Guild Wars 2

Ahai everyone,

I’m personally not all to great when it comes to hardware/specs etc. but I’d love it if some of you could help me get back in the game.

Back when Guild Wars 2 launched I bought myself a new PC to run the game smoothly, knowing it would be more demanding than GW1.

Due to various reasons I quit the game and when I returned about a year ago I began playing on my laptop.
My laptop has recently began overheating due to it not being optimized for games and as such I wanted to get back to my old PC.
The issues with my PC is that after a random amount of time I’ll get the error:

“Display driver AMD has stopped responding and has recovered "

This error always has a black screen as a result and often ends up with the game not responding anymore.

I’ve tried multiple things to “fix” this issue such as:

• Reinstalling the latest drivers multiple times.
• Taking my PC apart, thouroughly cleaning it from any dust.
• Underclocking the CPU to boost performance.
• Running the game on the lowest settings possible.
• Using a different monitor to exclude that being the issue.

None of this has worked however,
I have finally reached the conclusion that my GPU might simply be broken/outdated and was planning to search for a newer GPU. (I believe faulty-manufacturing might be the issue because shortly after release I’ve also had problems with this error message yet blamed myself for having made a mistake with settings/software.)

Any insight on this issue would be greatly appreciated and if in agreement with it being my GPU I’d more than welcome suggestions for a newer GPU.

A lot of thanks in advance.

Speccy:

Operating System
Windows 7 Enterprise 64-bit SP1

CPU
AMD FX-8120: 21 °C (Eight-Core Processor)
Zambezi 32nm Technology

RAM
8,00GB Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 668MHz (9-9-9-24)

Motherboard
ASUSTeK COMPUTER INC. M5A97 EVO R2.0 (Socket 942): 34 °C

Graphics
S22B150 (1920×1080@60Hz)
1024MB ATI AMD Radeon HD 7700 Series (MSI): 32 °C

Storage
111GB Samsung SSD 840 Series ATA Device (SSD): 32 °C

931GB Seagate ST31000524AS ATA Device (SATA): 35 °C

Optical Drives
TSSTcorp CDDVDW SH-224BB ATA Device

What kind of budget do you have for a new GPU?

Fermi.2409:

What kind of budget do you have for a new GPU?

I’m thinking of ± €500,-.
I know they’re pricey but at some point it’d just feel like far too much money for solely GW2.

A Gtx 1060 or a radeon rx 480 are completly enough for guild wars 2 and other games, both cost around 300€. But i would invest more in the CPU

I would personally get an entire new computer. That FX is crap for gw2 and would severely bottleneck a 1060 or 480 in any game, not only gw2.

I’m thinking about an i5+mobo+8gb ddr4 with a rx 470 or 1060 3gb. Everything should cost around 550€.

I’ve never used Nvidia before but the GTX 1060 looks interesting, as does the RX-480 which seems to score a bit higher from what I’ve read.

I was planning to make the GPU my first step in improving my PC but if I have to I’ll look into getting a new CPU or perhaps an entire new system.

Would there be any parts of my old PC availlable for recycling into a newer system?
My RAM for example?

Naturally the more costs I’d be able to save the better.

Nonetheless, thanks a lot already all who have replied.

Sadly your ram won’t cut it if you jump to Skylake, since you’ll need DDR4, but your hard drives/PSU/case should still be all right.

Ansau’s suggestion is pretty spot on. I’m not sure about prices (I’m from the US), but that gives you a solid computer with a nice upgrade for every component

If your CPU doesn’t need to be replaced in the short-term, you should wait until AMD’s Zen CPUs are out. Rumor is that they will be released later this year, and be competitive with Intel’s i5+ CPUs.
http://wccftech.com/amd-zen-launch-q4-2016/

I have purchased the AMD RX-480 8GB Gaming X GPU which is to be delivered tomorrow.

I have not yet replaced my MOBO/CPU or RAM but, as said before, I will likely have to. (thebottlenecker.com strongly suggested it as well.)

Tomorrow I’ll try to install the GPU first, due to my ancient CPU a bottleneck is guaranteed but I hope I’ll at least be able to play the game again for a bit.
A mobo + i5 4690k cpu are the next investments followed shortly by a DDR4.

Inbefore trying:
Thanks a million everyone.
Not only for helping me get a set-up for GW2 again but also for increasing my knowledge regarding hardware.
Before this thread I didn’t have a single clue about the differences between DDR3/4 or “bottlenecking”

Ansau/Fermi, the price is a bit higher than you two suspected but that is no issue.
You two have sparked my interest to continue down the road of improving my PC.

