If you’ve been enjoying your MMORPGs on an aging potato of a gaming machine, you might want to pay special attention to the World of Warcraft: Shadowlands system requirements. The minimum and recommended specs are once again increasing with this expansion, moving up to a new generation of CPUs and GPUs. But it’s more likely to be your hard drive that needs an upgrade.
Blizzard now suggests a minimum of an Intel i5 3450 or an AMD FX 8300 for your CPU, up from an i5 760 or FX 8100 previously. The minimum GPU requirements are increasing, too – you’ll need an Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 or AMD Radeon RX 560, up from a GTX 560 or a Radeon HD 7850.
The recommended specs now push for an i7 6700K or Ryzen 7 2700 X, up from an i7-4770 or FX 8310. A GTX 1080 or RX Vega 64 is now recommended, up from a GTX 960 or R9 280.
The biggest change is that an SSD with 100GB available is now listed in both the minimum and recommended specs, as the folks at Wowhead note. Previously, SSDs were recommended, but not listed as a minimum requirement. It’s unlikely that you’ll be barred from installing Shadowlands if you’re on a traditional hard disc, but be prepared for even longer loading times.
World of Warcraft: Shadowlands system requirements
| MINUMUM | RECOMMENDED | |
| CPU | Intel Core i5-3450 AMD FX 8300 |
Intel Core i7-6700K AMD Ryzen 7 2700X |
| GPU | Nvidia GeForce GTX 760 AMD Radeon RX 560 Intel UHD 630 (45W) |
Nvidia GeForce GTX 1080 AMD Radeon RX Vega 64 |
| RAM | 4GB (8GB if using supported integrated graphics) | 8GB RAM |
| Storage | Solid State Drive (SSD) 100GB available space |
Solid State Drive (SSD) 100GB available space |
The WoW Shadowlands release date is scheduled for October 27. Can you run it? Check the World of Warcraft system requirements on PCGameBenchmark.