Best Nvidia card for WoW

[MBH38]

Hi guys

Been having a lot of issues with my current AMD card (Radeon 7850) whilst playing WoW to the extent that I am looking to buy a replacement and it's going to be a Nvidia one.

Want the best value for my money and hopefully problem free. I can now manage up to £300 but would prefer not to go that high and would like something that would be a little future proof should I decide to play anything else.

Current specs are:

- Case: Antec 300 Gaming Case
- Power Supply: OCZ ZS 750w PSU
- CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K 3.30GHz @ 4.40GHz Sandybridge CPU
- Motherboard: Gigabyte Z77-D3H Intel Z77 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard
- Cooler: Prolimatech Panther CPU Cooler
- RAM: 8GB DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
- Graphics Card: Radeon 7850

Any suggestions would be much appreciated.

 

[Marine-RX179]

Can you clarify what exacty is the issue with your 7850 in WOW?

As for Nvidia card, they don't exact belong in the same line as value for money...you are not going to get a decent upgrade from what you already got at £200, unless you are looking at 2nd hand 780/780Ti, and they are not exactly future proof due to the 3GB memory.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

My mate has an HD7850 and has no issues with WoW or D3. Neither do two of my mates who frequently play WoW and have an HD7870XT and and a R9 280.

 

[ubersonic]

I made the same switch after waiting for half a year for AMD to fix the WoW issues with the HD7900 series, luckily for you WoW users are just about the only gamers where Nvidia actually offer the best value for money as the game favours Nvidia cards.

For £200 you would be looking at a GTX960 (£150-£200 depending on type) or you could get comparable performance from a used GTX680/770 for much less.

What resolution do you game at? My GF plays WoW at 1080p and I just got her an inno3D Ichill X3 GTX960 for valentines day (its one of the highest factory overclocked cards and has a great cooler) and that runs WoW on maximum settings plus it's MFAA compliant ready for the upgraded AA options in patch 6.1

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I made the same switch after waiting for half a year for AMD to fix the WoW issues with the HD7900 series, luckily for you WoW users are just about the only gamers where Nvidia actually offer the best value for money as the game favours Nvidia cards.

For £200 you would be looking at a GTX960 (£150-£200 depending on type) or you could get comparable performance from a used GTX680/770 for much less.

What resolution do you game at? My GF plays WoW at 1080p and I just got her an inno3D Ichill X3 GTX960 for valentines day (its one of the highest factory overclocked cards and has a great cooler) and that runs WoW on maximum settings plus it's MFAA compliant ready for the upgraded AA options in patch 6.1

My mates have been intensive WoW players for years and they have had no problems with their AMD/ATI cards last time I checked. The only time I knew someone might had some issues with WoW was when they bought an HD7970 at launch(yes,three years ago) but then Nvidia were having issues with SLI too with the games.

A mate has an HD7850 and he is generally fine in the game - it tends to be much more CPU limited anyway.

The HD7870XT/LE is Tahiti based BTW - mate has had it for two years and has put 100s if not 1000s of hours into the game. This is a guy who has 100s of games BTW.

This is what I gather from the last two years of them running the game. So let me repeat,an HD7850,HD7870XT(Tahiti based) and an R9 280(Tahiti based) over the last two years have been fine with the game including Warlords of Draenor.

They also all have D3 like me and put 100s of hours in that game. I agree the Nvidia cards do have better framerates if you are measurebating but FFS WoW has millions of players since it will run perfectly well on many times of different hardware.

Heck,Blizzard made sure WoW ran better under DX11 under DX9 when world+dog was just increasing DX11 shininess at the expense of framerates over DX9!

Edit!!

Also,what is the issue the OP is talking about?

As opposed to jumping to the instant "buy new hardware line" shouldn't people be asking what this problem is??

It could be down to an add-on they are using for example.

 

[ubersonic]

My mates have been intensive WoW players for years and they have had no problems with their AMD/ATI cards last time I checked. The only time I knew someone might had some issues with WoW was when they bought an HD7970 at launch(yes,three years ago) but then Nvidia were having issues with SLI too with the games.

A mate has an HD7850 and he is generally fine in the game - it tends to be much more CPU limited anyway.

The HD7870XT/LE is Tahiti based BTW - mate has had it for two years and has put 100s if not 1000s of hours into the game. This is a guy who has 100s of games BTW.

This is what I gather from the last two years of them running the game.

I'm not trying to fanboy this up, just giving the facts, if your main concern is WoW then you go Nvidia as you get better bang for buck and less issues, it's that simple.

As for your friends they were lucky, simple as, many AMD users don't have issues in WoW but most WoW users who have issues are AMD users. Back in MoP The were widely documented issues with the HD7900 series in WoW causing system lockups (sound would continue working but system would become unresponsive) which took AMD over a year to fix (and to this day they have never acknowledged the issue).

