WoW, BSODs and drivers..

On Thu, 01 May 2008 19:18:41 -0600, chocolatemalt
<myothername.DeleteThis@dim.com.removethis> wrote:

>Also be open to the idea of coincidence -- a virus may be the culprit
>but the monitor is blamed. Anything is possible... it's Windows.

Hehe Yeah, I'm half wondering about virusy stuff, as the slight pauses
in my music actually appear to be a slight pause in the computer as a
whole, as though it's too busy with something else. Never had that before,
and while it's old, it's not so old that it should be doing that when all
I'm doing is browsing websites etc and listening to music. Nothing came up
on my usual antivirus and antispyware scans, will have a look at some
different ones to doublecheck.
--
EU-Draenor:
Balgair - Human Rogue (lvl 70)
Naomh - Draenei Priest (lvl 70)
Sagart - Undead Priest (lvl 70)
Rosad - Human Warlock (lvl 70)
Sealgair - Dwarf Hunter (lvl 70)
Eilnich - Blood Elf Warlock (lvl 70)
Beag - Dwarf Paladin (lvl 60)
 >> Stay informed about: WoW, BSODs and drivers.. 

chocolatemalt wrote:
> In article <6805kgF2qtmi0U1.RemoveThis@mid.individual.net>,
> Urs Steiner <invalid.RemoveThis@darkstone.ch> wrote:
>> chocolatemalt wrote:

>>> It's about 5% faster if whatever you're running is cpu-bound... not
>>> something you're likely to notice even if that's the case. But WoW, web
>>> browsing, emailing, spreadsheeting, etc are rarely bound by cpu on
>>> anything newer than 10 years old, so overall you might see something
>>> like a 1% difference. I have to agree with Marcel that it's not worth
>>> the money.
>> I'd have to disagree here - from all I've seen WOW is certainly CPU
>> bound (at least with >= 2Gb RAM and a graphics card not older than 3-4
>> years. Prior to that is bound there). And the more addons you run the
>> worse it gets.

> I might've overspoken about WoW in particular, which will take up all
> the cycles on single-core processors from five years ago. But even
> there I'm not sure all those cycles are legit "work" -- you can improve

AFAIK, DirectX games just take all there is - it's not really depending
on the power of the CPU how much they take.
And yes, not all of this is work - it's just a resource allocation I think.

> one of those systems massively with a better video card and 2GB of RAM,
> while the cpu shows itself as bound both before and after the change. I
> suspect a large part of the cycles is input polling and some idle loops
> that would show up as system idle if WoW didn't internalize it.

Yes, for older systems it's mainly bound to RAM (because most older
systems have <2GB RAM)

> I've got an E6750 dual-core now that runs about 40% idle with WoW, which
> has a load of addons including Recount and Titan Panel (cpu hogs).

this sounds like WOW isn't actually using both cores. I remember having
read discussions about dual core systems with a blue poster saying that
is should work the same way - i.e take all of the CPUs if it can. But
sometimes WOW doesn't detect the CPU correctly and so may only use one
at a time.

Urs

--
Mano - Orc Shaman 70 - Jewelcrafter & Leatherworker - Slayer of Illidan
Myno - Tauren Bear 70 - Skinning & Herbalism
Ratoma- Troll Rogue 28 - (Dis)Enchantress
Melony - Human Mage 16
and various others
 >> Stay informed about: WoW, BSODs and drivers.. 

On Sat, 03 May 2008 10:02:56 +0200, Urs Steiner wrote:
> chocolatemalt wrote:
>
> > I've got an E6750 dual-core now that runs about 40% idle with WoW, which
> > has a load of addons including Recount and Titan Panel (cpu hogs).
>
> this sounds like WOW isn't actually using both cores. I remember having
> read discussions about dual core systems with a blue poster saying that
> is should work the same way - i.e take all of the CPUs if it can. But
> sometimes WOW doesn't detect the CPU correctly and so may only use one
> at a time.

I'm running a dual core system with 3GB RAM and my G15 (logitech keyboard
with lcd display) displays one CPU at roughly 5% and the other at roughly
30-40% load while playing WoW. So it seems that it does indeed not use both
cores but that it also does not take up too much on the one core it uses.

This is with 1920x1200 resolution with full details and roughly 185 addons.

Cheers
Urbin

--
Dun Morogh-EU (PvE)
Urbin (70), Dwarven Hunter | Surana (24), Draenei Mage
Mymule (70), Gnomish Warlock | Juran (33), Nightelven Druid
Sunh (70), Nightelven Priest | Gera (26), Human Paladin
 >> Stay informed about: WoW, BSODs and drivers.. 

