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February 2005: World of Warcraft launches in Europe. A CRT monitor hums on the desk, Blizzard asks for a mere 256 MB of RAM, and if you're lucky, you're already on DSL instead of dial-up. The first ride into Ironforge, the crowd outside the Auction House, the never-ending Barrens chat and those nights when 40 people stood together before Ragnaros in Molten Core – if you were there, you haven't forgotten.
More than 20 years later, that Azeroth is back. With World of Warcraft: Forever, Blizzard launched a permanent version of classic WoW on November 4, 2026 – one that stays at level 60 and still offers new adventures. Many of those who were online every night back then are returning now. Only life around the game has changed: less time, more responsibility – and usually a budget you could only dream of back when you were saving up for a graphics card.
On this page, we show you what a gaming PC for WoW Forever really needs, what Blizzard officially requires and which three systems from our lineup we recommend for your return to Azeroth. By the way: when WoW arrived in Europe in 2005, HI-TECH had already been building PCs for almost 20 years.
This article was last updated in November 2026.
What is WoW Forever?
World of Warcraft: Forever is the third permanent pillar of World of Warcraft, alongside modern WoW and WoW Classic. The community has called it "Classic Plus" for years: Blizzard takes the first year of the original game as its foundation and builds on it, instead of moving on to The Burning Crusade or Wrath of the Lich King as Classic did. The level cap stays at 60 for good.
New additions include more than 1,000 quests, new and reworked zones, new dungeons and raids, plus a new playable race, the Skyborne. The first raids are scheduled for December 2026 – including Onyxia's Lair for 40 players. You can play Forever with a regular WoW subscription or Game Time; the new race is available as a paid add-on pack. For all the details, read Blizzard's official announcement.
Important for your hardware: Forever is not simply the 2019 Classic under a new name. Blizzard has noticeably updated the visuals – new lighting with global illumination, volumetric fog, light shafts, plus better water and shadows. If you like, you can switch between the original and the HD character models. The style stays familiar, but the demands on your PC have risen considerably.
WoW Forever System Requirements
For Windows, Blizzard lists the following minimum and recommended requirements (as of November 2026, source: Battle.net Shop):
| Component | Minimum | Recommended |
|---|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows 10 (64-bit) | Windows 11 (64-bit) |
| Processor | 4 cores at 3.0 GHz e.g. Intel® Core™ i5-8400 or AMD Ryzen™ 5 2600 |
8 cores with a 5.2 GHz boost clock Intel® Core™ Ultra (Series 2) or AMD Ryzen™ with Zen 5 architecture |
| Graphics card | DirectX 12 with 4 GB VRAM e.g. NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1060 or AMD Radeon™ RX 580 |
DirectX 12 with 8 GB VRAM NVIDIA® GeForce® RTX 40 series, AMD Radeon™ RDNA 3 or Intel® Arc™ B-Series |
| Memory | 8 GB | 16 GB |
| Storage | 128 GB on an SSD | 128 GB on an SSD |
On top of that, Blizzard dropped support for older graphics architectures at launch. You need at least a GPU based on AMD Graphics Core Next 1 (2012), NVIDIA Maxwell (2014) or Intel Skylake (2015). Cards such as the GeForce GTX 760, 770 or 780 no longer start the game – even though a GTX 780 was still high-end back in the Pandaria days.
Then and now: what WoW required in 2004
| Component | WoW 2004 (minimum) | WoW Forever 2026 (recommended) |
|---|---|---|
| Operating system | Windows 98/ME/2000/XP | Windows 11 |
| Processor | 800 MHz | 8 cores with a 5.2 GHz boost clock |
| Memory | 256 MB | 16 GB (64 times as much) |
| Graphics card | 32 MB, e.g. GeForce 2 | 8 GB VRAM (256 times as much) |
| Storage | 4 GB on a hard drive | 128 GB on an SSD |
| Internet | 56k modem | Broadband |
In short: the computer you leveled your first character on wouldn't even make it into the game today. A PC for WoW Forever doesn't have to be the most expensive thing on the market – but it should be strong in the right places.
