Posted by iTZKooPA on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 - 46 Comments
Tags: i need a new computer, intel gma, oh crap, on-board, system requirements, upgrade, wotlk, wrath, wrath of the lich king
Blizzard Entertainment announced the official System Requirements for their second expansion to World of Warcraft. Wrath of the Lich King sports higher requirements in a few areas that will likely force some users to upgrade their computers, or go nuts and get new ones. The announcement comes by way of Bornakk and the official forums. If you are interested in the full run down, then click that link. I will simply highlight and discuss the major changes.
We learned shortly after Wrath’s official release date was announced that the title would only be available on DVD. According to a poll run by WoWInsider, this means that some 7.5% of WoW users will need to upgrade their CD-ROM or CD-RW drive to a DVD-ROM or DVD+-RW. Thankfully, that cost is only about $30-$50, if you have the know how to install it yourself. Of course, there are some tricks around this, such as loading the game off an ISO image by way of an external harddrive. The rest of the upgrades are likely caused by Wrath’s bump in graphics capabilities, like real-time shadows.
The upgrades fragment a bit for the different platforms, PC or Mac. First off, PC users must have Windows XP SP3 or Vista SP1, but both service packs are free upgrades (for legal owners). This means that users of Windows 2000 will finally have to make the jump to Vista. Those who are scared of Vista should start searching for copies of XP now.
Then comes the most drastic change for PC users. PC machines are required to have a faster processor than before, a 1.3GHz processor (or equivalent) instead of that old 800MHz dog. That is almost a 40% boost and will cause people on the low end to upgrade. If you have the know-how this can be cheap, but most people will probably just opt for a new machine. Ram and video card requirements remain the same, although Vista users need double the Ram than XP players, since that OS is a hog.
Mac gamers are an entirely different story though. I will start it off with the worse news, all G4 machines will be unable to play Wrath of the Lich King. Blizzard states that the minimum processor requirement for Mac machines is a Power PC G5 1.6GHz processor. This kills G4s across the board, PowerMac and PowerBooks. As for the OS, 10.3.x is being dropped in favor of 10.4.11 or higher. Look on the bright side , at least your OS doesn’t cost hundreds of dollars. Mac players will also need double the Ram at 1GB required, another low-cost upgrade.
Lastly and most costly, Mac Minis and most MacBooks have been dropped due to their on-board video cards being a bit behind. MacBooks released almost three years after World of Warcraft can not play Wrath due to Apple’s poor choice in graphics processors. Models from Late 2007 were finally updated with the Intel GMA X3100 on-board graphics solution, which can do the needed Lighting and Hardware Transform. However, as of press time Blizzard has not confirmed them as suitable for Wrath, but it meets the announcement’s listed requirements.
It seems that many Apple supporters got the short end of the stick on this deal. This isn’t to say that all year old PC laptops will be able to play Wrath. Many OEM manufacturers (Dell, HP, Sony, etc) cut costs on the low- and mid-range machines the same way. Rule of thumb for those PC gamers, if you have an Intel on-board solution, there is cause for concern. Lucky for me, my third gaming machine (I have a problem) squeaks by the requirements with a Radeon 9700 Pro. How do your machines hold up?
Related Posts: Project Lore Karazhan Week 2 Wrap Up, The WoW-Friendly Netbook Returns For Clarification, Wishful Thinking: WoW On A Netbook, Onyxia’s Attunement Process Being Removed - For Awhile, Changes To Professions/UI Coming In Patch v3.0.8,
By t2t2 on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 10:27 am
I’m really right on the edge for system requirements:
* Processor: 1,333 GHz
* Memory: 512MB
(Almost same numbers in Blizzard post)
By Peter on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 10:32 am
Good thing about being a 2D/3D Artist: even my tablet PC blows those specs away.
Really looking forward to cranking all the new settings up to max. Makes the game feel much, much more epic.
By Alayea on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 10:41 am
I guess I really ought to be thankful for that hard drive failure several months ago, which finally pushed my sister and I to buy a new computer. Otherwise, we’d have to pay for a DVD reader and a new processor.
