Guild Wars 2

I have had my computer a while now and noticed in some games my old CPU was struggling, so I decided to fork out for an upgrade. From an AMD FX4100 to an AMD FX 8350. I never used to run gw2 at the highest settings but even in the new LA I managed to get a fairly stable 20-30 fps. With the new CPU however I cant get above 20 even at the lowest settings.
I know that gw2 is more CPU dependent which is why I upgraded that first but now I’m pretty sure its my GPU that is the problem. I use a fairly dated AMD HD6900, but what confuses me is that with the old cpu my fps wasn’t too terrible, now it seems really crappy, am I not using the right settings for something or is it my old GPU thats now holding me back.
I have heard that AMD CPU’s are not great for gw2 but I don’t have much money at all and cant afford the new motherboard and CPU to get an intel, especially now that I commited to the 8350! If I had of known that AMD was poor for gw2 I would have saved up for a whole new rig!
If anyone could let me know if I’m not using the right settings, or that I need to upgrade my GPU that would be great.

With the new CPU however I cant get above 20 even at the lowest settings.

this comments does not really tell us anything.

the cpu bottleneck settings are reflections/shadows/# mobs/mob quality

turn those down and your fps goes up.

I would recommend you to overclock your cpu.

If I had of known that AMD was poor for gw2 I would have saved up for a whole new rig!

amd is not necessary poor for gw2. It just that the current bulldozer family has pretty low ipc and single threaded performance. It will not be as bad when zen cpu is released next year

I dont know which amd 6900 gpu do you have. there should be a wide range

GPU-Z while the game is running in a window and verify that your GPU is Linked at PCIE x16(or x8 if running CF) and version 2. if its not reseat your GPU in the closest slot to your CPU.

What temperature is your CPU at when running the game?

Thankyou for the responses!

loseridoit.2756:

the cpu bottleneck settings are reflections/shadows/# mobs/mob quality
turn those down and your fps goes up.

I turned all of these to off or lowest and noticed a small increase.

loseridoit.2756:

I dont know which amd 6900 gpu do you have. there should be a wide range

Sorry should have mentioned, it is a Sapphire Radeon HD6950.

sirsquishy.8531:

GPU-Z while the game is running in a window and verify that your GPU is Linked at PCIE x16(or x8 if running CF) and version 2. if its not reseat your GPU in the closest slot to your CPU.

My current link speed shows that it CAN get x16 but is only running at x2, I’m not too sure how to change that.

abomally.2694:

What temperature is your CPU at when running the game?

My CPU runs at around 56°

Ok, so I opened up my Rig to see about reseating my gfx card, I didn’t bother doing this before because I was pretty sure the card was in the PCIe port closest to the CPU. When I looked it was indeed how I thought, but I thought ’I’ll take it out and put it back, with a bit of a blow on the contacts, just like my old Sonic 3 Mega Drive cartridge!’
Lo and behold once I turned my Computer back on it is now showing link speed at x16.
Moral of the Story: take it out and blow on it, that’ll do the trick!

Thanks all for your support!

Did you remove the card when you installed the new CPU? If not,you probably bumped it out of place while doing so.

Surprisingly common how often these link speed problems crop up after cleaning the GPU or replacing/moving something in the case.