Guild Wars 2

As with a number of people, I was also having low FPS issues with GW2. Reduced the game to it’s lowest settings but was only managing at best 10 FPS in WvWvW. Wasn’t very thrilled with it as WvWvW is my main interest, but it was a nudge for me to go ahead and get the parts I needed.

Prior to upgrade (Open World – 25 Frames Per Second /// WvW – 10 Frames Per Second):

AMD Athlon II X2
8 Gigs DDR2 RAM
GTX 560Ti (306.23 WHQL)

Of the benchmarks I ran, the results came back saying this particular setup would be more than enough to run Guild wars 2. Course the reality, as others have seen, is that GW2 will run, just not run well enough.

I had been considering upgrading my machine for a few months, but Guild Wars 2 hadn’t made me consider my CPU as the thing to upgrade until I had started reading about the game being more bound to the CPU. Also the fact that the 6xx nvidia cards seemed to be having issues seemed to also suggest that upgrading my video card wasn’t going to be the way to increase performance. So I ventured out to my local (1 hour drive away) Fry’s Electronics where I bought up a few parts to improve performance:

Intel Core i5 3570K
MSI Z77A-G45 LGA 1155 (Motherboard)
16 Gigs Corsair Vengeance DDR3

A new motherboard was necessary since the one I was using couldn’t support a Quad-Core CPU, which in turn meant I needed new RAM as well since my DDR2 wouldn’t work with the new Motherboard. The GTX 560Ti remains in the system, as the card is still rated as being more than enough for most games these days.

Booted it up, reinstalled what I needed (anti-virus and drivers), and immediately started up Guild Wars 2. I’ll tell you what, huge difference! My Frames Per Second are now 120 in open world, 90 in WvWvW when faced with large crowds of people while on High Settings.

Total System is:
Windows 7 Professional (64 bit)
Intel Core i5 3570K (Stock)
MSI Z77A-G45 LGA 1155 (Motherboard)
16 Gigs Corsair Vengeance DDR3 (Stock)
nVidia GTX 560Ti (306.23 WHQL, Stock)

*Stock denotes no Overclocking on my part, all parts are out of the box and into the computer as they were from the manufacturer.

Course this brings up the point for those that can’t throw money at their FPS problem.

I hope ArenaNet can optimize it for you folks, but I wouldn’t expect any massive increase in performance when/if optimization patches come out. Chances are you may see a bump in performance, but nothing that’s going to make WvW or large encounters in the world suddenly playable. I wanted to share this particular experience though as it’s improved the quality of my own play (across multiple games) and you should work towards it as well.

90 fps in WvW. Anybody else smell that? Make a video and post it on YouTube :p

You can doubt as much as you like, just puttin’ out there what the improvement has been after spending a bit of cash.

90 FPS in WvWvW……….with a GTX560Ti………….suuuuuure.

And btw,you didn’t fix anything,you just bought new hardware.Misleading title is misleading.

90 FPS in WvWvW……….with a GTX560Ti………….suuuuuure.

And btw,you didn’t fix anything,you just bought new hardware.Misleading title is misleading.

I’m sorry that me fixing my FPS problem by getting better parts isn’t a fix in your book. Not much I can do about that though.

I do not… need to upgrade my pc to fix this. -_- I’m happy for you that the issue was actually your computer, but for many of us that isn’t the case. My friend actually went out and bought a new one despite my telling him not to… and is having the SAME problem on his new one now that the older one got. This is the game, and it started after that billing stuff they did.
I tried two different graphics cards. My husband is sitting here running it really well on a machine that is WAY under my specs. His fps is twice what mine is.

A new pc and upgrade won’t fix this for everyone. I got higher fps when the marketplace went down. It was up at 50… then it went down again to 15. The only time I don’t get below 10 fps is when that marketplace is under maint and shut off.
It is a game related issue, but I am glad at least one person having issues gets to play now.

