HAH! I played around with it when the pre-patch launched and was pretty close to what you are suggesting, I find wow runs fairly decently on my mid 2016 MBP.
Thank you for all your work on this, it's 150% helpful to anyone running a mac.
Thank you Stoneblade, I had almost given up.... all my tinkering did not seem to be working. I greatly appreciate your effort and taking the time to help us out!
Hey Stoneblade, thanks as always for this guide.
This goes to you and anyone else that is able to help, thanks in advance.
This expansion, i'm having some problems actually hitting 60 FPS following your recommendations, where as in Legion, going off my own path, I could easily cap out at 60 FPS.
I have a 2017 MBP 15", 16gb RAM, i7 2.9ghz, Radeon Pro 560 4gb. Native resolution is 1920x1200.
Following this guide to the T (low resolution mode, all same settings, etc) and having no programs taking up extensive resources, I can't get over around 31FPS sitting in an open area.
I know this machine can achieve such FPS at the recommended settings of this guide, but I can't find what's really bogging me down.
Thanks again anyone for any insight.,Hey Stoneblade, thanks as always for this guide.
This goes to you and anyone else that is able to help, thanks in advance.
This expansion, i'm having some problems actually hitting 60 FPS following your recommendations, where as in Legion, going off my own path, I could easily cap out at 60 FPS.
I have a 2017 MBP 15", 16gb RAM, i7 2.9ghz, Radeon Pro 560 4gb. Native resolution is 1920x1200.
Following this guide to the T (low resolution mode, all same settings, etc) and having no programs taking up extensive resources, I can't get over around 31FPS sitting in an open area.
Of course I can drop the in game resolution down and that increases performance, but the game looks like i'm playing on a 2001 Toshiba Satellite back in 2004.
I know this machine can achieve such FPS at the recommended settings of this guide, but I can't find what's really bogging me down.
Thanks again anyone for any insight.
This goes to you and anyone else that is able to help, thanks in advance.
This expansion, i'm having some problems actually hitting 60 FPS following your recommendations, where as in Legion, going off my own path, I could easily cap out at 60 FPS.
I have a 2017 MBP 15", 16gb RAM, i7 2.9ghz, Radeon Pro 560 4gb. Native resolution is 1920x1200.
Following this guide to the T (low resolution mode, all same settings, etc) and having no programs taking up extensive resources, I can't get over around 31FPS sitting in an open area.
I know this machine can achieve such FPS at the recommended settings of this guide, but I can't find what's really bogging me down.
Thanks again anyone for any insight.,Hey Stoneblade, thanks as always for this guide.
This goes to you and anyone else that is able to help, thanks in advance.
This expansion, i'm having some problems actually hitting 60 FPS following your recommendations, where as in Legion, going off my own path, I could easily cap out at 60 FPS.
I have a 2017 MBP 15", 16gb RAM, i7 2.9ghz, Radeon Pro 560 4gb. Native resolution is 1920x1200.
Following this guide to the T (low resolution mode, all same settings, etc) and having no programs taking up extensive resources, I can't get over around 31FPS sitting in an open area.
Of course I can drop the in game resolution down and that increases performance, but the game looks like i'm playing on a 2001 Toshiba Satellite back in 2004.
I know this machine can achieve such FPS at the recommended settings of this guide, but I can't find what's really bogging me down.
Thanks again anyone for any insight.
08/15/2018 06:12 PMPosted by Adremer08/11/2018 06:26 PMPosted by WorfiaThanks, Stoneblade. As you work at it, can you see if there is a fix for the massive stutter I (and I think quite a few others) get every time I go to a new location? It is so bad it makes the game unplayable --I get like 1.5 seconds play, then freeze for .5 sec, over and over again. Not just movement, but also shooting and everything -- screen just freezes completely for the .5 second.
Doubt if it is my gear, it is a new iMac Pro with 3GHz Intel Xeon, 128GB memory, Radeon Pro Vega 64. 27" retina display and a second 27" LG UltraFine display.
I have tried almost every level of graphics settings and nothing seems to make a difference.
Have you tried the "open in low resolution" option? I run a 2017 mbp with the Radeon Pro 450 2gb and a Samsung 27" display and I had those stuttering problems with the patch, and the low resolution option made the game playable again. I still get a few hiccups (mostly after loading a new zone for a few sec), but I run 40fps through crowded major cities and was doing LFR runs pre-release date with not many problems. It's the closest to what it was I could find. I am very excited for when this guide is updated though, it was highly helpful when I started playing again.
Thanks for the response. I did try that, and I thought it helped at first, but then just tonight when we raided Uldir the stutter problem was back with a vengeance, making raiding close to impossible. I am really at my wit's end with this problem, it is totally ruining the game for me.
09/04/2018 08:58 PMPosted by Worfia08/15/2018 06:12 PMPosted by Adremer...
Have you tried the "open in low resolution" option? I run a 2017 mbp with the Radeon Pro 450 2gb and a Samsung 27" display and I had those stuttering problems with the patch, and the low resolution option made the game playable again. I still get a few hiccups (mostly after loading a new zone for a few sec), but I run 40fps through crowded major cities and was doing LFR runs pre-release date with not many problems. It's the closest to what it was I could find. I am very excited for when this guide is updated though, it was highly helpful when I started playing again.