By Zol on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 10:47 am
Right about now, I’m really glad I just bought the Dell XPS 1730 laptop…but I’m regretting not splurging for the WoW edition. I’ll meet the minimum requirements for Wrath with no problem, but I’d like to stay ahead of the game for future expansions. And who wouldn’t just love to have dual 512MB graphics cards, right? Like I said, I wish I would have just bit the bullet and paid a little more. Oh well….I’m super psyched for Wrath!
By Phra on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 10:56 am
I think that it is really sad that 7.5% of people are still running less then a gig of ram and a pathetic processor. I think that there should be incentives by computer companys to buy new computers, or at least from peoples friends…if it is more then 2-3 years old it is dead get a new one or upgrade(the far cheaper way)
Yes I am negative. But this upgrade will I HOPE kill the young kids urges to enter the WOW arena. Those under 12 years old shouldnt even be able to log in. FOR THE HORDE!
By Steven on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 10:56 am
mine holds up well but i have vista so i might need more Ram but mine is fairly new so it has a dvd player built right in i have a pretty gd memory and my Processor is 14 GHz so i might need to by some more RAM and ty for the update now i know what to be expecting when i get it and be ready for it
By LuvMyMac on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 11:13 am
No problems here..
iMac
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo, 2.4GHz
Memory: 2GB
Video Card: ATI, RadeonHD2600
By Ananun on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 11:33 am
Well i have a year old XPS 730 so no problems there for requirements but then i bought a new Alienware Area-51 ALX i am pretty sure i can run Lich on it about a couple hundred times at once
but then again its estimated to be delivered around the 10th of november so cross my fingers its then lol and isn’t good to save money instead of spending it 
By Josh on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 11:40 am
Woot! Just got my new laptop and it blows those specs out of the water. Huzzah for a continuation of full blown graphics awesomeness!
By Mariodude on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 12:10 pm
If you wanna know if yoour computer can run it, then follow this linl
http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/referrer/srtest
By Mariodude on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 12:11 pm
*link
BTW Awesome show. can’t wait for WOTLK =)
By Gerandor on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Im beating the recommended by a slight bit, so im probably not gonna crank the graphics…
Running on Vista, with a dual core processor and 2 gigs of ram… I don’t know what my graphics card is, and i dont know how to find out (someone tell me ^^). This has been a thing, i have been waiting excitedly for, as ive had a feeling i wouldn’t be able to run it… Taking 15gb of harddisk space, is a bit much thuogh, so i supose ill end up buying an extern harddisc, to put away all the crap on my pc.
By Mariodude on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
If you wanna know if your computer can run it, then follow this link:
http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/referrer/srtest
Btw Awesome show!
WOTLK FTW!!!!
By Spudnik on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 12:13 pm
I’m set for some time:
AMD Athlon 9850 Quad Core at 2.5 Ghz
ASUS M3N72-D
2 gigs of RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX
By Frost on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 12:19 pm
my work computer runs win 2000 )-:
By WML on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
2GHz 2GB MacBook running game really well ATM but yeah it has the GMA950 Graphics Processor which sucks arse, cause as a poor lowly student I really can’t afford an upgrade right now. My only hope is to do some cash jobs on the side, get a desktop that’ll run it =(
By Morga on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 12:43 pm
So decided to check out if my system could cope with wotlk. as i can currently run tbc in low dps but otherwise pretty fine unless im in mh and aoe-ing like crazy where i drop to 3-4 fps.
so i found out that my graphics card fails the minimum requirements, so with 2 copy’s of wotlk on the way and no way to upgrade, im fudged.
quite a let down that i really wont be able to run it
By elion on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 2:12 pm
hey phra you can stop hoping because blizz oficialy killed my excitement for WOTLK i supose i should be gratefull now i might be able to focus in school but if you ask me i think this whole thing is bogus for starters because i have no idea what are you talking about never been much of a computer export my parents hate me playing this game i doudt their buy me all these upgrades so i whould like so send out my kudos to blizz and the imployes you have killed my excitement for the new expenchion and just as a side note their are more than 10 million people playing this game adult and children and not all of am have allot of money whats little to you is allot to them i know i am one of am
By elion on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 2:17 pm
lucky for em my computer has these upgrades
By Naasuk on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 2:48 pm
512 MBs of ram, 3.06 Ghz, Nvidia Geforce 5200.
I’m on the edge.
