.

I can't honestly say I remember crowded area's because in general I avoid them. Since I'm tri-wielding full-time work/college/spouse I don't have time to actually RP, and I've not even found most games RP servers to really be RPing (Ryzom is the exception here).

My two bit's say to get yourself 2gb of ram (Less then $160?) and stick with your current system for another half year or so till the new stuff(DX10) is out AND has a couple months to get enough decent reviews and "failure rates".

 

Pre burning crusade iwas getting 60 everywhere
but the game limits it to 30-35 in some places (dont know why)
I was getting that constant on almost max settings.

 

Make sure you don't use V-Sync or any kind of screen sync. that will limit your FPS.

 

You won't get worse performance than the 6800. Your CPU was probably hampering the 3DMark scores on the desktop machine. I have a 6600GT on a dual 3.06GHz Xeon (see below) and it gets about the same 3DMark05 scores as my Compal does. What you get as a benefit is the portability (see that desktop of yours? The laptop is faster in EVERYTHING except the graphics, and that is parity, and it's how much smaller?), and the 7600 will support newer effects than the 6800 will. I wouldn't pass by the Compal just because the graphics won't go faster than a desktop 6800. If you want a laptop that's faster than your desktop, start looking at the 17" monsters that include a 7800 or higher. It's kind of a "You can't have your cake and eat it too" situation.

 

actually, i figure my cake and eat it too would be to just wait till Compal refreshes the HEL80 with an 8600 card

 

I'm not sure that will actually happen =P I doubt the current chassis design would be able to support such a card. Maybe take a look at the ASUS XG + a current HEL80? Or hit up one of the 7950 cards in the sager systems.

 

Yeah, with all the changes that would be necessary to refresh the HEL80 with Centrino Pro and DX10 (assuming the mobile DX10 GPUs are ever released ), you're going to be looking at Compal's 2007 release rather than the HEL80.