Cataclysm Video Card

[Vandrel]

I'm sorry, but a GPU will almost always increase your performance more than a CPU unless your CPU is from 1990. There has always been this myth that WoW is more "CPU intensive" than GPU, but it's simply not true.

Having a poor GPU with a great CPU will do you no good. When I switched from my Q6600 quadcore at 2.4Ghz to my i7920 OC'd to 4.0, I barely changed in performance, because I kept the same gtx260 GPU.

GPU's are important, as long as you have a dual core 2.0+Ghz CPU(which 90% of pc's built in the last 10 years have) and at least 2gigs of ram, a GPU is your #1 way of increasing performance, I guarantee it.

I'm sorry, but this is for the most part simply not true. A low end CPU will bottleneck your system far easier than a low end GPU will with WoW.
Edit: Oh, and the bit about 90% of PCs from the last 10 years having dual cores is completely wrong too. It was only 5 years ago that they began with the Pentium Ds. They had some meant for servers and the like before that, but those are hardly main stream hardware.

[Bonham]

I was thinking of getting a new video card as well, but after reading this, it seems my old Geforce GTS 250 will do fine. I am now curious about a new processor though...

Right now I have a >2 GHz Quad Core, but I read that WoW only uses two cores anyway. Would I be better off going with an i7?

[mezmir]

I'm sorry, but this is for the most part simply not true. A low end CPU will bottleneck your system far easier than a low end GPU will with WoW.

This^. If you ever read any testing of PC's online and performance, they will almost always end up saying "we had trouble testing the video cards because as you can see they were bottlenecked by the cpu"

This is true even of the newest and best cpu's.

[Bloodvortex]

I'm sorry, but a GPU will almost always increase your performance more than a CPU unless your CPU is from 1990. There has always been this myth that WoW is more "CPU intensive" than GPU, but it's simply not true.

I'm really not sure i'd say this was a myth.....

And yes a faster cpu will almost always give you a better performance increase in the case of wow as long as your video card is "decent".

I'm not saying a faster gpu won't.


However now that i'm reading this post more sober.. The gts 450 will be fine..

Just the gtx 460 is by far a better buy. Just don't buy a gtx 465 those are a rip off.

[mezmir]

I was thinking of getting a new video card as well, but after reading this, it seems my old Geforce GTS 250 will do fine. I am now curious about a new processor though...

Right now I have a >2 GHz Quad Core, but I read that WoW only uses two cores anyway. Would I be better off going with an i7?

I7 is pretty bawss, since it scales to how many cores you are using, and then overclocks those cores.

[Melzar]

To those saying 4xx series, I would only get a 460 1gb otherwise i would go ATI, pretty much same power but it wont roast your computer nor cost $600, hell just wait for the 68xx by ATI coming soon which will rape everything

[Vandrel]

To those saying 4xx series, I would only get a 460 1gb otherwise i would go ATI, pretty much same power but it wont roast your computer nor cost $600, hell just wait for the 68xx by ATI coming soon which will rape everything

While this is (hopefully) true about the 68xx series, and I'll hopefully be getting one myself, another great option people tend to overlook is going with a previous generation card after the new ones come out. When the 6800s do hit the market, the 5800s will drop way down in price while still giving great performance for those on a budget. The same is usually true for nVidia cards too, although I have had less than stellar experience with them. I know others like them though, it comes down to personal preference.

[Nethersys]

ah maybe you will find required info here ... http://wow.joystiq.com/2010/09/07/gu...for-cataclysm/

[Agitate]

I had a little chuckle reading this as I am also looking forward to getting a new graphics card this weekend.

I can say first hand that there must be some truth to the CPU>GPU argument as my graphics card stopped working and was taken out of my computer 4 or so months ago and in that time I've been raiding ICC and levelling multiple alts through the LFG without TOO much hassle (as long as you dont mind what looks like purple snow randomly appearing on the horizon :P)

The only real trouble I've had is heroic Marrowgar... I see a full bonestorm in maybe 2 or 3 frames max! Hasn't stopped me yet though!

I'm currently running a duel core with 4g of ram if thats of interest to anyone wanting to experiment..

[Squirreludecker]

As for a GPU I would get right now, nothing beats the Gtx460 for price/performance, you can get one for as low as $160 and it will play WoW on ultra minus maxing shadows.

Why Wouldnt it run wow with max shadows? my BFG nvidia gts 8800 runs wow great at ultra graphics and max shadows (consistently above 60fps even in particle heavy environments such as dalaran or raids) so obviously the 460 should have no problem.

[Arlor]

On the monitor size front, keep in mind that very few monitors smaller than 24" support true HD (1920x1080 or 1920x1200). Personally, I think it's worth it to see Blu-Ray in its native resolution. But then I don't have a gigantic home theater system. 1920x1080 is also nice when you're working with documents; it's a big step up from 1680x1050 in terms of having documents be legible when you're looking at two or three pages at once.

Of course you'll need a bit more video card to power it. I've been very happy with my Radeon 5850, which you can currently get for $260. In Wrath, I can run in 1920x1080 with full AA/AF, everything on ultra, and great frame rates. Cata probably won't change that much, since the card is already DX11 compatible.

