World of Warcraft capped at 50 FPS — troubleshooting and seeking help

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1

World of Warcraft refuses to display above 50 frames per second on my PC. I want to find out why, share what I already tried, and ask the community for ideas or fixes.

Since a recent period of play the game will not go above 50 FPS even in scenes that used to run at 100+ FPS. The frame rate seems capped as if a limiter is active, but I cannot find any setting or driver feature that enforces 50 FPS. The issue happens in both windowed and fullscreen modes and affects all characters, zones, and graphics presets.

System specifications

  • OS: Windows 11 (latest public updates applied)

  • CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 9700X 8-Core Processor (3.80 GHz)

  • GPU: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080

  • RAM: 64,0 Go DDR4

  • Display: 100 Hz monitor, connected via DisplayPort

  • Driver version: NVIDIA driver 581.57

  • WoW client: Retail (latest patch), running from Battle.net launcher

  • In-game settings: Resolution native; VSync off in WoW; Frame Rate Cap set to “Uncapped”

What I have already checked and tried

  • In-game frame limiter: Verified Frame Rate Cap set to Uncapped and VSync disabled in the game UI.

  • Windows settings: Confirmed Windows Game Mode is on/off (try both), and Graphics Settings per-app preset set to High Performance.

  • NVIDIA/AMD control panel: Ensured V-Sync is set to application-controlled and no FPS cap is configured in the driver control panel.

  • Display refresh and cable: Confirmed Windows reports 100 Hz

  • Game files and launcher: Scanned and repaired WoW via Battle.net scan and made sure the launcher is up to date.

  • Background apps: Closed overlay apps (GeForce Experience overlay, Discord overlay, Steam overlay), streaming/recording software, and any FPS counters.

  • Power plan: Switched to High Performance power plan and verified GPU/CPU power settings in driver software.

  • Windows graphics drivers: Performed clean driver reinstall using DDU and installed the latest stable driver.

  • Fullscreen optimizations: Disabled Windows fullscreen optimizations for WoW executable.

  • Multiple monitors: Tested with secondary monitors disconnected.

  • Refresh rate tests: Ran an independent GPU benchmark and a different game to confirm system can exceed 50 FPS outside of WoW.

Questions for the community

  1. Has anyone seen WoW lock to a mid-range FPS like 50 and resolved it? What was the cause?

  2. Are there known interactions between Battle.net client settings, Windows updates, or GPU drivers that can impose a 50 FPS cap?

  3. Could display/EDID or monitor firmware cause the game to choose a 50 Hz/50 FPS mode even when Windows reports 100 Hz? How can I force WoW to use the display’s native refresh properly?

  4. Any advanced registry or config file entries in the WoW folder that can override framerate behavior?

  5. Suggestions for additional diagnostics or tools (safe to run) that reveal hidden FPS limits or driver-enforced caps?

What I would like from responders

  • Specific, reproducible steps to test and fix the cap.

  • If you solved the same issue, a short list of actions you took and which one actually fixed the problem.

Thanks in advance for any help or pointers. If you need exact driver versions, Windows build, or logs, tell me what info you want and I will attach it in a follow-up post.

2

If u unchecked the ingame Max foreground setting, there is an other thing u need to check.

windows - settings- display - special display settings → check what fps cap on your monitor.

An other chance of sulotion:

  1. Open the _retail_ > WTF > Config.wtf file in Notepad (or text editor of choice)

  2. Delete the SET SkyCloudLOD line completely

3

Ok on the icon tray right click on nvidia settings and click on the n-vidia control panel..
Display -
Change resolution

PC

And check if your using your monitors max hz (ignore the ultra HD, HD, SD)
If thats not the case.
If you scroll back up and click on manage 3d settings (if the options below doesnt work and you havnt set up a custom setting you can press the green Nvidia icon under the box and it will restore to defults)
Look for Max Frame Rate and check to see if thats enabled.. If not enabled..
Scroll down and at the bottom and check for Vertical Sync - It should be on let the 3d setting decide..

Then try

And hopefully this will work.. Also make sure your drivers are up to date and usualy a driver update will sometimes reset the Manage 3D settings so you will have to check all time or from time to time..

AH hold on a second just read this part..

Sorry about all of this..
I tired and just been messing about with my PC and barely slept..
Right.
There has been issues with the new Nvidia driver recently posted on the forums, apparently people are having performance issues and just plain issues in general.
When I had my 4080s (got a 5080oc now) I noticed that when I was in the Oasis, I use to hit my FPS cap and then when the patch hit, I noticed that the FPS would bounce all over the place.. For example my FPS cap is 178 -2 from 180 due to my HZ and when the patch hit live I would be getting 70fps and then shoot up for no reason.. I think it might be a patch issue and I was getting Kernal 141 errors before hand, so thats why I got a upgrade.. But I was having major issues with the patch.. I dont think your alone on this.. Gunna test my new hardware, once its downloaded..

4

I don’t have SET SkycloudLOD.

