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All of the latest Mists of Pandaria newsFixing FPS issues with patch 3.1
by Mike Schramm 
Apr 18th 2009 at 2:00PM
A few people are experiencing slowdown issues with patch 3.1, and since our last bit of technical help went over so well, we figured we'd do a little troubleshooting for you on this one, too. If your computer is running slower since you updated into patch 3.1, the first thing to do is check your video options -- Blizzard has tweaked a few things in there, and chances are that by tweaking them again, you might be able to fix your problem (or at least make it a little better). Specifically keep an eye out for the new Video Mode Ultra setting -- that specifically is not designed to be used unless your computer is current and top-of-the-line. Shadows also are quite a drag on the video card and CPU, and turning them down won't affect gameplay that much.If your options are already low, the next thing you might do is check your videocard's make and driver version (scroll down to the "manually" section there -- you don't need to run Intel's program). Nvidia, who makes the common GeForce series of video cards just updated their drivers to version 182.50 on April 2nd, so if you have an earlier version than that, running the update will probably help. If you have an ATI card, you can find the drivers over on their site.
And of course if all of your software is set up and you're still having issues, there's always the possibility of updating your hardware. That can be quite an ordeal, though, so if you're not so sure on how to install new RAM or can't recognize the difference between SATA and IDE, you might want to enlist a friendly techie for a little help. WoW is still very forgiving, but Blizzard has been slowly adding on the graphical goodness, so if you've been playing with the same PC since launch four years ago, it might just be time for an upgrade.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Odds and ends, Blizzard, Expansions, Hardware
Reader Comments (Page 3 of 3)
tlarkin79 Apr 19th 2009 10:14AM
I have my shadows at about 50% and it works great. That was a great tip in the article.
TheChao Apr 18th 2009 4:13PM
I recently upgraded my computer and run about 50-60 frames in most of the game.
I noticed however, that going from 'High' shadows to 'Ultra' shadows dropped my framerate by a whopping 25 fps! This was especially noticeable in highly forested areas (Grizzly Hills, Crystalsong, Sholazar).
So if you're a higher-end computer user, and Ultra is blowing up your computer, turn down the shadows.
j4yk Apr 26th 2009 11:47AM
i recently upgraded my rig a little to try to bolt up my FPS i went from a core 2 duo E6600 and BFG 8800GTS 640meg to Q9650 and 4870 1gig. i hardly noticed a difference at all shadows drop my frames into the 20's witch is unplayable for me everything else i could max then and now i can crank doodads and ground clutter way up
i hear the issues that effect fps is vista 64... and not utilizing quad core procs
on a second note i would go crossfire but i really dont think it would make a difference
Codexx Apr 18th 2009 4:59PM
I don't suppose anyone has a fix for the flickering shadows problem yet?
I'm running an nVidia GeForce 9800 GX2, no SLI, just one card. Any time I raise the shadows above setting 2(character real time shadows) the shadows are there, but constantly flicker. There's often big squares of shadows in a checkerboard pattern that move along with my character and will flicker as well. It's murder on the eyes, so I keep my shadow setting down, even though my computer can handle giving everything a real time shadow.
A google search says this was supposedly fixed a couple patches ago, but I still get this problem.
Arashikou Apr 18th 2009 6:05PM
Wow... that's a hard one to diagnose. Assuming that your graphics drivers are up to date, the next thing I would try is disabling Transparency Anti-Aliasing on the nVidia driver. If that's not it - it sounds like a Z-fighting issue. Under the resolution drop-down in WoW, how many bits is the depth buffer? You should be at 24 or higher, ideally.
The GX2 is an "SLI on a single board" setup, so your SLI setting might also be affecting this... try resetting it to default. And if you've customized your WoW game profile in the nVidia drivers, you may want to try resetting that as well - maybe the compatibility mode setting on the profile has gotten altered by accident.
If that doesn't fix it, you should probably go to the technical support forums - Blizz may not be aware that the problem isn't fixed for everyone.
Jodi Apr 18th 2009 5:09PM
I play on a complete POS and my boy's computer isnt new.. but it still runs the game well. Since the patch, his frames have tanked and oddly, mine have gone up and I have alot of graphic options turned up higher than him.. Like.. In Dalaran he was getting like 14fps and its gotten cut in half.. my .4fps has jumped up to 2.4fps, which is just amazing for my computer.. doesnt seem like much to many.. but my frames are never above 25 anyway.. anything above 7 is next to no lag for me. I just find it wierd. I cant wait for summer when we can upgrade out computers :D
Ras Gonzo Apr 18th 2009 7:47PM
I running with a ATI Radeon 4870 overcloked w/ 4gb of RAM and a AMD quad core processor, and in Dalaran I average 10-12 fps. In most of Northrend I get a average of 30fps, but in Azeroth I always get 60fps.