Urbin <urbin.DeleteThis@invalid.invalid> writes:
>This is with 1920x1200 resolution with full details and roughly 185 addons.

Frys had a sale so I picked up a 26 inch widescreen panel over the weekend
with the same native resolution. It's quite interesting to play and have
peripheral vision! My quad core mac pro doesn't seem to break much of a
sweat CPU wise running it, though the ram temperature did go up a bit.

It seems to me when I was running WoW on my PC, that the CPUs got much more
of a workout. But it might be because the mac has twice the ram and
doesn't have to swap memory around much. *
--
* PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something
like corkscrews.
 >> Stay informed about: WoW, BSODs and drivers.. 

On May 5, 11:06 am, pv+use...@pobox.com (PV) wrote:
> Urbin <ur... DeleteThis @invalid.invalid> writes:
> >This is with 1920x1200 resolution with full details and roughly 185 addons.
>
> Frys had a sale so I picked up a 26 inch widescreen panel over the weekend
> with the same native resolution. It's quite interesting to play and have
> peripheral vision! My quad core mac pro doesn't seem to break much of a
> sweat CPU wise running it, though the ram temperature did go up a bit.
>
> It seems to me when I was running WoW on my PC, that the CPUs got much more
> of a workout. But it might be because the mac has twice the ram and
> doesn't have to swap memory around much. *
> --
> * PV something like badgers--something like lizards--and something
> like corkscrews.

Through my own frustration with my old XP desktop, as well as my
wife's frustration with it, my own reluctance to properly fix the damn
thing, its age, and a good deal on a new desktop my wife saw at Best
Buy, we replaced the desktop this weekend. This, sadly, also meant
switching to Vista. But it was some package deal with a wide screen
(I forget the size) monitor and a new printer, which my old printer
was being weird anyway.

After fighting with the damn thing for a few hours only to realize a
pre-installed version of Norton Internet Security had a firewall set
up that was preventing this new desktop from sharing files with either
my old desktop or my wife's laptop (and thus feeling pretty damn
stupid because that should have been one of the first things I
checked), I copied my entire WoW installation from my old desktop to
my new desktop. Took about an hour or so to do.

This morning, just for laughs, I tried to load up WoW, so I could go
to work today pissed off that I would have to come home and actually
do a fresh installation. To my shock and horror, it started up fine
the first time, and after adjusting the resolution to match my new
monitor, the game looked great.

Given my horrible experience getting WoW to run on my wife's laptop
(which also has a wide screen monitor) and the abysmal 12 fps I get on
it with the graphics settings turned all the way down, I was prepared
for a real fight with this new PC. Now, I feel like I have been
cheated, that Microsoft has anticipated my displeasure and gotten, at
this my version of Vista working properly such that I could just load
my game and go, thus denying me an anti-Vista rant.

I didn't check the performance of the game, it was early, and my main
goal was getting ready for work, so after logging in and seeing that
in fact it works, I logged out. I have no idea what my fps was on
that machine, but if it can at least match the 28 fps I typically got
on my XP machine, I will be pleased.
 >> Stay informed about: WoW, BSODs and drivers.. 

On Mon, 05 May 2008 10:06:45 -0500, pv+usenet@pobox.com (PV) wrote:

>Urbin <urbin.RemoveThis@invalid.invalid> writes:
>>This is with 1920x1200 resolution with full details and roughly 185 addons.
>
>Frys had a sale so I picked up a 26 inch widescreen panel over the weekend
>with the same native resolution. It's quite interesting to play and have
>peripheral vision! My quad core mac pro doesn't seem to break much of a
>sweat CPU wise running it, though the ram temperature did go up a bit.
>
>It seems to me when I was running WoW on my PC, that the CPUs got much more
>of a workout. But it might be because the mac has twice the ram and
>doesn't have to swap memory around much. *

With all this talk about WoW performance, I'm surprised no one has
mentioned this yet:

(from a link originally posted in World of Raids' forums)

http://blog.danielgovier.com/?page_id=362

Since I was already at max settings anyway, the only difference this
really made for me was the massive amount of more vegetation and more
realistic clouds. I also really enjoy the lighting attained from

/console characterAmbient

but remember this particular setting must be rerun whenever you start
a new WoW session (carries over from character to character though).
I just rerun the whole macro everytime I start WoW.

Downside is a framerate hit of about 10 or so (not a cutting edge
machine here) and it's a little harder to find your kills for looting
in the weeds.