SET plunderstormRealm “0”
SET raidGraphicsProjectedTextures “1”
SET CACHE-WQST-QuestV2RecordCount “64168”
SET graphicsDepthEffects “3”
SET lodObjectCullSize “14”
SET graphicsQuality “9”
SET useMaxFPS “1”
SET KioskLobbyKickSeconds “30”
SET raidGraphicsGroundClutter “5”
SET graphicsProjectedTextures “1”
SET maxFPS “200”
SET horizonStart “4000”
SET raidGraphicsSpellDensity “1”
SET lodObjectFadeScale “150”
SET RAIDgraphicsQuality “5”
SET physicsLevel “2”
SET seenTimerunningFirstLoginPopup “2”
SET raidGraphicsViewDistance “5”
SET projectedTextures “1”
SET vrsValar “2”
SET graphicsGroundClutter “9”
SET farclip “10000”
SET graphicsLiquidDetail “3”
SET doodadLodScale “150”
SET textLocale “enUS”
SET graphicsShadowQuality “5”
SET RenderScale “1”
SET RAIDwmoLodDist “350”
SET shadowSoft “1”
SET RAIDVolumeFog “1”
SET engineSurveyPatch “110205”
SET raidGraphicsParticleDensity “4”
SET videoOptionsVersion “46”
SET raidGraphicsLiquidDetail “2”
SET vsync “0”
SET maxFPSBk “200”
SET showPhotosensitivityWarning “10”
SET GxApi “D3D12”
SET graphicsComputeEffects “4”
SET volumeFogLevel “3”
SET shadowBlendCascades “1”
SET RAIDentityLodDist “8”
SET RAIDgroundEffectDensity “80”
SET RAIDlodObjectFadeScale “90”
SET gxFullscreenResolution “1920x1080”
SET shadowRt “3”
SET RAIDTerrainLodDiv “512”
SET Sound_EnableAllSound “0”
SET currentGameMode “8”
SET hideFastLoginLoadingScreen “0”
SET RAIDhorizonClip “6000”
SET RAIDVolumeFogLevel “1”
SET RAIDsettingsEnabled “1”
SET horizonClip “10000”
SET graphicsViewDistance “9”
SET CACHE-WGOB-GameObjectsHotfixCount “0”
SET KioskCharacterTemplateSet “0”
SET RAIDentityShadowFadeScale “20”
SET RAIDrefraction “2”
SET LowLatencyMode “2”
SET raidGraphicsShadowQuality “3”
SET RAIDprojectedTextures “1”
SET RAIDSSAO “3”
SET RAIDgroundEffectDist “185”
SET CACHE-WQST-QuestObjectiveHotfixCount “0”
SET groundEffectDist “320”
SET raidGraphicsTextureResolution “2”
SET terrainLodDist “650”
SET playIntroMovie “13”
SET CACHE-WQST-QuestObjectiveXEffectRecordCount “29406”
SET seenAlliedRaceUnlocks “@@@@|{@@@@@@@`A”
SET RAIDreflectionMode “0”
SET RAIDparticleDensity “80”
SET portal “EU”
SET raidGraphicsEnvironmentDetail “5”
SET agentUID “wow”
SET RAIDsunShafts “2”
SET waterDetail “3”
SET CACHE-WQST-QuestObjectiveRecordCount “61724”
SET raidGraphicsDepthEffects “3”
SET RAIDlodObjectMinSize “0”
SET sunShafts “2”
SET audioLocale “enUS”
SET SSAO “4”
SET shadowTextureSize “2048”
SET graphicsTextureResolution “2”
SET RAIDfarclip “6000”
SET RAIDWaterDetail “2”
SET raidGraphicsComputeEffects “2”
SET GxAdapter “NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080”
SET shadowNumCascades “4”
SET groundEffectDensity “256”
SET graphicsSpellDensity “2”
SET RAIDhorizonStart “1700”
SET hwDetect “0”
SET graphicsEnvironmentDetail “9”
SET RAIDshadowBlendCascades “1”
SET shadowMode “4”
SET raidGraphicsOutlineMode “1”
SET gameTip “56”
SET refraction “2”
SET RAIDshadowNumCascades “3”
SET OutlineEngineMode “2”
SET RAIDrippleDetail “1”
SET CACHE-WQST-QuestObjectiveXEffectHotfixCount “0”
SET raidGraphicsSSAO “3”
SET ResampleSharpness “0”
SET engineSurvey “8”
SET MSAAQuality “1”
SET CACHE-WGOB-GameObjectsRecordCount “129021”
SET targetFPS “200”
SET graphicsParticleDensity “5”
SET RAIDshadowMode “3”
SET RAIDlodObjectCullSize “19”
SET RAIDweatherDensity “3”
SET CACHE-WQST-QuestV2HotfixCount “0”
SET wmoLodDist “400”
SET RAIDshadowTextureSize “2048”
SET weatherDensity “3”
SET GxMaximize “1”
SET graphicsOutlineMode “2”
SET volumeFog “1”
SET Sound_NumChannels “90”
SET graphicsSSAO “4”
SET lastAddonVersion “110205”
SET RAIDOutlineEngineMode “1”
SET RAIDterrainLodDist “500”
SET KioskCanSessionExpire “1”