Macro(s) for huge fps jump in WoW

[TheRealMethuselah]

I posted this in another thread but I thought it would be better as it's own topic.

I have an older laptop that I play WoW with and I needed to get some better fps, especially with the WoTLK expansion so... for a big jump in FPS, even after low settings in Video effects, try making 3 macros with:

GFX1

/console ffx 0
/console hwPCF 1
/console shadowlod 0
/console timingmethod 1
/console showshadow 0
/console showfootprints 0
/console showfootprintparticles 0

GFX2

/console overridefarclip 0
/console farclip 177
/console horizonfarclip 1305
/console detailDoodadAlpha 0
/console groundeffectdensity 16

GFX3

/console groundeffectdist 1
/console smallcull 1
/console skycloudlod 1
/console characterAmbient 1
/console extshadowquality 0
/console environmentDetail 0.5

If you have a dual-core processor add this to the first macro.

/console m2Faster 1

Tri-core

/console m2Faster 2

Quad-core

/console m2Faster 3

Then click them in sequence... Hope it helps a little... I know it helps me. I jumped from 15-18 fps to 38-46 fps.

EDIT 1: Open notepad.exe and type

If you have Windows XP:

@echo off
cd /d "C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft"
start /high WoW.exe

If you have Windows Vista or 7:

@echo off
cd /d "C:\Users\Public\Games\World of Warcraft"
start /high WoW.exe

Then save this file as WoW.bat and use it to start WoW... you can make a shortcut from this file and change it's icon if you want it to look like your original... but this will start WoW with a high priority on your CPU.

EDIT 2: I've also seen an increase in fps when using GameBooster (Freeware).

EDIT 3: If you're running VISTA
http://www.mmo-champion.com/index.ph...2676#msg872676

EDIT 4: AMD has a program that works like GameBooster but stops a few more services... but not all of them, so use it in conjunction with GB. http://game.amd.com/us-en/drivers_fusion.aspx?p=1

EDIT 5: I found this program called GameOS, it's a shell replacement for Windows. After I set it as my default shell and restarted, it was an incredible performance boost from 5-7 fps.

MajorGeeks.com/GameOS_d4315.html


EDIT 6: Use Readyboost (it's built into Windows Vista and 7) and if you are using Windows XP you can use Eboostr it works pretty much the same way... just remember when using Vista or Windows XP you can only use up to a 4GB drive... in Windows 7 you can use much larger drives as long as they are formatted with exFAT. I suggest a Cruzer Micro http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000UZN2ZK

EDIT 7: For Systems with over 4GB of RAM (this includes video memory too), make sure you are running a 64-bit operating system... the release candidate of Windows 7 x64 can be downloaded free at http://www.microsoft.com/windows/win.../download.aspx

[MrExcelion]

Couple questions from a console newbie:

Will the slider be able to override these settings after you perform these commands? (such as if I wanted to revert back)

Also, is this FPS increase you mentioned in Dalaran (or perhaps raiding)? Or was it in a non-crowded area?

Thanks!

[Cynadra]

What if I have an i7? O.O (Technically an 8 core)

[LouieBaLLz]

any1 else test this and does it work?

[jpillz]

What if I have an i7? O.O (Technically an 8 core)

I would guess it would be

/console m2Faster 7

Only because dual was 1, tri was 2, and quad was 3, but I wouldn't take my word for it if i were you, it was only a guess.

[Bus]

What if I have an i7? O.O (Technically an 8 core)

Then i doubt you have a fps issue

[seniorgarcia]

What if I have an i7? O.O (Technically an 8 core)

Then you should have no reason to use any of these commands.
But since your comment suggest that you have no clue about your hardware maybe you should try it.

i7 are Quadcore cpus and 8x hyperthreading is a marketing buzzword and doesnt really contribute to the performance increase on the i7.

The above macros do work, because most of them disable features of the graphics engine, which even if you put the sliders to the far left would have been used. Your mileage on the fps increase may vary.

The only lines i', not sure about are:
/console ffx 0
/console hwPCF 1
/console timingmethod 1

hwPCF appears to change the way shadows are handled.
ffx 0 disables pixelshaders (taken from wowwiki).
What the timingmethod line does, i have no idea.

EDIT
timingmethod appears to change the method to sync up multicore cpus, the default value is 0. Switching to 1 or 2 might help if you use a multicore cpu.

[Deleted]

Moving to the macro & UI section & stickying.

