#39 Client memory and VRAM grow throughout a play session; FPS degrades until logout to character select (measured on 69893 and 69913)

Status: Open · Area: Graphics & Art · Rendering & Performance

Memory and video memory keep growing during a long session and frame rate drops until you log out to character select.

Current behavior

**Environment** - World of Warcraft Beta x86_64 1.60.1.69893 and 1.60.1.69913 - Windows 10 Pro 10.0.19045, DirectX 12 - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 5060 Ti 8 GB, driver 616.64, 2560x1440 borderless, 200 Hz - AMD Ryzen 7 5700X3D, 64 GB RAM - Graphics preset 4, most sliders at their top values, Render Scale 100% - The client's addon profiler (`C_AddOnProfiler`) read every minute: all addons together 0.00-0.02 ms of a 7-13 ms frame, 0% share, in 67 of 67 samples **Findings from extended sessions (external per-process sampler, one row every 30 s)** Fresh client, leveling through new zones, build 69893: | Client uptime | Committed memory | Handles | Dedicated VRAM | GPU busy | Busiest thread | |---|---|---|---|---|---| | 8 min | 8.1 GB | 1,587 | 4.0 GB | 63% | 87% | | 33 min | 9.3 GB | 1,908 | 5.1 GB | 33% | 96% | | 58 min | 10.2 GB | 2,116 | 5.9 GB | 46% | 95% | | 88 min | 11.3 GB | 2,494 | 6.2 GB | 22% | 96% | - While playing: committed memory +29 MB/min, dedicated VRAM +12 to +15 MB/min, handles +12/min. The climb is smooth; there are no zone-sized steps. - While AFK for one hour: committed memory and VRAM flat; handles still +12/min. - The busiest thread stays at 87-97% for the whole session while GPU load falls from 63% to 22%. Frame rate went from about 110 to about 40 over the session. - Build 69913 (after the 2026-09-18 patch): same rates, 29 MB/min committed and 15 MB/min VRAM while playing. **What resets it (same sessions)** | Action | Committed memory | Dedicated VRAM | Frame rate | |---|---|---|---| | `/console gxRestart` | unchanged | 4.56 GB -> 1.67 GB -> 4.40 GB within 3 s; above the starting level again within 4 min | unchanged | | `/reload` | unchanged | unchanged | unchanged | | Logout to character select, log back in | 11.6 GB -> 9.9 GB | 6.24 GB -> 4.58 GB | recovered; GPU busy 22% -> 52%, busiest thread 95% -> 70% | | Client restart | 7.8 GB | 3.9 GB | recovered | After a relog the client sits about 2 GB above a fresh client's committed memory and the handle count does not drop.

Expected behavior

Memory and VRAM level off once the zones in use are loaded and are released when they are left. Frame rate holds for the length of a session, without logging out to character select to recover it.

How to reproduce

1. Start the client on an 8 GB card at high settings, 1440p.
2. Level or travel through new zones for 60-90 minutes.
3. Watch per-process dedicated VRAM and committed memory climb and the frame rate fall.
4. Log out to character select and back in: memory drops and the frame rate recovers.