Measuring KLH Threat Meter’s impact on system performance

View blog reactions Written on June 15, 2007 by Chris Heald

Script used:

Download it in AddOn form at http://wow.tachyonsix.com/GhettoFPSMonitor.zip

FPSProfiler = CreateFrame("Frame", "FPSProfiler", UIParent)
local runTime = 0
local fpsSum = 0
local fpsTicks = 0
local startTime = 0
local timeToRun = 0
local profilerLock = false

local function print(msg, ...)
    DEFAULT_CHAT_FRAME:AddMessage(string.format("|cffffcc00GhettoFPSProfiler:|r " .. msg, ...))
end

local function report()
    local endTime = GetTime()
    print("Profiling finished!")
    print("Total run time: %s", runTime)
    print("Total run time [GetTime() method]: %s", endTime - startTime)
    print("Total frames: %s", fpsTicks)
    print("Average framerate: %s", fpsSum / fpsTicks)
    profilerLock = false
    FPSProfiler:SetScript("OnUpdate", nil)
end

-- Runtime of doProfiling is O(n)
local function doProfiling()
    runTime = runTime + arg1
    fpsTicks = fpsTicks + 1
    fpsSum = fpsSum + GetFramerate()

    if runTime > timeToRun then
        report()
    end
end

FPSProfiler.Start = function(runFor)
    if profilerLock then
        print("Profiling, can't start another profile.")
        return
    end
    profilerLock = true
    timeToRun = runFor

    runTime = 0
    fpsSum = 0
    fpsTicks = 0

    if _G.klhtm then
        print("Starting profiling, running for %s seconds, KTM is |cff00ff00enabled|r", runFor)
    else
        print("Starting profiling, running for %s seconds, KTM is |cffff0000not enabled|r", runFor)
    end
    startTime = GetTime()
    FPSProfiler:SetScript("OnUpdate", doProfiling)
end

System Specs:

• Athlon X2 3800+ Dual Core, 2.01GHz
• 2.0 GB DDR3200 RAM
• BFGTech NVidia Geforce 7600GT, nv4_disp.dll driver: 6.14.0010.9371 (English)
• Windows XP SP2, build 2600
• AMD Cool ‘n Quiet driver not installed, Cool ‘n Quiet not enabled in the BIOS.

Process list:

• calc.exe
• taskmgr.exe
• wmiprvse.exe
• WoW.exe
• TSVNCache.exe
• Photoshop.exe
• notepad++.exe
• winamp.exe
• firefox.exe
• gain.exe
• avnotify.exe
• wuauclt.exe
• svchost.exe
• wscntfy.exe
• cftmon.exe
• jusched.exe
• svnhost.exe
• nvsvc32.exe
• btwdins.exe
• avguard.exe
• sched.exe
• spoolsv.exe
• explorer.exe
• avgnt.exe
• lsass.exe
• services.exe
• winlogon.exe
• csrss.exe
• smss.exe
• alt.exe

WoW Settings:

• Resolution: 1680×1050 (Wide), Windowed Fullscreen, running at 1920×1200 native resolution
• 60hz refresh
• 24 bit color, 24 bit depth 2x multisample
• Terrain distance: 60%
• Environment detail: 50%
• Anisotropic filtering: 0%
• Terrain texture: 100%
• Texture detail: 100%
• Character Shadows: on
• Spell Detail level: 100%
• Weather Intensity: on
• Level of Detail: off
• All shaders checked
• Trilinear filtering: off
• Vertical sync: off
• Triple buffering: off
• Cinematic subtitles: off
• Hardware cursor: on
• Smooth mouse: off
• CPU Profiling: Off

Location: Azure Watch

Addons running:

• GhettoFPSMonitor
• KLHThreatMeter v 19.18 (for test 2)

Testing methodlogy

Game was loaded. A UI reload was invoked, and the UI was given at least 20 seconds to fully load and get all work out of the way and to enter an idle state. The profiler was invoked, and I physically got up from the computer and walked away to ensure that there would be no input that would incur additional overhead processing costs. There was additional rendering cost as players ran past my view, but they occurred in both tests.

This ensured that the tests occurred on a stripped-down, bare-bones, otherwise idle system with as many variables as possible held constant.

15 sec run time:

/script FPSProfiler.Start(15)

No KTM

• Run 1: 42.01
• Run 2: 41.46
• Run 3: 40.90
• Run 4: 40.57

Average: 41.24 FPS

KTM

• Run 1: 40.23
• Run 2: 39.67
• Run 3: 37.68
• Run 4: 37.82

Average: 38.85 FPS

Conclusion: Over a 15 second period, KTM degraded my overall system performance by 5.8%

120 sec run time:

/script FPSProfiler.Start(120)

No KTM

Run 1: 41.47

KTM Run 1: 39.23

Conclusion: Over a 120 second period, KTM degraded my overall system performance by 5.5%

Final notes

10 tests is hardly conclusive (the one test each of the 120 sec cases is particularly incomplete), but I did it on a very short time budget, so more profiling may be done at a later date. I’ve included my entire setup here for anyone to replicate at will, and I am confident that it will produce similar results.

Edit: For grins and giggles, I went ahead and profiled Omen and ThreatLib under the same conditions.

Stock, 3 tests, 15 sec

• 41.759 + 41.55 + 40.91 = 41.40

Omem, 3 tests, 15 sec

• 42.22 + 40.92 + 40.44 = 41.19

Result: System performance while idle was reduced by 0.51% with Omen and ThreatLib versus a stock system, which is likely easily explained by the margin of error resulting from the low number of tests. I took screenshots, but I’m feeling lazy and anyone can replicate the tests as they see fit.

Posted in Gaming, World of Warcraft, AddOns