I recently got back into WoW after a 10-year hiatus and I’ve been really enjoying it. However, my early 2013 15" MacBook Pro isn’t handling WoW well. I’m hitting 10-30 FPS on a level 2 graphics setting. The old world content runs at about 30 while questing, but it runs at about 15 in the Chamber of Heart. God help me when I get into mythics or raids. It probably goes to 5 or 10.
I’m wondering how much it would cost me to build a PC that could run WoW on ultra settings? Shadowlands looks awesome and I want to feel like I’m playing a game in 2020, not 2007. I know nothing about computers, but there is a Micro Center about an hour away that I could go to. I would also want to buy a sweet monitor although I’m not sure what size would be optimal.
In a perfect world, I would love to stay in the Mac ecosystem, I do music production with logic and photo editing with lightroom and all that jazz. I enjoy macs, but I have heard they aren’t the best for gaming. I do wonder if a new iMac could handle WoW on ultra or if even that would struggle?
If Mac wouldn’t work I’m wondering how much building a PC/monitor would run me? This would pretty much be used for gaming since I still have my trusty MBP.
Well for one, don’t play on 10. Play on 7, or reduce some settings. Even the best computer is served poorly by playing on the maximum settings in terms of heat, load, and noise.
What is your budget and are you comfortable assembling your own PC? What resolution do you want to play at? Have you ever experienced high refresh gaming, or are you satisfied with 60fps?
Is there a big difference between 7 and 10 on the graphics slider? I’m playing at 2 right now so I’m sure anything would be better, but I’d like to have a great experience in this game.
Not sure on my budget currently. Lets say its $1000-2500. I don’t mind spending more money if it leads to a better experience, but obviously the cheaper the better. I haven’t assembled my own PC, but I’ve read that it isn’t as hard as people think it is. I think with guides and videos I could figure it out. I have not experienced high resolution gaming so I’m not entirely sure tbh.
PCPartPicker Part List: https://pcpartpicker.com/list/phtxzN
CPU: AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 3.6 GHz 8-Core Processor ($279.30 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte B550M AORUS PRO Micro ATX AM4 Motherboard ($129.00 @ Best Buy)
Memory: G.Skill Ripjaws V 16 GB (2 x 8 GB) DDR4-3600 CL16 Memory ($79.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Sabrent Rocket 4.0 500 GB M.2-2280 NVME Solid State Drive ($119.98 @ Amazon)
Storage: Samsung 860 Evo 1 TB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($134.99 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce RTX 2070 SUPER 8 GB WINDFORCE OC 3X Video Card ($499.99 @ Best Buy)
Case: NZXT H510 ATX Mid Tower Case ($69.99 @ B&H)
Power Supply: Corsair CX (2017) 750 W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($94.88 @ Newegg)
Monitor: VIOTEK GFT27DB 27.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor ($269.99 @ Amazon)
Monitor: VIOTEK GFT27DB 27.0" 2560x1440 144 Hz Monitor ($269.99 @ Amazon)
Total: $1948.09
Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available
Generated by PCPartPicker 2020-07-20 12:54 EDT-0400
Under max budget, 2x 1440p/144hz IPS displays, you need to choose your own keyboard and mouse. Add in another $50 for some extra fans.
I haven’t personally used those monitors, but the stats look good. Look up reviews on displays. Generally a good 1440p/144hz display will be around $300-450.
I just finished my PC build last week (Ryzen 7 3700X, GTX 2070 super, B450 Asus prime mobo) and I went for a 27 inch LG 144 hz monitor with 1ms response time. It’s about 400 dollars on Amazon, I highly recommend it, it’s a amazing monitor.
Assuming that is the 1080p monitor. Depending on what OP wants, LG also offers an IPS panel 144hz 1440p monitor for roughly that price range. (bounces between 340-379)
240hz isn’t very great for WoW, amazing for fast pace games assuming you’re able to reach 200+fps.
It’s the 144hz 1440p monitor with the IPS panel. Literally the exact same one you just mentioned. I put the 240hz one by mistake. I just checked the price on the correct monitor and it’s sitting around $500 dollars. You can probably find cheaper 1440p 144hz monitor, that’s just the one I personally recommend.
I have a 144hz 1080p VA monitor from AOC and the same monitor as Glad. Took a sec to get used to a non -curve monitor.
Out of the box the AOC monitor was pretty good didn’t require any adjusting and much better black compared to the 1440p ips monitor. Had to tweak the LG monitor a bit.
After being on the 1080p monitor for a couple of months, made me realize how much I miss my 3440x1440 ultra wide.
Hey thank you for specing this out for me! I had some stuff going on and had to put my gaming computer dreams on hold, however I’m back. I’m wondering if this set up would work with an ultra wide monitor? I recently discovered them and I think they could be great. I know I could probably get 2 great monitors for the price of an ultra wide, but having that bevel in between would probably drive me crazy.
Actually they were asking about switching to a different ultrawide - the issue was with the changes to “Max Camera Distance” (hopefully my response helps!). I got the impression they liked ultrawides because it ‘felt better’ with their claustrophobia.
I use a 3 monitor setup but only have the game running on one - a 27" 1440p/144hz curved monitor and it is great for WoW. My son has the same setup while his friend has an ultrawide and loves it. Whether or not you love it is going to be a very personal decision and sadly this isn’t the best time to hang out in a store checking them out.
Since you’ve waited this long, perhaps you can wait a bit longer for the next generation of components to come out … what do you think Sal?
However the FOV changes wow made slightly affected 21:9 more then non ultra wides.
I’m not sure why or how, but it was more noticeable in vertical FOV.
That being said, having an ultra wide is definitely still better then not. It was just unfortunate the changes blizzard made to FOV has made ultra wide feel more cramped vertically.