Hardware for Wrath

[Concillian]

I've done a litte investigating over the past couple weeks and I thought I'd share my observations. It seems 3.0.2 performance (and thus Wrath performance) is a big sticking point, so I felt it would be good to share my knowledge.

Some of this was done because I had a spare computer as I'm upgrading anyway, and part of it was out of necessity. While in the process of upgrading / testing overclocks we had a power outage and my current WoW machine took offense. The hard drive with WoW on it died as a result and either the mobo or CPU did too. So I was moving hardware around diagnosing those problems and tride out some different configurations while I had the 2 computers in pieces on the test-bench.

Most of these observations come from my favorite testing spot in Shattrath. Near the flightmaster, looking out over Terrokar at an angle where you see the formation of dranei doing drills. This is where I consistently get my loweest frame rates within Shattrath. That largely stresses CPU and only minorly stresses video card.

All of these configurations are using max view distance settings but otherwise nothing special. I have no repeatable way of testing spell effects so raid performance with the overboard laser light show of spell effects introduced in 3.0.2 are not really tested. My assumption is that slowdowns in raids with all the spell effects going are likely to be more affected by video card performance, but that's just an assumption.

Memory was at least 2 GB if in Win 2k and 4GB in Vista, in other words plenty of RAM. But at $40 - 50 for 4GB you likely wouldn't be upgrading to less than that.

observation #1 - WoW loves dual cores. single core A64 overclocked to 2.5 GHz = worse performance than same generation dual core at 1.8GHz.

observation #2 - dual core A64x2 at 1.8GHz performance seemed acceptable, meaning the cheapest dual core is likely adequate as an upgrade for reasonable Wrath performance. So go dual core, but no need to go too far overboard.

observation #3 - 7800GT performance wasn't troublesome except in hyjal on trash with all settings maxed (except shadows) + 4xAA In terms of new-ish cards, this translates to some of the cheapest "gaming" cards available, though they are limited in memory bandwidth and may not be able to handle 4xAA as well, a $50 video card is roughly equivalent to my old $200 monster. The only better card I had was an ATi 4850, which, of course pegged 60 FPS everywhere I went (~$160 after rebate at current prices)

observation #4 - dynamic shadows implementation in WoW is BAD. Not only does it cause major slowdowns, it's really annoying. I rode by a lantern and my shadow would point in whatever direction it was pointing before I rode up to the lantern. It's really disorienting to ride by a light source and have your shadow pointing at that light source. I found myself getting mad at the game with dynamic shadows on. Really do not upgrade to be able to enable this feature, it's not worth it.
So lets talk upgrading, components and cost:

• DDR is pretty much dead. You can scour the web and find used deals on S939 mobos and CPUs, but in the end you save about $50 and get worse performance than the cheapest options with new CPU / Mobo / RAM.
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• RAM:
  I haven't tested WoW specifically, but faster RAM is generally very low gain for price paid. I recommend DDR2-800 as the current best option because it has a zero to very slight price premium over lower speed DDR2-533 and 667 and it fully backwards compatible.
  
  Absolute cheapest route is to go with 2x1GB sticks for a total of 2GB, but some boards have problems with 4x1GB, and you potentially have no upgrade path. At current RAM prices it's hard to not move up to 4GB
  
  Examples of decent RAM choices:
  2x1GB for 2GB total:
  DDR2-800 2x1GB 1.8v (Currently $26 shipped) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820211165
  Kingston brand... some people feel more comfortable with a brand behind a lifetime warrantee (currently $28 shipped): http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820134635
  
  2x2GB for 4GB total:
  Mushkin DDR2-800 (currently $40 after rebate) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16820146692
  
  Mobo / RAM / CPU solutions:<>
  
• AMD is the cheapest option, but is currently lagging in terms of performance compared with Intel systems. A decent case of 'you get what you pay for'. I like the e4850 because it runs at a decent clock speed (2.5GHz) at very low voltage, which means it's giving excellent power efficiency as well as pocket efficiency. If you increase the voltage to the level of the other x2s, this easily overclocks to ~2.8 GHz on stock cooling and 3.0 and potentially higher with aftermarket cooling. You can move up AMDs processor line, but in my opinion if you're seeking more performance, move to intel's line. This is a great budget setup though
  potential example configuration:
  780G based motherboard (currently $60 after rebate) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813138105
  2.5 GHz low power dual core (currently $60 free shipping) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819103255
  
