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Fix: World of Warcraft Not Using GPU / Low GPU Usage [5 Ways]
How about a dedicated GPU for a change
5 min. read
Updated onOctober 4, 2023
updated onOctober 4, 2023
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Are you having trouble getting your game to run on your GPU? World of Warcraft is one of those games that heavily depend on your GPU to render its graphics. However, you may find that at times, WoW is not using your GPU or the GPU usage is too low.
This is not the only issue gamers may face. Sometimes,WoW won’t start in Windowsbut we’ve already tackled this problem in our fix guide. For today, let’s focus on how to get the most out of your GPU when it comes to WoW.
Why is WoW not using the graphics card?
So you just upgraded your hardware to a high-endgaming PCbut still, WoW won’t use your GPU. Why is that? Below are some potential reasons:
How can I fix WoW low GPU usage?
A few preliminary checks before proceeding to the slightly advanced technical solutions include:
1. Change your graphic settings to high performance
2. Disable the default GPU
Your integrated GPU is good to perform basic functions but when it comes to running graphic-intensive games, a dedicated GPU should be your go-to. It is also imperative that when choosing the dedicated GPU, pick one that is recommended for WoW to avoid compatibility issues.
3. Update your graphics driver
While this method works most of the time, a lot of PC users might detest going through multiple steps and to make it worse, choose the wrong driver. To avoid such mishaps, we recommend using a third-party tool.
Outbyte Driver Updater is an excellent automaticdriver updater utilitythat scans your system for missing, outdated, and corrupt drivers. It then searches, downloads, and installs the best-matched drivers for your PC without you having to go through multiple steps.
OutByte
4. Update your OS
5. Install overclocking software
Overclocking is a process in which you can increase the performance of your PC’s hardware by tweaking its settings. There is a lot ofoverclocking softwareavailable so don’t hesitate to check out our recommendations.
Note that this can cause instability in some cases, but if you’re careful, you can use it to boost your game performance and get better frames per second (fps) in games like World of Warcraft (WoW). To ensure it is within the recommended settings, alsoinstall overclocking monitoring software.
Other measures you can take to make sure your GPU is not left idle are to move your game files to an SSD card and enable hardware acceleration.Moving your Steam games to an SSD cardwill accelerate the load times since SSDs are known to be faster than hard drives.
If you’re new to SSDs and are in the market for one, we have an awesome recommendation of thebest SSDs with great storageoptions and impeccable performance.
Also, enabling hardware acceleration ensures that your dedicated graphics card is being utilized to its full potential.
If all else fails, it may be your PC that’s too old and making your GPU not detectable. Should this be the case, perhaps it’s time to upgrade your hardware. To that effect, we have a list ofbudget PCs to play World of Warcraftwithout hurting your pockets too much.
That’s all we had for today so make sure to leave us a comment down below especially if you used another method not mentioned here.
More about the topics:GPU,World of Warcraft errors
Claire Moraa
Windows Software Expert
Claire has a knack for solving problems and improving the quality of life for those around her. She’s driven by rationality, curiosity, and simplicity, and always eager to learn more about Microsoft’s products. With a background in teaching and reviewing, she breaks down complex topics into easily understandable articles, focusing mostly on Windows 11, errors, and software.
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Claire Moraa
Windows Software Expert
With a background in teaching and reviewing, she breaks down complex topics into easily understandable articles, focusing mostly on Windows 11 errors.