[Instant]

We have to know what these macros actually do... and how to revert it back if we dont like it

[wollymole]

wow, that really helps.
I was going from about 11fps, but with the macro 20-25fps
looks way better then it did before.
Game looks way better now thanks.

[xshugox]

Works well and everything, but it kind of makes my WoW a little buggy, please explain how to revert it back. (I'm sure its just my computer, it probably works really well for everyone else.)

EDIT: Looks like if you delete your config.wtf file in your WTF folder, it will revert the game's settings back to default but will preserve your macros.

[Tenuras]

very n1 man, thanks, got from 10-15 to 40+, even in dalaraan

[Finalmaster]

ok so i tried these macros and they did work my FPS went up by about 15 but everything looked terrible, ofcourse if your struggling to play on a laptop etc these macros would be great but it wasnt that great for me

Anyway i was trying to find a way to reset waiting for the poster to reply with a fix but i ended up working it out myself what i did was put "default" in place of all the number variables in the macro eg

/console ffx default
/console hwPCF default
/console shadowlod default
/console timingmethod default
/console showshadow default
/console showfootprints default
/console showfootprintparticles default

i was surprised that it worked but it did hope it helps

[Lastbreath]

Every1 is asking to revert process back...so why dont u try make a back up copy of config.wtf file from your WTF folder and put it on other place try the macros u dont like it copy back ure config.wtf file jobs done and notting missing or done bad. If u ask me u should always make a back up copy of whole WTF folder...for addons setting game settings to store back...

[Chimpzilla]

EDIT: Looks like if you delete your config.wtf file in your WTF folder, it will revert the game's settings back to default but will preserve your macros.

Macros are now saved server side, deleting your WTF if you have several mods installed could be problematic if you aren't too keen on fixing them to your liking. My suggestion for anyone trying out these macros would be to make a copy of your WTF before trying them. If they help you bravo. If not just swap your old WTF back in.

[TheRealMethuselah]

The sliders will override the macros once you restart the game. No m2Faster 7 will not work for 8 core processors 3 is the highest number for some reason.

/console timingmethod 1

emulates the old "Start Windows Media Player" before WoW.

/console timingmethod 2

is kinda like the above, but works better for multi-processor systems.

The official word from Blizzard is.

They’re different timing modes for the game that will do different things depending on how your mutlicore processor behaves. This command was first introduced in 2.0.3. timingmethod 1 is generally for systems where the cores do not synchronize. You might run into issues like your framerate caps at 64 instead of your vsync value. timingmethod 2 is a higher resolution timing method and you won’t hit the cap with that.

From what I understand, 2 can do that if your computer spends too much time thinking. It basically tells the game that it can think more often than being constrained by a time limit. You might experience similar behaviors with timingmethod 1 with a media program up, such as Windows Media Player. Those programs change the timing systemwide while they’re running.

m2Faster - Adds additional threads used in rendering models on screen (0 no additon threads, 1 - 3 adds additional threads)

ffx - Global Shader Control (0 disables all on screen effects, 1 enables them)

SOME ADDITIONAL GRAPHICS COMMANDS
ffxRectangle - Renders effects on a rectangle based polygon (0 for Off, 1 for On)
ffxGlow - Bloom/Screen Glow and Underwater Wave effect (0 for Off, 1 for On)
ffxDeath - Death World Screen Glow, Greyish Blue (0 for Off, 1 for On)
ffxNetherworld - Mage Invis Spell Effect (0 for Off, 1 for On)
ffxSpecial - Borean Tundra or DK Starter Area Eye Haze (0 for Off, 1 for On)



fixedfunction - This forces the pixel shares in the game to run on the 1.1 path. (1 for FF Shaders, 0 for Programable Shaders)

hwPCF - Enables a more efficient method for rendering extShadow effects. (0 for Off, 1 for On)


AND on a side-note, for those who have a REALLY high-end machine, here's two macros that'll bump the graphics up.

/console overridefarclip 1
/console farclip 1600
/console horizonfarclip 6226
/console groundeffectdensity 256
/console groundeffectdist 140
/console smallcull 0

/console skycloudlod 3
/console characterAmbient
/console extshadowquality 4
/console environmentDetail 2

You can also use the m2Faster etc to speed things up as well.

[miLl3niUm]

Does this affect graphics?

[TheRealMethuselah]

That's what it's for.

[HellBurn]

What if I have an i7? O.O (Technically an 8 core)

If you have an 8core i doubt you will need this ^^

[smee]

Every1 is asking to revert process back...a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z

I gave up trying to understand what you were trying to say there.