Last updated: 27 October 2026

WoW: Forever System Requirements for PC & Mac

WoW: Forever launches on November 4, 2026, and it is the first version of the game that refuses to start on very old graphics cards. The short answer: you need a 4-core CPU, 8 GB of RAM, a DirectX 12 GPU with 4 GB of video memory and 128 GB free on an SSD (an Apple M2 on Mac) — and your GPU must be based on AMD GCN 1, NVIDIA Maxwell, Intel Skylake or newer. This page lays out both tiers, the GPU cutoff and a two-minute way to check your own machine.

01Windows: minimum vs recommended

Blizzard's full spec table lives on the Battle.net Shop listing for WoW: Forever, which sits behind a login. The figures below are the ones several independent guides copied from that listing and they agree with each other; the GPU cutoff in the next section is quoted from Blizzard's own news post. At least one outlet argues that parts of the circulating table (CPU, RAM, VRAM) are unsourced and mirror World of Warcraft: Midnight's requirements, so treat everything except the GPU cutoff and the 128 GB SSD as unconfirmed and check the shop page before buying hardware.

• OS: Windows 10 64-bit minimum; Windows 11 recommended.
• CPU: minimum is 4 cores at 3.0 GHz (Intel Core Haswell or AMD Ryzen Zen). Recommended is an 8-performance-core chip around the Intel Core Ultra (Series 2) / AMD Ryzen Zen 5 class.
• GPU: minimum is a DirectX 12 card with 4 GB of video memory — guides list the GeForce GTX 10 series, AMD RDNA 1 and Intel Xe2 (Lunar Lake) graphics as the entry point. Recommended is 8 GB, for example a GeForce RTX 40 series, AMD RDNA 3 or Intel Arc B-Series card.
• RAM: 8 GB minimum, 16 GB recommended.
• Storage: 128 GB of free space on an SSD at both tiers.

02Mac requirements

• Minimum: macOS 12, Apple M2 (guides also list a 9th-generation Intel Core chip), 8 GB of memory and 128 GB free on an SSD.
• Recommended: macOS 15, Apple M4 and 16 GB of memory.

The Mac graphics row is worded ambiguously in the sources (it ties the 4 GB figure to the M2 with 8 GB of unified memory), so this page does not break it out separately. In practice, unified memory is shared between CPU and GPU, which is one more reason 16 GB is the comfortable choice if you play with a browser and Discord open.

03The GPU cutoff: will my old card start the game?

This is the part Blizzard spelled out itself. WoW: Forever requires a GPU based on one of the following microarchitectures or newer: AMD Graphics Core Next 1 (2012), NVIDIA Maxwell (2014) or Intel Skylake (2015). Blizzard's reason is that the new visual look relies on RGBA16F UAV support in compute shaders, a feature GPUs gained around 2012.

• Compatible examples from Blizzard: AMD Radeon HD 7850, NVIDIA GeForce GTX 9xx series and GTX 750 / 750 Ti, Intel HD Graphics 530.
• Unsupported examples from Blizzard: AMD Radeon HD 6950 (2010), NVIDIA GeForce GTX 760 / 770 / 780 and GTX 8xxM mobile parts (2014), Intel HD Graphics 6000 (2015).

Note the gap between the two lists: Blizzard itself says these cutoff GPUs are still well below the minimum requirements for the game. Passing the cutoff means the client starts; it does not mean you will get a smooth experience in a busy city or a dungeon. Aim for the minimum table above.

04How to check your GPU in two minutes

1. On Windows, open Settings → System → Display → Advanced display, or open Device Manager and expand Display adapters (the route Blizzard points to).
2. Note the exact model name, including the suffix (for example a GTX 770 versus a GTX 970 — they sit on opposite sides of the cutoff).
3. Compare it with the architecture list above. If your card is Maxwell, GCN 1 or Skylake-era or newer, the client will start.
4. Then check it against the minimum table: 4 GB of video memory and DirectX 12 support are the practical bar.

05SSD, hard drives and install size

The listing asks for 128 GB of free space on a solid-state drive at both the minimum and recommended tiers. The listing only mentions an SSD, and one guide notes that installing on a hard drive falls outside the official requirements, so do not plan on an HDD install. If you only have a hard drive, upgrading storage matters more than anything else on this list.

This page deliberately gives no frame-rate or settings predictions: nobody outside Blizzard has published reliable benchmarks for the launch build, and player reports of dungeon GPU load vary too much to quote as fact.

06Before launch day

• Free up the 128 GB on an SSD now; the client download is the slow part on launch evening.
• Update your GPU driver, especially if you are on integrated Intel graphics.
• Sort out your login and game time with our launch day checklist, and read what WoW: Forever is if you are new to it.

Specifications can still change before or after launch. Cross-check the Battle.net Shop listing for your region.