GPU cutoff. Blizzard, September 17, 2026.
| Vendor | Oldest architecture named | Year Blizzard gives |
|---|---|---|
| AMD | Graphics Core Next 1 | 2012 |
| NVIDIA | Maxwell | 2014 |
| Intel | Skylake | 2015 |
Windows minimum and recommended. Battle.net Shop archive, October 14, 2026.
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows 10 64-bit (May 2019 Update or newer) | Windows 11 |
| Processor | 4 cores, 3.0 GHz. Intel Core Haswell, AMD Ryzen Zen | 8 performance cores, 5.2 GHz boost clock. Intel Core Ultra (Series 2), AMD Ryzen Zen 5 |
| Video | DirectX 12 capable, 4 GB. GeForce GTX 10 series, AMD RDNA 1, Intel Iris Xe2-LPG Lunar Lake Graphics | DirectX 12 capable, 8 GB. GeForce RTX 40 series, AMD RDNA 3, Intel Arc B-Series Graphics |
| Memory | 8 GB RAM | 16 GB RAM |
| Storage | SSD, 128 GB available | SSD, 128 GB available |
| Internet | Broadband | Broadband |
| Input | Keyboard and mouse required | Multi-button mouse with scroll wheel |
| Resolution | 1280 x 720 minimum | 1280 x 720 minimum |
What GPU does WoW Forever require?
WoW Forever requires a GPU based on AMD Graphics Core Next 1 (2012), NVIDIA Maxwell (2014), or Intel Skylake (2015), or a newer microarchitecture, according to Blizzard's September 17, 2026 GPU post. A GPU older than those microarchitectures has to be upgraded before playing. The Windows shop minimum is a separate, higher bar.12
The compatible examples in the GPU post are the Radeon HD 7850, GeForce GTX 9xx, GTX 750, GTX 750 Ti, and Intel HD Graphics 530. Blizzard's sentence on those cards is "these GPUs are still well below the minimum requirements for the game."1 The October 14 shop panel does not name the GTX 9xx cards on the Windows minimum video row. The NVIDIA name on that row is the GeForce GTX 10 series.2
Blizzard ties the cutoff to Forever's new visual look. The feature it names is RGBA16F UAV support in compute shaders, which the post says was introduced to GPUs around 2012.1 The same post says the vast majority of World of Warcraft players are already using compatible hardware.1 The Forever overview is this site's page on what Forever is.
What are the WoW Forever Windows requirements?
WoW Forever's Windows minimum, on the October 14, 2026 Battle.net Shop archive, is Windows 10 64-bit, a 4-core 3.0 GHz processor, a DirectX 12 GPU with 4 GB, 8 GB of RAM, and a 128 GB SSD. Recommended is Windows 11, 8 performance cores at a 5.2 GHz boost, 16 GB of RAM, and 8 GB of GPU memory.2
The GPU post points to the Battle.net Shop for the full minimum requirements.1 The table above is the system-requirements panel from the Internet Archive capture of the US shop page on October 14, 2026. The September 13 capture shows the same panel. Wowhead's September 16 guide prints the same Windows and Mac tables and attributes them to the store page.24 Neither the GPU post nor that panel states a frame rate.
Windows memory on the shop panel
System RAM and the memory figure in the Windows video row, at minimum and at recommended.
Where a processor row or a video row names more than one product, the panel prints those names on one line with no word between them. Commas in the tables, and the semicolon on the Mac minimum video line, are added for reading. On Windows and Mac, recommended resolution stays 1280 x 720. The panel has no hard-disk row, and the capture has no Linux table.2
What are the WoW Forever Mac requirements?
WoW Forever's Mac minimum, on the October 14, 2026 shop archive, is macOS 12, an Apple M2 or a 9th Generation Intel Core, a Metal GPU with 4 GB, 8 GB of RAM, and a 128 GB SSD. Recommended is macOS 15, an Apple M4, and 16 GB of RAM.2
| Minimum | Recommended | |
|---|---|---|
| Operating system | macOS 12 | macOS 15 |
| Processor | Apple M2, 9th Generation Intel Core (Coffee Lake) | Apple M4 |
| Video | Metal capable 4 GB GPU; Apple M2 8 GB | Apple M4 16 GB |
| Memory | 8 GB RAM | 16 GB RAM |
| Storage | SSD, 128 GB available | SSD, 128 GB available |
| Internet | Broadband | Broadband |
| Input | Keyboard and mouse required | Multi-button mouse with scroll wheel |
| Resolution | 1280 x 720 minimum | 1280 x 720 minimum |
On the minimum video line, 8 GB is printed next to the Apple M2. On the recommended video line, 16 GB is printed next to the Apple M4. Those figures belong to the video row. The memory row is separate: 8 GB RAM minimum and 16 GB RAM recommended. An Apple M1 is not named. The panel does not say what an unlisted chip will do.2
Which cards does Blizzard call compatible but below the minimum?
Blizzard's September 17, 2026 GPU post names compatible and unsupported example cards, and those lists are examples, not a complete model list. Its sentence on the compatible cards is "these GPUs are still well below the minimum requirements for the game." The October 14 shop video row names the GeForce GTX 10 series, not the GTX 9xx cards.12
| Label in the post | Cards the post names |
|---|---|
| Compatible examples, below the minimum | Radeon HD 7850 (2012); GeForce GTX 9xx, GTX 750, and GTX 750 Ti (2014); Intel HD Graphics 530 (2015) |
| Unsupported examples | Radeon HD 6950 (2010); GeForce GTX 760, GTX 770, GTX 780, and GTX 8xxM (2014); Intel HD Graphics 6000 (2015) |
How do you check your GPU for WoW Forever?