[Ldygaga]

Hello, since this seems to be getting much valid support from what I can see I would like to ask a question of my own here without creating another threat
My video card I feel is not up to date and unable to overclock using rivatuner, it will freak out. It is a fairly new computer aswell. However, I did notice every seems to say CPU > GPU so I went a ahead and bought a computer with a somewhat decent CPU, however it still seems to not handle WoW on full setting as I was hoping on achieving. I'm asking to get advice on what to get from someone who does know a bit more in depth of my situation and get a recommendation here are my current specs

OPERATING SYSTEM:
Windows 2.6.0.6002 (Service Pack 2)
CPU TYPE:
Intel® Core™ i7 CPU 920 @ 2.67GHz
CPU SPEED (GHZ):
2.68
SYSTEM MEMORY (GB):
5.99
VIDEO CARD MODEL:
NVIDIA GeForce GTS 240
VIDEO CARD DRIVER:
nvd3dum.dll
DESKTOP RESOLUTION:
1600x900

With that being said I remind you with full settings on Ultra in a less crowded area my fps sinks to 18 and under 10 in-combat, any analysis? Should I get a new Video Card since it seems that it is the least valued part of my computer?

[Vandrel]

Why Wouldnt it run wow with max shadows? my BFG nvidia gts 8800 runs wow great at ultra graphics and max shadows (consistently above 60fps even in particle heavy environments such as dalaran or raids) so obviously the 460 should have no problem.

It depends greatly on resolution too, which you failed to mention in that post.

[Direshadow]

If you want to take full advantage of the Direct X 11 settings you'll need a Direct X 11 ready card. I personally bought a GeForce 460 specifically for Cataclysm, but also for some other games coming out soon.

[Squirreludecker]

I'm sorry, but this is for the most part simply not true. A low end CPU will bottleneck your system far easier than a low end GPU will with WoW.
Edit: Oh, and the bit about 90% of PCs from the last 10 years having dual cores is completely wrong too. It was only 5 years ago that they began with the Pentium Ds. They had some meant for servers and the like before that, but those are hardly main stream hardware.

the above is factually incorrect. almost all desktop PC's moved to dual core processors earlier than just 5 years ago. remember the Pentium D/Core Duo/Athlon X2, etc
Laptops moved to dual core around 5-6 years ago. Desktops much earlier than that. and it was only recently when laptops started overtaking desktops in sales

[Electromatt]

This is funny, I just bought a gtx 650, but I dont plan on playing wow only. Plus I wanted to get something that could play the games that come out in the next couple of years.

I need to upgrade my cpu, E6750 is kinda meh now. Going with an i7 once I pay my bills for this month. I think I built a pretty beastly machine on newegg for only ~$1200.

Disk read speed also helps. If you can afford, ssd's are nice options. If you cant get 2 raptors in raid 0. It'll also help if you plan on using fraps. Dont write to the ssd with fraps though.

[Squirreludecker]

It depends greatly on resolution too, which you failed to mention in that post.

i run in 1920x1080 Windowed Maximized mode

[Deceit]

Hello, since this seems to be getting much valid support from what I can see I would like to ask a question of my own here without creating another threat
My video card I feel is not up to date and unable to overclock using rivatuner, it will freak out. It is a fairly new computer aswell. However, I did notice every seems to say CPU > GPU so I went a ahead and bought a computer with a somewhat decent CPU, however it still seems to not handle WoW on full setting as I was hoping on achieving. I'm asking to get advice on what to get from someone who does know a bit more in depth of my situation and get a recommendation here are my current specs

OPERATING SYSTEM:
Windows 2.6.0.6002 (Service Pack 2)
CPU TYPE:
Intel® Core™ i7 CPU 920 @ 2.67GHz
CPU SPEED (GHZ):
2.68
SYSTEM MEMORY (GB):
5.99
VIDEO CARD MODEL:
NVIDIA GeForce GTS 240
VIDEO CARD DRIVER:
nvd3dum.dll
DESKTOP RESOLUTION:
1600x900

With that being said I remind you with full settings on Ultra in a less crowded area my fps sinks to 18 and under 10 in-combat, any analysis? Should I get a new Video Card since it seems that it is the least valued part of my computer?

This is why GPU upgrades will result in a much greater increase in performance.

Your GPU is very poor, but your CPU is very good, which means your limited by your GPU's performance.

You would see an incredible increase in fps by installing a gtx460, it's around $160.

[Ldygaga]

This is why GPU upgrades will result in a much greater increase in performance.

Your GPU is very poor, but your CPU is very good, which means your limited by your GPU's performance.

You would see an incredible increase in fps by installing a gtx460, it's around $160.

thank you so much for your input!
EDIT: i was considering the GeForce GTS 450 is that also ok or nay?

[Vandrel]

the above is factually incorrect. almost all desktop PC's moved to dual core processors earlier than just 5 years ago. remember the Pentium D/Core Duo/Athlon X2, etc
Laptops moved to dual core around 5-6 years ago. Desktops much earlier than that. and it was only recently when laptops started overtaking desktops in sales

Actually, I'm sorry but you're wrong. The desktop Pentium D first came out in 2005. so yes, it was only 5 years ago that dual cores became popular in desktops.

Edit: Deceit, you generalize too much. In his particular case, yes a gpu upgrade will serve him best. Thats not always the case, especially if they already have a decent gpu.