Are you seeing graphical errors or distortions in World of Warcraft? (PC)
Some video cards may experience problems displaying certain texturing effects while playing. Graphic issues may include colors shimmering across static textures, textures that appear solid green or white, and patches of texture or even geometry that are invisible. We have a number of steps available that may help you resolve this issue.
Step 1: DirectX and Video Driver Updates
World of Warcraft/Burning Crusade requires the latest version of DirectX. You can make sure you have the latest version of DirectX from
Microsoft's official website.
Also, it is important that your video drivers are up-to-date and compatible with the latest version of DirectX. Outdated or incompatible video drivers can cause a variety of video and gameplay issues. The first step is to make sure you have the latest drivers for your video card. You can find general information on this on our
Driver Update information page.
A list of hardware manufacturers with contact information can be found on
this page.
NOTE: If your computer is a laptop, you may need to obtain your drivers from the laptop manufacturer directly. Please contact your system manufacturer for detailed instructions on updating your video drivers.
Step 2: Changing Display Settings in Config.wtf
To resolve these problems turn
Specularity and
Pixel Shaders to
"0".
- Open the
World of Warcraft folder on your hard drive. This is normally at C:\Program Files\World of Warcraft
- Open the
WTF folder.
- Open the
Config.wtf file using a text editor, like Wordpad.
- Change
SET specular "1" to
SET specular "0"
- Change
SET pixelShaders "1" to
SET pixelShaders "0"
- Save the file and start the game again.
Note: You may not see the lines you need to change; in this situation, please type the full lines in manually.
Running the game in '
OpenGL' mode may cause certain graphical effects not to display properly. Switching the rendering mode of the game from '
OpenGL' to '
Direct 3D' can resolve some display issues.
- Open the
World of Warcraft folder on your hard drive.
- Open the
WTF folder.
- Open the
Config.wtf file using a text editor, like Notepad.
- Change
SET gxApi "opengl" to
SET gxApi "direct3d"
- Save the file and start the game again.
Also, some video cards may require you to disable the
'UI Acceleration' feature.
- Open the
World of Warcraft folder on your hard drive.
- Open the
WTF folder.
- Open the
Config.wtf file using a text editor, like Notepad.
- Change
Set UIFaster "x" where
x equals one of the following numbers:
0 - This turns off all UI acceleration
1 - For Internal Use Only - DO NOT USE!
2 - Enables partial UI acceleration only.
3 - Enables all UI acceleration.
- Save the file and start the game again.
It is recommended to first try option 2 in order to correct the problem. If this does not solve the issue, then use option 0 to disable all UI Acceleration.
Step 3: Motherboard Chipset Drivers
Download and install the latest chipset drivers for your motherboard. Check your motherboard manufacturer's website for updated chipset drivers first. We have a list of hardware manufacturers on our
Hardware Vendor List. If you can't find updated drivers at the manufacturer's website, the next two most common locations for chipset drivers are
www.viaarena.com and
Intel's chipset site.
NOTE: Updating your motherboard chipset is a relatively advanced step. If the update procedure is not followed properly, it can cause system problems or failure. If you are at all uncertain about how to go about this process, please contact your motherboard manufacturer directly for assistance.
Step 4: Overheating and overclocking
If your system is overclocked it may be producing too much heat, which will adversely affect program performance. Please try cleaning out any dust that may have built up inside of your computer. Please also set all your components to their factory default speeds while playing World of Warcraft. If the system is producing high amounts of heat but is not overclocked, we would suggest you add a fan to your system to help distribute heat in the case.
If none of these steps resolved the issue, please
contact us for further assistance.
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