RAMDisk Classic

WoW Classic WoW Classic General Discussion
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I’m not in the beta and haven’t set up a RAMDisk before, so this would be my first time, but I wanted to tinker with it using Classic for loading screens faster than my SSDs. I figured the client would be pretty small, but understand that this is kind of a backported version of the game and the folder structure changed significantly.

So my question: anyone that’s on the beta, have you had any luck in setting up Classic on a RAMDisk? If so, how did you go about doing it?

I’m only working with 64GB of RAM here; unfortunately not one of the rich, lucky few with 128GB otherwise I wouldn’t even need to ask. :frowning:

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I can’t answer your question regarding Classic, but I have setup a RAMdisk at my work for our AutoCAD department to use for faster processing of extra large data files.

The speed is unmatched for sure but there is a big downside of using a RAMdisk for something like a game. Every time your computer is shut down or restarted the RAMdisk will get wiped clean of anything that was previously stored on it. They are not good for long term storage of any type of file because of this, and would require the game to be reinstalled to the disk every time the machine was rebooted for a driver update or something of the sort.

edit: Also once setup, a RAMdisk will essentially just look like another drive on your computer and will act as such as long as your computer is running. So theoretically you should have no issue installing and running Classic from a RAMdisk…but as I said above…not recommended.

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Do you suppose just RAMDisking the _classic_ folder (especially the Interface and WTF folders inside that with the addons and settings) would be enough to see a significant difference in load times? My computer spends more time on than off and maintaining a backup of that and putting it back in its place upon booting would be a non-issue.

Also, do you personally recommend any RAMDisk programs for non-recommended experimenting such as gaming / MMOs?

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I have tested wow classic on a Ramdisk. It does load very fast but I wouldn’t tell people to bother if they have an nvme ssd. If you have a sata ssd or mechanical HD and have extra ram to spare then go ahead and load it onto a ramdisk.

You will not gain fps using a ramdisk.

Msi my motherboard manufacturer provides a ramdisk tool and it is set to back up the Ramdisk to a drive before shutdown. So I don’t have to move the game folder or redownload it every time I restart my pc.

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Given the ridiculous speeds of modern SSD’s its not really worth while now days because if you have enough ram to load the game entirely into a ram disk then your OS is going to effectively do the same without all the headache.

At best with an ancient game like classic you might see a technically measurable increase in instance load time, but thats the only place that is realistic to gain any improvement for the trouble if there is any improvement to be had at all.

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I would imagine that you would need to put the entire Classic folder on the disk for it to work properly (as opposed to just the Interface and WTF folders) but as I understand it, it should just be a simple cut and paste to move the folder once it is installed. You would just need to do that every time you rebooted the machine before you tried to play in order to see the benefits of it.

as far as software, really once setup they all do the same thing and there are tons of free RAMdisk programs out there you can use, I know AMD makes “Radeon RAMdisk” and is one that is free you can download, but there are many others that are great programs you can use.

edit: I agree with Amris and Williams, just use a good SSD and call it a day.

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Using some new Samsung 970, load screens are nearly never there. NVME all the way! I was able to be the first to start running to the quest giver. Spam clicking the “Enter World” button while it was still grey

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As I understand it, the file structure of the WoW folder changed significantly and now there’s a _classic_ folder and _retail_ folder that both pull from one Data folder. That Data folder is still 68GB+ and it doesn’t seem like there’s different files for Classic vs Retail. Maybe someone else can tell me differently?

This was the only reason I had asked if you thought there’d be a noticeable difference in loading times just RAMDisking the _classic_ folder. I’m not completely incompetent, trust me. lol

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I downloaded only the classic client. Approx 4.1 GB

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Interesting. I’ll try installing it in a separate directory and see if there’s a difference.

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The benefit you get from having them in the same directory is, you save about 2GB storage space

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Are there arrays that enable ram stacking?

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Thanks for the heads-up on being able to install Classic and Retail separately at the cost of a measly ~2GB of wasted space. I’ve moved everything from my old SSD to my newer NVMe SSD (I was a few years overdue for a fresh install of WoW, anyway) and can now easily RAMDisk the Classic client, which starts out at a tiny ~3.9GB.

Thanks for your help, and thanks for your professional input and tips, Cursedmojo.

Edit: And, to note, I do have a very specific reason for wanting to do this on Classic, at least during launch. Once things are fully up and running, there’s a good chance I’ll just stick with the install on my SSD.

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No problem Gonp, I was just about to reply with something along the lines of “try it and let us know how it goes, I’m genuinely curious now.”

I honestly hadn’t taken into account the file structure changes that had occurred when I last replied to your post and was indeed thinking of the “old” way of doing things in that respect. Give it a go, I say! :smile:

edit: the software I used at work is Dataram RAMdisk. It’s only free for a 1gb drive max. But is reasonably priced at $21.99 for drives up to 64gb.

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It’s not impossible that, since we were able to completely separate Classic from Retail, I might be able to keep Classic on a RAMDisk if the loading screens are significantly faster as expected. The cost would be <= 5 seconds to my boot time, which is usually spent using the restroom in the morning anyway. :stuck_out_tongue:

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I run the game from an USB-C drive.

Runs pretty smooth like that.

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From a newer samsung m.2 NvME. Initial load time to the login screen is approx 2 seconds. All other loads screen are split second. That’s from the stress test a few weeks ago

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Interesting, I have heard of guys building DIY raid arays wtih USB sticks before… I never gave it much thought because of how temperamental it sounds like it would be.

Now that you’re saying you’re using a USB drive; is that a proper hard disk on a USB remote connector or a USB stick that you’re using like a semi permanent storage platform?

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Posting back to let you know my results.

I decided to set up everything during the final stress test. With no addons / my “essential” addons, there’s no noticeable difference in initial load times between my NVMe SSD (WD Black SN750) and the RAMDisk.

Initial load in from character screen: 2-3 seconds on the RAMDisk, ~4 seconds on the SSD. I haven’t gone through any real loading screens in game, but /reloadui is <1sec on both the RAMDisk and SSD.

I’m using ASUS’s ROG RAMDisk program, which was a simple setup and works flawlessly for all my needs (including maintaining a backup), so I’ll probably just keep using the RAMDisk for that ~1 sec difference because I’m not currently using the excess RAM for anything else.

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There are ramdisk programs available today that, once set up, will automatically copy all your data, store it on a hard drive or SSD, and then load it back into the ramdisk upon start up.

I have done this successfully with little issue for games such as Skyrim, LOTRO, SWTOR, and many other games over time. While I do agree you are taking some risk using a ramdisk, we do have the means to minimize these risks as well.

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