Today Blizzard released a new set of specs for the upcoming World of Warcraft expansion. If you've been following the beta at all (and now 4.0.1 on the live servers) you'll know there are a lot of new graphical bells and whistles, including improved sunshaft effects, water textures and even experimental DirectX 11 support. That being the case, the recommended system specs for the game had to change. After the break you'll see the new minimum and recommended specs for both Windows and Mac users. Will you be upgrading?

The minimum specs for World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (patch 4.0.1 or later):

  • Windows XP 32bit (SP3), Windows XP 64bit (SP2), Windows Vista 32bit (SP1), Windows Vista 64bit (SP1)
  • Intel Pentium 4 1.3 GHz or AMD Athlon XP 1500
  • 1GB or more of RAM
  • NVIDIA® GeForce® FX or ATI Radeon™ 9500 video card or better
  • DirectX-compatible sound card or motherboard sound capability
  • 25 GB free hard drive space.
  • A keyboard and mouse are required. Input devices other than a mouse and keyboard are not supported
  • You must have an active broadband Internet connection to play
  • Mac OS X 10.5.8, 10.6.4, or newer
  • Intel Core Duo processor
  • 2 GB RAM
  • 25 GB free hard drive space
  • A keyboard and mouse are required. Input devices other than a mouse and keyboard are not supported.
  • You must have an active broadband Internet connection to play

The recommended specs for World of Warcraft: Cataclysm (patch 4.0.1 or later):

  • Windows XP 32bit (SP3), Windows XP 64bit (SP2), Windows Vista 32bit (SP1), Windows Vista 64bit (SP1) Windows 7
  • Dual-core processor, such as the Intel Pentium D or AMD Athlon 64 X2
  • 2 GB RAM (2 GB for Vista users)
  • 3D graphics processor with Vertex and Pixel Shader capability with 256 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600 or ATI Radeon™ 2600 or better
  • DirectX-compatible sound card or motherboard sound capability
  • Broadband Internet connection
  • Multi-button mouse with scroll wheel recommended
  • Mac® OS X 10.6.4 or newer
  • Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor
  • NVIDIA® GeForce® 9600M GT or ATI Radeon™ HD 4670 or better
  • 4 GB RAM
  • 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
  • Multi-button mouse with scroll wheel recommended