----
Gnuthulhu, Undead Warlock
Fthagn, Undead Warrior
Rhyleya, Troll Hunter
Wydefoote, Tauren Shaman
Curwen, Blood Knight
Thunderhorn,US
 >> Stay informed about: WoW, BSODs and drivers.. 

On May 2, 8:40 am, Catriona R <catrionarNOS... RemoveThis @totalise.co.uk> wrote:
> On Thu, 01 May 2008 19:18:41 -0600, chocolatemalt
>
> <myothern... RemoveThis @dim.com.removethis> wrote:
> >Also be open to the idea of coincidence -- a virus may be the culprit
> >but the monitor is blamed. Anything is possible... it's Windows.
>
> Hehe Yeah, I'm half wondering about virusy stuff, as the slight pauses
> in my music actually appear to be a slight pause in the computer as a
> whole, as though it's too busy with something else. Never had that before,
> and while it's old, it's not so old that it should be doing that when all
> I'm doing is browsing websites etc and listening to music. Nothing came up
> on my usual antivirus and antispyware scans, will have a look at some
> different ones to doublecheck.
> --
> EU-Draenor:
> Balgair - Human Rogue (lvl 70)
> Naomh - Draenei Priest (lvl 70)
> Sagart - Undead Priest (lvl 70)
> Rosad - Human Warlock (lvl 70)
> Sealgair - Dwarf Hunter (lvl 70)
> Eilnich - Blood Elf Warlock (lvl 70)
> Beag - Dwarf Paladin (lvl 60)


Try disabling your recount addon. Had a similar problem. Disabling
worked for me and a guildie. It got rid of the pauses that occurred
especially when mobs or pcs die.
 >> Stay informed about: WoW, BSODs and drivers.. 

On May 6, 3:22 am, Alphawolf <gnuthu....DeleteThis@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mon, 05 May 2008 10:06:45 -0500, pv+use...@pobox.com (PV) wrote:
> >Urbin <ur....DeleteThis@invalid.invalid> writes:
> >>This is with 1920x1200 resolution with full details and roughly 185 addons.
>
> >Frys had a sale so I picked up a 26 inch widescreen panel over the weekend
> >with the same native resolution. It's quite interesting to play and have
> >peripheral vision! My quad core mac pro doesn't seem to break much of a
> >sweat CPU wise running it, though the ram temperature did go up a bit.
>
> >It seems to me when I was running WoW on my PC, that the CPUs got much more
> >of a workout. But it might be because the mac has twice the ram and
> >doesn't have to swap memory around much. *
>
> With all this talk about WoW performance, I'm surprised no one has
> mentioned this yet:
>
> (from a link originally posted in World of Raids' forums)
>
> http://blog.danielgovier.com/?page_id=362
>
> Since I was already at max settings anyway, the only difference this
> really made for me was the massive amount of more vegetation and more
> realistic clouds.  I also really enjoy the lighting attained from
>
> /console characterAmbient
>
> but remember this particular setting must be rerun whenever you start
> a new WoW session (carries over from character to character though).
> I just rerun the whole macro everytime I start WoW.
>
> Downside is a framerate hit of about 10 or so (not a cutting edge
> machine here) and it's a little harder to find your kills for looting
> in the weeds.  

Oh, nice link!

The guy also has min- and a max- macro so you can switch between the
settings easily (and thus find your kills, etc.)
 >> Stay informed about: WoW, BSODs and drivers.. 

In article <slrng1rfr8.71s.urbin.TakeThisOut@stinky.trash.net>,
urbin.TakeThisOut@invalid.invalid says...
> On Sat, 03 May 2008 10:02:56 +0200, Urs Steiner wrote:
> > chocolatemalt wrote:
> >
> > > I've got an E6750 dual-core now that runs about 40% idle with WoW, which
> > > has a load of addons including Recount and Titan Panel (cpu hogs).
> >
> > this sounds like WOW isn't actually using both cores. I remember having
> > read discussions about dual core systems with a blue poster saying that
> > is should work the same way - i.e take all of the CPUs if it can. But
> > sometimes WOW doesn't detect the CPU correctly and so may only use one
> > at a time.
>
> I'm running a dual core system with 3GB RAM and my G15 (logitech keyboard
> with lcd display) displays one CPU at roughly 5% and the other at roughly
> 30-40% load while playing WoW.

I've often thought about picking up a G15, any chance you can let me
know how well it works with WoW and what it shows. Is it easy to setup?

