Bottleneck in WoW: Legion (Alpha)

[Stonedfish]

Hello there,

I will begin with listing my pc specs:
CPU: Core i5 4690k @4,5GHz
GPU: Asus Strix 980ti (just running in OC mode)
RAM: G.Skill Sniper 1866 8GB
PSU: Corsair RM850
SSD: Samsung EVO850 250GB

Everything runs fairly cool, CPU is around 50-60 °C and GPU sometimes goes all the way up to 80 °C but never above.

I am experiencing some real fps drops in areas with a lot of lightning effects in WoW: Legion - Alpha test, although my CPU doesn't go above 50-60% at these times. I was wondering what's the problem, my GPU runs at max all the time due to high AA that I have to use because I am playing on 27" 1080p display. My fps is dropping to low 70's which is a huge deal since it's very close to 60, while it was around 120 before.
Settings: http://prntscr.com/amu6cq

[LLOYD-AF]

Does it happen in other games?

 

Legion is still Alpha so these things happen, just send them a bug report.

[VoyexTech]

Possibly a ram issue but most likely your gpu not being powerful enough. You could try getting another 8gb stick of ram

[Stonedfish]

Just now, LLOYD-AF said:

Does it happen in other games?

 

Legion is still Alpha so these things happen, just send them a bug report.

I was having similar drops in Warlords of Draenor but only in certain situations and also in GTA V

[Guest]

WoW is CPU bound, doesn't utilize cores, and runs pretty horrid in populated areas. 

[Stonedfish]

Just now, VoyexTech said:

Possibly a ram issue but most likely your gpu not being powerful enough. You could try getting another 8gb stick of ram

The problem is WoW doesn't require anywhere near 8GB of vram, while Strix 980ti is faster than a Titan X, just has less ram, as far as I know

[Samfisher]

1 minute ago, Stonedfish said:

I was having similar drops in Warlords of Draenor but only in certain situations and also in GTA V

Towns REALLY like i7's.

[Stonedfish]

2 minutes ago, VoyexTech said:

Possibly a ram issue but most likely your gpu not being powerful enough. You could try getting another 8gb stick of ram

I'm mostly having last core taxed more than others in populated areas, while I can still keep around 80fps in these.

[Stonedfish]

1 minute ago, Samfisher said:

Towns REALLY like i7's.

I will be getting one this summer. Still towns aren't my problem yet it's being around lightning effects and idk if u play WoW, but Garrison is taxing my gpu a lot for no reason.

[Majestic]

1 minute ago, Samfisher said:

Towns REALLY like i7's.

No they don't. WoW has always run on 3 cores. WoW likes IPC and Cache.

 

@Stonedfish So why haven't you ran with lower AA and see if that's the issue. How come you're just randomly guessing...

[Stonedfish]

1 minute ago, Majestic said:

No they don't. WoW has always run on 3 cores. WoW likes IPC and Cache.

 

@Stonedfish So why haven't you ran with lower AA and see if that's the issue. How come you're just randomly guessing...

Not sure about that since my friend with 4790k has around 30fps more in big fights and towns. + we're on biggest realm EU

[Samfisher]

1 minute ago, Stonedfish said:

I will be getting one this summer. Still towns aren't my problem yet it's being around lightning effects and idk if u play WoW, but Garrison is taxing my gpu a lot for no reason.

I do play WoW but I don't have the Alpha.

Just now, Majestic said:

No they don't. WoW has always run on 3 cores. WoW likes IPC and Cache.

 

@Stonedfish So why haven't you ran with lower AA and see if that's the issue. How come you're just randomly guessing...

It doesn't matter, an i7 will outperform an i5 any day in towns. A 4GHz 4790K beats a 4.4GHz 3570K handily.

[VoyexTech]

1 minute ago, Stonedfish said:

I'm mostly having last core taxed more than others in populated areas, while I can still keep around 80fps in these.

Honestly it isn't that big of an issue (probably is a big issue for you) I have to live with high go ultra settings at 30fps. But to fix it a better cpu might be good but I don't know If you want to pay for that? 

[Stonedfish]

1 minute ago, VoyexTech said:

Honestly it isn't that big of an issue (probably is a big issue for you) I have to live with high go ultra settings at 30fps. But to fix it a better cpu might be good but I don't know If you want to pay for that? 

I could benefit from a better cpu for 3d modelling and rendering which is something I do a lot, so I will get one for sure. Although, I think that my gpu can't handle it since it runs at 100%, but it would be weird for a 980ti not to be able to handle wow on ultra in all situations?

[Stonedfish]

5 minutes ago, Samfisher said:

I do play WoW but I don't have the Alpha.

It doesn't matter, an i7 will outperform an i5 any day in towns. A 4GHz 4790K beats a 4.4GHz 3570K handily.

I've tried running with lower AA and in most cases it helps. I think I'm about to get a 24" display to run with only 8x msaa. In other cases, between 8x msaa and ssaa 4x + cmaa there was 2fps difference, which is something that makes me rly confused.

[Samfisher]

1 minute ago, Stonedfish said:

I've tried running with lower AA and in most cases it helps. I think I'm about to get a 24" display to run with only 8x msaa. In other cases, between 8x msaa and ssaa 4x + cmaa there was 2fps difference, which is something that makes me rly confused.

Not sure why you need SSAA 4x though, you're rendering at 4k doing that.

[Stonedfish]

1 minute ago, Samfisher said:

Not sure why you need SSAA 4x though, you're rendering at 4k doing that.

I rly had no idea what that is. It's just that at 1080p at my screen size (27") image looks very pixelated and nameplates are hard to read without at least SSAA 4x and it's completely smooth at SSAA 4x + CMAA

[Samfisher]

Just now, Stonedfish said:

I rly had no idea what that is. It's just that at 1080p at my screen size (27") image looks very pixelated and nameplates are hard to read without at least SSAA 4x and it's completely smooth at SSAA 4x + CMAA

Yup.  SSAA is supersampling, it renders the game at higher resolutions and downsamples each pixel to reduce jaggies.  I play on a 23 inch 1080p screen, an extra 3 inches shouldn't make the nameplates hard to read I wouldn't think.

[Stonedfish]

1 minute ago, Samfisher said:

Yup.  SSAA is supersampling, it renders the game at higher resolutions and downsamples each pixel to reduce jaggies.  I play on a 23 inch 1080p screen, an extra 3 inches shouldn't make the nameplates hard to read I wouldn't think.

I tried a 24" screen and there was no difference past msaa 8x, while on 27" with msaa 8x image is very pixelated and there is even that shimmering effect, something like pixels overlapping which is really annoying. Although names and npc names are impossible to read with camera set a bit further at msaa 8x or lower. 

[Majestic]

So Use DSR...

 

And put anisotropic at 16x