  Intel offers a little higher performance per clock, and is the current favorite among enthusiasts due to their strong ability to overclock. Not strictly necessary for WoW. Motherboard options are generally more expensive as well, so for budget upgraders, this may not be the best option. If you play other games, it may be a good option.<>
  
• e5200 is the current low end at $85. I have one of these chips. Mine runs around 3.0GHz stable at stock voltage and heatsink. ~3.4 GHz with aftermarket heatsink and voltage increases.<>
  
• e7200 runs about the same speed as the e5200 but adds cache, it's about $35 more at ~$120 e7300 is slightly faster for about $5 more. Most games see the cache improvment as worth about 1-200 MHz when the e5200 and e7200 are running the same speed. both e7200 and 7300 overclock similar to the e5200.<>
  
• e8400 is the king of the dual cores with even more cache than the e7200 and again gives the equivalent of 100-200 more MHz worth of speed at the same actual speed of an e7xxx series processor. These are a different stepping of the processor and overclock even better than the e5200 or e7xxx series. With aftermarket air cooling, people are running 4GHz, but 3.5-3.8 are more realistic expectations. 3.2-3.3 is effortless with stock heatsink & voltage. These are on the pricey side at $170ish, but unbeatable in terms of current CPU performance in games that can't make use of quad-cores (UT3 is the only common game that does, to my knowledge).
  
  All the current Intel dual cores use low power, even the e8400 is pretty much in-line with the low power AMD processor e4850.
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• q6600 is the cheapest quad core at 2.4GHz. WoW does not make use of quad cores. You will get the WoW performance of a dual core but use extra power (doubly so because these are built on older technology which uses more power by default). However, it's clear that the trend is to move towards more cores. If the single to dual transition is any indication, it's possible that 3 years down the road a Q6600 will outperform and dual core available. Who knows? It's a gamble, but these potentially offer better "future-proofing". They run around ~$185 so marginally more expensive than e8400. Lower performance now, but maybe better in the future. Overclock well, in the 3.0-3.2 range, but can be using well over 100W with processor alone at that point and require strong cooling.
  
  Intel motherboards are a little more expensive than AMD counterparts as well. Very little reason to not get a P43 or P45 based solution if going Intel. More expensive boards offer options for multiple graphics cards that are wasted on WoW, and wasted in general if you plan on spending less than $500 or so on video cards alone.
  
  Intel based mobo examples:
  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16813130181
  Always check combo deals of slightly higher priced mobos at newegg, sometimes you'll find a decent gem: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductCombo...eSize=10&page=1 lists an e7300+ mobo for $190 AR
  
  For the most part motherboard doesn't matter unless you're a serious overclocker. Look for features you might want (like firewire, eSATA, connectors in places that work well with your case, etc...) and price. Not much else matters.
  
  The AMD solution is the best for cheap fix for Wrath. mildly overclocked e5200 is probably the best performance for value. Mildly overclocked e8400 is current performance champ, and q6600 has a place reserved for potential longevity if the industry embraced quad-cores (Intels recently launched i7 CPU is only quad-core, and AMDs next launch is too, so hardware is already moving that direction, the question is how long it will take games to catch up.)
  
  If you do any video encoding or the like, the Quad core is a good value, those are generally appications that will make very good use of multiple cores.
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• Video cards.
  The market has moved to the point where you pretty much get what you pay for here. There was a time where there were gems that did extremely well for the money, but for the most part, those days are gone. The good thing about that, it that both nVidia and ATi ended up moving the prices WAY down. It wasn't long ago that bottom tier for gaming was ~$100 and midrange performance was ~$150. Now bottom tier is $50 - 75 and midrange is $100-$120.
  
  You can make approximate rankings of 0x AF here (no WoW benchmark, but you get an idea of general performance):
  http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-...0x1050,798.html
  4xAA can be a significant quality improvement and generally this warrants at least moving to a mid-tier card to maintain decent performance. Memory bandwidth is a primary factor, and the cheaper cards are usually 128 bit. Moving up to 256bit or wider makes sense if you're interested in this feature.
  http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/gaming-...050-AA,799.html
  
  AA is listed in the wow options as "multisample" if you choose 24 bit color depth 1 multisample you are at 0xAA if you choose 4 multisample you are at 4xAA. This essentially takes multiple points around the pixel to determine it's color. In areas of rapidly changing color (a diagonal line in the foreground passing through a light background) it will make a jagged looking line at 0xAA and a smoother looking line at 4xAA.
  
