Warcraft Reforged (Classic GFX) FPS Problem

[erfanmola]

Hi, I'm facing Low FPS In Warcraft Reforged Classic GFX, I'm aware that game menu is a chromium and uses on-board GPU, I'm not talking about the menu, I'm talking about the game itself

Here is my specs :
OS: Windows 11 Pro
RAM: 16GB RAM
CPU: i7 11370H
GPU: RTX 3060
Monitor: 3440x1440@144HZ

And I suppose these specs are more than enough for W3 Classic GFX !
I am aware that 3440x1440 is around 2x pixels than 1920x1080

With the hardware I mentioned, I'm getting about 110FPS in Classic GFX (not even 144FPS, my monitor is 144HZ) only 30% of GPU gets utilized in Task Manager
Meanwhile I get around 60-70 FPS in Reforged Mode (100% of GPU gets utilized)
This is really dumb, that In same res and in the same specs, My Reforged is 60FPS but my Classic GFX is not even 144FPS !

I have VSync disabled both in-game, and in Nvidia GFX Control Panel, Also no limit is set
I have also configured in windows settings that Warcraft executable must use Nvidia, not the on-board

My guess is that, in classic GFX my GPU-0 (on-board) gets used for rendering and etc, and my GPU-1 (RTX 3060) is kind of idle, or doing some light workloads, so thats why it is not utilized

Also I need to mention that, I have set FPS limit in W3 Settings to 300 (the max that it offers)

TBH, With this hardware at this res I was expecting about 600FPS, Since my friend gets 400FPS on GTX980

My Laptop is Asus TUF dash f15, there is no BIOS option for Optimus, It is handled by OS

 

[Dr Super Good]

This is really dumb, that In same res and in the same specs, My Reforged is 60FPS but my Classic GFX is not even 144FPS !

Welcome to Direct3D8! Classic graphics likely uses mostly the same code as Warcraft III did back when it ran Direct3D8 style fixed function graphics but now through Direct3D11 compatibility layer. The lack of GPU utilisation is almost certainly due to CPU bottlenecks as the CPU cannot efficiently feed the GPU due to API bottlenecks. Reforged gets around this by issuing more demanding workload to the GPU and likely being optimised around Direct3D11.

Make sure the CPU is boosting to 4.80 GHz. If it is not then this adds some credibility to my theory.

Under specific application power settings you can set which GPU an application uses. At least you could back in Windows 10... Make sure WC3 is set to the discrete GPU but by the sounds of it having 30% usage (as opposed to 0%) it must be getting used.

The GPU is not very powerful with respect to your resolution. It is possible that the GPU is running into fill rate limits with the cores being idle waiting for video memory. Try running it at 1080p if that makes a difference in performance.

Be aware that a mobile RTX 3060 is not a desktop RTX 3060 and can perform significantly worse than one depending on the power limit set by the OEM. All mobile GPUs are effectively cut down desktop GPUs due to restrictive power limits. Desktop RTX 3060 uses 170W while laptop uses anywhere between 60W and 115W.

 

[erfanmola]

Welcome to Direct3D8! Classic graphics likely uses mostly the same code as Warcraft III did back when it ran Direct3D8 style fixed function graphics but now through Direct3D11 compatibility layer. The lack of GPU utilisation is almost certainly due to CPU bottlenecks as the CPU cannot efficiently feed the GPU due to API bottlenecks. Reforged gets around this by issuing more demanding workload to the GPU and likely being optimised around Direct3D11.

Make sure the CPU is boosting to 4.80 GHz. If it is not then this adds some credibility to my theory.

Under specific application power settings you can set which GPU an application uses. At least you could back in Windows 10... Make sure WC3 is set to the discrete GPU but by the sounds of it having 30% usage (as opposed to 0%) it must be getting used.

The GPU is not very powerful with respect to your resolution. It is possible that the GPU is running into fill rate limits with the cores being idle waiting for video memory. Try running it at 1080p if that makes a difference in performance.

Be aware that a mobile RTX 3060 is not a desktop RTX 3060 and can perform significantly worse than one depending on the power limit set by the OEM. All mobile GPUs are effectively cut down desktop GPUs due to restrictive power limits. Desktop RTX 3060 uses 170W while laptop uses anywhere between 60W and 115W.

