a5 fps lag...

Ive been multiboxing for a long time now, never had too many issues running x4 wizards pre-ros with my PC, but now especially in a5 I get a ton of lag, fps drops, I can play but im getting sick of it.

Im thinking Im due for a hardware upgrade, here are my specs (please let me know if anything sticks out like a sore thumb for a upgrade, If I need a new processor, I might consider a entire new rig...) Maybe a SSD would help?

Thanks in advance for the help

Operating System:
Windows 2.6.1.7600
CPU Type:
AMD Phenom(tm) II X6 1100T Processor
CPU Speed:
3.34 GHz
System Memory:
8.59 GB
Video Card Model:
AMD Radeon HD 6900 Series
Video Card Memory:
4.28 GB
Video Card Driver:
aticfx32.dll
Desktop Resolution:
1440x900
Hard Disk Size:
1 TB

[lax]

If you have not yet done so, see HOWTO: Tweak your framerate, Identifying framerate bottlenecks. Use the tool and make the game lag, and the data will tell you what you're maxing out. That would be the most important piece to replace.

As far as SSD and general framerate loss when there's lots of stuff happening on the screen, no it's probably not going to help. The issue is likely either CPU or GPU. An SSD would affect load times only, so the time it takes to launch the game, the time it takes to load up the levels when you go through a portal, etc. During massive fights, the game will pretty much already have things loaded, so it's just about spending the CPU/GPU time to render it.

For what it's worth, I have lag in some places in Act 5 as well. I blame my 3d card (7970) because it generally is sitting close to 100% utilization when the lag happens. I run 3 monitors in eyefinity, though, so YMMV.

If its intermittent, like mine is; something like RivaTuner Statistics Server and MSI Afterburner are useful since they can put a display in the window of various statistics (such as GPU/CPU utilization). Which is how I know my GPU is to blame.

Investigate it before upgrading things.

I have all 4 windows set to 30fps, it drops off to 15-19 fps and gets very choppy but still runs.

Given the fps drops and choppyness, Im leaning towards upgrading my GPU, is there anything else that would bottleneck my FPS and make me choppy like this besides my video card?

If not clearly im ready for a upgrade, appreciate the advice. (this only happens in act 5 area and in town also)

Thanks again,

[MiRai]

I have all 4 windows set to 30fps, it drops off to 15-19 fps and gets very choppy but still runs.

Given the fps drops and choppyness, Im leaning towards upgrading my GPU, is there anything else that would bottleneck my FPS and make me choppy like this besides my video card?

If not clearly im ready for a upgrade, appreciate the advice. (this only happens in act 5 area and in town also)

Thanks again,

You will need to monitor your hardware in order to see what is the bottleneck:
http://isboxer.com/wiki/HOWTO:Tweak_you ... ottlenecks