Setup for World of Warcraft

K

Kerbouchard24

New Member
Since I basically know nothing about motherboard or video card specs or what they mean I need some help. I've tried playing WOW for a couple weeks now and the game seems to "freeze" every few minutes. It doesn't lock up completely but, lets say I'm in the middle of a fight. All animations will just stop. I can't attack or use skills but I can move around. A few seconds to a couple minutes later the screen fills with damage points and I may be alive or dead. Same thing happens when looting, using the Auction house or simply walking.

I've set all my video settings to the lowest, closed all background processes I can and even changed my wireless card. I did play on my brothers laptop and it ran smooth without a single problem on the same network. So I think I've narrowed it to the video card and/or RAM.

This is what I have.

Asus M2N68-AM SE2
integrated nVIDIA GeForce 7025 512 MB
AMD Athlon 64 Dual Core 5200+ 2.71 GHz
896MB RAM

I'm guessing the video card is the main problem but I have no idea what I need to run WOW smoothly or even what works with my motherboard. All I know is there is an open PCIEX16 slot. I've seen PCI video cards but I have no idea what to buy. I'm not looking for max graphics. I'd like to run around medium settings if possible and not pay a fortune.

Thanks
 
Last edited:
WoW actually has pretty low standards to run it (so as many people as possible can play) you should be fine with a new GPU and possibly more RAM. If all you're interested in is playing WoW pick up a 9800GT new for around $100 or even something used in our for sale section. You wont need to spend much money on a new video card for it. Here's a list of supported cards http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?locale=en_US&articleId=21085

Some of those cards are so old they aren't even around anymore, you could probably get away with spending around $50 and be able to play fine.

Minimum requirements:
- Intel Pentium 4 1.3 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 1500+
- 512 MB or more of RAM (Vista requires 1 GB or more of RAM)
- 3D graphics processor with Hardware Transform and Lighting with 32 MB VRAM, such as an ATI Radeon 7200 or NVIDIA GeForce 2 class card or better
- DirectX® 9.0c (included) and latest video drivers
- DirectX-compatible sound card or motherboard sound capability
- 15.0 GB available HD space
- 4 x CD-ROM drive
- DVD-ROM drive for DVD version (Downloadable Installer also available)
- Broadband Internet connection
- For voice chat, an SSE enabled CPU is required.
 
Last edited:
I don't remember the processor or motherboard when I last had the computer but I was using a 9600 All In Wonder and I could play a lot of games on higher settings like CS Source and Guild Wars.
 
Well one thing to remember is with the new Gaming Engine nicknamed POS (piece of sheep) has leaks on resources.

GPU = max settings 8600GT or better (I max all but distance on a 256mb 7600GT on my old mans system)
The most important feature is the CPU...I found 2.6ghz+ is good for 30+ frames + most settings on high. To fully max I found 3.0ghz to be divine on resolutions on or above 1680x1050.
Another thing is DISABLE SHADOWS its the largest leak of resources for most dual-core systems. They might have fixed it but I highly doubt it.


This is just what I found from personal experience from playing it on my rig in my sig down to my grandparents system. My entire family are WoW addicts.
 
Last edited:
Kerbouchard24 said:
Is this the one?

http://www.newegg.com/product/product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150323

I saw different versions but this one is in stock.
Click to expand...
Yep, it's the same as about any other 9800GT, just looks vary between manufacturers. I'd typically stay away from XFX but they do make good GPUs, the last few cards i've had were made by XFX and I have zero complaints and never had any problems.

The rest of your system will hold you back a bit, but you should get some pretty good settings out of it, at least what you said you're looking to get.
 
It may be your internet connection. I remember when I suddenly got dc from the net I could still move around and stuff, but I couldn't interact with anything
 
it is all well and good saying "get a new video card", but what power supply are you on? Even a low end card will create a massive drain compared to just integrated.

what power supply do you have? (if you don't know, pop the side off your case and type what is on the label)

I know people that play WoW on lower specs than yours, except for the video card. That is deffinately what is holding you back. If you just play WoW then an 8600gt will be enough for you, but if your power suply can't handle a video card you are going to have to get a new PSU too.

If you can still move though, that is most often due to your internet or the server you are on
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top