Thanks for Response,
I suppose CPU is the bottleneck here for the API, because CPU is almost 100% everytime I run reforged, Whether on Classic or Reforged
My suspect is that the Reforged is damned using the on-board GPU and not the Nvidia, I have also set in windows GPU settings to Warcraft use the Nvidia, but it is just ignoring it, and uses the GPU-0
I also have terrible FPS (10fps or so) in the Reforged Menu ! and can't find a way to force it use Nvidia GPU too ...
This is just really sad that I can get 45FPS of God Of War PC with Ultra settings at this resoloution, but just can't get 144FPS on 20 years old graphics game

I also have tested with lower resoloutions, Both Classic and Reforgfed in 1920x1080 are capped at 144HZ, ensuring that VSync is disabled in Warcraft settings, Intel Video Settings, Nvidia Settings ..., it just caps the FPS

Can you suggest anyway to fix this bottleneck of FPS ? I'm aware of difference between Laptop and Desktop GPU's, but the thing is : why the hell should I not even get 144FPS on a decent 2021 hardware

Also can you suggest a workaround for Menu FPS Lag ? (other than disabling the intel video driver !)

 

[Dr Super Good]

My suspect is that the Reforged is damned using the on-board GPU and not the Nvidia, I have also set in windows GPU settings to Warcraft use the Nvidia, but it is just ignoring it, and uses the GPU-0

Task manager or a third party application like hardware info can be used to inspect loading of the individual GPUs. Logically the GPU being used will see high usage while the one not being used should see very little usage.

That said I do remember a lot of complaints about performance with hybrid GPU systems. I still recommend trying the power settings trick if supported by Windows 11 as some people said it helped with performance, at least for the menus.

 

[erfanmola]

Task manager or a third party application like hardware info can be used to inspect loading of the individual GPUs. Logically the GPU being used will see high usage while the one not being used should see very little usage.

That said I do remember a lot of complaints about performance with hybrid GPU systems. I still recommend trying the power settings trick if supported by Windows 11 as some people said it helped with performance, at least for the menus.

Hi, I have attached GPU Utilisation In both HD and SD GFX

In HD GFX : GPU-1 3D is getting used (Nvidia Graphics)
In SD GFX : GPU-0 3D is getting used (CPU On-Board Graphics)
In Menu : GPU-0 3D and GPU-1 Copy, are getting used, I suppse the terrible menu FPS I'm getting is due to this, The menu 3D is getting rendered by on-Board

Now what I'm asking is, how the hell can I force to only use GPU-1 ?
I also was not able to figure out your sayings about power plans, But my power saving is on Turbo, plugged in and not on battery

 

[Dr Super Good]

In windows 10 if you go to display -> graphic settings you can choose an application to control which GPU it uses. Navigate to the install path for WC3 such as C:\Program Files\Warcraft III\retail\x86_64 and add the main executable. After adding the executable in the window under options for the Warcraft III entry choose High performance. Power saving should show your integrated GPU while High performance should show your discrete GPU. Save the setting. Start WC3 and hopefully it will work.

Some people swear this worked for them, while others say it does not. I am not sure if this is relevant for Windows 11 as I have not yet updated. I also cannot verify this personally as my desktop only has discrete graphics so cannot not suffer from the incorrect selection bug.

If this does not work try adding other executables to the list and apply this setting to them such as the launcher a few folders up. In case it is inheriting the setting from another executable.

 

[erfanmola]

Updating the Intel and Nvidia Drivers to the Latest version fixed the problem
Thanks for your Help

 

[erfanmola]

Same problem started showing after 1.33 patch, any ideas on how to fix ?

 

[Ravager16829]

Same problem started showing after 1.33 patch, any ideas on how to fix ?

There are some reports that 1.33 can ruin the game itself because it uses the higher RAM consumption (16 GB, I think). If you have insufficient amount of memory, VRAM, and even CPU, the game will automatically crashes after prolong use. This also applies when you played the game in HD mode.

 

[Dr Super Good]

There are some reports that 1.33 can ruin the game itself because it uses the higher RAM consumption (16 GB, I think). If you have insufficient amount of memory, VRAM, and even CPU, the game will automatically crashes after prolong use. This also applies when you played the game in HD mode.

HD mode would be more likely to have such an issue due to the assets being considerably larger. If a custom map were to use every single asset at the same time that would translate to more VRAM than most consumer grade cards contain, even higher end ones.

 

[erfanmola]

There are some reports that 1.33 can ruin the game itself because it uses the higher RAM consumption (16 GB, I think). If you have insufficient amount of memory, VRAM, and even CPU, the game will automatically crashes after prolong use. This also applies when you played the game in HD mode.

I'm using SD mode, Not HD Mode