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I'm not trying to fanboy this up, just giving the facts, if your main concern is WoW then you go Nvidia as you get better bang for buck and less issues, it's that simple.

As for your friends they were lucky, simple as, many AMD users don't have issues but most people who have issues are AMD users. Back in MoP The were widely documented issues with the HD7900 series in WoW causing system lockups (sound would continue working but system would become unresponsive) which took AMD over a year to fix (and to this day they have never acknowledged the issue).

I am giving facts too - you can deflect all you want. I have FOUR mates who play WoW and D3 as their primary games.

They have had ZERO problems in the last two years - I don't care about some random problem three years ago.

They have multiple high level characters have been playing this game for like 5 years.

My other mate who is also a massive WoW player uses a pre-overclocked GTX650TI Boost 2GB.

I have a GTX660 and played it for a while too but it was not my cup of tea.

There is also another mate I know who bought an R9 280X and said he runs D3 and WoW too. Unlike with my closer mates I have not seen the system in action or played with him.

So,between 5 of us we had no problems running the game,and my mates are all running at 1920X1080 resolution. Yes,NV cards do run it a bit better as I said but not to an extent that you would instantly ditch an AMD card.

The OP should not be have major issues with an HD7850 with the game.

But OFC as usual on forums lets spend other people's money first instant of trying the free method of actually finding what the problem is.

However,we can agree to disagree - I am off to put a few minutes of D3 in before I need to get some work done.

Edit!!

Plus I know the hardware configs of other people in the guild which my mates are in.

 

[Marine-RX179]

I'm not trying to fanboy this up, just giving the facts, if your main concern is WoW then you go Nvidia as you get better bang for buck and less issues, it's that simple.

As for your friends they were lucky, simple as, many AMD users don't have issues but most people who have issues are AMD users. Back in MoP The were widely documented issues with the HD7900 series in WoW causing system lockups (sound would continue working but system would become unresponsive) which took AMD over a year to fix (and to this day they have never acknowledged the issue).

I still think it'd better determine whether the issue that OP facing is the same unresolvable ones same as yours first, before choosing to throw money at hoping to resolve the problem. Also have to ensure it is not performance limitation caused by CPU, rather than graphic card.

It's probably too soon to tell OP to make the switch without hearing about what problems he got first.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

I still think it'd better determine whether the issue that OP facing is the same unresolvable ones same as yours first, before choosing to throw money at hoping to resolve the problem. Also have to ensure it is not performance limitation caused by CPU, rather than graphic card.

It's probably too soon to tell OP to make the switch without hearing about what problems he got first.

Your wrong buy a new card.

/facepalm.

 

[ubersonic]

I am giving facts too - you can deflect all you want. I have FOUR mates who play WoW and D3 as their primary games.

They have had ZERO problems in the last two years - I don't care about some random problem three years ago.

Not trying to be a jerk, but have you considered that the experiences of your "FOUR" mates could possibly not be indicative of the experience of the ten million active WoW players?

Just saying, I am just repeating common knowledge, which I assume the OP has already got from the WoW forums hence why he's asking for GPU recommendations not troubleshooting.

It's probably too soon to tell OP to make the switch without hearing about what problems he got first.

Well from his post it seemed he's already made his mind up /shrug. He was asking what the best Nvidia card to get for £200 was, not if should upgrade.

 

[ChrisD.]

GTX 960 as posted above.

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Not trying to be a jerk, but have you considered that the experiences of your "FOUR" mates could possibly not be indicative of the experience of the ten million active WoW players?

Just saying, I am just repeating common knowledge, which I assume the OP has already got from the WoW forums hence why he's asking for GPU recommendations not troubleshooting.

What indicative experiences?? You mean because YOU had an issue three years ago with a card and went Nvidia and then got your other half to go Nvidia and now you are telling people to go Nvidia just because he has an AMD card now.

No,its not the indicative experience of 10 million players,especially if you understood the average WoW fanbase that 99.99999999999999999999999% are not hardware geeks and don't post on hardware forums or even know what hardware they are running on it - I know loads of D3 and WoW players in the guilds using laptops and oldish desktops running it,especially in other countries where hardware is much more expensive.

The difference unlike you with your "common knowledge" is that I have actually played with these people and I would rather take what I can see in realworld gameplay as opposed to someone saying that it won't work.

Heck only me and the guy who owns the HD7870XT post on forums - the dozens of other players I know/they know in the D3 and WoW guilds won't.

Like I said don't disagree Nv runs it better - i saw it myself,but it didn't mean that the AMD cards were so bad they were useless for WoW - you are getting into serious measurebating territory there for what is an old game which is mostly still CPU limited.

Plus you know very well that if people have no problems they won't post a thread that they won't have problems.

NONE of the massively popular games are MASSIVE hardware hogs.

Please don't start.

Plus "common knowledge" is more an indication of "old wives tales" - just on the same level that PC are less reliable and are more viruses ridden than Macs and iPhones are better than Android.
But I kind of expect thats the way things are nowadays.

