Help buying my first Graphics Card

[gruffi]

WoW on Ultra requires more than just a fancy GPU unfortunately. You'll need an overclocked i5-3570K as well.

Do you really have to Overclock for wow ?? How much are you referring to?
Stock is not enough 3.4 Ghz ??

[Lathais]

Do you really have to Overclock for wow ?? How much are you referring to?
Stock is not enough 3.4 Ghz ??

For full Ultra, with things like Shadows and Multisampling on, yeah, stock is not enough. Even 3570k's OCed to 4.5 and beyond will barely run at Full Ultra, with everything maxed.

Now that's just for full Ultra. If you wanna run at modified Ultra with Shadows turned off/down and Multisampling, AA other setting that use a lot of resources turned down a bit, that's doable without an OC and a less powerful chip.

[chazus]

Do you really have to Overclock for wow ?? How much are you referring to?
Stock is not enough 3.4 Ghz ??

You don't -have- to. However there is no processors on the market that currently can run the game full ultra perfectly.

I ran my 3570K stock for a while, and most of the game was perfect, but 25 raids would drop to ~40 frames or so. Got a better cooler for $30 (212 EVO), and not only did it increase my framerate to near 60 most of the time in raids, but it also dropped my gaming temperature from 60c to 45c. My system is at 4.2ghz now, but I clocked it stable at 4.8.

[gruffi]

For full Ultra, with things like Shadows and Multisampling on, yeah, stock is not enough. Even 3570k's OCed to 4.5 and beyond will barely run at Full Ultra, with everything maxed.

Now that's just for full Ultra. If you wanna run at modified Ultra with Shadows turned off/down and Multisampling, AA other setting that use a lot of resources turned down a bit, that's doable without an OC and a less powerful chip.

Does this apply if we have dedicated gpu ? or is this for HD4000 ?

[Shiromar]

Since no one appeared to look at the link he gave us, the PSU that he has is a 300w no name PSU. He's definitely going to want to replace that. And all the bickering about what it takes to run at ultra settings is completely unnecessary. He's been playing on lowest settings for crying out loud, I'm sure he'll be extremely grateful to get anywhere near high settings. Will a 4.5 GHz 3770k run better? Of course it will, but his CPU is going to be sufficient to put to use a GPU upgrade like he's intending.

O.P grab a Corsair Builder 430w and a GTX 650 ti boost which will do you just fine, and come in under your budget. Here's a bench comparing the 650 ti boost to show you that it'll do just fine. http://www.techpowerup.com/reviews/N..._Boost/21.html

[Lathais]

Does this apply if we have dedicated gpu ? or is this for HD4000 ?

Video card does not matter as much in WoW, you can get by with a GTX660 or something like that, but if your running that with Core 2 Duo or a 1st or Second gen i3 your not gonna max it out.

[chazus]

Does this apply if we have dedicated gpu ? or is this for HD4000 ?

Both.

WoW does need a decent graphics card, nothing over the top, however it is (especially in raids) very CPU heavy. Most MMO's are. You will get more performance benefit per dollar out of CPU than GPU. Spending more than $150-200 on a GPU is a waste on wow for the most part. Spending that much on a CPU is not.

I don't think there is a system on the market that could play wow flawlessly at 60fps, with everything cranked to the max (Everything, 16x AF, etc). That doesn't mean that WoW is a 'powerful' game, it simply is configured and optimized in a way that... that is the case.

Integrated graphics (HD4000) is gonna run like dirt regardless though, no matter how good your CPU is.

[Killora]

I don't think there is a system on the market that could play wow flawlessly at 60fps, with everything cranked to the max (Everything, 16x AF, etc). That doesn't mean that WoW is a 'powerful' game, it simply is configured and optimized in a way that... that is the case.

It's just optimized in a way that let's a much wider array of CPU's to play it. Pretty much how most MMO's work, they need to cover a wide array of hardware so they get players that wouldn't have otherwise played if it required a half decent PC to play.

[slimj091]

the engine may have been upgraded since vanilla. it still does not "require" a 3570k to run the game on ultra with good fps.

[Toffie]

This again... My signature spec is getting between 40-50 fps maxed in raids, how should a lower end CPU handle it any better? Ultra with low shadows & SSAQ, 1x msaa is what your reffering too?

[Chickat]

I agree Killora, he couldn't be more wrong.

Saying WoW's engine is the same at release couldn't be more wrong.

I dont even think thats the best example if there even is one. I would use a similar color scheme.


Vanilla




MoP

[Toffie]

Simply doesn't matter, the difference is quite obvious. Just saying that nothing have happened graphic wise since vanilla is grossly wrong. Pictures you compared shows a huge difference in texture, lightning and clearer coloring.