By Prower on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 3:14 pm
<—- alienware /purrrrr
By Dakota on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 3:15 pm
3gb’s ram
Intel GMA X3100
Vista SP1
Works great for me even in Shatt, I can usually get around 5-50 fps. On med-high graphics levels.
(that being my laptop)
Now on my $8000 dollar gaming rig. I get around 100fps on high detail, 50-75 in shatt. Or around 400fps low detail and around 300-400 in shatt.
So even if my laptop can’t handle it I god my pretty gaming rig.
By Dakota on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 3:16 pm
got*
By Random_Tangent on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
My Hackintosh has a 2.4 GHz quad-core (I gotta crank that baby up to 3, but I’m too lazy to re-apply the thermal paste), 2 Gigs of Ram, a 512MB 9800 GTX.
I’m using a USB wi-fi adapter, though. That is ghetto.
By mark on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
this dell dimension 3000 was done during burning crusades launch i have know idea how it kept playing wow on low since onboard is junk. is done im purchasing parts to build a new one today actually what a coincedence the new specs of my pc blow the minimum and maximum req out way :P, i should be set for wow for probably another 6 or 8 years
By Dakota on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 3:27 pm
@mark probably cheaper just to buy a new rig.
And I just did the Can you RUN it test. And for low specs, I got my computer stat all the way right beside the Fast computer sign. And for high specs, I got right in between the recommended and Fast computer sign.
That being on my laptop I think I am good to go.
By noone on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 4:39 pm
Why the hell are people even talking about playing it on there laptops.
I got a PC
8GB ddr
280gtx
that top dual core one e8600 i beleave cloaked to 4ghz
2TB harddisk space.
If you wanna play the game smooth with some nice grafics you just cant play the game on a laptop.
This is my pc setup atm. Yes it plays wow pritty well but if i see the test system with only gettin 23 fps with everything maxed thats just kinda retarded.
But ah yea wow is all about CPU speed i ques.
By mark on Wednesday, October 8th, 2008 at 10:40 pm
@ Dakota
i am buying a whole new rig that paragraph came out wrong i mean im dumping this dell into the closet and i have case /motherboard/the rest of the parts coming in a few days.
By Dan on Thursday, October 9th, 2008 at 1:26 am
Still over the requirements. I bought a laptop in July and it’s more than enough to do anything. I think this thing can run Crysis……….hmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
By Láki Boner on Thursday, October 9th, 2008 at 5:01 am
I’ve got a 2.6 intel dualcore
4 gb ram
win xp sp3
geforce gts 640mb video card
this is my baby and can turn every game to maximum awesomeness(exept crysis, it laggs a bit at maximum awesomeness
) and at least wow handles it self like a dream.
Love to see the WotLK in november.
By Ombrenoire on Thursday, October 9th, 2008 at 5:59 am
Hmmm….
WindowsXP S3 - check
Pentium 4 1.3GHz (have 2.6GHz actually) - check
1GB ram (have 4 actually) - check
NVIDIA GeForce 7600 GT - check (but still planning on getting a better card)
DirectX - check
13GB free space - check (love that 650GB external and my 2 350GB internal drives ^_^)
I think I’m ready, but I’m still tweeking to get the ultimate gaming machine. A better graphics card and I’ll be set.
By Adnan on Thursday, October 9th, 2008 at 7:31 am
My computer will probably run it decently, 3,0ghz core2duo, 8800GTS 320mb right now(4850 soon) and 2GB of PC6400 ram. I’m a bit worried about my XPS though..
By Douglas on Thursday, October 9th, 2008 at 11:09 am
Macbook Intel Core 2 Duo 2 GHz
Poor onboard video card isn’t going to be supported…so sad. After 3 years of WoW…i have to give it up. We’re talking weeks of game time invested. All gone.
