DreamCarr
Winter Sucks.
Premium
join:2001-04-16
6D 6F 6F 00
1 edit | Computer Specs for an enjoyable WoW experience
There has been alot of threads on this, so I thought I'd make a thread with a quick-and-dirty Run down of what will play WoW decently.
Please note these are not high-end specs, and may need to be tweaked for your personal preference, but it will allow for a very enjoyable experience at a good level of graphical quality/framerate
CPU:
Intel: Core 2 Duo at 2Ghz or better
AMD: Athlon x2 at 2Ghz or better
RAM: 2+ GB of the fastest RAM your Mobo will support. You can play with 1GB, but Shattrath will hate you.
Video Card: Heres where it gets a little sticky. For larger monitors, you will need a better video card. I'm basing my guideline on a 19" CRT (1600x1200) or 19" (1440x900) LCD Monitor.
AMD: Radeon 3850 or better, Minimum 256mb Video Memory
Nvidia: 9600GT or Better, Minimum 256mb Video Memory
If you're Running a 20+" display, look at bumping up the video cards to possibly the 3870 x2 or 8800/9800gtx for the best results.
Hard drive: almost any SATAII, 7200 rpm drive will do. you could go crazy and get RAID 0, or Raptors, but when I went from a single sata I 7200 rpm drive to a RAID 0, SATAII, NCQ 7200 rpm setup, I only Noticed about 3 seconds shaved off of the load times. (Yes I Defragged!)
The above specs should allow you to run the game at 1440x900 or 1600x1200 with everything on max, 16xAF, and at least 4x AA with no problems, pulling 25-40FPS in shatt, and often 60-140fps in the 'wild'
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never apoligize for being who you are, and never respect anyone that says you should. |
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Dissembled
join:2008-01-23
Indianapolis, IN
1 edit | I have:
KN8Ultra motherboard
AMD 3700+ Socket939e
2GB of the CHEAPEST generic 3200 RAM
7800GT
400W Antec TP
This is significantly less horsepower and money to build and it plays WoW plenty, plenty "decent" enough. I play on a 22" widescreen with 1680x1050 rez and all texture/detail and draw distance sliders at max. Shat does not "hate" me. I play arenas with no problem and get more than enough fps for an enjoyable experience.
The point of my reply is not to argue with you. What you have spec'd out will certainly play WoW just fine. But, if someone wants to get out with the least amount of money invested to get a rig up and playing WoW well, they don't need everything you've suggested.
Edit: You mentioned load times as well. I do think my load times are a bit longer than some buddies who have nicer rigs, but it's not a game breaking difference. |
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DreamCarr
Winter Sucks.
Premium
join:2001-04-16
6D 6F 6F 00
| I agree that what I specc'ed out is a little bit overkill, but it's only meant as a baseline to judge what a system will be capable of doing with WoW. I've purposely gone conservative on the resolution and memory requirements so that it covers the broadest range of configurations as possible. Whether you have a high-end system that matches those specs (fast ram, fast HDD, bigger monitor,oc'd video card with more memory) or a low end (slow/less ram, slower hdd, minimal video card) it should perform relatively the same, in terms of the resolutions/graphics qualities I've specified.
And in terms of cost, if you look at it, a 2Ghz Athlon x2 is only a 4000+ iirc (my 4200+ is 2.2ghz), and those can be had for dirt cheap. Depending on your retailer and sales, this entire build could be done for ~$500 I'm guessing. (Haven't actually priced it out, just going from memory on prices I've seen recently) |
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chaud
Serious Business
join:2004-07-09
Anderson, SC
 ·Charter VOIP
·Packet8
| reply to DreamCarr
I have my AMD x2 3600 @ 2.6ghz
2gb DDR2 @ good timings and slightly OCed speed.
a 6600 nonGT  @1680x1050
7200 rpm drive, different physical drive than the OS
I get 30-60 FPS depending on where I am with everything but terrain distance on lowest possible. That I leave halfway up.
The performance is just bad, and I think it may have something to do with not reinstalling windows when I made the jump to DDR2/Dual core. Hopefully when I find time to reformat the performance will improve. |
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Dissembled
join:2008-01-23
Indianapolis, IN
| said by chaud  :The performance is just bad, and I think it may have something to do with not reinstalling windows when I made the jump to DDR2/Dual core. Hopefully when I find time to reformat the performance will improve. Start saving your pennies and go get yourself an 8800GT. I think you'll be amazed. If you don't have PCIe, well....save more pennies. |
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Benty
join:2008-01-30
Durham, NC
1 edit | reply to chaud
I got the same as Chad except a Geforce 7600. I'd say I got about 40-60FPS average also. I have vegation, weather, and shadows off, everything else is high. Certain active modes can kill it though, like Auctioneer, and some map mods if you open them in a BG.
I would say performance feels 'normal' I don't every feel I'm getting slowed down when I'm in normal play, solo through raids. Loading into a capital can be slow though. But once in game it is smooth play.