[chazus]

the engine may have been upgraded since vanilla. it still does not "require" a 3570k to run the game on ultra with good fps.

So what does it mean if you have a killer graphics card, and a 3570K, and overclocking still provides an FPS benefit? What do you mean by "good fps" exactly? Because some people are happy at 30fps. Some people are happy at 60. Some people can't stand below 50.

[slimj091]

This again... My signature spec is getting between 40-50 fps maxed in raids, how should a lower end CPU handle it any better? Ultra with low shadows & SSAQ, 1x msaa is what your reffering too?

may i ask what resolution you are running the game at? and how many monitors you are running on?

I for example am running a 1440x900 monitor, and i get 110fps in the open world, and 60fps low end to 80fps high end in lfr on ultra. and that is with a FX-6300 and a 7770 ghz edition. of course if i were to try and run at 1080 i wouldn't get that kind of fps. however a friend of mine has the exact same CPU as me, but paired with a 7950. and he run's WoW on full ultra at 1080 and routinely gets the same 40-50fps you do in lfr.

[chazus]

I for example am running a 1440x900 monitor, and i get 110fps in the open world, and 60fps low end to 80fps high end in lfr on ultra.

Well there you go. Of course you get good fps. Your system needs almost half the power needed. 1440x900 is tiny. I'm assuming its a laptop, or something? The majority of players are using 22-24" monitors, and running at 1920x1080, so thats usually the baseline discussed.

and that is with a FX-6300 ... and he run's WoW on full ultra at 1080 and routinely gets the same 40-50fps you do in lfr.

That I -did-. A better (or OC cpu) gets more or less solid 60. And Im curious to see his settings. A lot of people say they "run ultra" when they actually mean they turn the slider to ultra, and then turn a few things down.

[slimj091]

good fps to me is anything above 30... and i don't mean to be argumentative, but "most" of these "most" people that can't stand below 50 wouldn't know they are playing at 30fps-49fps if there wasn't something in the UI or a 3rd party application to indicate what their current FPS is. there are a few people that can tell the difference between 30fps, and 60fps on a single monitor.

in reality the only thing that matters beyond 30fps is whether or not you trying to game in 3D.

[Killora]

good fps to me is anything above 30... and i don't mean to be argumentative, but "most" of these "most" people that can't stand below 50 wouldn't know they are playing at 30fps-49fps if there wasn't something in the UI or a 3rd party application to indicate what their current FPS is. there are a few people that can tell the difference between 30fps, and 60fps on a single monitor.

in reality the only thing that matters beyond 30fps is whether or not you trying to game in 3D.

I can't stand much below 40. i can deal with 35 spikes, but 30 is just too choppy to me. Once you get used to a smooth 60 FPS for awhile you begin to become more sensitive to choppiness.

[slimj091]

Well there you go. Of course you get good fps. Your system needs almost half the power needed. 1440x900 is tiny. I'm assuming its a laptop, or something? The majority of players are using 22-24" monitors, and running at 1920x1080, so thats usually the baseline discussed.


That I -did-. A better (or OC cpu) gets more or less solid 60. And Im curious to see his settings. A lot of people say they "run ultra" when they actually mean they turn the slider to ultra, and then turn a few things down.

it's a 19 inch, and i'm running a desktop. i like how you leave out where i said i wouldn't be getting that fps on a 1080 monitor with my current GPU so you could make the same assumption to make me look like an idiot. nice dbag. also...

http://store.steampowered.com/hwsurvey

30% of users game on 1080 monitors. that may seem like a majority. until you realize that 65% of users game on monitors below 1080 res.

[Toffie]

may i ask what resolution you are running the game at? and how many monitors you are running on?

I for example am running a 1440x900 monitor, and i get 110fps in the open world, and 60fps low end to 80fps high end in lfr on ultra. and that is with a FX-6300 and a 7770 ghz edition. of course if i were to try and run at 1080 i wouldn't get that kind of fps. however a friend of mine has the exact same CPU as me, but paired with a 7950. and he run's WoW on full ultra at 1080 and routinely gets the same 40-50fps you do in lfr.

I run single 1920x1080 mate. Every setting is turned to max.

[slimj091]

I can't stand much below 40. i can deal with 35 spikes, but 30 is just too choppy to me. Once you get used to a smooth 60 FPS for awhile you begin to become more sensitive to choppiness.

again. the choppiness is imagined by you, because you see 30fps indicated in your UI. if you had no way to know what your current fps was you wouldn't be bothered by it. unless you had bionic eye's.