A Carrot-on-a-Stick for your PC
by Mike Schramm 
Sep 20th 2007 at 1:00PM
Lev over on WoW Ladies is bummed because her computer plays WoW so slowly. Well, we here at WoW Insider are nothing if not helpful, so here's some help! While WoW is definitely a pretty forgiving PC game (unlike, say, Bioshock or the upcoming Crysis, which will make slightly older computers drop into a fetal position while sobbing), there are still a few simple things, some free, some not, that you can do to speed up your computer a bit. (Note: Most of these tips are for Windows only, although with a little Google searching, some of them can be adapted for Macs as well).- Cleanliness is next to ownage: Nobody likes a mess, and your computer doesn't either. If your hard drive is extremely full (as in less than a few hundred megabytes free space), big programs like WoW won't have the space they need to stretch out. So make some space by uninstalling programs you don't use any more, and then run a defrag program to reorganize and refresh your hard drive.
- Slam that spam: Another thing that makes your computer run slow is viruses and spam programs that run in the background and are a pain to get rid of. If you haven't done so in a while, have your virus checker do a complete system check and delete any nasties that show up, and then download both AdAware and Spybot S&D, and run a full check using both of those. It may take up to an hour or so, but it'll be worth it.
- Needs more RAM! One of the easiest (and cheapest) ways to make your computer run faster is to put more RAM (Random Access Memory) in it. It'll take a little bit of research on your part (to find out what type of RAM your computer's Motherboard uses), but RAM is cheaper all the time, and installation is a snap-- literally.
- Videocardorama: But while RAM will lower your loading times, the only way to speed up 3D performance in WoW is to get a better videocard. The good news is that they're just as easy to install, but the bad news is that a nice videocard will be fairly expensive, depending on what you're upgrading from-- if you're playing on an old integrated video card that Dell installed, you could get a nice upgrade for as cheap as $100. One thing I do is keep an eye on sites like Techbargains-- when a good deal on a newer card rolls past, nab it up.
Filed under: Analysis / Opinion, Tips, Tricks, Odds and ends
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Lykaon Sep 20th 2007 1:14PM
I don't have a problem with WoW running slowly, but I've been having a horrible problem with load times.
Not only does it take a LONG time to load up a city, I also don't see any characters forever. Instead, I just see shadows on the ground for a while.
Any idea what causes this? I have 10k RPM hard drives, 2GB RAM, GeForce 7300 which usually nets me 60 fps when the game finally loads.
What's slowing me down?!
Mike Schramm Sep 20th 2007 1:29PM
Sounds like a slow or blocked net connection to me, Lykaon. Have any firewalls slowing you down? Do a search for World of Warcraft network ports, and make sure those are open.
Dan B. Sep 20th 2007 1:21PM
You're describing an issue with lag/latency. What type of internet connection do you have?
Assuming you're on cable/dsl/whatever, are you connecting through a router? Have you tried to open the ports Blizzard suggests opening? Have you tried connecting directly to your modem, without a router? Are you connecting wirelessly, and have you tried connecting via ethernet instead?
Not specifically on WoW, but I've seen plenty of issues with slow/slow to respond internet access due to router issues - either a misconfiguration, or just a bad router.
Dagron Sep 20th 2007 1:31PM
@Lykaon
Also, the more addons you run, the longer it takes to load. So, if you're running a plethora of addons, might consider cutting back to only the ones you use most often.
Urofseron Sep 20th 2007 1:31PM
I was running around 30fps with 2x 6600GTS's running in SLI mode. In a raid environment it would drop considerably.
I just upgraded to 2 x 8800 GTS's about a month ago. With the correct video settings I now am pulling 125 - 150fps on average in raids, and up to 280fps in normal gameplay.
I do have to agree with # 1 somewhat about the load times. I am on a 10mg cable line and it still takes a long time to load, and will sometimes not see my (or others) chars for a good 10 secs or so.
Bobbo Sep 20th 2007 1:33PM
Long load times can also be based on having a large number of add-ons, especially those that have big memory footprints and lots of assorted goodies to bring up.
