Sticky Index - Check Here First

[Cilraaz]

If you'd like to "nominate" a thread to be added, just reply with a link to the thread!

Important Build Help Threads: If you're looking for help with what computer you get, how it should be specced out, how to assemble it, or just want feedback on what you're considering purchasing, check out this thread.

Low FPS? Check Here!: This is our thread containing suggestions on how to fix low framerate. It contains a few suggestions on things to try, instructions on how to troubleshoot some basic problems, and what to do if none of these help.

Reduce Your Latency (maybe): This is our thread containing information regarding modifying the way your computer handles TCP requests. In the vast majority of cases, it decreases your in-game latency with no negative side effects.

If You Have Problems With Wireless: This is our thread regarding problems with Windows Wireless Zero Config (aka WLAN AutoConfig), which can cause lag spikes every minute.

Post Your Framerate Benchmark Here: A place to post and discuss WoW benchmarks and benchmarking.

Complete WoW-on-Linux Guide (with screenshots): This is Erik765's guide on how to set up WoW under linux.

Post Your Desktop!: Since it's such a popular topic and keeps recurring, here's the "official" post your desktop thread. This one includes images of your desktop (wallpaper, icons, etc). Warning: Image intensive.

Post Your Gaming Setup!: Another popular topic that keeps recurring. Here is the place to post your gaming computer's specs, and a picture or three if you want. Warning: Image intensive.

WoW can use more than two cores: Just for anyone who wants to argue that it can't. Also, note that the engine has been optimized further than this post states (it was from Feb 2010). WoW is now further optimized for multi-core systems (three large threads and many little threads).

processAffinityMask Testing: Testing whether or not locking WoW out of core 1 gives any real benefits.

MMO-C Folding Team: A thread to discuss Folding@Home, as well as the unofficial MMO-C Folding Team.

Maximum Graphics Settings in WoW: A thread on how to tweak WoW to be as visually detailed as possible

Free Software Megathread: A repository of useful, free applications.

Where to buy components / PC's / Laptops: A list of websites that can come in handy when searching for the right store to deliver your goods.

On Mechanical Keyboards: Interested in buying a mechanical keyboard, or just finding out what it is and its advantages? Check here!

[nwo]

I like it, hopefully more people will start reading the stickies. If not, at least it keeps the first page a little less messy.

[nwo]

How come none of the contest winner guides have been added onto the forum stickies? This one in particular belongs here:
Multi-Core Cpu Architecture and WoW / Lag and Graphical tweaks...Guide
http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...tweaks...Guide

[Cilraaz]

How come none of the contest winner guides have been added onto the forum stickies? This one in particular belongs here:
Multi-Core Cpu Architecture and WoW / Lag and Graphical tweaks...Guide
http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...tweaks...Guide

1. Boubouille personally graded/judged the guides, so I haven't seen half of them.
2. That guide begins by telling people how to use a defunct CVar (processAffinityMask went defunct in patch 3.3.2)
3. The TCPAckFrequency change is already outlined in a sticky.
4. I'm hesitant to believe using a defunct CVar to attempt to force WoW to cores 2-4 will double framerate. In patch 3.3.2, processAffinityMask became useless because the way the process uses cores was recoded. I would assume it was coded to allow the OS to manage thread distribution. A modern OS will always be better than a human at managing threading/affinity.
5. The guide also suggests disabling Core Parking. Due to the way the threads are handled since 3.3.2, they should be sufficiently spread out to stop Core Parking from being an issue in the first place.
6. The guide suggests enabling DirectX 11 runtime. This has been discussed to death in the forum and is generally known to be a good thing, so I don't think a guide for it is necessary.

In general, I'd say this would be a really good pre-3.3.2 guide, but since over half of it is pointless post-3.3.2, it does us no good now.

[PyroGhozt]

Actually while the topic seems to be open. Why isn't this guide:
http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...uide-for-Noobs.
On a sticky somewhere? Surely a guide that was punished for being overly technical has some place in the technical forums.