  memory size: For the most part, Size doesn't matter. With exception of the highest end cards, you are usually best off with the lower end of any memory size offered for the same model card. People know that more RAM is good for CPU, and they have a tendency to want the same thing on video cards. So video card companies capitalize on this by selling cards with much cheaper (slower) memory, but more of it to increase margins. Reality is that consumer tendency does not follow reality. Speed matters more than size on video card memory, it is almost never worth paying more or even paying the same for more memory. In fact, it's usually slower. Again, the exception is in the high end ($200+) when coupled with huge monitors and resolutions like 1920x1080 or 2560x1600.
  
  Rebates:
  There are so many different cards. ATi and nVidia are always trying to 1-up each other through authorizing rebates on specific models. If you don't like rebates, you can expect to pay considerably more. Conversely, if you are a savvy shopper, you can get exceptionally good deals just by rebate hunting.
  
  performance assumptions here are based on moderately sized monitors (1280x1024 up to 1650x1050). If running 1920x or 2560x you may have to step up a tier or two for same performance as I'm mentioning here.
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• bottom tier These are cards I wouldn't necessarily recommend unless you are completely strapped for cash. They are roughly equivalent in performance to my 7800GT, which is perfectly adequate for okay WoW performance, but they have zero future. Good if you need something and will upgrade later, Video cards are easy to upgrade. Since 3.0.2 I do see some slowdowns on Hyjal trash, but generally my performance is quite usable. Cards in this category are in the $40-65 range: ATi HD3650, 2900XT, nVidia 8600GTS, 8600GT if you can't find a good deal on 8600GTS. Currently 8600GTS is best deal in this price range on newegg:
  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16814130394
  
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• mid-bottom These are generally quite a step up in performance for a little more money. Should run everything in WoW fine except full shadows. maybe even some 4xAA if you don't mind some slowdowns on Hyjal trash like encounters. Generally $75-100 range: ATi 4670, nVIdia 9600GT
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• mid tier Should handle everything in WoW well at 4xAA $100-150 range: nVidia 9800GT, ATi HD4830
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• mid-upper is ATi HD4850 / nVidia 9800GTX and is around $150-180. Original competitor to HD 4850 was the 9800 GT, but the 4850 was beating it handily. nVidia responded by dropping prices and now the GTX is the competitor. ATi responded with a quick release of the HD4830, which is basically a 4850 with some cores disabled and with cheaper RAM to compete directly with the 9800GT.
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• upper tier is 4870, 4870x2, nVidia GTX 260 and GTX280. These are all in their own class and priced for it at $230+ range. Some are well over that. They are for more serious gaming than WoW. These generally have 2 PCIe connectors, which means they are capable of using 150-225W.
  
  My recommentation is one of the mid tiers based on your desires and budget. WoW makes heavy use of CPU, but most other games are not this way and video card is the most important factor. This is a bit of a judgement call.<>
  [st]Power requirements: e5200, e7200, e8400 Intel CPUs are all reasonably low power, no more than 50W under load, usually less. AMD e4850 is in the same boat. Q6600 pulls a little more. If overclocking figure on 100W max at full load.
  
  Motherbards use around 30W max
  
  Graphics cards can pull 75W through the PCIe slot. Each additional 6-pin power connector is 75W max. They usually don't actually pull that much, but that gives an idea.
  
  SO if you have a CPU and a video card with on 6-pin connector, you need ~200W plus peripherals at absolute max load. In most cases a modest 380W power supply is more than enough.
  
  For reference, my new machine is an e5200 + P45 based motherboard and HD4850 (1 6-pin connector). There are 2 hard drives and 5 fans (many low speed fans = good cooling, but quiet). I have a meter to measure power consumption and I can get 230W peak load if I overclock CPU + video card and load up CPU and video card in an unrealistic manner (stress test CPU program + graphics demonstration program). That's a reasonably high end system with a 3.33GHz dual core + overclocked 4850 and it's still only pulling 230W from the wall. So you don't need a crazy powerful supply.
  
  Most likely your current power supply is adequate, you just might need some adapters. Check the label on the side of the power supply, it should list capability for 12v, 5v, and 3.3v rails. Modern computers run almost entirely from the 12v rail, while some older computers made more use of 5v and 3.3v. Your main issue may be too much power for the 3.3 & 5v rails and not enough for the 12v. Look for at least 250-300W capability from the 12v rail (~21-24 amps). This will usually be split between two different 12v ratings, something like 12v1 = 12A and 12v2 = 12 A.
  
