WOTLK Hardware Requirements Updated

[Tasty]

FYI

"We have updated computer system specifications required to run World of Warcraft in preparation for our next expansion, Wrath of the Lich King. Please also note the recommended specifications, which, while certainly not required, generally provide a more optimal gaming experience.


PC System Requirements

OS: Windows XP (Service Pack 3), Windows Vista (Service Pack 1)

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 "


http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/th...60996582&sid=1

[Surabe]

• Recommended: Dual-core processor, such as the Intel Pentium D or AMD Athlon 64 X2

oO is it just me, or does that sounds like alot when we talk wow.. glad i got quad core lol

[Tonyx]

Anyone 5-boxed in beta and can say if they noticed perfomance drop? Will we need better PCs than now for multiboxing?
I am just updating my PC to 5-box and I would cry if that wouldn't be enough to 5-box WOTLK.

[Haruko]

Anyone 5-boxed in beta and can say if they noticed perfomance drop? Will we need better PCs than now for multiboxing?
I am just updating my PC to 5-box and I would cry if that wouldn't be enough to 5-box WOTLK.

If you have even one of the new 8-series of Dual-core or a Quad, you'll be fine. I be more concerned with RAM & the Video tbh. I've been in beta & the areas that had the most lag were areas with mist or some sort of real physical change. Don't want to spoil anymore detail for others.

[Tonyx]

Yes, the video card is what troubles me most. I am planning on getting an ATI 4850, but maybe not enough for 5 instances (although at least 4 wiil be on very low graphical settings).
For the RAM.. I hope 8GB are enough... if not.. that would be quite costly and probably better to build a second PC instead of 5 boxing on one PC (but I have space problems atm, so that could be an issue too).

[suprafro]

8gb?

I currently 5box on one machine with 3.5gb and I think the highest peak I have ever seen was 3gb. Is wotlk really that big of a change?

[Bigdady92]

Yes, the video card is what troubles me most. I am planning on getting an ATI 4850, but maybe not enough for 5 instances (although at least 4 wiil be on very low graphical settings).
For the RAM.. I hope 8GB are enough... if not.. that would be quite costly and probably better to build a second PC instead of 5 boxing on one PC (but I have space problems atm, so that could be an issue too).

It runs it just fine. We got a 5boxing mage/shaman who runs one. He doesn't have any problems at all.

You could always get the new 4870 with 1GB of DDR5 RAM. They are around $280 or so.

[Tasty]

At present the Lich King requirements are stated but not enforced. The game will load up and run on 10.3.9 and a G4 system, and we still test on those configs. So if you do choose to install it and find that it runs well enough for you, there's nothing being done presently that would prevent that.

Existing Classic and BC players on such systems shouldn't see noticeable change in performance when 3.0.2 release comes out. The bigger issue with Lich King is that the newer areas are more graphically intensive and this is why we telegraphed a change in specs specifically for the expansion content.

The subject of the thread isn't ( IMO ) strictly accurate. You can absolutely continue to play WoW on the machine you have, and possibly even the LK expansion too, that's all up to you.

http://forums.worldofwarcraft.com/thread.html?topicId=10971857617&pageNo=5&sid=1#91

[Ughmahedhurtz]

Note that the confirmation above is MAC-specific.

On a related note, I highly doubt that XP will require SP3 to run. I could be mistaken and I'll poke around for confirmation but I just can't see a compelling reason for it.