Shadows kill lower end cards. As can water reflection and the like. I'm use to playing in PvP mode, so I want to be able to see as clearly as I can. |
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Forlin
join:2007-11-21
Anchorage, AK
| reply to DreamCarr
A $70-$100 sound card will give you an extra 5-7% performance too - depending on the sound quality settings. The onboard sound chipsets push most of the load onto the processor, so just about any sound card will help. You'll get less from the card than you would with something like BG2, because you don't need to use the 3D sound effects, but you will get something.
The rest of what you wrote seems about right. I use a Radeon 3870, 2Gbytes Ram, Athlon 5400+ dual core processor with an old Audigy 2 sound card. I get 60 FPS most places with almost every setting maxed (except ground clusters and weather intensity).
In Shatt or if things are really kicking off in a 25 man raid, that falls to around 35-40 FPS, still extremely playable.
One thing, unless you turn of Vsync and thus subject your graphics to corruption (tearing), you won't get more than 60 FPS on an LCD monitor. Vsync keeps the frame rate to the frequency of your monitor and therefore keeps the picture at its best. You don't need more than that for WoW, this isn't a 3D shooter. Instead you can max out the quality settings and have a prettier picture.
Tube monitors are capable of much higher framerates though, and some of the new LCD TVs coming out now have higher refresh rates too - some as high as 240 Htz (which means a potential frame rate of 240, and causes the movement in movies to look weird, until they can think of a way to slow it back down). |
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Gordo74
Premium
join:2003-10-28
Monroeville, PA
clubs:
| reply to DreamCarr
I used to run it without any AA at 60FPS solid everywhere I went on a...
Gigabyte GA-7n400-l
Athlon XP 2500+ Barton
1GB RAM
9800pro
integrated everything else.
I think these specs are way overkill.
--
Ever wonder about the stars? |
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chaud
Serious Business
join:2004-07-09
Anderson, SC | at 800x600 prebc?  |
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kingdome74
Emotionally Unavailable
Premium
join:2002-03-27
Syracuse, NY
 ·RoadRunner Cable
| reply to Dissembled
said by Dissembled :I have: KN8Ultra motherboard AMD 3700+ Socket939e 2GB of the CHEAPEST generic 3200 RAM 7800GT 400W Antec TP I have the essentially same rig more or less except I have X1950Pro vid card and I run WoW flat out at 1680x1050ws like butter.
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"We can't drive our SUVs and eat as much as we want and keep our homes on 72 degrees at all times" - Barak Obama |
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deadmeatmage
@bellsouth.net
| reply to DreamCarr
I run a mix match of what I could afford at last necessary upgrade....
athlon64x2 @ 2.8ghz
2gb crap brand but fast speed ddr2
Vista Ultimate Disaster Edition
ATI x1300 with 256mb
onboard sound Vista hated my sound card.
500gb SATA drive, Seagate, 7200rpm, 2 partitions
19" widescreen at 1400x900
The sliders are all over the place based on what I think is important, like grass and ground clutter, who cares if it is only showing the close stuff, but textures gotta be high.
Cities are not fond of me, but don't hate me, usually coming in around 30fps, new SSO island hates me at like 15-20 when busy, but 40-50 when not, and the rest of "the wild" usually the 60-70 range. I also have all the sound maxed out on quality and number of channels.
Being a mage, if one city hates me that night, then I just port over to darn or exo, and pop back when done. 18 silver round trip is cheaper than a new $150 video card |
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Gordo74
Premium
join:2003-10-28
Monroeville, PA
clubs:
1 edit | reply to chaud
said by chaud :at 800x600 prebc? Pre BC yes, but at 1280x1024 |
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Rothan Tik
Premium
join:2000-11-07
Danvers, MA
 ·Verizon FIOS
 ·Verizon Online DSL
| reply to Forlin
said by Forlin :A $70-$100 sound card will give you an extra 5-7% performance too - depending on the sound quality settings. The onboard sound chipsets push most of the load onto the processor, so just about any sound card will help. You'll get less from the card than you would with something like BG2, because you don't need to use the 3D sound effects, but you will get something. The rest of what you wrote seems about right. I use a Radeon 3870, 2Gbytes Ram, Athlon 5400+ dual core processor with an old Audigy 2 sound card. I get 60 FPS most places with almost every setting maxed (except ground clusters and weather intensity). In Shatt or if things are really kicking off in a 25 man raid, that falls to around 35-40 FPS, still extremely playable. One thing, unless you turn of Vsync and thus subject your graphics to corruption (tearing), you won't get more than 60 FPS on an LCD monitor. Vsync keeps the frame rate to the frequency of your monitor and therefore keeps the picture at its best. You don't need more than that for WoW, this isn't a 3D shooter. Instead you can max out the quality settings and have a prettier picture. Tube monitors are capable of much higher framerates though, and some of the new LCD TVs coming out now have higher refresh rates too - some as high as 240 Htz (which means a potential frame rate of 240, and causes the movement in movies to look weird, until they can think of a way to slow it back down). Hm, I always thought vsync was a detriment to FPS. Was told to turn it off for previous iterations of things, but perhaps I'll turn it on since I have a newer rig. |
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DreamCarr
Winter Sucks.
