World of Warcraft compatability [Archive]

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Ultimate-Omen

Sep 5, 2005, 08:06 PM

Verto

Sep 5, 2005, 08:13 PM

So the deal is that my pc has been..."retired" due to constant problems and headaches caused by it. I have decided on a 12" ibook due to my budget (i realize there is cheaper macs that i can buy but i'm really in need of a laptop) and now im wondering if world of warcraft will run smoothly on a ibook.

If you mean truly compatible, then yes World of Warcraft will run on both Windows and OS X.

Whether it runs well on an iBook is another thing, but I will let iBook owners and others more knowledgeable than I answer that.

Ultimate-Omen

Sep 5, 2005, 08:55 PM

If you mean truly compatible, then yes World of Warcraft will run on both Windows and OS X.

Whether it runs well on an iBook is another thing, but I will let iBook owners and others more knowledgeable than I answer that.
well my current pc being a gaming oriented computer i'm pretty sure that world of warcraft runs on windows :cool: and im positive it runs on OSX but I really need some opinions about WoW on an stock 12" current ibook.

thanx in advance,
Omen

Macamus Prime

Sep 5, 2005, 11:38 PM

With my Powerbook, WoW runs OK. Its at native resolution with LOW details. No effects on. WoW obviously runs better on my PC hardware. I would suggest upping the system memory on your iBook.

Ultimate-Omen

Sep 8, 2005, 11:49 AM

With my Powerbook, WoW runs OK. Its at native resolution with LOW details. No effects on. WoW obviously runs better on my PC hardware. I would suggest upping the system memory on your iBook.
hmm...i suppose that i can dish out $75(?) more bucks for a total of 768mb... but still i think that 512mb is more than enough if WoW is the ONLY process other than finder.

aquanutz

Sep 8, 2005, 08:57 PM

My brother plays WoW just fine on his TiBook 867mhz with 512mb PC133 Ram... and only a Radeon 7000 on it. I mean it's completely playable. He's the type that bitches when something isn't up to 'his high standards' too. So I think it'll run perfectly for you, just get at least 512 ram.

Ultimate-Omen

Sep 8, 2005, 09:00 PM

just get at least 512 ram.
Thats easy because it comes stock with 512 :) and thanx a bunch for your reply, that was exactly what i wanted to hear/know.

Jigglelicious

Sep 8, 2005, 10:03 PM

Ultimate-Omen

Sep 10, 2005, 06:48 PM

I would personally recommend at least 1GB of RAM for WoW, especially to help offset the slow hard drive in the iBook. It won't really change the slow framerates, but at least it will help out with the constant "chugging" that you'd feel as the game constantly has to go back to the hard disk to load things in and out of RAM. 512 can run WoW decently, but you'd be better off with 1GB, especially if you play the game seriously (raiding, etc).
well my friend has a 15" powerbook with a 800mhz g4 and 512mb of ram with the a 4200rpm drive and a ati radeon 7000. ive seen him play and its quite smooth...but he plays in window mode with reduced resolution and that throws his fps through the roof. with that in mind i'm pretty confident that a stock 12" ibook can handle it.

unfaded

Sep 10, 2005, 07:13 PM

512 of RAM is still fairly minimal. A gig will make WoW much, much happier, even if it's the only process in 512. The finder isn't the only thing open when its only the Finder :)

Ultimate-Omen

Sep 11, 2005, 06:23 PM

512 of RAM is still fairly minimal. A gig will make WoW much, much happier, even if it's the only process in 512. The finder isn't the only thing open when its only the Finder :)
well since im now going back to school and have little time to work, i have no choice but to keep it stock. when the next vacation rolls around ill save up a bit and get another 512mb stick. anyone know any price comparison websites for ibook g4 ram?

beige matchbox

Sep 11, 2005, 07:07 PM

Since i've had the game for a few days now i thought i'd add my 2p...

On my PC:

XP1700
512Mb 2700
9800pro

I get around 50fps with most of the effects on, dropping to around 30fps when theres lots going on, going to citys makes the game lag something chronic, as far as i can tell this is due to lack or ram as the hdd is almost constantly hammering itself

On my powerbook:

1.67 Ghz 15"
9700 mobility 128Mb
1.5Gb ram

I get around 40fps with just about all of the effects off, and everything on low, dropping to around 25when theres lots going on, and the best bit, going into a city make it lag for all of 3 seconds and i'm on my merry way :D

General performance on the powerbook is perfectly good, it never gets so low in the fps you notice the frame skipping during normal play, if you spin around quickly you can tell you not running at 100fps, but then this kind of really high fps is kinda unneeded.

Anyway, from my experience, it should run pretty well with 512Mb on an ibook, but don't expect any miracles. Out in the open everything should run perfectly well, but in citys (Ironfordge especially) you will almost certainly find it hard to get around, boarderline unplayable. When you can, adding another 512Mb, or even a 1Gb stick (that'll work in an ibook right?) will make getting around citys far more enjoyable :)

toomuchstereo

Sep 11, 2005, 07:36 PM

a movie is only 24 frames per second so anything solid above 30 will look smooth as glass.

dubbz

Sep 11, 2005, 08:06 PM

a movie is only 24 frames per second so anything solid above 30 will look smooth as glass.

No No No No No! It's just not true. I'm not going to explain it all over again, so search this forum for a good thread about this.

Because of all these WoW Mac Peformance threads, I decided to install it on my 12" 1.33GHz Powerbook...