Thanks for the response. I did try that, and I thought it helped at first, but then just tonight when we raided Uldir the stutter problem was back with a vengeance, making raiding close to impossible. I am really at my wit's end with this problem, it is totally ruining the game for me.
Worfia, I have almost the exact same set up as you and am having same issues. Like you I'm pulling my hair out. Every 2 seconds I get a .5 second stutter.
POster, can you wrote something of what to do now that MOjave is ruining all our gameplay? We need a fix for this plz
I'd love to see a review of these performance recommendations that also considers GPU impact. My late-2014 iMac running a AMD Radeon R9 M295X 4096 MB is running into significant temperature issues while playing World of Warcraft.
I had initially thought it was a hardware malfunction but Apple has cleared the computer of any potential issues. They even cleaned out the little bit of dust inside and verified that the cooling system is operating correctly.
Today I've been playing with various settings to see how they impact my GPUs temperature. Take "Liquid Detail" for example:
Now certainly my particular GPU is on the lower end of what is acceptable with Battle for Azeroth. But all of my settings are below the recommended settings (with features like Sunshafts and SSAO disabled entirely). There is no reason for the GPU to be taxed that significantly with one setting changed to what Blizzard recommends as the default quality for my setup.
I had initially thought it was a hardware malfunction but Apple has cleared the computer of any potential issues. They even cleaned out the little bit of dust inside and verified that the cooling system is operating correctly.
Today I've been playing with various settings to see how they impact my GPUs temperature. Take "Liquid Detail" for example:
- Set to 'Fair' and my GPU reports a steady temperature range between 88 - 90 degrees Celsius. Framerates are stable at 50-60 fps.
- Set to 'Good' and my GPU temperature rises up to 100 degrees Celsius. Framerates remain the same as with 'Fair'.
Now certainly my particular GPU is on the lower end of what is acceptable with Battle for Azeroth. But all of my settings are below the recommended settings (with features like Sunshafts and SSAO disabled entirely). There is no reason for the GPU to be taxed that significantly with one setting changed to what Blizzard recommends as the default quality for my setup.
I suspect that a large addendum/revision incorporating Mojave and more importantly the threading changes in 8.1 is in the offing.
My contribution to thread.
The are my settings that gives the best compromise of graphics looks vs performance. If you do heavy lifting and need the FPS while not sacrificing the ability to see what's happening.
I put FPS>Looks
iMac 5k 3.5Ghz i5, 24GB ram, M290X 2GB, 2TB Fusion
Mojave 10.14
Before starting World of Warcraft
GRAPHICS (disregard Graphics Quality Slider)
ADVANCED
SOUND
START WARCRAFT
==========
Note:
1. You cannot see more than 60 FPS due to your display, hence the cap.
2. There is/was a bug that crashes your Mac when switching spaces. Press COMMAND-M to switch to Windowed mode if you need to switch. COMMAND-M again to return to full screen. You can also use Expose (F3) to switch between apps without crashing.
The are my settings that gives the best compromise of graphics looks vs performance. If you do heavy lifting and need the FPS while not sacrificing the ability to see what's happening.
I put FPS>Looks
iMac 5k 3.5Ghz i5, 24GB ram, M290X 2GB, 2TB Fusion
Mojave 10.14
Before starting World of Warcraft
- 1. Go into Applications > World of Warcraft and select World of Warcraft app
2. Get info (Command-I / right click / 2-finger tap)
3. Check the box "Open in Low Resolution"
GRAPHICS (disregard Graphics Quality Slider)
-
Display
Display Mode: Fullscreen (Windowed)
Window Size (greyed out to native resolution)
Resolution Scale: 100% (half of native resolution)
Anti-Aliasing: None
Vertical Sync: Disabled
Textures
Texture Resolution: Fair
Texture Filtering: 2x Anisotropic
Projected Textures: Enabled
Environment
View Distance: 3
Environment Detail: 3
Ground Clutter: 7
Effects
Shadow Quality: High
Liquid Detail: Good
Sunshafts: Disabled
Particle Density: Fair
SSAO: Disabled
Depth Effects: Disabled
Lighting Quality: Good
Outline Mod: Good
ADVANCED
- Tripple Buffering: Disabled
Reduce Input Lag: Disabled
MSAA: None
Multisample Alpha-Test: Disabled
Post-Process AA: None
Resample Quality: Bicubic
Physics Interaction: None
Max Foreground FPS: 60
Max Background: 8
Contrast: 60
Brightness: 50
Gamma: 1.2
SOUND
- All checkboxes on.
Sound Channels: Low (24)
Sound Cache: Large (64MB)
START WARCRAFT
- Enter these lines into the chat:
/console SET worldPreloadNonCritical 0
/console SET ffxGlow 0
/reload
==========
Note:
1. You cannot see more than 60 FPS due to your display, hence the cap.
2. There is/was a bug that crashes your Mac when switching spaces. Press COMMAND-M to switch to Windowed mode if you need to switch. COMMAND-M again to return to full screen. You can also use Expose (F3) to switch between apps without crashing.
