Will my computer handle World of Warcraft?

[Kojiro]

There are different types of lag in Warcraft, different types are caused by different things in the chain (client, connection, server). The game is only as strong as the weakest link so you could have the best machine in the world, they could have all the server farms they want, but if you're playing over a dial-up, you are going to lag!

With the minimum spec you will find that the screen does not refresh fast enough. But your character will still be active in the virtual world - so if your computer lags when you're in a battle, by the time it catches up you will probably be dead. Similarly, if your machine lags when you are running, it is likely that you'll keep running while your machine catches up - you can spend an amusing 10 minutes in Ironforge watching people walk into the trench outside the auction house because they are suffering lag! :evil:

I suggest you look round the WoW support forums at www.wow-europe.com - the tech support forum has some things to try to reduce lag.

But the bottom line is, lag will spoil your game because it makes battles unplayable, and most of WoW is battles!

Yeah i agree with spangle. You don't always have lag because of you. You can have lag because of the server is running slow due to a huge amount of players.

 

[Molson316]

I've been playing WOW now for about 2 weeks, and I'm using 256RAM. That is the recommend requirement, but I suggest more. Outside of cities and stuff, the game runs pretty smooth, but once you enter a city or are in the middle of a raid, the game gets laggy big time. A lot of ppl suggest a gig of ram. I'm going to try 512MB and if it don't help enough, i'll add 512 more within a month.

Man, this game is getting pretty expensive lol, after buying it, subscribing to it monthly, RAM Upgrade, damn.

 

[N00byStance]

Yeah, it does, i know . Maybe I should go different way and buy Guild Wars? Heh...

 

[Kojiro]

I've been playing WOW now for about 2 weeks, and I'm using 256RAM. That is the recommend requirement, but I suggest more. Outside of cities and stuff, the game runs pretty smooth, but once you enter a city or are in the middle of a raid, the game gets laggy big time. A lot of ppl suggest a gig of ram. I'm going to try 512MB and if it don't help enough, i'll add 512 more within a month.

Man, this game is getting pretty expensive lol, after buying it, subscribing to it monthly, RAM Upgrade, damn.

There will be lag there because of all the npcs and players. During raids you are pretty much sol.

 

[Mictlantecuhtli]

Maybe I should go different way and buy Guild Wars?

Maybe. The maximum amount of RAM I've seen Guild Wars to use here is about 400 MB, but usually it uses around 200-250 MB.

 

[Knack_]

It's true and I wouldn't try playing WoW on less than 768. I have played it for a week (at my grandmother's) in integrated video with 256 meg of RAM. Let's just say I bring my laptop with me whenever I go visit her now. It was the most painful gaming experience ever. Walking off bridges because the computer couldn't draw them fast enough, unable to turn 90 degrees because the computer would hang and you'd be facing backwards once it caught up, and of course watching your target hit you and then freezing only to be given back control at the spirit watcher.

that is exactly how i play, but thx to ur posts i have now realised that playing with more RAM than 256 wud probs be btr for me than a new graphs card. But i was wondering whether or not i cud put more RAM into my comp, i think i read that u have to put it intO the Motherboard, but where? i have my manuel, what would the slot be called where u put additional RAM into?
My motherboard is a IM845GL Motherboard.

i wud truly appreciate ANY help, as ive been playing like this since February and i wud rly like it to stop to get more out of WoW. thx

 

[Knack_]

right, i read up on how to do it, and i ordered 512MB more of ram. but will that work on my celeron processor? plz reply this time

 

[N00byStance]

It doesn't depend on CPU.

 

[Knack_]

thx babe

 

[PaulWuzHere]

I've owned Wow and Guild Wars and I believe that Guild wars is just an all-a-around better game, No monthly fees, Crisper looking graphics, lower system requirements, easy to get into, and large amounts of land to explore. I play it with higest everything, cept rez (I play at 1024 x 768) And I get about 45-50 Fps on average, the only lag i have is due to I live in a city. Wow in its own rights is a great game. I just don't like the cartoony looking graphics and all those stupid races. To play guild wars I would say 1.5Ghz Amd Athlon or 1.9Ghz P-4 512MB of RAM and an FX 5700 or 9600 to play. Good luck

 

[Sab3r]

I've owned Wow and Guild Wars and I believe that Guild wars is just an all-a-around better game, No monthly fees, Crisper looking graphics, lower system requirements, easy to get into, and large amounts of land to explore. I play it with higest everything, cept rez (I play at 1024 x 768) And I get about 45-50 Fps on average, the only lag i have is due to I live in a city. Wow in its own rights is a great game. I just don't like the cartoony looking graphics and all those stupid races. To play guild wars I would say 1.5Ghz Amd Athlon or 1.9Ghz P-4 512MB of RAM and an FX 5700 or 9600 to play. Good luck

First off wow graphics are fine, my friend plays on a gf 3 with 256mb ram and
has no problems running the stuff, WoW is by far the most easy accesble game EVER
(I've played swg and it takes 2-3months to understand some stuff....)
WoW has LOADS of land to explore, its like :O.
The races is probebly the best part, having all those options available is great.

Now to go back on topic, as I said my friend plays with a GF 3 64mb with 256mb ram.
Ofcourse he plays everything on low and ofcourse he gets uber mighty lag when
he enters Ironforge (lots of people there) but he can play without allot of
frustration.
Its just to give you an idea of what you'll need.

I would say (If you really dont want to spend money and just play WoW)
GF 4 TI 4200 with 128mb, aahh what a card, try and get the XFX brand.
Then well the ram, you'll probebly have an older motherbaord so it doesn't
matter what kind of ram you stick in there, so get a cheap 512mb ram in there
and you'll do fine.

hope it helped, :wave:

 

[PaulWuzHere]

Almost Everything you said was useless, playing with lag makes any game not worth playing... As I said a 5700 or a 9600, and the graphics in guild wars are more realistic. As I said Wow is cartoony. But you are right 512Mb of Ram would be good. But the Ti4200 only supports Direct X 8. So if you want to play a new game get a card the supports Direct X 9

 

[Sab3r]

I owned a GF 5600xt 128mb and its crap but thats xt which is a rip off.

I'm just saying if you really dont have money to spare the GF 4TI is real good
or a 9700 pro which can still run half life 2 on high.

OOOOORRRR you can go crazy and buy urself a Sapphire Radeon X800 Pro 256mb
like I did :grinthumb .

btw why a 5700, I mean a 5600 with 256mb is also good. (be sure to check for
XT I've heard from someone on the boards that xt is used on cards that are low
budget)

 

[corey80]

i have an account on wow but i dont know how to to get a beta account, does anyone, and what exacly is one of those anyway?