Krick Sep 20th 2007 1:35PM
If you have an older computer (with an AGP slot) and you're looking for a video upgrade for WoW, I totally recommend the card that I'm currently using. It's fanless so it's totally silent which is a HUGE bonus in my book...
GIGABYTE GV-N76G256D-RH GeForce 7600GS 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 AGP 8X Video Card - Retail - $88.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814125039
...
Krick
http://www.tankadin.com
Arturis Sep 20th 2007 1:36PM
A little note for those of you considering to upgrade to a new nVidia card - The model numbers have meaning. The first digit (the "thousands place" if you will) is the chip generation. The rest of the model is what the card is designed for. Basically, the lower the number, the less features the card has and the less performance you are going to get out of it. x600 or above is suggested for gaming.
Now, the only *major* difference between the current 8xxx generation cards and the 7xxx cards is DirectX10 compatibility, and that can only be taken advantage of via Windows Vista and games designed to make use of it (which WoW is not). So if you don't have any plans of upgrading to Vista in the next few years, you are much better off getting a last generation 7900 card then a new generation 8600. The performance of the newer card wont be different enough to make the extra cost worthwhile, and its going to take a few years before we start seeing enough DirectX10 required games to make the 8xxx generation and beyond mandatory.
Of course, this is only nVidia stuff - I don't know how the numbering system works for ATI as I personally am not a big fan of their products. (to each thier own, as they say)
Matt Sep 20th 2007 1:48PM
I have a
AMD 64 Athlon 3500+
2.19 GHZ 896 MB of RAM.
How outdated is this? ANd could anyone help me with telling me what kind of RAM I need to upgrade?
Alex Sep 20th 2007 1:51PM
@8:
ATI versioning system:
ATI card also use the xxxx system.
The 1xxx series is comparable in performance to the nVidia 7xxx series and the 2xxx series is comparable to the nVidia 8xxx series (the 2xxx series directx 10 compatible).
However, somewhat confusingly, the ATI 8xxx and 9xxx series are older than the ATI 1xxx and 2xxx series and do not perform as well.
Anything from a nVidia 7300 up or a ATI x1300 up should be able to run WoW decently (50+fps). If you want the top of the line, currently the 2900 XT is the best card offered by ATI and the 8800 Ultra is the best card offered by nVidia (the 8800 Ultra performs better than the 2900 XT, though it costs a couple hundred dollars extra). As the poster above me said, getting the ATI 2xxx or nVidia 8xxx series is not worth it unless you need directx 10 support (very few games right now use it, though many more will in the future). A nVidia 7900 or an ATI 1900 will probably cost less than an nVidia 8600 or ATI 2600 and will probably perform better.
Bravo Sep 20th 2007 1:58PM
#9 while that's an older configuration, WoW's an old game.. you don't need the latest and greatest.. I have something slower with a nvida 6800 and I'm fine... as for ram your you'd have to double check with your mother board maker, but I'd susspect it uses 184-pin DDR400 ram
Evocables Sep 26th 2007 6:47PM
I just installed a new ATI X1300 and I am getting framerates as low as 3.9. Sometimes it spikes up to 7.1 out in the country with no action happening. There must be something wrong with the configuration.
Baluki Sep 20th 2007 2:38PM
Well, getting a better vid card isn't the ONLY way to get better performance (from a hardware perspective). My previous computer didn't run very well, but it had a pretty good vid card. My problem was that my processor was too slow. Unfortunately, it's a lot harder to upgrade your processor.
One of the nice things about Vista is that it gives you a Windows Experience Index number, which is basically a simplified way to see how good your system is for games (and other applications, I suppose). And new games will show you what the recommended WEI score is. It also shows you where you're lacking, so you know exactly what to upgrade. My WEI is 4.7, but I can get it up to 5.1 if I get some more RAM.
Granted, I'd probably have slightly better framerates if I just switched back to XP, but that's the cost of progress.
KateJaneway Sep 20th 2007 2:39PM
I do Tech Support, this is my domain, mwa ha ha!
For PCs as well, you can get your active processes on your computer down to 20-30, this will increase your processing power by a bit. Hitting ctrl-alt-del, and going to processes, all the ones under your username are the ones you can mess around with. Also watch for startup items (and quicktime or itunes or ipod updates and things).
