Quick and Dirty Hardware Specs Guide

[pikohan]

I see people ask about specs occasionally, and since I've done a bit of research and experimentation, I wanted to compile some data into a quick and dirty guide.

 

The official website lists "minimum" and "recommended" system specs, but it doesn't tell you how well the game will run with those specs. I'm going to tell you the inverse: what hardware do you need to run the game at minimum graphics quality and at maximum graphics quality. Just so we are all on the same page, when I say "minimum graphics quality", I mean setting graphics quality at "Very Low" and not touching any of the settings. Conversely, when I say "maximum graphics quality", I mean setting graphics quality at "Very High" and not touching any of the other settings. Adding things like additional MSA will make your results inconsistent with these.

 

Running Minimum Quality at 720p

Here are the specs of some machines on which I've run the game at minimum graphics at 720p, and the corresponding fps.

 

Machine	CPU	GPU	Rough Performance
ThinkPad Yoga S1 (2014)	Core i5 4300U	Intel HD Graphics 4400	> 30fps
ThinkPad Yoga S1 (1080p)	Core i5 4300U	Intel HD Graphics 4400	~ 30fps
Samsung ATIV Book 9 (2015)	Core M 5Y31	Intel HD Graphics 5300	< 30fps

The ThinkPad Yoga S1 was my regular laptop for a couple years, and it was the first thing on which I loaded WoWS. The performance of the Yoga S1 is broadly representative of mainstream notebooks today, and this is a good thing because it means that basically anything with an i5 that you can buy today will be able to run the game at minimum quality at acceptable performance. You should even be able to crank up the resolution without sacrificing too much fps. "Acceptable performance" might vary depending on who you ask, but since WoWS is not a particularly twitchy game, I'm setting it at a consistent 30fps.

 

The Samsung ATIV Book 9 replaced my Yoga S1 recently, and it's performance is generally representative of super-low power machines using Intel Core Y processors. This is not that good of an experience. The game runs, but it's typically less than 30fps, and you can feel it. You should expect slideshows running the game on hardware weaker than this.

 

What CPU/GPU to get?
- Anything better than an i5 4300U. This is pretty much every midrange laptop you can buy today. Even current i3s should be good enough. I put CPU/GPU together because most modern CPUs come with on-die graphics and you can't really choose one without the other.

What CPU/GPU not to get?
- Current-gen Core Ms might be bearable, but I'd avoid Pentiums or Celerons. Pentiums and Celerons are especially bad because many of them aren't Core-based anymore, and the game will be a slideshow.

Running Maximum Quality at 1080p

Here are the specs of some machines on which I've run the game at minimum graphics at 720p, and the corresponding fps.

 

Machine	CPU	GPU	Rough Performance
Old Desktop	Core 2 Quad Q6700	Radeon HD6850 2GB	~ 30fps
Less Old Desktop	Core i3 4130 (Haswell)	GeForce GTX 750Ti 2GB	< 60fps
Dell Precision M6600	Core i5 2540M	AMD FirePro M6100 2GB	> 30fps

 

I found out that it was much more enjoyable to play the game with Very High graphics out when I borrowed the desktop with the C2Q and the HD6850. This is close to the performance of the "recommended" specs listed on the official website, but I would say it's slightly underpowered for maxing out the game. That being said, it goes to show that WoWS isn't the most graphically demanding game as fairly dated hardware can get nearly acceptable maximum quality performance.

 

The Less Old Desktop replaced the Old Desktop when I returned it, and it has been my main WoWS machine for a year. It roughly represents the performance out of a midrange gaming machine from a few years ago, and by that logic any mid to high end desktop built over the past few years should be able to run the game with Very High graphics. It should not be an expensive proposition to build such a machine right now either, maybe around $300 just for hardware.

 

Finally, the Dell Precision M6600 is a recent acquisition because I needed something moveable. It's an obscure high-end business laptop circa 2012/13 which is generally equivalent to a high-end gaming laptop of the same vintage. I got this because it was cheap. An Alienware M17x of the same vintage and performance was almost twice as expensive!

 

What CPU to get?
- Anything faster than a Core 2 Quad. 
    - On the desktop front this is practically every i5 ever made, and most late-model i3s. Some late-model Pentiums and Celerons may also make the cut. 
    - On the laptop front this is also practically every i5 ever made, and maybe late-model i3s. Pentiums and Celerons are dicey because many late-model Pentiums and Celerons aren't Core based.

