WoW low FPS, yeah I searched and tried some things
 

Xubuntu 9.10 64bit
Nvidia 8400 GS
RAM 4GB
AMD64 x2
Wine 1.1.38
World of Warcraft WotLK
glxinfo | grep rendering = yes
Compiz/Emerald is NOT installed. Just the XFCE4 desktop.

First I tried this,

https://help.ubuntu.com/community/WorldofWarcraft

including adding the regedit entry.

Then I updated the Nvidia drivers from 190 to 195.

In Windows 7 I was getting a frame rate of 25-35 in Dalaran (For those not familiar with WoW this is a graphic intense area.)

Now with Xubuntu, before the changes, I was getting 14-19 FPS in Dalaran.

After the changes 14-19 FPS in Dalaran.

This of course was with all the graphics turned to the lowest setting, etc.

Now here is the strange part. With all of them turned to max, except the shadow setting, I am getting 10-15 in Dalaran.

That is not much of a difference. It should be huge but it is not. So I am lost on what to try next. I immediately tried it in Windows 7, with moderate settings not turned to the lowest like in Xubuntu, to make sure it wasn't the actual card and as I said above I was getting 25-35.

Also in Stormwind and other cities I was getting about the same fps as Dalaran in Xubuntu.

Try some of these options:

UseGLSL=disabled
VideoMemorySize=256
DirectDrawRenderer=opengl
OffscreenRenderingMode=backbuffer / pbuffer / fbo (one of these)
RenderTargetLockMode=auto

http://wiki.winehq.org/UsefulRegistryKeys

Also read through the comments and results here:
http://appdb.winehq.org/objectManage...sion&iId=18555

I applied a few changes and saw an increase of a few fps. Still too low. I am now going through the information you gave me to see what else I can do.

I will post more when I try a few more things.

Thank You.

Ok. I did parts of the above wrong, I was distracted as I was doing it, fixed now. I also checked the game fps in depth more. It seemed to jump up to 25 out of nowhere briefly and I had thought it was better. But after trying it again, with the changes above to the registry, I saw no improvement. It went back to what it was before.

I am still looking through the rest of this information to see what I can find out or do.


Edit: I was wondering. I really don't want to have to boot back and fourth into Windows just to play this game. However I was wondering if I installed XP and linked Wine to WoW on XP if that would help at all? I have never tried that before so I have no idea how that works.

Well, if those options don't boost the FPS any, then that may be the most FPS you can get out of it through wine. You can check the other options and try to mess with them, but I wouldn't expect a miracle. If you look at the FPS other people are getting it isn't that high, so maybe when they improve wine it will get better, and until then you may just need to run it in XP.

Yeah. I have been starting to think along those lines as well but I have been in denial, lol.

I was really hoping to find a way. The current set up should work for most solo quests but I have very strong doubts that it will work with raids, bg's, etc. Even with all settings turned to the lowest.

I am using Windows 7 RC which was suppose to expire in June, but it is now telling me that it is expiring in 12 days. Who would have thought Microsoft would lie about that ;-) But at least the security updates for XP will go on until 2014, unless they change that or have changed that since I last checked.

Thanks for the tips, links and help.


Edit: I just Had a brief moment of insanity when I considered re-installing Vista for WoW. It has passed and I have returned to sanity, more or less, lol.

Yeah, in the comments on appdb, they suggest that this is the case, the FPS goes down significantly with more people involved ... so for now solo is the only usable mode for most people under wine.

Wile this is an old post Ill reply to it anyways.

AMD this is a known issue with the x64 os and wine.

The best way to put it is wine is under tremendous stress in the x64 system. You are talking about running a 32 bit game (WOW) on a 64 bit Operating system, and having a translator sit there in between the 2 trying to do it all. That is why your FPS is so low.

Your best bet is to move down to the 32 bit.. OR just use Windows(Shutters) to play.

GL

Thank you for the reply. I decided to use it in windows. You are the only person who was able to give me an answer to the problem. I see why I never had issues like this with my older computer, 32 bit, but I do with my 64 bit computer.

Thanks again.

What issue?

