Upgrading parts for Legion

[Farath]

Hi, I'm wanting to take advantage of some of the visual upgrades coming in Legion such as the extended view. I have a Core i7 CPU, so should be fine without having to upgrade that. However, my GPU is beginning to struggle, so I was thinking of upgrading it. Currently, I have a NVIDIA GeForce GTX 650. I regularly run two or three WoW clients, which start to break it down a little.

I was thinking of upgrading to something in the 950 - 960 bracket. Anyone have any thoughts on that, or other advice on what might need to be upgraded?

[Xentronium]

The next generation of cards from both camps are supposed to be released in the next few months so hang on until then and see if they're worth getting. Or at the very least you'll be able to grab a discounted card from the current generation. As long as you're using 8 GB ram and possibly Windows 10 for DirectX 12 if Blizzard end up using it, that should be all you need for WoW.

[mrgreenthump]

I was thinking of upgrading to something in the 950 - 960 bracket. Anyone have any thoughts on that, or other advice on what might need to be upgraded?

My advice is wait for a week to see the next gen CPU pricing and launch times. GTX line from Nvidia will likely be too expensive, but AMD is targeting the mainstream, which should mean cheap GPUs with much more power than GTX 950/960.

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possibly Windows 10 for DirectX 12 if Blizzard end up using it, that should be all you need for WoW.

They wouldn't.. If anything they are looking for a Vulcan upgrade, because it would let the game to be run on even more platforms than currently.

[Deleted]

They wouldn't.. If anything they are looking for a Vulcan upgrade, because it would let the game to be run on even more platforms than currently.

Except, what other platforms would you run WoW on? This isn't exactly a iOS or Android market title, and the consensus in the industry is that Apple will not adopt Vulcan (since they're pushing Metal) - ruling out OSX.

This pretty much just leaves you with Linux - which doesn't command a marketshare nearly big enough to be a motivator for API choice in a high-revenue game. Availability of developers (competence) and development assistance/support from other companies would really be the main motivation. And this often the primary reason a lot of development houses go with NVIDIA middleware - they're very good at the support part.

[Farath]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm not planning on buying until around July, as its a fairly expensive gaming time for me currently.

[Deleted]

Thanks for the replies guys. I'm not planning on buying until around July, as its a fairly expensive gaming time for me currently.

Great, then you can get the equivalent of a GTX 960 by then with the Pascal Cards (If they are to release the "GTX 1060" by then)

I would also go with 8GB of RAM If you don't have..

Plus, an SSD makes a day/night difference..

[TaintedOne]

Come back in July when you are ready to buy. We will know more about the next gen cards by then.

Also if you want Ultra settings in the open world I would look more in the 970 range of card. That new draw distance is nuts. On live I cap my fps at 70 (ultra settings) while solo questing and its a rock solid 70 to but on Alpha I get max 25fps with regular dips to 10fps.

[Artorius]

I wouldn't be so sure about this DX12 x Vulkan thing for WoW since Blizzard is part of the Khronos group, but they're most likely just going to go with d3d12 for Windows unless their Windows 7/8.1 userbase is huge.

[Deleted]

I wouldn't be so sure about this DX12 x Vulkan thing for WoW since Blizzard is part of the Khronos group, but they're most likely just going to go with d3d12 for Windows unless their Windows 7/8.1 userbase is huge.

They can adapt both.. Still same thing is happening for OSX version, with the whole Metal API.

I guess we're not getting any of it on launch but 7.1 or so.

Even though WoW would benefit a lot from a Low Overhead API like DX12/Vulkan.. But the engine is old and they would have to custom code it inside like they did with DX11 at the time.

[Gorgodeus]

Great, then you can get the equivalent of a GTX 960 by then with the Pascal Cards (If they are to release the "GTX 1060" by then)

I would also go with 8GB of RAM If you don't have..

Plus, an SSD makes a day/night difference..

SSD does not make any difference at all. The only thing you might notice is slightly faster loading screens. Other than that, it has zero effect.

[Deleted]

SSD does not make any difference at all. The only thing you might notice is slightly faster loading screens. Other than that, it has zero effect.

On Loading screens / booting / transfer files and etc..

I have 2 SSDs on my PC with 500GB each and never looked back on HDD, even on my consoles I've switched their HDD for SSDs.

[Gorgodeus]

On Loading screens / booting / transfer files and etc..

I have 2 SSDs on my PC with 500GB each and never looked back on HDD, even on my consoles I've switched their HDD for SSDs.

Still does not change the fact that they do not add any performance at all in regards to gaming.

[Denpepe]

Still does not change the fact that they do not add any performance at all in regards to gaming.

depends, not in regards to fps if that is all you care for.

[Gorgodeus]

depends, not in regards to fps if that is all you care for.

There is no "depends". It has zero effect in-game, other than faster loading screens. Feel free to show any knowledgeable source stating otherwise. It has been tested ad nauseum by many different sources.

[Denpepe]

There is no "depends". It has zero effect in-game, other than faster loading screens. Feel free to show any knowledgeable source stating otherwise. It has been tested ad nauseum by many different sources.

It does, these things might be "minor", and like I said not in regards to fps if that is all you care for, but games that stream a lot af data definitely have benefits with an SSD as there will be less (micro)stuttering resulting in smoother gameplay and you already admit loading times, while in some games it is only a couple seconds, it is pretty substantial in others. Not to mention that if your pc does other stuff in the background it will not impact your gaming due to the higher amount of i/o operations it can do.

[Stuneree]

As I usually respond to these questions when regarding WoW: World of Warcraft depends a lot more on CPU power than GPU. My GF's 570 has no issues holding 60 FPS at all times except for in cities (higher settings). You shouldn't worry as much about the GPU upgrade as the CPU, at least if your main game is WoW. Which processor are you using exactly? It's still probably fine anyway.
A 960 has no issues in WoW whatsoever. I've disabled one of my 960s before and still had no problem. 950 is fine now, but no idea for Legion because it isn't fully out.

[nikolbolas]

I run wow from an actual hard drive...so if I may ask a question since were semi on topic:
Just how BIG is the advantage of having an SSD (with just wow in it I assume) vs the standard/conventional HDD?

[XerogravityWoW]

A 960 will most likely put you at high settings in Legion, where a 970 would keep you in the ultra range.

[Lathais]

I run wow from an actual hard drive...so if I may ask a question since were semi on topic:
Just how BIG is the advantage of having an SSD (with just wow in it I assume) vs the standard/conventional HDD?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eUgadfbyiGo

[gooseuk]

I would be waiting as very soon all the new chips are out. What i7 do you have ? As a cheeky overclock to that if its a good one will be worth it also.