Sorry for the lack of posts recently. I have been upgrading my pc in an effort to fix the Warhammer Stutter and Framerate issues for good. Below you will find my previous specs and the new specs along with images, benchmarks, overclocking, and raid 0 configuration. Final results will be posted at the end. Enjoy!

Note* This was after exhausting all of my efforts in determining the performance issues I had in ORvR. I tried all of the guides out there and nothing worked until the upgrade…

Previous System:

Mobo: EVGA 780i SLI
CPU: e6700 Core 2 Duo 2.66ghz (Overclocked to 3.45ghz)
GPU: BFG 8800 GTX OC2 Edition
RAM: 4gb of OCZ EL DDR2 PC2-6400 / 800 MHz Platinum Edition / Revision 2
HD: Seagate 7200 rpm 500gb
OCZ PSU 1010W
Koolance Exos 2 Edition.
The CPU-305 Waterblock
The Koolance VID-282 GPU waterblock
X Fi Elite Pro Soundcard

New System:

Mobo: EVGA 780i SLI (Didn’t want to upgrade because this board was very stable)
CPU: Intel Q9650 Quad Core 3.0ghz (Overclocked to 4.1 GHZ)
GPU: EVGA 285 Overclocked to SSC Edition
RAM: G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1100 (Overlocked to 1125mhz)Added Fans: CORSAIR CMXAF1 Fans For Memory Modules
HD: (2) 150 gb WD Raptor HD 10,000 RPM (RAID 0 Config)
OCZ PSU 1010W
Koolance Exos 2 Edition.
The CPU-305 Waterblock
X Fi Elite Pro Soundcard

Major Upgrades Include:

CPU/GPU/Faster RAM/RAID 0 with Dual Raptors/p0.8 Bios Flash for 780i

Overclocking:

CPU:

The Q9650 is a beast. I was able to reach 3.8ghz with default voltages. Each chip is different but this model is known for good oc potential. Also, EVGA 780i board users will need to upgrade to the latest bios from EVGA. Without it I had stability issues and post issues. The Q9650 is now stable at 4.05ghz orthos prime 9 hours (Further testing is needed). 4.1ghz and above is possible up to about 4.3-4.5 but you will need to up the fsb to 1.3v and the cpu to 1.4v which will probably yield close to 21000 in 3dmark. I plan to adjust the settings more but for 24/7 use 4.05ghz is perfect. Plus I can unlink and adjust my ram timings/speed manually.

GPU:

NVIDIA GTX 285
702 MHz GPU
400 MHz RAMDAC
Memory
1024 MB, 512 bit DDR3
2646 MHz

RAM:

This is the first RAM that I have been able to overclock right from the box. This ram is amazing. With it linked/synced to the FSB the ram was underclocked to 900mhz. By Unlinking and sync this ram with the FSB, my 3dmark scores increased by 600 points alone without adjusting anything except the mhz of the modules. Great buy too. DDR2 that overclocks with the 780i like a champ for 70 bucks! Just up the voltage to 1.9v.

3D Mark: 20109

Images:

Warhammer Results:

Bottom-line: Q9650 overclocks like a champ. Very manageable on liquid cooling. I hear people on air even get 4.0 ghz stable. Very little voltage needed up to 3.8-4.0ghz.

Warhammer gameplay has changed dramatically. With my old system I managed an average 35-40 fps and sometimes 22fps in heavy rvr combat like keep sieges etc. This was with all the tweaks, fastest framerate settings and buffthrottle.

Raid 0 has been a huge factor in map load time and changing zones. It also helps relieve the ram somewhat because of the performance increase in r/w times.

Now I get a constant 60 fps (with verticle sync) in all situations. I am still testing kiep sieges and will write an update to this post in a new performance guide later next week.

Before:

8xAA/16x AS @ High Game Settings-Average FPS 20

2xAA/4x AS@ Fastest Framerate-Average FPS 40

After:

8xAA/16x AS @ High Game Settings-Constant 60

Low FPS/Stuttering is not an issue anymore.

More Data to come. I will update this post with additional benchmarking and tips. I will also
include additional screenshots of keepsieges…

If you are like me, the opening trailer of a game gets boring after the seeing it more than three times. This is especially true for WAR. Every time the game launches (retail version), you are forced to watch the opening cinematic. If you would like to disable this annoying intro do the following:

Go to your installation directory (C:\Program Files\Electronic Arts\Warhammer Online – Age of Reckoning) and create a new folder. You can name the folder anything. I called mine “intro”.

Move video.myp and vo_english.myp into the new folder and you are done! Or if you do not want a backup of these files you can simply delete them. The first three parts of the intro cannot be disabled because of copyright but this tip will remove the cinematic. Good luck!

Post a comment if this was helpful!

It seems Mythic will roll out patches and content throughout Spring of 2009. So instead of one launch date we have multiple highlights. Starting in March players can take part in the Bitter Rivals live event. This event focuses on the unveiling of both new careers (Orc Choppa and Dwarf Slayer) which will allow players take part in daily challenges to earn a head start in the two awesome new careers. Below are the schedules for release times:

I am very happy that Mythic is delivering on their content and expansion of the overall game. With some tweaks needed and balancing an ongoing game, Mythic sure has stepped up to the challenge and we expect great things in the future.

A recent post from WHA Forums has indicated the frustration of some players regarding the combat system. But the post’s replies have indicated a vast majority are comfortable with the current system once the gcd is accounted for. Azanul posted:

“I recently found out Mythic programmed in a 300ms spell/ability que, and ever since I realized that I learned to adjust my spell/ability usage AROUND that the combat is perfectly fine now. It makes a massive difference understanding where the "delay" is coming from. When in reality there isn’t a delay per se, but a que.
You’ll appreciate it when you’re in a large RvR area.”

From a personal perspective, the game needs work and this is to be expected. I would save give it 6-9 months for the game to be bug free and polished over. This is not to say the game isn’t playable or fun. I wanted to write this post to express the feelings of some players (including myself) regarding WAR’s current system. The game just feels sluggish at times and this can be attributed to playing button-smashing-mmo’s all of my life. The combat speed is just a little slower. “Thatoneguyfrombefour” has recently uploaded a video demonstrating one of the animation issues that we “button-smashers” are experiencing.

How do you feel about the current state of the combat system? Leave your comments below!