Goodbye Blizzard…
By Douglas on Thursday, October 9th, 2008 at 11:11 am
*breaths a sigh of relief:
http://tinyurl.com/47uuhd
By Eventime on Thursday, October 9th, 2008 at 11:44 am
Well as a college student running on a Mac Powerbook G4 pro that I bought ‘05 for freshman year, I guess I’m screwed. I’ve wanted to upgrade which would be nice but not quite sure if I have the money for it. So… this really sucks blizzard, especially since i already pre-ordered and might not be able to use it
By Eventime on Thursday, October 9th, 2008 at 11:53 am
After taking a close look at my specs… it seems that my system requirements are there, but it’s still on a G4 machine. Do you think Blizz said for Macs to be G5 because most non-upgraded G4’s couldn’t do it or even if they meet the specs a G4 still would not work?
By Dakota on Thursday, October 9th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Well for all you make lovers don’t go out and buy a new laptop just yet, The new brick apple laptops are supposedly coming out in just a a week or two, at the next apple event.
By Dakota on Thursday, October 9th, 2008 at 3:06 pm
mac lovers*
(crappy keyboard at school)
By DeathAdder on Thursday, October 9th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
First of all, I’d like to say alienware kicks ass. 2 year old laptop and I’m well past the requirements.
Second of all I’m tired of people getting pissed at companies who require more performance out of systems for their games. If they didnt, we’d still be runnin 24 bit games, if we were lucky.
If you are a Computer gamer, its part of the show. Fork over the cash, or buy a nintendo….
By lostpup on Friday, October 10th, 2008 at 10:22 pm
I’m glad most of the wow players are going to be kk. I on the other hand will not. Been playing for 4 years now, and now i will have to stop playing because of the upgrade. will it was fun
By lostpup on Friday, October 10th, 2008 at 10:31 pm
and O to all those who say fork the cash over you know what you all can do. some of us try hard to make it and work hard for our kids and money dont grow on trees were i come from.. so we deal with what we have and for most of us who like to have fun some time we play wow and now we will have to stop. but remember some people dont have the money you have to upgrade. so stop
By reaper7767 on Friday, October 10th, 2008 at 11:56 pm
let me see what i have hmm……
athon 64 x2 6400+ over clocked to 4.5ghz (from 3.2) on both
8gb ram ddr2
(2X) nvidia 7900 gto’s in sli (planning on buying the 9600 gt’s)
with all of that WoW purrs like a kitten and i bet i wont have a troble w/ Wotlk either
and btw im getting 55-70 fps w/ maxed graphics (in 25-man raids)
By Shirate on Saturday, October 11th, 2008 at 10:42 am
I really don’t see the big deal, Getting a system that runs those reqs should not be expensive nor difficult, unless you insist on running a mac. If you have a pc and need to upgrade a video card or whatever, go to newegg.com, their stuff is super cheap and great. You can get a compliant video card for like $50. If you need to upgrade the processor tho, that’ll cost a bit, although if you don’t have a 1.3 ghz processor already, then you are WAY behind the curve.
By Jokingjimmy on Wednesday, January 7th, 2009 at 2:43 pm
My Powebook G4 1.25G with 1G memory is way below specs. My wife is able to heal Naxx and any instance. Only problem is running through Dalran is about 1 FPS though LMAO. She can’t even autofollow me (I’m on a Core 2 Duo laptop ATM). We’re probably going to have to upgrade hers. Anyone know if the new Macbook 2.4G will do the job?
By Owenharper on Friday, April 24th, 2009 at 5:32 am
I am running a powerbook G4, 2 gigs of ram, 1.5Ghz processor speed, and WoW works ok for me. I have to turn the graphics ALL of the way down, and I don’t have great FPS, but they are decent, and I can still DPS in a 25 man raid.
By Samantha on Wednesday, October 7th, 2009 at 8:51 am
I had an older Macbook and it ran WoW fine, including Wrath. Orgrimmar was always incredibly laggy for me, but other than that it ran alright. I got a newer Macbook (still the white polycarbonate) because Sims 3 wouldn’t run on it. Now WoW runs even better!