Yeah, I’m sure everyone who has FPS issues is going to go build a new computer to be able to play a $60 game.

You didn’t “fix” your fps issue. As someone else said, you just bought new hardware.

Yeah, I’m sure everyone who has FPS issues is going to go build a new computer to be able to play a $60 game.

You didn’t “fix” your fps issue. As someone else said, you just bought new hardware.

I did state that I’d been considering upgrading my machine for a few months, which puts my consideration before the release of GW2. It was a further nudge though when I encountered the FPS problems that others also seemed to be experiencing.

As for new parts not being a fix…

It is a fix. It’s just not the fix you want.

It’s not a fix… you just got lucky getting a setup that didn’t have the same problems.

I’m not buying it, 90fps in WvW… yeah right.

Also there’s a bunch of people with similar specs as your upgraded PC that are having FPS problems.

As to what I have, the specs are in my sig, DDR2 ram btw, getting 30-35 fps in WvW, it doesn’t hurt me at all. Anything above 30fps is very playable.

so… your FIX about FPS PROBLEM on GW2 its buy a new hardware!?
OH
MY
GOD, U ARE A GENIUS
im going RIGHT NOW buy TWO GTX 680! since GW2 does not support SLI, one will be for reserve
THANKS A LOT MAN!!

Jyuno Terkar.7318:

You can doubt as much as you like, just puttin’ out there what the improvement has been after spending a bit of cash.

So you won’t mind uploading a video to YouTube then of you in the middle of a giant WvW battle showing 90 fps

My opinion is that this would consistitute a fix. Why can’t a fix require different hardware? If you were running on a Commodore 64, your fix would obviously be to buy new hardware

Semantics I guess, but let’s not be silly

Those frame rates do seem high. What settings?

I have a comparable CPU, the i7 3770. And I have some minor fps issues with that CPU and dual GTX 670 cards. I run at max settings on a 1080p display. My fps drops as low as 40 fps in some areas. I think I would average over 80 fps, but I have not done a long duration test. I can hit over 120fps in some areas, but that’s not the norm.

The worst I have seen is the main sylvania area ( intentionally mispelling.) Seems like some vantages with open space and a long distance to distance objects hammer the system. Unfortunately, I have a locked i7, so I can’t test to see if more clock would help. It definitely seems to be boosting to the limits of the CPU (mildly overclocked via bclk)

I have attempted to figure out what the load is on all 8 cores, but I have not quite figured that out yet. I suspect in some areas, the game IS CPU bound.

It’s not a fix… you just got lucky getting a setup that didn’t have the same problems.

I did some research, kept in mind what my needs were and what some of the expected problems were, shopped parts, assembled machine, played games. What you’re saying implies that it’s a roulette wheel as to whether someone’s machine can play GW2 well or not.

90 FPS on a WvW battle with GTX 560 TI hahahahahahhahahahahaha
as you can see guys, we have a GTX 560 TI better than a HD 7970 and a GTX 670
that is normal, happens all the time, maybe its a sucessful overclock

http://media.bestofmicro.com/J/D/348025/original/appearance%201920.png

Swordbreaker.2581:

Jyuno Terkar.7318:

You can doubt as much as you like, just puttin’ out there what the improvement has been after spending a bit of cash.

So you won’t mind uploading a video to YouTube then of you in the middle of a giant WvW battle showing 90 fps

If you’d like definitive proof, feel free to send me over a camera so I can record my screen. Let’s not taint with FRAPS or other screen capture software.

just open ur options menu on a huge battle in WvW and take a printscreen(press printscreen key on ur keyboard)

Jyuno Terkar.7318:

Swordbreaker.2581:

Jyuno Terkar.7318:

You can doubt as much as you like, just puttin’ out there what the improvement has been after spending a bit of cash.

So you won’t mind uploading a video to YouTube then of you in the middle of a giant WvW battle showing 90 fps

If you’d like definitive proof, feel free to send me over a camera so I can record my screen. Let’s not taint with FRAPS or other screen capture software.

