World of Warcraft more GPU or CPU limited?

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Sonikku

Sonikku

Lifer
Jun 23, 2005
15,749
4,558
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I enjoy great performance on my X800XL and 3500+, but I have someone who's limited to AGP with a 9600XT video card and a Sempron 2400+ Socket A CPU who gets medicore performance. She's considering getting in on the current Hot Deal here http://shop.ati.com/product.asp?sku=2984012 for an AGP X800XL for $119. The question is, will a Sempron 2400+ Socket A negate the benefits of a XL? I've checked AAtech's benchmarks of videocards, but they used a top range AMD 939 FX chip and it really isn't a good comparison for low range video card performance. Is it a worthy upgrade or not?
 
Powermoloch

Powermoloch

Lifer
Jul 5, 2005
10,085
4
76
First of all...What's her resolution that she plants on playing ?. If it's between in the number of 1024 vs 1280. She'll will be able to play but, the card will be held p the limitations of the CPU.
 
Sonikku

Sonikku

Lifer
Jun 23, 2005
15,749
4,558
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1280x960. If there is a bottleneck in the cpu, is it possible she could bump the resolution higher without much of a hit to performance?
 
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akshayt

Banned
Feb 13, 2004
2,227
0
0
1)If CPU is not good enough, then very low/low settings I think should still do for the cpu is atleast good enough for that, if it is, that is.
2) If you increase the res, although GPU might be primary, CPU still needs to do some work, and when it is fully used and can't deliver mroe, you loose out.

I am talking in general and not specific to a game.

EG

800*600 ( 9800 series)
Sempron : 45fps
A64 : 65fps

1024*768 ( X800 series)
Sempron : 35fps
A64 : 60fps

1280*1024 ( X850 series)
Sempron : 30 fps
A64 : 55fps

What I am trying to tell is not the requirements but the concept, any system at lower settings >= higher settings, although games are CPU dependant at lower res, at those settings any CPU is enough, see any benchmark if you still don't understand
 
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TheRyuu

Diamond Member
Dec 3, 2005
5,479
14
81
At 1280x960, on a 9600XT, you'll probably see a difference going to a X800.
I'd say go for it. Is there any way to OC the Sempron?
 
Sonikku

Sonikku

Lifer
Jun 23, 2005
15,749
4,558
136
It's running on a budget board that cost about $50. I've tried, from everything to changing the multiplier to bumping up the stock FSB from 166 to 200. It isn't stable.
 
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cmrmrc

Senior member
Jun 27, 2005
334
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0
first, tell me what is the chipset that is paired with the Sempron..i myself have witness the performance drop from an nforce2 to a SIS 741...
 
Sonikku

Sonikku

Lifer
Jun 23, 2005
15,749
4,558
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It's a socket A motherboard. ABit VA 20 I believe. It's running a 2400+ Socket A Sempron.
 
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aka1nas

Diamond Member
Aug 30, 2001
4,335
1
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Originally posted by: Sonikku
It's a socket A motherboard. ABit VA 20 I believe. It's running a 2400+ Socket A Sempron.
Click to expand...

Thats a VIA KM400 chipset if so.
 
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RedBeard

Diamond Member
Sep 29, 2000
3,403
0
76
Just curious, how much ram is in the computer? For optimal Wow performance, you should have at least 1gb.
 
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Noema

Platinum Member
Feb 15, 2005
2,974
0
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Originally posted by: RedBeard
Just curious, how much ram is in the computer? For optimal Wow performance, you should have at least 1gb.
Click to expand...

Agreed. Having 1gb of RAM or more is as important as a decent CPU or GPU for WoW.

I don't think you'll see much improvement beyond a X800 or a 6800 GPU. I used to play on a 9600se (dumbed down 9600PRO) and it ran very well at 1280x1024, except in heavy forest areas like Duskwood, where FPS took a dip.

 
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cmrmrc

Senior member
Jun 27, 2005
334
0
0
yeah, the X800XL will be cpu limited by your 2400+...i suggest you make a ram upgrade if you don't have 1gb now...if you do...then i don't know which part you should upgrade
 
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Raloth

Member
Jun 12, 2006
65
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0
My P4 2 GHz is limited with my 9600 XT, all settings on max (1024x768). WoW is a lot less graphically demanding than most games.
 
2Xtreme21

2Xtreme21

Diamond Member
Jun 13, 2004
7,045
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You'll definitely see a performance boost going to that x800XL. I'd go for it if it doesn't look like she's going to be needing to upgrade any time in the near future.
 
Sonikku

Sonikku

Lifer
Jun 23, 2005
15,749
4,558
136
Originally posted by: Raloth
My P4 2 GHz is limited with my 9600 XT, all settings on max (1024x768). WoW is a lot less graphically demanding than most games.
Click to expand...


What kind of frame rate do you usualy get?
 
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Raloth

Member
Jun 12, 2006
65
0
0
Originally posted by: Sonikku
Originally posted by: Raloth
My P4 2 GHz is limited with my 9600 XT, all settings on max (1024x768). WoW is a lot less graphically demanding than most games.
Click to expand...


What kind of frame rate do you usualy get?
Click to expand...
20-30 usually. It's not amazing, but it's more than playable. It takes a dive to 6-7 though when there's a lot of people around. When I hide the interface my frame rate improves 20-30%. I notice no real difference in speed between 640x480 with everything on low and 1024x768 6x AA with everything on high (with the exception of full terrain distance, that kills my card in outdoor areas).
 
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ss284

Diamond Member
Oct 9, 1999
3,534
0
0
After a certain point WoW is all cpu limited. The textures used in game are pretty low quality, and the poly count is low as well. In Org even with a decent graphics card (7900gt) I would always hit a FPS barrier when loading all the people in the city, no matter what resolution I played at, from 800x600 all the way up to 1600-1200.

-Steve
 
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cmrmrc

Senior member
Jun 27, 2005
334
0
0
yeah you should try putting all settings to low and then put it on high to see the difference....if theres no big difference then you're CPU limited...

btw, to test that, try scrolling your character to the top..when you're looking at the distance, i realise that theres a max framerate of 30, when switching it to a more top character view, it can go up to 50
 
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Fox5

Diamond Member
Jan 31, 2005
5,957
7
81
Originally posted by: Sonikku
If I set the quality settings to low, then to high, wouldn't that just leave me where I started?

Originally posted by: Fox5
Anandtech did an article on this a while ago.....
http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=1927&p=15
That sempron will make the game cpu limited.
Click to expand...

I appreciate the suggestion, but that's Warcraft 3. Not World of Warcraft...
Click to expand...

Ah, whoops. Well, ok then......
1. He wanted you to observe the framerate at low, then at high. If they're about the same, you're cpu limited. Use FRAPS to determine framerate unless the game has something in game to do it.

2. My mistake on the warcraft mixup, but RTS's and MMORPGs are two of the most cpu intensive genres. I recommend going for a budget socket 754 board with a higher end sempron or athlon 64 to improve performance noticably without breaking the bank.
 
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