e6850 worth it for WOW?

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playrh8r

Gawd
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I'm building a new rig and the only game I play on the PC right now is WOW. Would it be worth getting a e6850 and pairing it with a 7900gs, or would I be better of just sticking with a budget intel proc like the e4300.

We are talking about a $200 difference in processor pricing ($79 vs $279). I'm not clear if I would see any difference in WOW.

I do some Visual Studio development but i'm pretty sure the e4300 would be fine for that.

What do you all think?

Jeff
 
Well I wouldn't reccomend any DX10 less than a 8800GTS and if you are not planning on playing any other games then you should be happy with the 7900gs.
 
Am I the only person in this world that really really hates WoW ??

I mean. I really really hate it.
 
I have never played WOW and certianly don't plan on starting any time soon.
 
michaLcoughliN said:
Am I the only person in this world that really really hates WoW ??

I mean. I really really hate it.
Click to expand...

I was just using it as a frame of reference for asking if I really needed the extra CPU power and if I could save a buck and get the e4300. I wasn't asking if WOW was a good game and should I play it.

Jeff
 
well technically. People prefer a better Graphics card over speed. E6850 would be overkill.

It all depends on what your using the computer for.

If strictly wow. I mean you can run that off techincally a $600 rig.
 
wow does not require the best of the best to run at highest settings, a 6800 can run wow at relatively high resolutions and graphic settings at max quite easily. A standard athlon 64 cpu is enough for just wow, as long as you have at least a gig of ram.
 
Considering that WoW is very CPU intensive, and "slightly" less so graphically, everytime I've upgraded my CPU in the past 3 years I've seen an equivalent increase in performance and framerates in WoW.

Case in point: When I recently upgraded from an overclocked Opteron 170 @ 2.8GHz to a E4300 @ 3.15GHz, I went from low 40s fps in Shattrath (main city in Burning Crusade expansion) to maxed at 60fps (I have v-sync on to avoid tearing) @ 1680x1050 res (4xaa/16xaf). This is with with the same 8800gtx video card. I never drop below 60fps anywhere. This performance increase has proven to be true everytime I've upgraded my CPU. My Athlon XP 2.2GHz to Athlon64 2.4GHz upgrade allowed me to go from 1024x768 to 1280x1024 and I still got a higher fps with the same video card (9800pro at the time).

Also, if you run a lot of add-ons like most of us long time players do, you'll appreciate the extra cpu power as well.

If you like WoW silky smooth like I do, you can never have too much CPU power, and a fast video card will help A LOT in busy areas or areas with lots of trees/vegetation. 2GB of fast RAM is a necessity also.

I would say get the E4300 and the 8800gts and overclock the 4300 to 3.0GHz at a minimum (should be easy with a decent motherboard). I doubt you'll be happy with the performance of the 7900gs, but the 8600gts should suffice if you want to save some cash from the 8800gts.

And please, whatever you do, don't listen to the people telling you WoW doesn't need any horsepower to run well. If you like it dipping into the 20 fps range all the time in Outlands when you try to enable 16x af and 4xx aa, then by all means, buy a E4300 and DON'T overclock, and a crappy 7900gs, because apparently some people like the game to make a sound that goes like this, "brick, brick, brick, brick". Or more likely, they never played the game at all, or haven't played since BC came out.
 
I admit, I have not played since bc came out, but i know I could max wow out on a 9800 pro when it first came out at 1600x1200 res and was still in the 30's and 40's all the time (drop in the 20's in the citys).
 
michaLcoughliN said:
Am I the only person in this world that really really hates WoW ??

I mean. I really really hate it.
Click to expand...

No.

Overclock a cheaper CPU get 2GB memory, spend any savings on a 8800.

.I would say get the E4300 and the 8800gts and overclock the 4300 to 3.0GHz at a minimum (should be easy with a decent motherboard). I doubt you'll be happy with the performance of the 7900gs, but the 8600gts should suffice if you want to save some cash from the 8800gts.
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+1
 
doox00 said:
I admit, I have not played since bc came out, but i know I could max wow out on a 9800 pro when it first came out at 1600x1200 res and was still in the 30's and 40's all the time (drop in the 20's in the citys).
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Don't get me wrong, what you just said is correct and I can't argue with it. But... in Outlands that setup you just described would have trouble even outputting 20fps, and would be single digits in the main city and many areas.

Lets just say that you can pretty much run WoW on any system out there. Absoltely true. It will run, but it won't be an amazing experience, due to sluggish performance. Sadly, most people think this sluggish performance is normal and don't even notice it after a while. If you want to load up WoW and have a "omg I just sqirted in my pants a little" experience, because it's so smooth and fluid, then you need a fast system.

If all you play is WoW, (like me 95% of the time) you owe it to yourself to make it the most enjoyable it can be. THERE IS NO COMPARISON to running WoW on a C2D at 3GHz or higher, an 8800gts/gtx and 2+ GB of RAM, especially at 1600x1200 res or more.