Go ahead and use fraps or any capture program you want, it won’t reduce it that much You won’t get 30 fps. Guaranteed.

michaeljhuman.3940:

My opinion is that this would consistitute a fix. Why can’t a fix require different hardware? If you were running on a Commodore 64, your fix would obviously be to buy new hardware

Semantics I guess, but let’s not be silly

Those frame rates do seem high. What settings?

I have a comparable CPU, the i7 3770. And I have some minor fps issues with that CPU and dual GTX 670 cards. I run at max settings on a 1080p display. My fps drops as low as 40 fps in some areas. I think I would average over 80 fps, but I have not done a long duration test. I can hit over 120fps in some areas, but that’s not the norm.

The worst I have seen is the main sylvania area ( intentionally mispelling.) Seems like some vantages with open space and a long distance to distance objects hammer the system. Unfortunately, I have a locked i7, so I can’t test to see if more clock would help. It definitely seems to be boosting to the limits of the CPU (mildly overclocked via bclk)

I have attempted to figure out what the load is on all 8 cores, but I have not quite figured that out yet. I suspect in some areas, the game IS CPU bound.

Currently on high settings from what I remember. At work at the moment, but I can forward you the exact settings later today.

I had originally wanted to spring for the i7 3770 as well, but after doing some reading and having a few conversations with some people, I decided to go for the model I have now. From what I understand, the hyperthreading and virtual cores on the 3770 can actually be detrimental for gaming.

KrgWOW.9126:

just open ur options menu on a huge battle in WvW and take a printscreen(press printscreen key on ur keyboard)

But oh good sir/ma’am! How can we be sure I won’t just photoshop it!

Quit your stalling.

Not sure why virtual cores would be detrimental, but it’s hardly a simple topic. You can always turn them off In which case the i7 has very little over the i5.

Hmm, I have the following setup:

Sandy Bridge i7-2600k CPU @ 3.4ghz
16gb ram
GTX 560Ti

And I have nowhere near 90 fps in WvWvW In fact I have to set my settings to medium to make it playable/enjoyable.

Yea, i got a i5 3570k @ stock also, and a GTX570, 8GB of ram tho, not 16GB. Dont think that changes anything. And i have 1…….million FPS in WvWvW.

Not. In insane battles, it goes to 45-30. Normally, I get 60 stable everywhere else. (V-sync on)

So yea, 120 exploring and 90 WvW seems a little off to me as well…but then again, so many people have had the exact same setups and experienced completely different performance, so everything is a little off right now…

hit F11 to bring up the options window, and take a screenshot in WvW of it saying 90FPS…

In short: there’s no way.

Kalba.3618:

Hmm, I have the following setup:

Sandy Bridge i7-2600k CPU @ 3.4ghz
16gb ram
GTX 560Ti

And I have nowhere near 90 fps in WvWvW In fact I have to set my settings to medium to make it playable/enjoyable.

Just wondering, what version driver are you using with that 560Ti? I have been using 285.62 for a long time and tried 306.23 today and gave me bad results so I went back to 285.62.

Do u guys like gambles?
If yes.
Them buy new hardware just for gw2.
It’s like a bet where u bet ur new rigs money.
Some will win, some will lose.

I would be more convinced if the game was not running perfectly since launch, and as of a few days ago (after they “fixed” billing) refuses to go over 20 fps. My computer was fine, the game ran great. I could be around tons of people and get 40-50 fps without my pc breaking a sweat. No matter what options I chose for graphics, nothing changes now. Load screens that before literally took 5 seconds to load, now take a full two minutes. I have tested every piece of hardware, and nothing changed. The GAME changed.

I’m not asking for max graphics and 90-120 fps. I just want a normal 30+ fps on any setting that doesn’t do
THIS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1F5LAm2tyY

Whenever I try to play…. This isn’t a hardware issue for a lot of us. People with better computers then you are still having issues, and don’t have the option to upgrade any further.