For macs, defragging isn't built in, but you can get a great program called Disk Warrior to defrag all your hard drives. I try to use this often and it makes my mac very happy.
Also keep an eye on your active processes, there is a tool in the utilites folder called Activity Monitor, and that will let you see what your computer is doing. If you don't know what a process is, google it.
Also, keep an eye on the active widgets you have up on dashboard, these can also take up considerable processor space when updating.
Lastly, for both windows and PC users, turn bluetooth discoverability mode off! Don't turn your bluetooth features on at all, unless you're planning on connecting to a bluetooth device.
Rob Sep 20th 2007 6:06PM
My spec is a athelon 3200, GeForce 6600GT, 1.5 gig of RAM. Game runs fine, usually 40-60 fps, latency is low 100s. Even with wife playing alongside, latency is still great.
I think some huge points are missing, to the guy who's running the SLI, something is wrong. Probably the game doesn't support SLI or something, but you at least should be getting 60 fps.
Further, look at all the crap you have loaded in windows. Antiviral like nortons will suck done at least 30% of your computer's speed, in terms of hard drive access and overall program running speed. Get a good antiviral program like Kaspersky or NOD, they are very good, low overhead programs. Further, don't use winxp32, win vista; these OSs are plagued by viruses. Simply by switching the OS to x64 to me has been a huge savings, viral attacks are almost non-existent.
Fireflash38 Sep 20th 2007 2:40PM
I run WoW on a Tablet PC (HP Compaq tc4200) with only 2Ghz processor, 1GB of RAM, and 128MB Video Card RAM. When raiding, I get about 10 fps, and depending on the area I am in, about 15 soloing. However, I also run a lot of addons:
Bongos
Auctioneer
Perl Unit Frames
Fubar
Recount
Omen
Dr. Damage
Mik's SCT
Cartographer
Atlas (Loot)
I am sure if I disabled most of these i would get much higher FPS, but around 10 fps is fine for playing.
Sojourner Sep 20th 2007 2:48PM
Here's a question I have though. I've recently come into possesion of an Optiplex 210L and inside it has more RAM then my current computer as well as a PCIe X1 slot. Now I've noticed there aren't many cards for the x1 slot but is there something optimal to go with for that slot? Is it possible to expand the slot to x4, x8 or x16? I'm still a bit of a novice in the area of newer graphic technology and am now trying to catch up. Any help would be apperciated.
Axela Sep 20th 2007 3:02PM
Tom's Hardware is the best site I've found for discussion about the best bang for the buck in terms of any upgrade you're planning for your computer. Especially video cards. Every month they do an article benchmarking all the video cards by price category and name tell you where the bargains are at. Video card prices can go up and down month to month and it's something to monitor very closely. It's important to note if your motherboard has the old AGP or the newer PCI express slot for the video card. Here is the link for the September reviews.
http://www.tomshardware.com/2007/09/05/the_best_gaming_video_cards_for_the_money/
Zamboni Sep 20th 2007 3:19PM
@15:
There is a video card that will fit in an x1 slot, but it's not a gaming card (it's also hideously expensive). Most PCIe cards will use at least an x8 slot (an x16 is nice, but offers minimal improvements). The x1 slots are largely useless for now except for a few niche cards.
For the 210L, your video upgrades are limited to old-school PCI cards. nVidia makes some 5200 and 5500 cards that will fit in those slots that will be much faster than the onboard video. (The 210 is a business workstation and lacks most upgrade options. You may be better off getting a new motherboard and a cheap case and cannibilizing the 210 for parts to build something with some usable slots.)
Keysdawg Sep 20th 2007 3:45PM
A little known fact is that the fan around your Heatsink over your computers processor chip (the biggest one on your motherboard usually) is full of dust. This will cause your processor to run hotter and the fan to not cool as efficiently. This will reduce your FPS to a crawl with some areas (like raid instances, high traffic areas in Shatt, IF, SW, Org, UC).
Easy solution to it, buy a can of compressed air from your office supply store and very carefully spray out your fan and heatsink (while the computer is OFF). You would be surprised how many people think the fan is clean when it's clogged with dust and dirt.