What GPU to get?
- Anything faster than the Radeon HD 6850.
    - On the desktop front this is midrange cards stretching back to the GTX 560 or the first generation of AMD GCN cards. Very late-model entry cards like the GTX 1040 might also make the cut.
    - On the laptop front this is tricky; I think you really need recent midrange cards like the GTX 860M or GTX 960M or older high-end cards like the GTX 680M, and all of these can still be expensive.

 

Finally, memory: 4GB should be good enough for everything, but some early patches may have had memory leaks which would crash the game on 4GB if you ran it long enough. Your mileage may vary depending on what you're running in the background too. I haven't tested anything with 2GB.

 

Do note that increasing the system specs will only improve performance while in-game or in-port. The best thing you can do to improve loading times (given that your CPU and GPU are good enough to run whatever settings you want) is to get a solid-state drive. 

 

The Fun Part

So, how can you tell if your CPU or GPU choice is faster than whatever I've mentioned? Here are some handy charts I've used over the years to determine just that. The NotebookCheck lists are primary for mobile CPUs and GPUs, but they have some desktop hardware thrown in there for reference. They also show results for specific benchmarks if you think the ranking is rubbish. The Tom's Hardware lists are primary for desktop hardware, and it's a much easier list to read, but doesn't have any details.

 

NotebookCheck Mobile Processors Benchmark List

NotebookCheck Mobile Graphics Cards Benchmark List

 

Toms Hardware CPU Hierarchy

Toms Hardware GPU Hierarchy

 

Just a formatted brain dump there; hopefully it's helpful to some people!

[LowSpeed_US]

To add to your data

Core 2 duo E7400 @3.4Ghz

SSD

4GB RAM DDR2

GTX750ti

 

Average FPS 80

Lowest FPS 32

Highest FPS 100+

 

 

[ZombieFlanders]

+1, should be a stickie!

A very good write up of the basics of hardware and what to choose for a few common situations. There are so many options out there now and figuring out what works best (especially on a budget) is crucial for many players. Your explanation of what an SSD brings is an excellent point to make. Before I got mine I played at a buttery smooth 60FPS, but it took forever to load...an SSD wont give a system more raw power for games etc which seems to be a popular misconception. 

 

One thing I would add is a little more on the GPU and CPU selections. A low end system would have integrated graphics, mid range system a $100-200 dedicated GPU. High end is 200+ with enthusiast 400+. CPU breaks down similarly. Also, mobile GPUs arent the exact same as their desktop counterparts even if the numbering is the same (with an M usually). Generally fewer stream processors and lower clock speed. 

 

More data, if youd like:

i5 OCd to 4.5ghz, GTX 970 16gig ram 60 FPS on 1080p max settings with vsync and all AA options maxed. will stay at ~60 even when down-sampling from 1440. 

 

 

[thegamefilmguruman]

Some data from mine:

Desktop:
i7 3770
gtx 560 Ti
SSD
12 GB ram

Highest settings on everything but the anti-aliasing
60 FPS

Laptop:
Toshiba S855-S5188
i7 3630QM
16 GB Ram
SSD
AMD Radeon HD 7670M

Lowest settings
60 FPS (I actually don't remember what it can actually do-I run it on low because this laptop likes to overheat)

[Mizzerys_Fate]

Intel I5- 4.5 ghz not overcooked.

Nvidia 1060 gtx 3gb ddr5

16 gb ddr3

2tb Toshiba 2 HD

Windows 10 74 bit home 

DSL service.

 

70 FPS + steady 

Everything maxed out with all additional settings maxed.

[pikohan]

Thanks for the additional spec dumps guys; I'll see if I can find a good way to make an extensible list of more systems/specs and their performance characteristics; the inline table thing was a struggle to deal with last night 

[cliff_REDDOG]

Old Gateway multimedia PC, no OC in bios.

Core 2 Duo E4300 1.8ghz

4gb DDR2 (max allowed ram)

Readeon HD 6670 1gb, 11mhz OC

Old [edited]300gb Seagate HDD

Windows 7 x64

up to 5mb/s connection

25-30fps, graphics settings almost completely bottomed out, 1366 x 768