It basically covers half of the technical questions that get asked on Blizzards forums on a daily basis. In fact if you do choose to use it, I will update it to reflect the new patch and any other changes since its original creation.

[vesseblah]

Actually while the topic seems to be open. Why isn't this guide:
http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...uide-for-Noobs.
On a sticky somewhere? Surely a guide that was punished for being overly technical has some place in the technical forums.

It basically covers half of the technical questions that get asked on Blizzards forums on a daily basis. In fact if you do choose to use it, I will update it to reflect the new patch and any other changes since its original creation.

Quick notes to help with the possible rewrite:

- less condescending title
- download drivers and all other relevant software before uninstalling old drivers, using web sites at 800x600 resolution is a pain
- msconfig is borderline expert tool, you can easily panic novice users who don't know what to turn off there
- looking at hwmonitor's temps is not very productive unless you know when it's too high - need to provide numbers
- how to locate wtf folder twice in the text, first occurence easily cut out
- your video settings are ok when hooked into "HD Ready" TV, but impossibly high in decent 1920x1080 monitor
- too much Nvidia bashing
- omitted some very important things in WoW optimization such as the impact of (buggy) addons

[PyroGhozt]

Quick notes to help with the possible rewrite:

- less condescending title
- download drivers and all other relevant software before uninstalling old drivers, using web sites at 800x600 resolution is a pain
- msconfig is borderline expert tool, you can easily panic novice users who don't know what to turn off there
- looking at hwmonitor's temps is not very productive unless you know when it's too high - need to provide numbers
- how to locate wtf folder twice in the text, first occurence easily cut out
- your video settings are ok when hooked into "HD Ready" TV, but impossibly high in decent 1920x1080 monitor
- too much Nvidia bashing
- omitted some very important things in WoW optimization such as the impact of (buggy) addons

There is a lot of rewording that needs to be done, probably some more paragraph breaks. For the hardware monitor each CPU/GPU of different tiers have different max temps. Specially the CPUs some of them run very hot some of them run cooler. I'll make a graph with avg / max temps for end user cpus/gpus that should do the trick.

I can change the order up if some people have problems with downloading on lower resolutions but seeing as this guide is for win7 and windows 7 automatically installs its own drivers for amd and nvidia people should have access to a higher resolution than 800x600.

WTF folder is repeated in-case people are only using 1 part of the guide, going back up to another part they haven't even read can be tedious.

"our video settings are ok when hooked into "HD Ready" TV, but impossibly high in decent 1920x1080 monitor" - You mean a High Definition LCD Monitor right? not necessarily a TV? I'm pretty sure the settings are fine for any HD LCD.

I use a 27" LG LCD Monitor for point of reference.

I'll take a look at the Nvidia bashing, I wasn't aware there was any.

I think i vaguely covered buggy addons and disabling them. If it needs a more in-depth explanation I can do that as well.

I don't think msconfig is particularly advanced but I could reformat the entire guide to have a more advanced section and a beginners sections seeing as it seems people are being scared away by over-technicalities.

As far as the title goes. Its really a play on Windows for Dummies or Linux for Dummies etc etc. In the case of dummies a more gaming/computer related term has been put in its stead. Its supposed to read as humorous not condescending. I think anyone who finds it condescending is a tad too sensitive to be on the internet.

Thank you for your honest and constructive critique Vesseblah! :P

[vesseblah]

"your video settings are ok when hooked into "HD Ready" TV, but impossibly high in decent 1920x1080 monitor" - You mean a High Definition LCD Monitor right? not necessarily a TV? I'm pretty sure the settings are fine for any HD LCD.

I use a 27" LG LCD Monitor for point of reference.

The screenshot has the game set to 1280x768 resolution. Ultra settings would work on that even on lower specs, but not really playable anymore on 1920x1080 monitor. Could be you aren't really playing at such a low resolution, but the screenies were misleading there.

I'll take a look at the Nvidia bashing, I wasn't aware there was any.

"Any IT technician will tell you if you want to build a high performance rig you don't need to spend top dollar, you just need to know what gives the best bang for buck. And that is where AMD is shining all round."

