Guild Wars 2

Hey guys so this is my computer:
-ATI Radeon HD 5850 1GB
-AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition, 3,4GHz, Quad-Core, S-AM3
-4GB RAM

Now I’m thinking this should run GW2 pretty good but while playing (on auto-detect settings) I get a bit of frame skipping, not the most notable but you can see it if you look at the sides of the screen.
*I’ve attached the auto-detect graphics.

The other problem I have is when I enter WvWvW I have a huge frame drop for a couple of seconds and then it goes back to normal and the cycle repeats (this happens whether I have max or min graphic settings)

So I basically have two question:
-How do I remove the frame skipping with the least quality lost?
-Is there a fix or an option to remove the frame drops in WvWvW?

First question is are you running the 12.8 driver and the latest CAP file? Just checking because those supposedly really helped performance for ATI cards.

In WvWvW your computer has to load up lots of textures ..i asume your running a standard HDD ..if you have access to a SSD ..move guildwars to it and it should help remove or atleats reduce stutter from loading times of textures and such,.

@drintar: I’m updating the driver as we speak, not sure about the CAP file though, how can I check that?

@SolarNova: I have my main HDD where GW are and an external one. I’m not sure what you mean by a SSD

Drop Shadows to none in WvW, that will give your CPU some breathing room.

Confirm Catalyst control center settings have AA/AF set to application controlled.

Some have recommended running in Windowed Fullscreen mode for best performance.

You might play with vsync, in some scenarios it will drop my FPS from 45 to 30 but in others it actually raise it.

In Catalyst Control Center with my 5870 I tested maxing out the settings in Overdrive and run the several minute test, also in game I monitored the GPU temperature which stayed comfortably low (under 60c). I believe it’s 900/1300mhz is the max in the 5870.

The 965 does not overclock well, but that would be the primary bottleneck when there are many players on the screen.

@Blekaut the CAP file should be on the same page as the driver just look at the release date on it and if you know you didn’t update the CAP file on or after that date I’d say update it

HDD = hard disk drive . SSD = Solid State Drive.

SSD’s are ALOT faster than HDD’s ..but are smaller ..and much more expensive per gigabyte. The smallest SSD you can really use properly for more than just your OS ..is a 128gb ..which will cost around £130 if you get the newest generation.

But since you dont have one, nevermind. Chances are the issues your having are just down to the fact your rig isnt strong enough to be blunt.

Thanks for the quick responses guys, really appreciate it.

Working on the things you all mentioned and I’ll post the results

Looking good guys, thanks for all the advice!