I’m getting back into wow for cata and just got a 4k monitor but my reliable R9 280x is now unable to keep with the jump from 1080p to 4k
Currently got the settings at 4k resolution, AA at FX AA High, and everything else at a mix of Good to High. Getting around 35 - 50fps which is ok for now while I’m questing and leveling, but it’s definitely going to struggle once I get to the cata content and raiding plus the gpu is running really hot and crashed yesterday
I’d like to have everything maxed out running comfortably at 60fps+. There’s a good deal on an RX 5700xt or for $40 more an RX 6600xt. Would either of these two be enough or would I have to get something more powerful?
My PC specs:
i5 9400F
16GB DDR4
Radeon R9 280x
500GB NVMe
650w PSU
You may as well upgrade that whole PC, not just GPU. I’d recommend Digital Storm, which is where I built my current machine. I have a customized Lynx: https://www.digitalstorm.com/lynx.asp
NZXT was one of the builders I looked at but they didn’t have the parts I wanted at the time. I liked the websites of DS and NZXT the most. I didn’t like cyberpower or ibuypower at all.
I just upgraded my power supply and gpu. Overspent and got a 4090. Need to upgrade my cpu and motherboard.
It depends on your budget for what you do.
You at least want a 4070 or equivalent depending on what brand you want.
You want to future proof to some degree, so getting something that can do above what you want for todays games is important, as 2 years from now if you didnt go a little above, it might need to be upgraded again.
I can tell you FOR SURE your cpu is the most important thing. I’m running a R7 5700x and an Rx 6700xt, my pc idles at a locked 90fps at 1440p temps in the 40c range for both cpu/gpu.
You may as well lock your fps, no sense running wow at 500+ fps all it does is heat up your room.
1 Like
What graphics settings are you using, are they all maxed out?
Not interested in dropping up to a $1000 for a whole new pc when I don’t need it or don’t intend to play other games except for wow classic. My frame cap is at 60 and I’m already getting 35 - 50 fps with the 280x which is now 11 years old lol
When in game the CPU usage never goes above 20%. If I drop the res down to 1080p and max the settings I can get a consistent 60fps easy and cpu usage is still only at 20%
Yeah I’m using max settings the problem with your cpu is ipc, it can only do so much work so fast and yeah that old card is struggling but you could drop a 4090 in your pc and would barely make a difference, check this out:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=98RR0FVQeqs
Edit: actually I do have a couple settings set on high not ultra because they cause too much slowdown in Wintergrasp, shadows and spell density I believe.
That video pretty much confirms what my initial thoughts are. I can max the settings at 1080p and get locked 60fps easy, but when I up the res to 4k the fps drops and I have to lower some settings
CPU usage is same at either resolution so it all comes down to my GPU. There is no way that I would even consider any of the current high end cards and waste that much money for no reason
If you’re running a 6700xt @ 1440p and still unable to max the settings then I might have to consider not maxing the settings as well for 4k res. The goal is 4k60 max settings, but also trying to spend the least amount of money possible
I know that is sort of contradictory but I figured that if my 11 year old 280x can push playable fps at 4k then a much more modern GPU should be able to do it no problem for classic wow
I dropped my settings because at times we have 240 players in the keep in wintergrasp, with my current settings I havent seen it go below 60. (it may go lower but I can’t tell)
WoW is a different animal it rely’s much more on the cpu because of all the other players, I went from a 3600x to a 5700x and noticed a huge difference in heavily populated areas.
My next upgrade will be a 7800xt but it may be a while this setup runs everything great atm.
Whatever you do upgrading your graphics card sure won’t hurt.
You can get a 6800XT right now for $500. My laptop has a 6800M, and it can pull 45+ in Cata classic Org with 100+ people visible at 4k everything maxed out except ray tracing because it hammers fps and I can’t see a difference with it on or off besides the tanked frames.
That said, wow does not look any better in 4k than it does in 1080p or 1440p. It all looks identical.
Your CPU matters way more than you think for WoW. I play at like 25 FPS in Valdrakken on a 4090 because my CPU is still a 3950x which is more focused for my work and is not very great for gaming.
Ok lots of misleading info here, one your cpu is old but you don’t need to platform change, IPC is fine for WoW, I’m running a Ryzen 5 5500 which ties a 3600 which ties your cpu and im stable 60fps all day long, if you want a cpu upgrade that makes your computer more usable in general look for a used i7 9700k or i9 9900k, as for GPU for 4k a 4070Ti or better will handle that, and forget 60FPS in raids it wont happen, I don’t care if your running an 9 14900k or a 7950X3D your not going to maintain 60FPS in a raid because WoW still only uses at most 4 cores with 90% of the work done on one core
1 Like
Wait until you finally learn about intergenerational IPC increases and the value of core clocks. A 14900K running the same clocks as his 9400F is going to absolutely slaughter it.