Performance was at least improved from when I tried it in the US beta, but it's still below my "Ack, I'd rather play it on my gaming PC" threshold. With most everything turned down, it was kind of slow when actually doing stuff, like moving, but I do think I could get used to it if it was my only option. Didn't test it in any battles.

I don't have any FPS details for you, though, so feel free to disregard my post.

eva01

Sep 11, 2005, 08:32 PM

when i press control and R on my powermac normally it is saying between 10-15 FPS outside of towns. Inside it is between 20-60

toomuchstereo

Sep 11, 2005, 11:07 PM

this is true, any thing you watch at the movie theater or on tv is 24 frames per second

JasonL

Sep 12, 2005, 04:25 AM

Peoples' standards vary widely with regard to what is acceptable gaming performance. You might want to try to see for yourself what it runs like on an iBook.

I played WoW on my PB (see signature) for a few months, and found it to be tolerable, on very low settings, once I bumped the RAM up to 1GB. At 512MB is was awful, even without any other open apps.

After having played it on my PM (again, see signature), I find playing on my PB to be really bad for anything except maybe performing some character maintenance, or checking my in game mail, etc.

lee1210

Sep 12, 2005, 08:55 AM

this is true, any thing you watch at the movie theater or on tv is 24 frames per second

Film is 24 frames per second. TV gets more difficult, because there are different standards (NTSC, PAL, SECAM), but NTSC runs at 29.97 frames per second, and both PAL and SECAM run at 25fps.

More of an FYI really, but these things don't all run at the same rate.

combatcolin

Sep 12, 2005, 09:09 AM

a movie is only 24 frames per second so anything solid above 30 will look smooth as glass.

Anything over 60fps is a waste and this is what people should aim for to brag about.

On my PC i get between 20-30fps, my machine is more powerful then beige matchbox's but he has a much better GPX card than my 8500 64MB.

Just out of intrest what are Dual Powermac owners getting and could they post up FPS?

AoWolf

Sep 12, 2005, 01:21 PM

Anything over 60fps is a waste and this is what people should aim for to brag about.

On my PC i get between 20-30fps, my machine is more powerful then beige matchbox's but he has a much better GPX card than my 8500 64MB.

Just out of intrest what are Dual Powermac owners getting and could they post up FPS?

around 25-30 on my duel 2.0 rev a.

As for iBooks I get around 10-15fps on a 1ghz iBook with native res and terrain textures and texture details turned up high. 768 for ram btw...

Mord

Sep 12, 2005, 02:17 PM

get 1GB ram and it'll be good, and enable as many shaders as possible the other sliders dont make much of a difference and the shaders really put a gloss on it, also run 1024x768 the performance increase from running 800x600 is not worth the lack of focus.

i run it on my pc with a 2.8GHz athlon and a x800XT PE and it still lags when i take a griffin or go into a new area because of my lack of ram, in those circumstances my 600MHz ibook does better, ironforge is the same on my ibook as it is on my pc for example, man i really need some more ram.

dmw007

Sep 12, 2005, 04:10 PM

I would imagine that WoW would run fine for you on a new 12" iBook G4.

persianpunisher

Sep 12, 2005, 09:55 PM

it should run fine

shortyjj

Sep 13, 2005, 09:29 AM

it should run fine

can i ask about video card recommendations for a pc, or will somebody shoot me?

yellow

Sep 13, 2005, 09:39 AM

can i ask about video card recommendations for a pc, or will somebody shoot me?

<click> <aim>

shortyjj

Sep 13, 2005, 10:39 AM

<click> <aim>

So, at the risk of life and limb...

My girlfriend brought home a very small black Dell desktop, I think it's too thin to hold some kinds of video cards - does this mean I need PCI?

Don't get me wrong, I don't love my 12" PB any less, I just can't resist the 20" monitor any longer.

mus0r

Sep 13, 2005, 11:01 AM

I have a 1GHz PB 12" and WoW is playable. It's not *fantastic* but I can go into Orgrimmar with very little lag.

Ultimate-Omen

Sep 14, 2005, 11:35 AM

thanks everyone for your input. as it stands right now i'm still getting a stock ibook but will definately max out the ram later on. anyone know of any good companies? (post a link if you can) I know that crucial is very popular, but they cant be the only choice can they?

lamewing

Sep 14, 2005, 09:49 PM

Ultimate-Omen

Sep 14, 2005, 11:32 PM

Crucial
Ramjet.com
Mushkin.com

ALL good memory
awsome!...now to just find a way to make money magically manifest!...TO THE LAB!

blogo

Sep 15, 2005, 06:45 AM

this is true, any thing you watch at the movie theater or on tv is 24 frames per second

You don't know what you are talking about.
I think everyone here should read the following:
http://www.100fps.com/how_many_frames_can_humans_see.htm

Yvan256

Sep 15, 2005, 08:49 AM

this is true, any thing you watch at the movie theater or on tv is 24 frames per second

Movies (theater) = 24 FPS.
TV (PAL) = 25 FPS.
TV (NTSC) = 30 FPS.

And if you ask me, 24 FPS sucks (too blurry) and 30 FPS is a bare minimum (still too slow for fast-moving scenes/camera pans).

Ultimate-Omen

Sep 15, 2005, 11:21 AM

Movies (theater) = 24 FPS.
TV (PAL) = 25 FPS.
TV (NTSC) = 30 FPS.

And if you ask me, 24 FPS sucks (too blurry) and 30 FPS is a bare minimum (still too slow for fast-moving scenes/camera pans).
you hijacked my thread!...but thats ok because I now have my ibook and its safe to say that WORLD OF WARCRAFT RUNS FINE ON A STOCK iBOOK G4 12"!