My girlfriend, who doesn't know a thing about computer hardware, has become so spoiled by my computers, that even she notices when the fps drops below 60 on my spare computer. (it's running a 7950gx2) She's never been to Outlands yet, so I expect her to start noticing it even more when she does... I'm just saying, that unless you've experienced all sides of the spectrum (like I have) you don't know just how great WoW runs on a fast system.

Once you max out all settings, crank up the AA and AF, and can get your FPS to never drop below 60 (very important to the experience), anything less will be annoying to you. Does that make me spoiled? Yes, but it took 3 years to get there and I ain't ever going back! If it makes something you do all the time that much more enjoyable, I'd say you owe it to yourself to spend the extra money on a fast CPU and video card or buy the 4300 like I did and overclock it.
 
CPU can help a lot with WoW. I went from my Dual Xeons (Netburst) to my Quad core chip and the difference was night and day, even though going from my AGP X800XTPE to a PCIe X850XT was a sidegrade at best. It really doesn't take too much graphical horsepower to run WoW, but it definitely does benefit from a faster CPU. It also does model loading in a separate thread, so it will take advantage of dual core to an extent.

In addition to making sure you have at least 2gb of ram, don't skimp out on your hard drive. Dynamically loading zones and character models all the time can make a slow drive chug and it's always nice to be the first to zone into a place.

michaLcoughliN said:
Am I the only person in this world that really really hates WoW ??

I mean. I really really hate it.
Click to expand...

Does thread crapping make you feel special? Do you think anyone here honestly gives a shit what your opinion of the game is?
 
Ok i'm definitly hearing you all about getting a 8800gts. Since this is a CPU forum I still want to talk about the processor :)

Fry's has the e4300 for $79 right now and I could pair it with a Gigabyte ds3 for pretty cheap. I'm not that interested in OC'ing at the moment so i'm interested in how it would perform at stock speeds with the 8800gts 320mb (are there any bottlenecks at stock etc).

Jeff
 
Keeping the e4300 at stock is a sin IMO. It will easly get to 3ghz. At stock playing CPU intensive games then the processor will be the bottleneck.
 
I play WOW on the listed machine with a resolution of 2560X1600. .FPS r 40 to 60 no stuttering at all, looks fantastic. Everything is maxed also.
 
CHECKUP said:
I play WOW on the listed machine with a resolution of 2560X1600. .FPS r 40 to 60 no stuttering at all, looks fantastic. Everything is maxed also.
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Thats not very helpful comparing a top of the range Quad with a e4300.
 
I ordered one today and I mostly play WoW *shrug* My current system has no issues with the game on max, even at the 24" monitor's high res.

I mostly got it (and some new 800mhz ram) for the other games I play where my CPU was bottlenecking the card. I should add that Tiger had a deal on a GeForce 6600 GT OC for $19. With that I can take my old ram and CPU, stick it in a case Ive got around here with my old Intel mobo, and get another LAN pc to replace my dead shuttle. That played into the decision. I like getting an extra gaming PC for $20 :)
 
michaLcoughliN said:
Am I the only person in this world that really really hates WoW ??

I mean. I really really hate it.
Click to expand...

I only hate it because all the computer noobs play it :-P . Have yet to see fugger or any of the professional computer overclockers and enthausists really get into that game. Really doesn't make sense to get a 7900GS or higher when an X800 does the trick for WOW, lol. Hell, a P4 is sufficient :)
 
my pentium 3 with 512mb of ram and onboard video played the game decent.

When i got a 9200 pci it really helped.

my pentium 4 with 1gb of ram and 5700le played it fine

my x2 4200+ 2gb of ram 7900gs played it great max settings

my q6600 and 4gb of ram and 7900gs (waiting on g92's), played the game, well i dont know cause a. i dont have my q6600 yet and b. the game sucks, and is a waist of time, i quit 1 year ago and will never be back

i dont get how 9million people can waist there time on such a bad and idiotic game. OMG tier 4 is l33t im a 12 year old with new life. /quit
 
An e4300 + 7900gs, even at stock speeds, will run WOW on maximum settings on a 24" widescreen @ native resolution with no slowdowns at all. Save money your money, pay your monthly fees.
 
I ended up with a e6850 , paired with an Abit IP35-e, and a 7900GS. I'm going to use this box for Visual Studio work too so I didnt mind splurging on the CPU.

I'll let you know how it works with wow when I get it installed :)

Jeff
 
coolxboxgamer said:
my pentium 3 with 512mb of ram and onboard video played the game decent.