If you’re getting a 4690k you should be fine on DDR3. Skylake is where you’d end up needing DDR4

Use https://pcpartpicker.com/ to mock up your build before you actually buy any parts… it’s got a checker which should stop you from buying incompatible parts.

Edit: Btw… Skylake does support DDR3… it’s just that the majority of Mobos only have DDR4 slots. Officially Intel only supports DDR3L, but mobo makers seem to have made it so that they can run regular DDR3
e.g. http://www.gigabyte.com/products/product-page.aspx?pid=5488#ov

Skylake supports DDR3*L*. Most people don’t buy low power DDR3 ram.

onevstheworld.2419:

Officially Intel only supports DDR3L, but mobo makers seem to have made it so that they can run regular DDR3

I know that and I pointed it out in my post. It was a confusing situation when it happened, but I have yet to see widespread media reports of Skylake CPUs dying from DDR3 in the year or so since since it was released.

You’re right to point it out, as it could potentially fry the processor; but by the same token the mobo manufacturers seem pretty confident in their products. There are high end Z170 boards supporting regular DDR3 from well-respected manufacturers.
http://www.kitguru.net/components/motherboard/anton-shilov/asusteks-intel-z170-mainboards-will-work-correctly-with-ddr3-1-5v1-65v-modules/

Anyway, the point of my post is that there ARE Skylake mobos out there that take DDR3, so don’t go blindly buying one of those “because Skylake only supports DDR4”, then wonder why your DDR4 modules don’t fit. Some retailers may allow returns for such mistakes… not where I live.

The preferred voltage range that Skylake can officially take for DDR3L, from the CPU’s datasheet, is 1.35V +/- 5%. Sure, standard 1.5 volt DDR3 memory may work fine, but you are exceeding the voltage range that Intel guarantees that it will work and do no harm to the rest of the silicon. YMMV.

I just discovered the i5 6600K Skylake, the price is a bit less than the 4690K and the CPU specs seem to be roughly equal.

the 4690K scores with a higher single-core performance apparently.

Should I still make the jump to Skylake?

If you do, throw/slipstream some USB3/XHCI drivers into the W7 installation if still going that route and not W10. Or you’ll need to use ps/2 ports when installing.

Google can tell you how to either do this with an oem tool or using dism.

You’re not only making the jump to a new CPU with skylake, you get roughly 30% faster RAM at default speed and a much better platform especially pci-e structure. It’s a no brainer when upgrading on mobo level today.

I have a Phenom 2 1100T Black edition AMD. MSI motherboard with Fx abilities. A 2 gig Nvidia GTX 650 16 gig 1800 corsair Ram. a very similar computer that the OP has.

Now compared to an intel set up my FPS is kind of low usually around 30 or so, but I never lag all the way down to about 16 fps. To help raise those you can do a few things to help. AMD processors work a bit different than Intel they use hyper transport technologies. The computer sends packets of information around each part. just like the internet does to communicate to your computer. So I do not know how Fps can be measured the same.
Anyway try these settings in your game instead of choosing full low settings

animation high Reflections terrain and sky
antialiasing none textures high
environment high Render sampling Native
LOD distance high Shadows Shaders high
Post processing high or low depending on what u want
Now here is the kicker
Character model limit this lets you see other people farther away put that on lowest that way you only see names until they get closer
character model quality depends on whether you want to see a decent other player design lol.
Uncheck Best texture filtering and if it helps fps for you uncheck others as needed but that should get your fps up some without sacrificing graphics for you

My computer does a great job being over 6 years old yes I know I need to upgrade sometime soon lol but no rush.

I hope this helps you get set up a bit better.

Chyanne Waters.8719:

Snip

OP is complaining of CTDs with a driver error messege, not low FPS. He has already tried running the game at lower settings (amongst other things), hence his conclusion that it’s a hardware issue that’s causing his problems.

Btw, I’m sorry to make a difficult decision even more complicated, but…

What about a 7700K?

You guys are certainly making the CPU part more interesting as time goes by. :p

Also Onevstheworld is correct, I had no issues with the FPS, they were in fact perfectly fine.

I have also put the AMD RX-480 in my PC yesterday and I can happily say I’ve been able to play without a single error/crash yesterday.
My CPU does still require some upgrading because the difference between the CPU and GPU is too great.

