Tom's Hardware > Forum > Graphic & Displays > Graphics Cards > The Best Graphics Card for World of Warcraft?

The Best Graphics Card for World of Warcraft?

Forum Graphic & Displays : Graphics Cards - The Best Graphics Card for World of Warcraft?

Tom's Hardware: Over 1.4 million members in 6 different countries available to answer all your high-tech questions. Sign up now! Its free!

Ask the community Add a reply

Bottom Search this thread

Continuing this thread (which I closed to prevent necro), what is the best card to run World of Warcraft, the latest version, all expansions installed?

I never bothered playing WoW, because it's an addicting drug that will turn my life into living hell (or so my WoW-manic friends report). So I'm relying on the benchmarks here to start of a new conversation. Looks like the GTX 260 does a great job even at higher resolutions? Then again, it is the most expensive card in the benchmark's line-up.

Message quoted 2 times

Add a reply

r_manic wrote :

Take a look here: WoW benchmarks.

Reply to khelben1979

I wrote an entire post without reading properly! Going to re-post something more informational hopefully..

Message edited by Kithzaru on 08-13-2009 at 06:33:43 PM

Reply to Kithzaru

r_manic wrote :

WoW relies a lot on the CPU. Prior to WotlK you could max out WoW with a 7600GT/8600GT and a solid dual core CPU. With the new shadows that are rather graphic intensive a 9800GT can run WoW at solid FPS and shadows at mid level.

With Shadows maxed out (barely noticeable from mid-level) a GTS 250 will run it at solid FPS.

FYI, listen to your friends and if you do play WoW don't join a raiding guild :na:

------------------------------ Recipient of multi-best answer awards and $3 power ball winner!!
Reply to ct1615

Based on the OP....

I would agree with other posts that you would really want to upgrade your PSU first. Now, without knowing the dimensions of the case (hopefully someone with more experience with your specific computer will reply) you could look at this PSU..

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139008
39.99 after MIR

As far as actual performance goes, my understanding with WoW is that it is far more CPU and RAM intense than GPU intense. So you really shouldn't need to spend a lot of money on the GPU and still get decent results.

I wouldn't really recommend going with a 9600gt because for only a little bit more you could get a much better GPU. However, to give you an idea..
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814121318
69.99 after MIR

If you want to swing into the ATI court, then the 4770 or the 4850 is a good choice. I would have to recommend the 4850 over the 4770 though. The 4770 is an amazing GPU, but the 4850 is slightly more powerful and slightly cheaper
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814102824
$96.99

If you want to spend a little more and get something which will run a bit better then the gts250 is a good way to go.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814143191
$119 after mir

The 4870 and the GTX260 yes will run WoW better and yes will run anything better, they do tend to be a but more pricey. (yes, i know the 4870's are having some awesome deals, but this is just in general).

I think to play WoW a 4870 or a GTX260 would be a bit overkill. Also, i don't know if that PSU i recommended would be able to handle that high of a card.

You may also want to look into maxing the RAM in the machine, especially if you multitask a bit.

Reply to Kithzaru

yeah WoW is so addicting its dangerous. I think some guy in Korea/China died from playing it too long. like ct said, listen to your friends

Reply to uncfan_2563

WoW is more Nvidia friendly at the moment - a good midrange card like a GTX 260 is more than enough. A GTS 250 would be fine as well.

Reply to jeffredo

Like most have already said a $100 Radeon 4850 will smoke this game. Just make sure you have at least 2Gb of RAM under XP and 3GB of RAM under Vista. The CPU needs to be at least a mid lev. Core 2 Duo or Phenom which you can get for under $100.

Let me put it another way. My rig is as follows and the () are Newegg prices. Some of my stuff is no loner sold so I looked for the closest part.

Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-P35 (P45=$100)
Intel Quad Q6600: (Q8200=$150)
2GB DDR21066 OCZ: (Hyper-X=$37)
Asus Radeon 4850 512MB: (Saphire=$95)
Mushkin 550watt Modular: ($60.00, Yeah $60 and I have never had one fail!)

With this rig under XP I am able to convert 2 to 6 hours worth of movies to Divx and play WoW at 1920x1080 and everything turned all the way up and I get zero lag. Worry about lag issues when playing Far Cry 2, Fear 2, Bio Shock all on Vista.

Just got a surprize when getting these prices. Newegg has the 4870 for $135, the 4890 1Gb for $190, and for you Nvidia lovers the GTX275 is $210

I just purchased a HIS 4890 1Gb anyone looking to buy a Asus 4850?

Reply to Woody6977

Here's some other benchmarks, they also point to Nvidia as being very capable in WoW. The GTS250 1GB looks like a good budget card.
http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/v [...] html#sect0

oops, sorry these are already posted.

Message edited by dirtmountain on 08-22-2009 at 07:10:43 AM

Reply to dirtmountain

I've got a Phenom II 720 @ 3.4 GHz, 4GB DDR2-800, and an EVGA GTX-260 (192). I play WoW (among other games) on a 27" 1920x1080 screen. I have the graphics set to 'ultra' (even shadows), AA to x8, and I get a uniform 60 fps just about everywhere. Occasionally in 'weather (rain, etc.) I will see a drop to 45 fps or so. If I drop the AA to x4, 60 fps solid, regardless.

Unless you're really, really on a budget, I'd suggest you go with at least a GTX 260. You'll be able to play most any game out there with some nice settings, and you'll never have to worry about your card being the laggard in WoW.

Reply to neoanderthal

Ask the community Add a reply

Tom's Hardware > Forum > Graphic & Displays > Graphics Cards > The Best Graphics Card for World of Warcraft?

Go to:

Help |
Forum rules

There are 647 identified and unidentified users. To see the list of identified users, Click here.

Page generated in 0.442 seconds

Focus On

The Best Graphics Card for World of Warcraft?

Forum Graphic & Displays : Graphics Cards - The Best Graphics Card for World of Warcraft?