Premium
join:2001-04-16
6D 6F 6F 00
| It can be a detriment -- it effectivley caps your FPS at your screen refresh rate.
But, if you notice your screen 'tearing' or half the picture not refreshing at the same time as the other half, turn it on. Its an image quality thing, as the post you quoted mentions. |
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MaybeTrouble
join:2008-05-09
Anchorage, AK
| reply to DreamCarr
Absolutely, you only need it on if you get onscreen corruption. If you want faster frame rates turn it off and see what happens. If there's no corruption you're golden.
I've noticed that newer LCD monitors have started to appear with better refresh rates, and even those that don't seem to be better able to cope with higher frame rates than the older generation.
--
If people taste like bacon, doesn't it follow that bacon tastes like people? |
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JIGA
Its A Bird, Its A Plane, Its..
Premium
join:2002-02-02
Azle, TX
clubs:
·Charter Pipeline
| reply to DreamCarr
Your specs are a bit overkill like you stated DreamCarr. Any user could most likely get away with only spending around $600 to make WoW very smooth.
I recently upgrade from AGP X800XTPE to this new PCI-E 7950GT system.
EVGA NVIDIA nForce 680i SLI Motherboard
Intel Core 2 Duo E6550 Conroe 2.33GHz LGA 775 Processor
BFG Tech GeForce 7950GT 256MB PCIE
Crucial Ballistix 2GB (2 x 1GB) PC2 6400
Antec True Power Trio TP3-550 ATX12V 550W Power Supply
All of that plus a case, new DVD R/RW, some extra 120mm fans, and a replacement fan for the stock VGA fan ran me about $900ish back in Oct 2007. I pulled my HD's from my old machine which were SATA drives.
I run all my settings on high @ 1280x1024 on a Viewsonic VX922 2ms flat panel. I get a constant smooth frame rate anywhere I go. Shatt use to lag on my old machine which is in my profile as my secondary machine now. |
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DreamCarr
Winter Sucks.
Premium
join:2001-04-16
6D 6F 6F 00
| said by JIGA :Any user could most likely get away with only spending around $600 to make WoW very smooth. I agree -- as I said above, the whole build could probably be done for $500 |
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Nile_tanaris
@rr.com
| reply to DreamCarr
So the parts arrived for my most recent upgrade, and I wanted to put it past you all to see how much of a performance I'm going to achieve. I'm using 2 22" LCD monitors, for reference sake.
Currently-
AMD Athlon 64 2400mhz (Venice)
2gb PC3200 400mhz RAM
Geforce 8800GT 1gb
SATAII 7200rpm 180gb HD
Some generic 600w PWS.
With the above setup I can get around 12-20 fps in Shatt, and around 7-10fps in a 25 man raid with everything turned up to max.
As of tomorrow-
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.6ghz
4gb PC3200 400mhz RAM (I know, this is slow RAM, but that'll be upgraded next paycheck.)
Geforce 9800GT 512mb
SATAII 7200rpm 250gb HD
OCZ GameXstream 700w PWS.
Considering these upgrades, how much of a performance upgrade will I be looking at? |
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DreamCarr
Winter Sucks.
Premium
join:2001-04-16
6D 6F 6F 00 | ... a nice jump!
lol
You'll probably see 50-60fps in shatt, higher n the wild. As for raids, not sure, as I've not raided much.
This is all dependent on resolution of course. |
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JIGA
Its A Bird, Its A Plane, Its..
Premium
join:2002-02-02
Azle, TX
clubs:
·Charter Pipeline
| reply to Nile_tanaris
said by Nile_tanaris :
So the parts arrived for my most recent upgrade, and I wanted to put it past you all to see how much of a performance I'm going to achieve. I'm using 2 22" LCD monitors, for reference sake.
Currently-
AMD Athlon 64 2400mhz (Venice)
2gb PC3200 400mhz RAM
Geforce 8800GT 1gb
SATAII 7200rpm 180gb HD
Some generic 600w PWS.
With the above setup I can get around 12-20 fps in Shatt, and around 7-10fps in a 25 man raid with everything turned up to max.
As of tomorrow-
Intel Core 2 Duo @ 2.6ghz
4gb PC3200 400mhz RAM (I know, this is slow RAM, but that'll be upgraded next paycheck.)
Geforce 9800GT 512mb
SATAII 7200rpm 250gb HD
OCZ GameXstream 700w PWS.
Considering these upgrades, how much of a performance upgrade will I be looking at?
I don't see how your only getting 12-20 fps in shatt with an 8800GT, must be your processor bottle necking your GPU.
I run a 7950GT 256MB and get well above 40 FPS in shatt.
Also, from what many reviews have said, the 9800GT performance is not that much above the 8800GT. |
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