Deals with video card and WoW plz help :D

[rawrcakezz]

Ok, now im getting the Inspiron 546 with a quadcore processor, 4gb of ram(i think?) and windows vista, (right now im sitting on barely a dualcore, with 512mb ram and a RADEON 9600, i have no idea how good the card is, but i THINK the new 1 would be better?) im wondering what graphic settings/the fps you think i can run on World of Warcraft with only an Integrated ATI Radeon HD3200 Graphics card? Also if there is an affordable, fairly better video card you would recommend instead, please do so . Give me feedback here XD, thanks alot
(also only really concerned about 25 man raid/dalaran fps on a medium populated server)

 

[WaitingForNehalem]

low/low

 

[yh125d]

Low. In WotLK areas maybe 10-15?

Get yourself a dedicated video card, even a cheap one like a 4670 for ~$60 would do drastically better

 

[rawrcakezz]

thanks, more feedback would be nice too by others.

 

[Lonyo]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articl...s-mmorpg_14.html#sect0
Check that. That's the maximum you would get with any of those cards, because the test system is a top end machine.

 

[crazylegs]

You will not enjoy the 'experience' of gaming on integrated graphics... not jsut yet anyway.

Like the previous advice, even a cheap dedicated GPU will massively improve your gaming experience.

 

[rawrcakezz]

bump

 

[nitromullet]

Originally posted by: rawrcakezz
bump

What's your budget?

A discrete card will definitely be better, but it's hard to really recommend anything unless we know what you're willing to spend.

 

[Denithor]

If budget will allow grab a 4850 or 9800GT and you'll be fine. Unless you're running like 25x16 on a 30" LCD then you may want more GPU.

 

[Piano Man]

WoW will basically take anything you can throw at it. Here is a benchmark with more recent cards than posted above.

http://www.pcgameshardware.com...cards/Practice/?page=2

nVidia cards seem to do better than ATI with WoW, especially at low resolutions. However, going up to 1920x1xxx, the cards seem to follow the usual progression.


With a quad core, I'd at least get a 4850/9800GT. A 4890/275 would be better, especially at higher resolutions.

Remember that with your quad core, you should play around with your CPU Affinity settings within WoW to get even more FPS. Check this article out for that: http://forums.worldofwarcraft....jhwnNYFhfHk&rhtml=true

 

[giantpinkbunnyhead]

I can give you some real-world experience with this.

Until last week, I played WoW for years on a single 8800GT video card (512MB), with an Opteron 165 processor (dual core) and 2 GB of RAM. OS is WinXP. With that setup, which is 5 years old except for the video card, I was able to play WoW almost seamlessly at the maximum allowable settings, on a 1920x1200 monitor. The only area I ever had stuttering was Dalaran, and that was only after arriving at the Inn after using my Hearthstone which is set there. It took a few seconds for the objects to all load; then it was back to smooth as butter. In no other situation did framerates ever dip to a point where I noticed stuttering; not in instances or anywhere else. I never actively monitored the framerates, but they certainly appeared adequate at all times (except the Dalaran exclusion above).

Now, my new computer is sporting a Core i7, 6GB RAM, and two 4890 video cards in Crossfire. Running Windows 7 RC. It's light years beyond my last computer, but it has not noticeably improved my WoW experience since it was already about perfect the first time around. Also, this new build did nothing to fix the initial Dalaran stutters so I am wondering if maybe it's a network / connection issue. My internet speed is 10M, so it's not on my end. (But I could be wrong... I don't pretend to understand the intricasies of the internet...)

So with that all being said... You certainly don't need high-end to get the most out of WoW, since I was running fine at max settings on high resolution with a simple 8800GT and a 5-year old dual core. Any modern-day equivalent to that would likely provide you with great results, and FAR better results than you are used to.

 

[giantpinkbunnyhead]

Originally posted by: Piano Man
Remember that with your quad core, you should play around with your CPU Affinity settings within WoW to get even more FPS. Check this article out for that: http://forums.worldofwarcraft....jhwnNYFhfHk&rhtml=true

WOW. Halfway into that thread, people like me with i7's start showing up and reporting some amazing results by re-allocating the cores available. I'm going to try this when I'm home from work... sounds like just what I need for my sole remaining issue. Thanks for posting that!

 

[Axon]

Originally posted by: giantpinkbunnyhead
WOW. Halfway into that thread, people like me with i7's start showing up and reporting some amazing results by re-allocating the cores available. I'm going to try this when I'm home from work... sounds like just what I need for my sole remaining issue. Thanks for posting that!

Hah, I was about to tell you...it's the CPU that controls stuff like dalaran Expand that config file!

 

[giantpinkbunnyhead]

Originally posted by: Axon

Originally posted by: giantpinkbunnyhead
WOW. Halfway into that thread, people like me with i7's start showing up and reporting some amazing results by re-allocating the cores available. I'm going to try this when I'm home from work... sounds like just what I need for my sole remaining issue. Thanks for posting that!

Hah, I was about to tell you...it's the CPU that controls stuff like dalaran

See, that's what I thought at first, but when I jumped from an Opteron 165 to the i7, and saw NO improvement in the Dalaran mess, I was like "hmm, guess it wasn't the CPU after all". But after that thread up there... I'm thinking there was more to the story after all. It's entirely possible now, that both these multi-core CPU's were ill-suited for Dalaran.

But that will change when I get home! I hope.