I see no point in arguing semantics here, it adds nothing to the real point of the topic of discussion. Anecdotally we can see that whatever actions the OP took (whatever you want to call them) are not an effective fix for others with FPS issues and it’s possible that upgrading his hardware alone is only part of what solved the issue for him.

Just off the top of my head I would guess that the physical “geography” of the internal components of his/her machine have changed to a degree, either in a large way or small, and it wouldn’t surprise me to further learn that that heat wicking speed changed also, likely for the better. It wouldn’t surprise me to find out that s/he even got new, perhaps larger or faster fans, maybe with better controls to maintain their speed and in a better physical location to do so. Or maybe I’m wrong about the fans altogether and it’s just the latest tech in the new hardware purchased that manages heat better. Who knows?

I doubt we’re getting every detail on this “fix” that could be contributing to the large gains in performance. I don’t believe s/he is with-holding any pertinent detail intentionally though. I just don’t think that one person’s anecdote of how they “fixed” their performance issue is going to miraculously identify just one issue causing this and overnight thousands of people with a low FPS problem are going to make that one crucial change and BAM! problems solved for the entire GW2 playing world.

At best there might be one or two nuggets of wisdom hidden away in the totality of every change that was made to the OP’s machine that could help to track down an answer for each of us. At worst the OP is trolling to be intentionally cruel to people still wrestling with this but I HIGHLY doubt that is the case. On the other side of that coin though I don’t see how gunning this person down and at worst calling them an outright liar from all of our own building and compounding frustrations with our FPS problems could be helpful at all.

Either grats to the OP for getting it working for his/her self and we put our noses back to the grind stone or try and find something s/he did do that could apply to our own solution by picking the OPs brain a little since s/he did take the time to post here. Or on the other end altogether consider the OP to be a lying troll and let this post drop into the abyss of the Tech forum because nothing is really served by making accusations and bumping this if that’s what you believe.

We can all try and contribute here. I’ve seem a few posts that were genuinely helpful or were at least offered in that spirit. Or we can lash out at people who have solved their own problem because it doesn’t appear to apply to our own, at first glance at least.

Well either way, grats OP glad you got it running so good. Was there any other more subtle changes you recall besides unplugging this component and plugging in the upgrade?

Oh yeah, no point in going into my own issues in depth here but I too have noticed a drop off in performance since one patch or another was applied earlier this week. My hope is that Anet, while not being overly vocal and public about it, is aware and is working on a fix since if I had to guess, being that it correlates so closely with one patch or another from this week, what ever needs fixing originates on their end. However I do have the technical capabilities with computers just slightly better than my dog’s so who knows? We’ll see, sooner rather than later I hope.

@Jyuno Terkar.7318

If what you post is indeed all true and consistent (i.e.: not just a moment of low FPS and a moment of high FPS) that just even more confirms the CPU vs GPU coding a lot of people have been speculating about.

I’m not asking for max graphics and 90-120 fps. I just want a normal 30+ fps on any setting that doesn’t do
THIS:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k1F5LAm2tyY
Whenever I try to play…. This isn’t a hardware issue for a lot of us. People with better computers then you are still having issues, and don’t have the option to upgrade any further.

I just went to the Grove to where you are in that video, set everything to high and turned everything on and it literally kills my fps, then I turned off vertical sync and it was fine… vsync seems to kill it.

I normally play with everything set on except for reflections to none and post-processing to none (I hate the bloom) and depth blur (with my eyesight, it makes focusing on the screen harder with depth blur turned on).

@Teknobug -
Actually I had been walking all over the area outside, and porting around to different places to see if it changed anything. I got the same results with fps everywhere else I went, in all zones. So the area didn’t make a difference. I just tested it with Vsync off and there was no change. No graphic settings changes the fps anywhere. I appreciate the suggestion though.