In the very least I can play the game once more and on max settings (if I want) at that!

It’s amazing what a proper GPU can accomplish.

I do need a new case if I’m upgrading any further so that’s added to the list.
As time goes on the costs only continue to increase.

The 7700K sounds interesting but as of right now I lack the knowledge to make a clear judgement between the Kaby Lake and Skylake CPU’s.
They both require a 1151 socket though so a Mobo upgrade is mandatory.

P.S. a friend of mine suggested me to get a DDR5x instead of a DDR4 for RAM.
Isn’t this a bit “overkill”?

Kaby Lake isn’t releases yet so actually noone can say if it’s worthwhile over Skylake. But it’s something to keep your eyes out for if you are still looking for a CPU when it releases.

It’s actually GDDR5X, and it is a GPU RAM, so your friend is confusing the two different RAM types.

Nero,

The best thing you can do, at present, is to upgrade your OS to Windows 10 and wait a year. The OS upgrade will make full use of your new GPU and your 8 core processor – will not aid GW2 much if at all. Within the year AMD will have their ZEN processors out which should cause a significant shake-up of CPU prices or at least what you’d be getting for your money.

As you seem to be happy with GW2 performance now be aware that increased hardware performance pays poorly with GW2. What you have now isn’t going to change much even with the best currently available or in the future unless Anet make significant changes to the game.

The PC you have now is good enough for GW2 for the reminder of the game’s lifecycle, spending more money for GW2 only is not worth it, imo. A better bet is spending more on in-game stuff and seeing if Anet develop the game more such that new hardware is a significant improvement.

About cpu comparison between 4690k, 6600k, 7700k… The best option is the 6600k. Even the 4690k might show similar performance, Skylake comes with improved cache that makes an edge while gaming. About the future 7700k or the 6700k, you don’t need an i7 for general gaming, less for Gw2. It is only a good value if you plan to do multithreaded work like video rendering or streaming.

Skylanke and ddr3. While it is true Skylake can support normal ddr3, its IMC isn’t designed for it, and only 1.35v ddr3 is recommended. Using 1.5v ram in the long term could damage the imc and kill the cpu.

An update:

Today during a dungeon attempt I got a black screen.
No signal was coming through to the Monitor anymore and I heard the following beeps coming from the motherboard:

Long – Short – Short – Short.

according to the following link:

http://superuser.com/questions/783082/beep-codes-definition-for-asus-motherboard

it means no VGA is detected.

Could it be because of the newer GPU (the RX 480) slotted into an older Mobo with an older CPU and RAM?

I hope I didn’t destroy my GPU.

More info:

I’ve put the older GPU back into the PC and that resulted in no beeps whatsoever (yet I resume to the older problem of being unable to play the game.)

Should not be a compatibility issue with your CPU/mobo.

What’s your power supply?
Your GPU TDP has gone from 80W to 150W so it may not be getting adequate power under load.

From what I can see my PSU is a:
Recom Power Engine 600 Plus

A 600W PSU should be adequate, but PSU’s do deteriorate over time, esp if it has cheap components. The reference RX480 is also known to draw more power than advertised, and if you got one with with factory overclock, it’ll probably draw more on top of that.

In the AMD settings, under “Games > Global” (I think), you should find overclocking settings. Using that, either try underclock or reduce the power target. (My AMD card doesn’t have power target, so I’m not sure if decreasing it is possible). This will reduce the maximum power the GPU draws… it’ll reduce your performance, but if it is stable at lower power draw, it’ll point to a PSU issue.
A more annoying alternative is to borrow a friend’s PSU to see if it runs into the same problem.

It is not possible for me to attempt anything related to underclocking.

I can only boot the PC using the old GPU.
The newer GPU results in the beep-code and boots without any signal to the monitor.

Due to not having a working monitor while using the newer GPU, I can’t acces the AMD Settings or AMD Overdrive to underclock.

Could be a dead GPU. Do you have another computer you could try it in?

Also, just making sure but you plugged the power for the new GPU in, right?

Buy any GTX 1060, an SSD and an i3-6100 + any compatible MOBO.

You’ll be solid for GW2 :-)

Oh dear, it does sound like a dead GPU.

2 more things you can try:

• Putting the GPU in one of your mobo’s other PCIe slot
• If it’s got a dual BIOS, try to switch it to the 2nd BIOS.