Revision of How to reduce WoW Lag from Fri, 2009-02-20 00:38

I. Introduction

WoW Lag got you down? Can't finish your quest because of lag, always getting killed in battlegrounds because of lag? Then this guide is for you! This guide will help you to identify the problem that is causing you to lag.

Meet the Requirements

Of course your system has to meet the requirements to run WoW, which are as follows:

PC System Requirements

OS: Windows XP / Windows Vista (with latest Service Packs)

Processor:

Minimum: Intel Pentium 4 1.3 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 1500+
Recommended: Dual-core processor, such as the Intel Pentium D or AMD Athlon 64 X2

Memory:
Minimum: 512 MB RAM (1GB for Vista users)
Recommended: 1 GB RAM (2 GB for Vista users)
Video:
Minimum: 3D graphics processor with Hardware Transform and Lighting with 32 MB VRAM Such as an ATI Radeon 7200 or NVIDIA GeForce 2 class card or better
Recommended: 3D graphics processor with Vertex and Pixel Shader capability with 128 MB VRAM Such as an ATI Radeon X1600 or NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT class card or better

Sound: DirectX-compatible sound card or motherboard sound capability

Mac System Requirements

OS: Mac OS X 10.4.11 or newer

Processor:
Minimum: PowerPC G5 1.6 GHz or Intel Core Duo processor
Recommended: Intel 1.8GHz processor or better

Memory:
Minimum: 1 GB RAM
Recommended: 2 GB RAM

Video:
Minimum: 3D graphics processor with Hardware Transform and Lighting with 64 MB VRAM Such as an ATI Radeon 9600 or NVIDIA GeForce Ti 4600 class card or better
Recommended: 3D graphics processor with Vertex and Pixel Shader capability with 128 MB VRAM Such as an ATI Radeon X1600 or NVIDIA 7600 class card or better

All Platforms

Controls: A keyboard and mouse are required. Input devices other than a mouse and keyboard are not supported.
Connectivity: You must have an active broadband Internet connection to play.
Mouse: Multi-button mouse with scroll wheel recommended.
Hard Drive Space: 15 GB free hard drive space

Please check if you meet these requirements if you don't know how to check: Start> Run> DxDiag

III. Finding and Solving The Problem

The lag can either be caused by high latency (300ms+) or a low framerate (15 and below) .

To reduce your latency read this:
1. Stop any downloads or videos running while playing WoW.
2. Reduce the amount of programs running while playing WoW.
3. Change your ISP.
4. Edit the Registry:
Start>Run>RegEdit
Search for:
"HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\Tcpip\Parameters\Interfaces\"
Search through the keys (should be folders with random numbers on it) and find out which one is your network connection, you will know because it will have your Local IP Address in it. (a guide to finding it is found at http://www.bobborst.com/tools/whatsmyip/)
When you've found it create a new REG_DWORD key called "TcpAckFrequency" and set the value to 1.
Restart you computer.

To reduce your Framerate read this:
1. Switch all the graphic options down to low. This game be done in game by Options>Sound and Video
2. Reduce the amount of Start up programs, Go to MSconfig (run>msconfig) and go to the tab startup and deselect any programs that aren't absolutely necessary. (If you don't know what it is I suggest not touching it.)
3 . Clear up RAM by running a program called CLEANUP (http://www.stevengould.org/index.php?Itemid=69&id=15&option=com_content&task=view) or following this guide: http://www.microsoft.com/atwork/getstarted/speed.mspx

Thanks for using my guide and I hope this helped!