The real problem is the graphics card. A 8400GS just doesn't hack it.
I had one. Still do. I'm looking at it on my shelf as we speak. I was getting even worse FPS than the OP.
I switched to a 9600GSO, and the FPS jumped. 10-20% FASTER than Win7.
CPU% is 50% lower in wine than Win7. And lag is <100 compared to Win7's 300+

Conclusion? Get a better card. I got mine off of eBay for $25 USD. It's the 768/DDRIII version, too

Check my sig in the ubuntu forums...lol

Your video card Sucks!...

Thats very helpful.

Actually, it's a good card, just apparently too old for WoW.

Also, posting just 'your video card sucks !' is not very nice and not very helpful, try not to do it too often.

To get away from the "rude dude"....

You might be out of luck with your current hardware. It may run (which is better than ALOT of Intel folks), but since the vidcard/chipset is underpowered, your FPS will never be good enough for raids

Seriously, don't even TRY. (I did, and was booted from the raid.) The 8400GS is 'okay' for soloing, maybe some 5-mans, but that's about it. Your FPS will be HORRIBLE in Dalaran, for instance, because of the heavy workload (Too many people)

Best bet is (for MUCH better FPS) a 9600GS/GT and above, but NOT a 210 or 220. (Nvidia). You could try ATi, but there have been TONS of issues with ATi/WoW/wine. It's fairly hit/miss right now.

If you see a vidcard you might be interested in, post it here,and we'll try to let you know. Or PM me through the forum boards. I'd be happy to help.

Thanks all. I do agree that the card is poor for WoW. I remember being able to use a Nvidia 5200. The good old days, lol.

Edit: Also tomorrow I am getting an Nvidia GT 220. The highest card I can use on this computer, even then I am pushing it since I don't have a PCIE x16 2.0 slot. But it will work, just not as good, but better then the 8400 GS, lol

BARELY better than a 8400GS..Fairly the same. Your memory bandwidth is about the same. It might be almost playable/kind of.

Last time I'll post in this thread...

I looked around, and actually HAVE a 8400GS laying on a shelf...

So I popped it in, and my FPS in Dal and such were in the same range as the OP. (No other settings changed from my 9600GSO). When I went to Ironforge, and "ran the circle" on my mount, the FPS was at 35 or so. With my 9600GSO, it's at 80 when nothing else on my system is taxing video at all.

Next, I tried it in Windows 7 64bit Ultimate. My FPS was about 5-10% lower in all those places than in Linux. But the percentage drop from my 9600GSO was about the same.

So I thought..."Why not pop my 9600 back in, and do a comparison between Linux/wine and Win7, and record the results?"

So I did.

And here they are.

I then tried the same thing with my 8400GS, but the video choked.

Basically, you need a better vidcard, OP.

And I've managed to prove that wine/WoW IS faster.

I am curious. What are your computer specs?

Mine?

AMD Athlon 64 X2 5200+
2GB DDRII ram
Nvidia 9600GSO 768MB DDRII

Nothing spectacular. Need to go to a X3 or X4 if I want to get better FPS in raids, etc

This is what I don't get. I did upgrade my card to something a little better. GT220. And I am having the same issues. It is making me wonder if something else is going on. I have an AMD x2 4400+, 4GB RAM. Power supply is a 400 watt. Not too far off from your specs.

In Windows XP I can't get the FPS past 60, even with all the video effects at the very minimum. In Vista with Aero off, I can get an average of 70 FPS with everything on except Shadow and Water effects.

In Wine with everything off it hovers around 20-30 fps with all effects off. In Dalaran it is in the upper teens to low 20's with everything off.

I am completely lost on this. It makes no sense.

Edit: With glxgears I am getting:

With the small default size window -
With the window minimzed -
With the Window Maximized -
These numbers are a little more then doubled with what I was getting with the 8400GS. But I am still getting the same ingame frame rates when using Wine and WoW with the GT220 as I did with the 8400GS.


I can't get a GT240 or higher since my computer does not have a PCIE 2.0, so a GT220 is all I can do with that. But like I said I am thinking it is not the Video Card that is the problem.