To check your GPU for WoW Forever, open Settings, select System, then Display, and choose Advanced display, or open Device Manager and expand Display adapters. Those steps show the product name. Blizzard's September 17, 2026 post does not say they name the architecture.1
Match the name to the example cards, then to the shop video row. If the product is not one of the named examples, the post's requirement is the architecture: Graphics Core Next 1, Maxwell, Skylake, or a newer microarchitecture.1 The GPU post does not include a Mac check. The shop's Mac rows name the chip.2
The October 20 name-reservation post says to make sure graphics drivers are up to date before installing.5 The install sequence from that post is in the name reservation guide.
What did beta players report about WoW Forever performance?
Beta players reported a GTX 970 and a GTX 980 running the WoW Forever beta, an i5-2500K running it beside a GTX 1660 Ti, and frame rates on stronger PCs falling within minutes. The GPU post and the shop panel do not give a frame-rate target, and they do not say whether this beta behavior will remain on November 4.678
GTX 970 and GTX 980
On September 27, 2026, u/BTrain17 asked r/wowforever who was playing the beta on a Nvidia 9xx GPU. u/Bristle_Licker wrote that a GTX 970 in a PC built in summer 2015 was "fine" and ran "like it did when I played Legion": choppy in Orgrimmar and Stormwind, fine in most other places. u/derekshav2012 wrote that a 980 with an i5-6600K was "playable," and gave no settings, resolution, or frame rate. u/AmbitiousEdi wrote that a 960M would struggle. That last line is a commenter's expectation, not a session report.6
The GTX 970 and 980 sit in the GTX 9xx group Blizzard lists as compatible examples that are still below the minimum. The 960M is not one of the named examples. The unsupported mobile example in the GPU post is the GTX 8xxM.1
i5-2500K on the beta
On September 19, blktiger60 asked on the official US forum whether an Intel i5-2500K and a GTX 1660 Ti would run under Windows 10, and whether the Haswell line was a hard compatibility requirement or only a performance recommendation.7
On October 7, blktiger60 wrote that the beta ran on that i5. A later reply the same day says a 4K TV at a 50% render scale ran well, and does not name the processor again. The shop's Intel processor example is Haswell.72
Nicole replied in that thread and, on September 20, wrote "I'm a fellow player." The September 19 reply says CPUs below the listed requirements are not officially supported. A September 20 reply says no one there can guarantee the game will run or continue running on that system. Those are player comments, not a Blizzard post.7
A 180 FPS drop in the beta
On September 21, trinitis posted a beta bug: a Ryzen 7 7800X3D and an RTX 4070 Ti SUPER, at 2560×1440 on DirectX 12, started near 180 FPS and fell to 30 within a few seconds. At 30 FPS the post lists GPU use around 17% and VRAM around 5.3 GB of 16 GB. Relogging, a client restart, and a cache rebuild did not stop that drop.8
On September 25, trinitis wrote that the DirectX 12 drop was still there after a September 24 build, which that post calls a memory-leak fix. DirectX 11 avoided the immediate drop. In Stormwind it declined from about 110 FPS to about 35–40 FPS within minutes. /console gxrestart did not restore the DirectX 12 case. On DirectX 11 the command's recovery faded within minutes, and a logout or client restart lasted longer.8
Cupelix, on a 7950X3D and RTX 4090 with FPS capped at 70, wrote that the rate fell under 20 over time outside cities, and that walking into Stormwind or Ironforge dropped it to 50 immediately and then further. Cupelix wrote that a logout to character select brought the rate back, and questioned the memory-leak label because system RAM and GPU memory were not climbing.8
Other replies describe a slower drop, sometimes in a city. They do not all report the same recovery. Some regained the rate by logging out to the character screen.8
A September 25 log in that thread, from beta build 1.60.1.70009 on an RTX 5070, includes "UAV format support BGRA8:true RG16F:true RGBA16F:true." One client log is not a list of supported cards.8
Sources & notes
Footnotes
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Blizzard: World of Warcraft: Forever GPU Requirements, published 2026-09-17T20:58:00Z. Architectures, example cards, the Windows check, RGBA16F UAV support in compute shaders, and the link to the shop. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11
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US Battle.net Shop, World of Warcraft: Forever, system-requirements panel. Figures are from the October 14, 2026 archive capture. The September 13 capture shows the same panel. Exact strings and the chart values are in shop-specs.json. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12
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Blizzard: Pre-Purchase World of Warcraft: Forever Upgrades, published 2026-09-12T20:17:00Z. Dates global launch November 4, 2026, at 3:00 p.m. PST. ↩
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Wowhead, updated September 16, 2026: Forever Beta Overview. Prints the same Windows and Mac tables and attributes them to the Battle.net store page. ↩
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Blizzard: Claim Your World of Warcraft: Forever Character Names, published 2026-10-20T21:00:00Z. "Make sure your graphics drivers are up to date." ↩
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r/wowforever, September 27, 2026. u/BTrain17's thread, with replies from u/Bristle_Licker, u/derekshav2012, and u/AmbitiousEdi. Community commentary, not a Blizzard test. ↩ ↩2
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US forum: Haswell-generation CPU requirement. blktiger60 on September 19 and October 7, 2026; Nicole on September 19 and September 20, including the fellow-player line. Player comments, not a Blizzard post. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4
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US beta forum: 180 to 30 FPS report. trinitis on September 21 and 25, 2026; Cupelix on September 21; a September 25 log from beta build 1.60.1.70009. Player reports, not a Blizzard test. ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6