1 Like
I’ve been doing this for 30 years including building gaming computers for people, pretty sure I know alot more than some random 20yr old who gets his information from youtube. and a 14900k will because of threads, on a single core task IPC uplift per clock isn’t actually that high, the 14th gen is just the 12th gen, while the 9th gen is really 6th-11th gen, and 12th gen had an IPC uplift of around 10% over 11th gen which means its 10% faster at the same clock than his chip at the most optimal settings, in gaming the 12th gen averages closer to 5% uplift over 11th gen which is now within the margin of error.
If is interest is bang for buck all he needs to do is buy a used 9700k or 9900k
2 Likes
I did have at look at current 9th gen cpu prices and it’s just not worth it imo. A 9700f is AU $260, and a 9900kf is AU $390 from china and up to $500 from local sellers
That’s the same budget range that I’d like to put towards this GPU upgrade. I’m not using my pc for anything other than basic work and gaming on classic wow and other older games from the 2000’s which already run fine as it is
Just need a good GPU value option so I can retire the 280x and get stable 4k60 max settings. I should have mentioned this in OP but I’m very well aware that no hardware can push 60fps+ in highly populated areas or raids/bgs where there’s a lot going on
A 4070ti seems a bit overkill for that and also out of my budget. If I’m already getting 35 - 50fps at close to max settings running at 4k with the 280x, I would assume that something like a 6600xt which is double the performance should be able to do it right?
I want to be sure because trying to research other players experiences at 4k is all mixed. Some say mid level hardware can do it no problem for classic wow while others say high end hardware still won’t be able to push it. Again yes I know it’s impossible to get 60fps+ in raids/bgs. Just trying to get as much info as possible before spending the money
A gpu upgrade will help for sure but with your cpu you don’t need a 4070ti rofl…Even a 6600xt will be a big upgrade but the guy above that says your cpu is fine doesn’t have a clue.
I upgraded from an R5 3600x which is close performance wise to what you have and it made a huge difference especially in high population areas and in 25 man raids like Ulduar that I was doing at the time.
you say max I also assume you want ray tracing and my RTX 2070 Super chokes above medium Raytracing at 2560x1080, and so does a buddies RTX 3070 average around 45FPS at 4k with Medium Ray Tracing, if you dont care about Ray Tracing then sure an RX 6600XT is fine.
As for the below guy yea ok dude, numbers don’t lie, I run a Ryzen 5 5500 which I bought because my 3600x died and run it on my original B350 board from 2017 I can tell you right now i have no issues with my RTX 2070 Super running at Ultra Wide 2560x1080, and CPU bottlenecks do not increase with resolution because the cpu isn’t doing more calculations its doing the same amount, and ICC, Uld, Dal are all fine I average 45FPS in ICC 25 and 50 FPS in Dal. It’s in your head, or you didnt have your settings right, if you had your ram running at default without turning on the XMP profile that will hurt a Ryzen, but I run mine at the rated 3600mhz not the default non XMP 2400mhz.
As I said I started working in IT and building computers for folks nearly 30 years ago, and professionally 20 years ago after i decided to make a career out of it.
to add to it my gaming laptop is an i7 11370H 4c8t 11th gen chip slower than his i5 because it has less real cores, and an RTX 3050 Mobile I do wow on at 1080p when staying over at the fiancés house, and guess what ICC 25 I average 40FPS and Dal 43FPS, thats at all high settings except low Raytracing. Outside of Dal or Raids I sit at 59FPS because i play with vsync
What refresh rate are you wanting to target? Even on a 13700k/4080/32GB at 3440x1440, I am not able to maintain 144FPS in LARGE scale pvp battles.
Eh, I always used NZXT, Digital Storm takes a hefty service percentage.
Don’t use a system builder, if your not comfortable doing it yourself then ask a local shop to assemble one or buy one from them, the prices are better, support is local to you and most of them ran get you running within a week vs the big guys turn around of a few weeks to a month thanks to shipping. Support your local mom and pop shop
@Candlehunt
Yeah everything at max except for ray tracing. From what I’ve read it seems that in classic wow it barley makes any visual difference anyway. If your friend with the 3070 can get 45fps with medium ray tracing at 4k then I think it should be alright
Depending on what prices I can get I’ll be going for a 6600xt, 6700xt, or 6800
@Fraug
A cpu upgrade would definitely help in raids and bgs but right now the choice is either:
- Upgrade to an i9 9900kf and keep the 280x
or
- Upgrade to a 6600xt and keep the i5 9400f
In this case I’m sure 99% of people would say that upgrading the GPU is the best option right now lol
I can always upgrade to a 9900kf later on this year when prices come down a bit( hopefully ). $380 - $500 for the cpu is too much imo and wouldn’t help my fps if I keep the 280x
@Orlyy
Playing at 4k 60hz. I’d think that a 13700k and 4080 would do just fine outside of large pvp and raids