Difference between revisions of "World of Warcraft"
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====Move SSD Cache==== | ====Move SSD Cache==== | ||
| − | The World of Warcraft cache folder is required to hold uncompressed files and hotfix data. To save space on the SSD, it is possible to | + | The World of Warcraft cache folder is required to hold uncompressed files and hotfix data. To save space on the SSD, it is possible to junction link the cache folder to a different drive. This should save approximately 7.5 GB of space on the SSD, although it may incur a minor performance hit. |
<pre>mklink /j "C:\Games\World of Warcraft\Data\Cache" "D:\Games\Blizzard Stuff\World of Warcraft\Data\Cache\"</pre> | <pre>mklink /j "C:\Games\World of Warcraft\Data\Cache" "D:\Games\Blizzard Stuff\World of Warcraft\Data\Cache\"</pre> | ||
Revision as of 02:11, 16 April 2012
World of Warcraft is a game that is very well supported by Blizzard Entertainment. Even in its release in 2004, it had relatively simple graphics that ran on low hardware requirements for the time. Total game size has just been optimized, and a fresh install is just under 25GB. However, there are some very simple graphical tweaks that can make the game load much faster.
Graphical Tweaks
Multimonitor Support
On a multi-monitor display, depending on which monitor the window is initially launched in before setting Windowed (Fullscreen) mode, it is possible to run two or more windowed fullscreen instances of World of Warcraft (or other compatible games, like Starcraft II) on the other monitor(s).
Force DirectX 11 Mode
One of the new features in Cataclysm is WoW's ability to render using the DirectX 11 API. DirectX 11 can significantly boost performance in some scenarios (http://us.battle.net/wow/en/forum/topic/3229374095) This API can be enabled on systems running a DirectX 10, 10.1, or 11-compliant graphics card and operating system. This includes all graphics cards from the nVidia GeForce 8000-series and up, and all ATI cards from the Radeon HD 2000-series and up; some Intel chips support this as well, but the differences are far more subtle and there is a higher risk for issues to crop up.
In addition to just having the right GPU, you must also have an OS that supports DirectX 10/11. For full DirectX 11 rendering, you need Windows Vista with Service Pack 2 or Windows 7 of any flavor. Windows Vista without Service Pack 2 will be able to run the API still, but it will only use shader model 4.0 (DX10).
This option can be enabled by going to Options, navigating to the Advanced tab and then changing the graphics API to DirectX 11.
Performance Improvements
SSD
If World of Warcraft is installed on an SSD, this will dramatically decrease the load times for zoning.
Move SSD Cache
The World of Warcraft cache folder is required to hold uncompressed files and hotfix data. To save space on the SSD, it is possible to junction link the cache folder to a different drive. This should save approximately 7.5 GB of space on the SSD, although it may incur a minor performance hit.
mklink /j "C:\Games\World of Warcraft\Data\Cache" "D:\Games\Blizzard Stuff\World of Warcraft\Data\Cache\"
Save Game Data
Config Location
C:\Games\World of Warcraft\WTF\[ACCOUNTNAME]\
Config Cloud Sync
Dropbox: yes Live Mesh 2011: yes, but Dropbox is faster and more reliable in this instance
World of Warcraft config cloud sync guide available on Shiny Hacks.
Improvements
Borderless Windowed Fullscreen
This is natively supported as Windowed (Fullscreen).