OS, Naxx25, and sometimes in Dalaran, I get 3-5 fps w/ my top of the line computer, I dunno wtf...
slartibart Apr 19th 2009 9:57PM
That's not top of the line, and wow you must have something set up wrong to experience that big a performance hit.
I have better frame rates on an old powerbook g4 I use to check AH postings.
uncaringbear Apr 18th 2009 8:00PM
One significant thing I have noticed from all these changes to graphic settings, is that my computer is handling 25man raid content much better than pre-3.1. I have no doubt that it's due to Blizz turning down/off some the more graphic intensive spell effects, such as the Warlocks' rain of fire, as mentioned above.
I still get slow downs and stutters, but not nearly as many as before. Thank you, Blizz!
front243 Apr 19th 2009 1:16AM
Has anybody noticed problems with the Fire-wall during Sartharion?
I did it two days ago. I could see the firewall forming and started to move towards the platform with the boss. When I tried to run to the gap in the wall, the entire firewall disappeared so I had to guess where the gap was supposed to be. (which didn't work out too well)
Tego Zanduba Apr 19th 2009 9:52AM
We had the same problem with the fire wall's in OS10 yesterday. It was the whole raid, so I don't think it's a video card setting though?
Serrat Apr 19th 2009 6:12AM
Definitely kill your Shadows.
I'm running a 4 year old PC with 2gb and an 8800GT card and with everyting at max except shadows (slider at just over 50%) i get about 40fps at 1680x1050
Biggest slow down for me is texture loading in busy areas.
The shadows are nice but with them on max I barely get double figures FPS
Tego Zanduba Apr 19th 2009 9:56AM
If you're running less than 20% free diskspace when you patch, you should also defragment your harddrive. The patch files are large, and it gets re-written many times in teh course of the update so it can get spread all over your disk causing high seek times too.
If you're on a mac, you need to do some tricky stuff to get it done. Open up a Terminal window (in your Applications => Utilities) and then do the following script (caveat emptor)
cd "/Applications/World of Warcraft/data"
dd if=patch.MPQ of=copy.dat bs=32768k
mv copy.dat patch.MPQ
If you've never done this since upgrading to Wrath, then also do it for the lichking.MPQ too.
Cáta Apr 19th 2009 11:41AM
I do believe you aren't aiming to update your hardware any time soon and mentioning it makes you no less of a FIRST class ass.
front243 Apr 19th 2009 12:50PM
I get pretty low fps in Dalaran and in 25-man raids. I got a pretty nice system with 4 gigs of ram and a Radeon 4870 videocard.
I think one of the problems is that they keep adding features to an ageing game-engine. I wish they would dedicate an entire patch to performance improvements and no new features.
smiley Apr 20th 2009 8:37AM
bha hardware smardware... i play at 5fps and like it!
2k+ ratings on 4 toons and glad titles on 2 toons at the end of the season, and tanked every encounter... fps is a crutch... a crutch i wish i had >_<
oh well almost got all the pieces for my new box
out with the old:
single core athlon 2800+
onboard Nvidia video
1G ram
5400 rpm HD
in with the new:
quad core 2.8 Ghx Phenom II plan to overclock to 3.6
8G ram
dual BFG 1Gig cards in SLI
SSD gaming drive/o/s drive
10k rpm veliiraptor program drive
7200 rpm WD cav Black 1.5TB media drive
Proditio Apr 23rd 2009 1:11PM
I just started having this issue with 3.1 I am running with a GeForce 7300 GS w/256k, 1 GB RAM of DDR memory. It is an older PC (5 years old), but my fps pre-3.1 in Naxx was in the 25 fps range even during boss fights with spell animations going off and in the 50-60 fps range when alone doing dailies. Now... I drop to 4-5 fps even when doing daily quests and not in a group and raiding is a frustrating adventure. Sometimes it bounces back up for a short period of time and will drop back down and other times it just stays low.
Now... here's the other thing that's happening at the same time - when my fps drops: my Vent starts to chop up some in both directions. At first I thought maybe latency or a surge in bandwidth use was causing this, but those are fine - I tested it. So it's something local on the PC. If I Alt+Tab out of WoW Vent clears up, I Alt+Tab back into WoW it starts chopping up again. I have all of the video settings in WoW set to Low at this point and it is still happening. The disks are defragged as well. This also happens with add-ons on or disabled.
Now.. I haven't confirmed this yet, but it seems to only be happening on my older toons. I created a new shammy after the patch and I haven't experienced this on him yet. So, I'm wondering if some settings in the config file for the older toons are not set properly, etc. Oh.. yes... I even deleted my WTF folder at one point to let that be re-created and that didn't work. I'm at a loss at this point.