FPS issues

[wussyman]

Hello, my name is John and im still fairly new to the whole PC upgrades thing. I wasnt sure were to put this post but since my problem is FPS i decided to post here. Anyway, my problem was that after upgrading my GPU from a geforce 8600 GT video card to a 9800 GTX+ Overclocked i see very little diffirential in FPS when i play WoW. In the new major cities i run about 15-20fps like dalaran and same goes for raids. When im out in the open i hover around 40-45fps. My question is that why does my performance go south when i run my video settings on default in those situations?

Specs:

Pentium Dual Core 2.2ghz
BFG 9800 GTX+ OC
4gb Corsair gaming ram 800MHz
500gb Seagate HD


My PC is from HP. I added the GPU, ram and a new powersupply to compansate for the new video card. 600W PSU.

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/product?product=3686671&lc=en&cc=us&dlc=en&lang=en&tmp_track_link=ot_we/prodlink/en_us/3686671/loc:0&cc=us#

i couldnt find the specs for it but this is generaly what my PC looks like. Also i apologize if i sound like a complete noob asking these questions.

 

[wussyman]

ok i managed to find the specs for my PC

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c01390590&tmp_track_link=ot_faqs/top_issues/en_us/c01390590/loc:4&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&lang=en&product=3686671

 

[David1054]

What PSU is it??
Because their are some PSU's that might say 600 watts but could give low AMps

 

[mactronix]

When you had the 8600 in, did you play anything else or run any benchmarks like 3dm 05/06 ?
If so i would test the 9800 against those same games/tests.
I dont play games like WoW myself but i would suspect from what you say that its down to how much is on screen that is dictating your FPS as you say its slower in town/raids than it is in the open.

The reason is that when there are a lot of people/units on screen they all have to be plotted such as is the case in raids, when you are in town there are lots of walls/people etc which all also need plotting, by plotting i mean the PC has to work out where each is in relation to the others and keep track of it and then keep it updated as you move.
Most of this is done by the CPU, so upgrading the GPU really wouldn't give the increase you would expect in these types of games. I have played and seen similar with Oblivion which while a vastly different game in terms of graphics power required still has the same issues with FPS depending on if you are inside or in a town or on the open road.

Mactronix

 

[wussyman]

I see... so can the processor be changed? Thnx for all the responses btw fellas. I really appreciate all the help.

 

[mactronix]

Personally i dont 100% agree with the other two but overclocking the CPU is easy enough and will give improvements to your gaming. Try that first, then if you really need to you can spend out on a better CPU. It should be easy enough, check which ones the Motherboard supports and go from there depending on budget.
By the way what screen size and res do you play at ?

Mactronix