Any tips on things to change out/modify for me to run WoW better?

Post by lockspwnbruh

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Display Devices
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Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 8600 GT
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 8600 GT
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0402&SUBSYS_043919…
Display Memory: 256.0 MB
Current Mode: 1280 x 1024 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: Plug and Play Monitor
Monitor Max Res: 1600,1200
Driver Name: nv4_disp.dll
Driver Version: 6.14.0012.6658 (English)
DDI Version: 9 (or higher)
------------------
System Information
------------------
Time of this report: 2/2/2011, 17:35:24
Machine name: The Rig
Operating System: Windows XP Professional (5.1, Build 2600) Service Pack 3 (2600.xpsp_sp3_gdr.100427-1636)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: HP Pavilion 061
System Model: ER885AA-ABA M7490N
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Pentium(R) D CPU 3.20GHz (2 CPUs)
Memory: 2046MB RAM
Page File: 1169MB used, 2764MB available
Windows Dir: C:\WINDOWS
DirectX Version: DirectX 10.0 (4.10.0000.5515)
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 5.03.2600.5512 32bit Unicode
______________________________________…

In Game, my addon memory is 3.35mb
I get anywhere between 10-20 fps normally but in combat it dips really low (think sub whole numbers) and makes it hard to pvp and raid with anything more than 5 ppl around.

Any tips on what I should download/upgrade/replace to make my comp run WoW better?\

(changed the title of this thread so disregard the posts about graphics)

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Post by ChairmanKaga

Turn Vsync off, your graphics card isn't exactly powerful, and Vsync severely decreases your fps

^ This. Vsync is to eliminate frame tearing on systems that can keep up with a high framerate. Enabling it on a low-FPS system just lowers it further for zero benefit. Triple buffering should generally be left on, though. It is almost always a performance gain.

Your issue is probably texture memory. 256MB VRAM is bottom-of-the-barrel by today's standards, WoW itself tends to suffer with less than 4GB of system RAM, and the 8600 is a low/mid card with only 16 TMUs. So texture swapping is likely killing you.

So eliminate anything that taxes the texture processing. You already killed off shadows. Now kill off liquid detail (you'll end up with the pre-patch-4.0 look). If that doesn't help much, lower the main texture detail. I also wouldn't try anisotropic filtering with that rig -- take it down to trilinear.

Post by lockspwnbruh

Post by ChairmanKaga

Will Addons impact my framerate with this setup?

As with all things, it is dependent on your system and what addons you're using. Most addons have a per-frame CPU cost that can affect performance. Most popular addons are very good about keeping this minimal.

If you think an addon is the issue, then disable it and find out. Addon Control Panel is great for fiddling with addons without having to fully log out.

And what addon memory should i stay below?

Disregard it. It mattered a long time ago (like, 1.x) but the Lua engine embedded in the game has been significantly altered since then. Even the biggest memory hog addons (like Auctioneer) are a drop in the ocean compared to the game itself. Trimming them down really makes no difference.

What really matters is addon CPU usage (as noted above).

Is my Multi sampling alright?

As with everything, multisampling is an extra load on the graphics card. If you're really having this many FPS issues, you probably want it off (1x).

And are there any settings i should tweak in the graphics card's control panel?

Probably nothing that would help considerably, and a few of them might actually hurt.

Post by lockspwnbruh

bumping so i don't have to make a new thread.

Post by Savaena

From looking at your computer specs, it looks like you need to upgrade your video card. Also, make sure that you wired into your internet. On-line games are not well suited for wireless and satellite-based Internet service due to associated latency factors. Your Operating System is perfectly acceptable, as WoW was built to run on XP. If you're running a dual core processor, you are actually running the most optimal processor type for the game, so don't worry about thinking you need to upgrade your processor too much unless it's below the minimum spec listed below.

This can easily be found on the Blizzard Support site, but just to make it easier I thought I would post this for you.

Minimum system requirements for World of Warcraft

Windows® System XP/XP64/Vista/Vista64/7** OS (with the latest Service Packs or updates):

- Intel Pentium 4 1.3 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 1500+
- 1 GB or more of RAM
- NVIDIA® GeForce® FX or ATI Radeon™ 9500 video card or better
- 25.0 GB available HD space
- 4X DVD-ROM drive (Downloadable Installer also available)
- Broadband Internet connection
- Keyboard/mouse

*Note: Due to potential programming changes, the Minimum System Requirements for this game may change over time.

*** Recommended Specifications ***

Windows® System Vista64/Windows 7 OS:

- Dual-core processor, such as the Intel Pentium D or AMD Athlon 64 X2
- 2 GB RAM
- 256 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600 or ATI Radeon™ HD 2600 or better
- Multi-button mouse with scroll-wheel

Post by lockspwnbruh

Post by Apocalipsus

Greatings.
Your system is similiar to mine. So ill try to make a comparation between our both computers.
Altough mine is equiped with a quad core Q6600 and a geforce 8800gt with 512 mb (same ram amout but running windows 7)

First of all I was looking at this charts comparing quad core cpus to dual cores running wow.

http://media.bestofmicro.com/1/K/269624/original/Intel%20Core%20i7%20Core%20Scaling.png

And to my conclusion it seems that quad core is not a big gain compared to dual core. (around 5 fps on this test).
So for this comparassion I belive its ok to ignore the diference between the amount of cores on the cpu. (even more my Q6600 only runs at 2.40ghz)

This leaves us on the main problem on my opinion wich is the graphic card.
First, and i dont want to sound selfish or anything, but mine is better. It has more "power" and more ram in it.
So i went and look for benchmarks between the 2 graphics and found this:
http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-graphics-charts-2008-q3/compare,747.html?prod=on&prod=on
It seems your graphic card is the real bottleneck here, looking at the comparassion i belive the 8800gt is at least 2 times better in almost every test.

My opinion? If you want better performance with spending very little buy a 8800gt used. I do belive it is very cheap at the moment, and would give you a nice boost to WoW has well other games.

I can run my game at 1440x900 (1x multisampling and 4x anisoptric) with everything high (except shadows, its on normal i belive) at around 70 fps on most of the places (huge populated zones like orgrimmar it drops a little, but in combat its very steady).

Final tips.
Shadows and water really hurt your performance with that graphic card.
V-sync off is also a good idea.
Reduce input lag should be off.
Also turn multisampling to 1x it really punchs your graphic card on the having more then 1
Try updating your graphic drives may help a bit.

Any tips on things to change out/modify for me to run WoW better?

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