T.
 >> Stay informed about: WoW, BSODs and drivers.. 

On Tue, 6 May 2008 11:23:52 +0100, Trooper wrote:
> In article <slrng1rfr8.71s.urbin.TakeThisOut@stinky.trash.net>,
> urbin.TakeThisOut@invalid.invalid says...
> > On Sat, 03 May 2008 10:02:56 +0200, Urs Steiner wrote:
> > > chocolatemalt wrote:
> > >
> > > > I've got an E6750 dual-core now that runs about 40% idle with WoW, which
> > > > has a load of addons including Recount and Titan Panel (cpu hogs).
> > >
> > > this sounds like WOW isn't actually using both cores. I remember having
> > > read discussions about dual core systems with a blue poster saying that
> > > is should work the same way - i.e take all of the CPUs if it can. But
> > > sometimes WOW doesn't detect the CPU correctly and so may only use one
> > > at a time.
> >
> > I'm running a dual core system with 3GB RAM and my G15 (logitech keyboard
> > with lcd display) displays one CPU at roughly 5% and the other at roughly
> > 30-40% load while playing WoW.
>
> I've often thought about picking up a G15, any chance you can let me
> know how well it works with WoW and what it shows. Is it easy to setup?

Well, first of all, it's a high quality keyboard even when you're not
playing WoW but need it for "real" typing

Secondly, WoW has built in support for its display, so you get to see your
character's stats on the LCD display of the G15, you get shown who whispers
you (really neat while you're on the desktop looking up something on thott
or the like). I believe it also has some BG information showing but as I
don't PvP I wouldn't really know. Out of this, I only really need the
"whisper list" as I don't care much about my stats while I play...

Third, there are plugins for the G15 display and I have one for Teamspeak.
This is what I like best about the G15. It shows what channel you are in,
how many people are in the channel, when someones joines/leaves the server
and/or channel. And most important, it shows you who is currently speaking
which for me is worth the cost of the keyboard alone!

In addition, there are 18 function keys that you can either record a macro
for (I had my "attack opening" sequence on it for my shadow priest for a
while (it does pausing, too) but stopped using it because (a) it was getting
boring and (b) I'm not sure if such a thing could be discovered by Blizz
(always the exact same timing on spells) and whether it would be considered
botting).
However, you can also assign special key combinations (say Ctrl-Alt-Shift-7)
to these keys and then use these combinations as key bindings in wow, which
gives you another 18 easy keybindings. I have quite a few things mapped to
these keys.

Setting it up is trivial (install driver, connect it; install LCD tool if
you want the TS plugin to work, install TS plugin). Configuring it for wow
is just as trivial: Create a new profile, attach it to wow.exe, so it
auto-switches profiles when you start wow, define or record your keystrokes.
All done.

I can heartily recommend that keyboard, be it for WoW or anything else.

Cheers
Urbin

--
Dun Morogh-EU (PvE)
Urbin (70), Dwarven Hunter | Surana (24), Draenei Mage
Mymule (70), Gnomish Warlock | Juran (33), Nightelven Druid
Sunh (70), Nightelven Priest | Gera (26), Human Paladin
 >> Stay informed about: WoW, BSODs and drivers.. 

In article <slrng20ftr.8im.urbin RemoveThis @stinky.trash.net>,
urbin RemoveThis @invalid.invalid says...

<snip interesting stuff>

> I can heartily recommend that keyboard, be it for WoW or anything else.
>

Thanks, i'll have a look for one. I don't use teamspeak but the extra
buttons will certainly come in handy, and i'm a sucker for stats

T.
 >> Stay informed about: WoW, BSODs and drivers.. 

On Tue, 6 May 2008 08:20:22 -0700 (PDT), juwagne <juwagne DeleteThis @gmail.com> wrote:

>Try disabling your recount addon. Had a similar problem. Disabling
>worked for me and a guildie. It got rid of the pauses that occurred
>especially when mobs or pcs die.

Disabled that about 6 months ago because my system can't handle it...
haven't even got it installed now. In any case it's not pauses in WoW, it's
pauses doing normal stuff on the computer... :-/
--
EU-Draenor:
Balgair - Human Rogue (lvl 70)
Naomh - Draenei Priest (lvl 70)
Sagart - Undead Priest (lvl 70)
Rosad - Human Warlock (lvl 70)
Sealgair - Dwarf Hunter (lvl 70)
Eilnich - Blood Elf Warlock (lvl 70)
Beag - Dwarf Paladin (lvl 60)
 >> Stay informed about: WoW, BSODs and drivers..