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Why does my Alienware Aurora underperform?
I have an Alienware Aurora R-2 and its about 4 months old now. It still has all components it shipped with and it performs admirably on most demanding games. However, I am a bit confused as to some thigns. For example, I can play Mass Effect 2 with all graphical setting bumped right up to full with no chugging or framerate drops at all. BUT, when I play a game that uses a much older graphics engine such as WoW, the game sputters to a measly 10-15 fps with everything on ultra. WoW is nowhere near as graphically demanding as Mass Effect 2 yet I cannot play it on any setting other than mid. Whats going on here?
I have the recommended specs for a few games as well as the specs for my own system:
WoW-
CPU
Recommended: Core 2 Duo 2.2 GHz or better
You Have: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU 760 @ 2.80GHz
PASS
RAM
Recommended: 4 GB
You Have: 6.0 GB
PASS
OS
Recommended: Windows XP, Vista or 7
You Have: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition (build 7600), 64-bit
PASS
Video Card
Recommended: Desktop: NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 or better (Notebook: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 200M series or better)
You Have: ATI Radeon HD 5670
PASS
Features: Recommended attributes of your Video Card
Required You Have
Video RAM 512 MB 3.7 GB
Hardware T&L Yes Yes
Pixel Shader version 3.0 5.0
Vertex Shader version 3.0 5.0
Mass Effect 2:
CPU
Recommended: 2.6 GHz Core 2 Duo Intel or equivalent AMD CPU
You Have: Intel(R) Core(TM) i5 CPU 760 @ 2.80GHz
PASS
RAM
Recommended: 2 GB
You Have: 6.0 GB
PASS
OS
Recommended: Windows XP SP3 / Windows Vista SP1 / Windows 7
You Have: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium Edition (build 7600), 64-bit
PASS
Video Card
Recommended: ATI Radeon HD 2900 XT, NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GT, or better
You Have: ATI Radeon HD 5670
PASS
Features: Recommended attributes of your Video Card
Required You Have
Video RAM 512 MB 3.7 GB
Hardware T&L Yes Yes
Pixel Shader version 3.0 5.0
Vertex Shader version 3.0 5.0
As u can see, the specs required for Mass Effect 2 are much greater than WoW, yet I can play Mass Effect no problem on all maxed graphical settings, but my comp sufferd horribly when playing WoW on any setting higher than mid. I dont get it. The same thing applies for Rift, which again is not has hard on the PC as Mass Effect 2 is and I ahve the same problem.
3 Answers
- Anonymous1 decade ago
The HD 5670 is... just 'OKAY'. The fact that Alienware (aka Dell) would ever sell a video card like this just boggles my mind. Even in Crossfire the HD 5670 is only a good. So basically, its nothing spectacular.
Rift, WoW, Mass Effect 2 are by no means graphically intensive and a HD 5670 should be able run them on high. Try updating your Drivers. If Alienware didn't update them you could be running outdated drivers which aren't optimized for newer games.
- Anonymous1 decade ago
Actually, a radeon HD 5670 is much better than an 8800GT in term's of performance/price.
WoW recommend's a GTS 250 yes? Well a GTS 250 is better than an 8800GT i believe. A 5670 is worse than a GTS 250, so if your getting medium setting's on WoW than thats what you should be getting.
- Anonymous1 decade ago
Mass effect 2 runs like butter on my 5550, but I could see it having trouble with WoW with a full on melee/raid type thing. With updated graphics patches, WoW is pretty demanding, you can see GTX 580's only hitting 60fps with it completely maxxed with 8xAA.
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