Thats "common knowledge" too.

Well from his post it seemed he's already made his mind up /shrug. He was asking what the best Nvidia card to get for £200 was, not if should upgrade.

Or has issues and he thinks a new card will solve it.

If it were the case the OP wanted more performance I would agree a GTX960 or a GTX770 would be an upgrade path.

But he has said "due to issues" without specifying what it is.

What issues??
Hardware??
Software?
Performance??
What??

 

[ubersonic]

What indicative experiences??

Well basically, I also post on the official US and EU WoW forums (the places where most WoW players post about WoW things) and also on the other major MMO forums with active WoW communities (the other places where WoW players post about WoW things). And one of the running themes across all of these, is that when people say they are upgrading their GPU and ask what to get, they are usually told that if they care mostly about WoW then get an Nvidia GPU because the performance/$ is better and you are less likely to run into issues (as has been established by the community over a ten year period).

Clear enough?

 

[PayneUK]

@CAT-THE-FIFTH, Do AMD set off a Batman style spotlight to signal you or did you just go for the implant?

While not specific I think from the OP’s post that he’s gotten to the point after troubleshooting that he’s had enough of trying, which is perfectly fine. Will a NVidia card solve the issue? who knows.

I’d be supprised if you get a 780ti for under £200 though, a 780/770 certainly if you look around.

 

[Ayahuasca]

WoWvidia

 

[Marine-RX179]

Well from his post it seemed he's already made his mind up /shrug. He was asking what the best Nvidia card to get for £200 was, not if should upgrade.

Sorry uber...I was by no mean trying to argue against you or anything, I just think that sometimes when people asking for opinion, it wouldn't hurt for someone point out "hang on a minute...have you thought it through before making this decision? May be you would want to talk with us about what problems is that you are facing first, and we will see if it can be resolved without throwing money away? It wouldn't be too late to get a new card later if the final conclusion is that the solution definitely require getting a new card."

 

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Well basically, I also post on the official US and EU WoW forums (the places where most WoW players post about WoW things) and also on the other major MMO forums with active WoW communities (the other places where WoW players post about WoW things). And one of the running themes across all of these, is that when people say they are upgrading their GPU and ask what to get, they are usually told that if they care mostly about WoW then get an Nvidia GPU because the performance/$ is better and you are less likely to run into issues (as has been established by the community over a ten year period).

Clear enough?

Oh right - so just because you get some very frequent posters on a forum who have a Nvidia bias and say go Nvidia that clears it up. So I assume you only get iPhones since many people if asked say"Apple" is better.

So how many of these people have actually run an AMD card in the last year even - I bet they have not so have no clue at all and are just going buy what they have always bought. But I guess they were the same people who said go Nvidia even in the FX days to run HL2 - I have been around on forums long enough to remember things like that.

Also,you do realise relative pricing does favour Nvidia in many markets too - the UK has tended to be more AMD friendly in that respect.

But it does change the fact of what I said - most WoW players are not hardware geeks and do not post on forums about hardware.

This is also a tech forum - if we went on common knowledge then we might as not bother being hardware enthusiasts - after all according to many gamers consoles are better than PCs??

But it also irritates me that I know massively active WoW players now who are running this game fine,and yet apparently they don't know what they are doing and are obviously having issues they are not having.

I am going to have a laugh about this weekend with them,and I CBA arguing it anymore TBH.

@CAT-THE-FIFTH, Do AMD set off a Batman style spotlight to signal you or did you just go for the implant?

While not specific I think from the OP’s post that he’s gotten to the point after troubleshooting that he’s had enough of trying, which is perfectly fine. Will a NVidia card solve the issue? who knows.

I’d be supprised if you get a 780ti for under £200 though, a 780/770 certainly if you look around.

Considering I have not owned an AMD card since 2013 that is funny!!

My last two cards were a GTX650TI Boost 2GB and a GTX660.

But I don't like it when people don't try and clarify what the issue is first.

PS:

Last build I did for someone had a GTX960 in it,but it was Linux compatibility and the fact Blender uses CUDA better than OpenCL.

 

[Ayahuasca]

This gif confirms that WoW likes the green team.

 

[Squink]

I used to have an 8800 ultra that occasionally did something weird with the sound while the screen locked up. Now I have a 5850 I've never seen the problem. I very much doubt there's some underlying problem affecting potentially millions of AMD owning WoW users.

This is besides the point though. Using my powers of reading between the lines, I believe what the OP is actually saying is "irrespective of problems in WoW I want a new card for 200 sheets, please recommend a (non second hand) nvidia product".

Unfortunately there's only the 960 that falls into this category and it's a hard card to recommend, especially if looking to the future.

 

[ChrisD.]

Unfortunately there's only the 960 that falls into this category and it's a hard card to recommend, especially if looking to the future.

Agreed, a 290 would be a much better option than a 960.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-166-PC