Quick question Strauss. Under your 'Advanced' settings you note that you have "Resample Quality" set to Bicubic. Is that necessary? The mouseover for that feature reads:
But given that Render Scale is set to 100% wouldn't that mean that the Bicubic setting is never honored?
When using a Render Scale that is not 100%, this adjusts the quality of the filter to display resolution.
But given that Render Scale is set to 100% wouldn't that mean that the Bicubic setting is never honored?
10/07/2018 07:29 AMPosted by SededirusiQuick question Strauss. Under your 'Advanced' settings you note that you have "Resample Quality" set to Bicubic. Is that necessary? The mouseover for that feature reads:When using a Render Scale that is not 100%, this adjusts the quality of the filter to display resolution.
But given that Render Scale is set to 100% wouldn't that mean that the Bicubic setting is never honored?
Sorry bicubic usually for render scale below 100%.
It just displays better that, IMO, does not affect performance.
Had it at that setting when I was running at 50% render scale but not in Low Resolution mode.
11/05/2010 04:27 AMPosted by StonebladeTo do this, close WoW, open a Finder window, navigate to the directory WoW is Installed to (usually "Macintosh HD/Applications/World of Warcraft"), right-click (command-click) on the WoW.app executable itself (Not the WoW Launcher), and click "Get Info". In the new "Get Info" window that pops up, tick the "Open in Low Resolution Mode" checkbox. WoW will now open at the same resolution as what the System Preferences>Display panel says your screen "looks like". From here on, you can open WoW normally from the launcher's "Play" button.
Thank you! Thank you! Thank you, Stoneblade! You are my hero! I have been struggling with low FPS since the pre-launch patch and I (thought) that I had tried everything. I'm also running on a very similar MBP, and used your settings above, except for the window size (mine is larger and can't be changed), and now my system is running as I want it to. I can't believe it!
Thank you so much for your hard work in putting this all together and keeping it maintained. Kudos to you! <3
Hello, I'm a WOWer from China. Can I forward your article to the forum in China so that I can help more players? If possible , it will be very grateful.
These settings work well for me, mid 2015 Macbook Pro with M370X.
I just got a new Mini, and I have followed the instructions, I can not find the box to check for starting the game in low resolution where the rest of you did. (Right click on wow file). What am I doing wrong? I am having the same performance issues it sounds like many other folks had\have, very low fps in raid.
Specs: 2.8 GhZ Intel core 5, 8 GB Memory 1600 MHz DDR3, Graphics Intel Iris 1536 MB.
Specs: 2.8 GhZ Intel core 5, 8 GB Memory 1600 MHz DDR3, Graphics Intel Iris 1536 MB.
What kind of monitor are you using? I'm not sure the mini supports this setting -- I think it's only machines with a built-in "Retina" display.
My Hack Pro has the "Open in low resolution" checkbox. I suspect he's looking in the wrong place. It's in the Get Info window, not the right click contextual menu.
So Apple just announced their new Mac Mini and I was wondering what everybody's thoughts were on this new computer for playing World of Warcraft. The only PC game that I play is WoW, so if I could just no longer use my PC that would be ideal. I think the only problem may lie with the integrated GPU.
Here's my proposed specs:
3.0GHz 6-core 8th-generation Intel Core i5 processor
Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz
8GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory
Intel UHD Graphics 630
256GB PCIe-based SSD storage
Here's my proposed specs:
3.0GHz 6-core 8th-generation Intel Core i5 processor
Turbo Boost up to 4.1GHz
8GB 2666MHz DDR4 memory
Intel UHD Graphics 630
256GB PCIe-based SSD storage
I'd up the RAM, but it might be cheaper to buy that 3rd party as the pics make it look like it can be upgraded. Not sure how easy the access will be, but it should be possible.
Looks good. I'd get the i7, but it's probably not necessary unless you need the extra CPU power for other tasks than gaming. This machine screams "eGPU". My guess is the i7 model is faster than the 6-core Mac Pro at half the price and with the eGPU will have better graphics as well. Call it Mac Pro lite.
(I was surprised by the i3 option -- first time Apple has offered that I think.)
Looks good. I'd get the i7, but it's probably not necessary unless you need the extra CPU power for other tasks than gaming. This machine screams "eGPU". My guess is the i7 model is faster than the 6-core Mac Pro at half the price and with the eGPU will have better graphics as well. Call it Mac Pro lite.
(I was surprised by the i3 option -- first time Apple has offered that I think.)
Replacing the RAM should be pretty easy, but we shall see. The most graphic intensive thing I do is World of Warcraft, which is to say not a lot. The main concern that I have with the machine is the integrated graphics.
The reason why I went with the i5 is because I can get a better deal with a pre-built machine and I suspect that the i7 may run a bit hot.
The reason why I went with the i5 is because I can get a better deal with a pre-built machine and I suspect that the i7 may run a bit hot.