When i got a 9200 pci it really helped.

my pentium 4 with 1gb of ram and 5700le played it fine

my x2 4200+ 2gb of ram 7900gs played it great max settings

my q6600 and 4gb of ram and 7900gs (waiting on g92's), played the game, well i dont know cause a. i dont have my q6600 yet and b. the game sucks, and is a waist of time, i quit 1 year ago and will never be back

i dont get how 9million people can waist there time on such a bad and idiotic game. OMG tier 4 is l33t im a 12 year old with new life. /quit
Click to expand...

WASTE is something that is going to no good use.
WAIST is the thing that gets bigger if you play WOW
 
Astral Abyss said:
That's just plain not true.
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Ok I exaggeratted it won't do 16xAA but it will probably do 4x which for the game's stylized graphics will be plenty. Point is, you won't notice a difference between an e4300 and e6850 for a 3 year old game. Wow has very low system requirements, we're talking about a game that runs on dial-up. They have 9 million players because the system requirements are not demanding AT ALL.
 
The anti-WoW stuff is... odd for lack of a better word. Who cares what someone else is playing? Some games you don't get. For example I still do not get The Sims. To me it is like ... hey... let me pretend I am doing real life stuff but not, though I don't care if people play it. Then again if you think something is crap say it so I guess I am neutral in that.

Anyways I will post back once I have my new CPU and RAM installed. Though as I mentioned before I do not expect a huge performance improvement. I can already run the game at max settings with no issues. It is just some of the other games, even if I play WoW mostly, that I want to get a performance boost in.

The low system reqs mentioned above mostly go with pre-outland content. My laptop can do anything in pre-outland comfortably, but not so much when you go there - solo questing aside.
 
WoW graphics are... yeah, not exactly taxing. The game looks very old school and barren as they want as many subscribers as possible so the requirements are ridiculously low for a modern game. I'd get the 8800GTS and e6850 and use it to experience some more technologically advanced (and fun) new games. :)
 
Ducman69 said:
WoW graphics are... yeah, not exactly taxing. The game looks very old school and barren as they want as many subscribers as possible so the requirements are ridiculously low for a modern game. I'd get the 8800GTS and e6850 and use it to experience some more technologically advanced (and fun) new games. :)
Click to expand...

He doesn't play any other games and proberbly hasn't got the budget for a e6850 as well as a GTS.
 
eventually WoW will die, the game came out in 2004 so you really can't complain, but it wasn't exactly advanced for its time either. THe game looks OK, nothing good, just a lot of nothing.
 
they said that about CS 1.6, but there are still quite a few users. I think that game came out in 98-99?

I personally don't like WoW, cause I can't stand the idea of building up a character in a game. When I do have the time to play video games, I wanna play sports games or shoot people. And when the game is over, or I have shot enough people, I wanna go back outside.

Too many people I know have gotten hooked and play hours a day. I guess that is their life though. I guess I don't really dislike the game, I just wouldn't play it.
 
The cpu and graphics card makes a HUGE difference in wow. I went from a opteron 165 to a 4400+ and then to a q6600. All while having the same x1800xt(pe) and also jumping from xp to vista to vista 64 to support more ram.

While I didn't have issues playing it maxed settings on lower resolutions, the frame rates tended to drop in LARGE instances where lots of AOE were going on. Also large cities where it is heavily populate screw you over too.

WoW is "playable" on my t60 that I have from work. It's playable on my server machine. Hell it was even playable on my powerbook g4..
 
prophetx2 said:
The cpu and graphics card makes a HUGE difference in wow. I went from a opteron 165 to a 4400+ and then to a q6600. All while having the same x1800xt(pe) and also jumping from xp to vista to vista 64 to support more ram.

While I didn't have issues playing it maxed settings on lower resolutions, the frame rates tended to drop in LARGE instances where lots of AOE were going on. Also large cities where it is heavily populate screw you over too.

WoW is "playable" on my t60 that I have from work. It's playable on my server machine. Hell it was even playable on my powerbook g4..
Click to expand...

Finally, someone who knows what they're talking about.

Have you noticed that most all the people saying you can play WoW on any old computer with max settings (including 4xaa/16xaf) and no slowdown either a) never played the game more than once and just read some review about how it runs, b) never played Burning Crusade expansion, c) don't know the difference between 20fps and 60fps, or d) never played the game at more than 1024x768 resolution.

or e) just made something up so they could make a post and bash WoW.

Ok I exaggeratted it won't do 16xAA but it will probably do 4x which for the game's stylized graphics will be plenty. Point is, you won't notice a difference between an e4300 and e6850 for a 3 year old game. Wow has very low system requirements, we're talking about a game that runs on dial-up. They have 9 million players because the system requirements are not demanding AT ALL.
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You've never actually played WoW have you?
 
Ok forget WOW for a second. What if I didnt play games at all and just used the box for C++ development in Visual studio, downloading music, watching movies etc. Wouldn't a high end processor be great for this?

Jeff
 
Well a e4300 will easly crunch through movies and music but if you are not playing any games then you cna downgrade your gpu and use some of the money to fund a greater processor.
 
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