  Useful adapters for older supplies working with modern motherboards:
  drive power connector to PCI-e power adapter http://www.svc.com/pcie-converter.html
  Plug this in to two separate "wire-chains" coming from the power supply
  20 --> 24 pin main power adapter: http://www.svc.com/glatx2024-11.html
  modern boards are all 24 pin. The extra pins are more 12v cables. If you have a modest CPU, and keep motherboard power usage in check, these are not needed.
  4-pin to 8 pin CPU power adapter: Not needed, just plug into the far side where the pins will insert with little pressure and leave the other 4 pins empty. Again, if CPU power is modest, this is a non-issue. There are 140W monster CPUs that need this thing, but the CPUs listed (with the exception of an overclocked Q6600) will not require the power to warrant an 8-pin connector.
  SATA adapter: http://www.svc.com/mol-y-sata6.html
  takes a standard molex to hook up to a SATA drive if your power supply is that old.
  
  Hard drives:
  I work for Seagate, this is no secret. I pretty much pick up Seagate drives without looking at other brands. For the most part, there isn't enough difference between brands to really worry about it, both in terms of cost and performance. I used a 15k SCSI drive for a while, and for the most part, I'd say it's not worth it. Just get whatever size you need. The one feature that IS worth getting is SATA with Native Command Queuing (NCQ). This is sort of like dual-core CPUs for hard drives. It allows the drive to more efficiently work with multiple requests and gives a noticeable speed improvement when doing multiple things in windows at the same time. Useless for gaming though. Generally newer drives have this by default, it's not a cost adder in most cases. Maybe the newer gen hard drives are like $5 more than last gen.
  
  Seagate 7200.10 do NOT have NCQ. 7200.11 do. Don't bother with any other line. ES series is slightly higher reliability line, they are noisier too, more made for budget business file servers.
  WD has similar lines, I'm not familiar with their lines, but as I said before, there are not huge differences between brands of similar drives. 10k RPM raptors are faster, but honestly it's not noticeable to me in the real world.
  
  Keep your old hard drive and set up windows to make it a huge swap file (I use 16GB, which is probably overkill, but whatever I don't actually usee that drive for anything else), then reboot and tell it to put no swap file on your main drive. This offers noticeable performance benefits because memory calls can happen completely independent of any normal hard drive needs. In my opinion this is a more noticeable benefit than running 2 drives in RAID 0. The RAID setup will offer better single file performance, but you need 2 identical and fast drives. The 2 drive setup with one holding backups and virtual memory is super cheap and helps in more real-world scenarios (for example minimizing WoW to look something up on wowhead or something).
  
  Lastly... DVD players.
  Mobo drivers are coming on DVDs now, most games are no longer shipping on CDs. this includes Wrath of the Lich King expansion So you need to upgrade to a DVD player / burner if you've been limping along on a CD player (I had only 1 DVD and 3 CD players on my computers, so I was in this boat). I have the latest Lite-On and Samsung, and the Samsung is sturdier and quieter on access. I hihgly recommend it at $25 shipped from newegg. I strongly recommend SATA.
  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16827151171
  
  
  
  
  Cliff's notes on upgrade paths for Wrath:
  CPU / mobo:
  best value AMD e4850 + AMD 780G mobo = ~$130 shipped
  best mix of performance and price = Intel e7300+mobo combo special at newegg ~$190 shipped
  most likely to last = Intel Q6600 + mobo ~$280 shipped
  
  Video card:
  lowest price = nVidia 8600GTS $40 after rebate at newegg
  best value = nVidia 9600GT $75 after rebate at newegg
  best mix of performance and price = ATi HD4830 $110 after rebate at newegg
  
  memory:
  IMO no reason not to go with 4GB DDR2-800 for $40 after rebate, works with all CPU / mobo solutions listed
  
  If you don't have a DVD player / burner, well now is the time WotLK is only on DVD.
  
  Hard drive with NCQ is good, okay without, but either way if you have 2 drives, put your virtual memory on one drive and your files on the other.
  
  PSU: Current one might work with adapters. Check 12v current ratings. If not, 380w is likely plenty unless going way overboard planning for the future.
  
  hope some people find this useful. GG please do not be jealous of my wall of text.