"nVidia have been trailing behind AMD for a while now. They have better marketing so being at the back on the price performance side hasn't hurt them too much."

Radeon 6850 and Nvidia GTX460 are pretty much even in $150 price segment, and same for R6950 & GTX560Ti on $250, can't really put either of the two companies on top in best value for money cards at the moment and most people might just as well flip a coin. Few months back when you wrote it GTX460 was miles ahead in ~$200 category. GTX580 is fastest single GPU card currently available (with small difference to R6970), and at the time of writing the guide GTX480 was, so it's not very objective to say Nvidia is trailing behind and just marketing hype.

Anyway whole discussion about which graphics card is best might be out of the scope of the optimization guide, since the hardware purchases are already done by then most likely.

As far as the title goes. Its really a play on Windows for Dummies or Linux for Dummies etc etc. In the case of dummies a more gaming/computer related term has been put in its stead. Its supposed to read as humorous not condescending. I think anyone who finds it condescending is a tad too sensitive to be on the internet.

"Noob" is meant to be derogatory term, and is different from "for dummies". Could be just my nitpicking.

[PyroGhozt]

The screenshot has the game set to 1280x768 resolution. Ultra settings would work on that even on lower specs, but not really playable anymore on 1920x1080 monitor. Could be you aren't really playing at such a low resolution, but the screenies were misleading there.


"Any IT technician will tell you if you want to build a high performance rig you don't need to spend top dollar, you just need to know what gives the best bang for buck. And that is where AMD is shining all round."

"nVidia have been trailing behind AMD for a while now. They have better marketing so being at the back on the price performance side hasn't hurt them too much."

Radeon 6850 and Nvidia GTX460 are pretty much even in $150 price segment, and same for R6950 & GTX560Ti on $250, can't really put either of the two companies on top in best value for money cards at the moment and most people might just as well flip a coin. Few months back when you wrote it GTX460 was miles ahead in ~$200 category. GTX580 is fastest single GPU card currently available (with small difference to R6970), and at the time of writing the guide GTX480 was, so it's not very objective to say Nvidia is trailing behind and just marketing hype.

Anyway whole discussion about which graphics card is best might be out of the scope of the optimization guide, since the hardware purchases are already done by then most likely.



"Noob" is meant to be derogatory term, and is different from "for dummies". Could be just my nitpicking.

I see what you mean about the screenshot being misleading. It was just mean to be a point of reference for using the GUI to change settings. I took a lot of the screenshots at certain resolutions in windowed mode so as to not have my character name etc on screen.

Noob is another form of newbie. Its use i varied. Quite often used in the negative light when directed at a player who is supposed to know what they are doing. Noobs are essentially people who are new to computers/ gaming.

Like when you have a new kid in school or at work, the newbie.

I'll see what I can do to reword the nvidia / amd part. I don't really feel I was "bashing" nvidia. Rather just stating a few facts. Sometimes the truth bites a bit. At the time of writing nvidia fans were full on changing over to AMD because the 480s and 470s were running like heaters. They even tried to cook an egg on one of them. It didn't work but lolz at the idea.

I've never really vouched for the 460 it takes 2 six pins, runs hotter, louder and as an upgrade may require a change of power supply. Where as the AMD 6850 takes 1 6 pin, is quiet and consumes less power.

Both are decent overclockers, but the main reason I steer clear of the 460 is from my own experience at an IT retail store. It has a high RMA rate. I see an AMD card go back once in a blue moon. But I see 460s all the time.

But yeah since most people have already paid for their systems and its not a buyers guide, rather an optimization guide. I'll see what I can do to tone down the AMD fanboism.

Is it ok if I copy my current guide and put the edited version somewhere else, say on a different thread or something?

[Fuzzykins]

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/1076332-On-Mice
Can you group the "On X" series of threads I do together? :3

[DeltrusDisc]

Hey Cilraaz, any way we could maybe sticky the two OC leaderboards? (CPU and GPU.)

http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...g-Leaderboards
http://www.mmo-champion.com/threads/...g-Leaderboards