Our Gaming PCs for WoW Forever
For your return to Azeroth, we have picked three systems that meet or clearly exceed Blizzard's recommended requirements. You can customize all three in our configurator – from the processor to the SSD. Windows is included with each, along with a 24-month warranty and free delivery.
Which PC suits you?
| PC | Ideal for | Key features |
|---|---|---|
| SILENTBASE | Quiet evenings, WQHD, a PC you can barely hear | AMD Ryzen™ 7 9700X (Zen 5), GeForce® RTX 5070 12 GB, 32 GB DDR5, sound-dampened case |
| HELLSCREAM | Anyone who wants their PC to make a statement | AMD Ryzen™ 7 9700X or Intel® Core™ Ultra 7 265KF, GeForce® RTX 5070 Ti 16 GB, 32 GB DDR5, glass cube case |
| POWERED BY MSI VELOS | Packed raid nights, 4K or ultrawide, maximum headroom | AMD Ryzen™ 7 9800X3D with 3D V-Cache, GeForce® RTX 5080 16 GB, 32 GB DDR5, 2 TB SSD |
SILENTBASE – quiet as a Rogue in Stealth
The SILENTBASE is our pick for everyone who plays WoW Forever after work, when the house has already gone quiet. The sound-dampened be quiet! Silent Base 802 case and the be quiet! LOOP 3 liquid cooler keep noise levels in check. The AMD Ryzen™ 7 9700X with 8 cores, Zen 5 architecture and up to 5.5 GHz hits Blizzard's recommended processor spec exactly, and the GeForce® RTX 5070 brings 12 GB of video memory – more than the recommended 8 GB. In our shop, it goes by the nickname "Gandalf-Style" – wrong universe, but exactly the right mood.
HELLSCREAM – Lok'tar Ogar!
A PC called HELLSCREAM needs no long explanation for WoW veterans. Its centerpiece is the AZZA Cube Plus 1002 case: a cube of tempered glass that shows off your hardware from every side. Including its stand, it measures around 69 × 63 × 72 cm, and the case alone weighs 12.5 kg – which is why the HELLSCREAM is delivered by freight carrier. Inside, you get either an AMD Ryzen™ 7 9700X or an Intel® Core™ Ultra 7 265KF, a GeForce® RTX 5070 Ti with 16 GB and 32 GB of DDR5 memory. And don't worry: Alliance players are welcome to order one too. We won't tell anyone.
POWERED BY MSI VELOS – for long raid nights
If you want the Ironforge Auction House at peak time, world bosses or a raid with 39 other players to run smoothly, you need a strong processor above all. The POWERED BY MSI VELOS is built around the AMD Ryzen™ 7 9800X3D: 8 cores, Zen 5, a 5.2 GHz boost clock – almost word for word Blizzard's recommendation – plus 96 MB of L3 cache thanks to 3D V-Cache. The GeForce® RTX 5080 with 16 GB has plenty of headroom for 4K and ultrawide monitors, and the 2 TB SSD has room for Forever, Classic and modern WoW side by side. The VELOS is available in white or black, and the RGB lighting can be removed on request.
Of course, many other gaming PCs in our lineup also meet the system requirements for WoW Forever. If none of the three is quite right for you, we will also build your PC to your custom specification.
Disclaimer: The ideal configurations may change.
What matters in a PC for WoW Forever
Processor: the heart of every WoW PC
World of Warcraft has always relied heavily on the processor. As soon as many players gather in one place – outside the Auction House, at world bosses or in a raid – the CPU has to calculate every character, every spell and every add-on. Just how demanding that can get is shown by PC Games Hardware's test of modern WoW: Midnight (in German): in the new capital, the game turned out to be an unexpected CPU hog, and additional cache such as on the Ryzen 7 9800X3D helps there. There are no reliable CPU tests for WoW Forever yet, but the trend in WoW has been the same for 20 years. Also telling: for the processor, Blizzard names the current generation, while the previous generation is enough for the graphics card. You can find more on choosing the right CPU in our gaming PC guide.
Graphics card: more demand thanks to the new lighting
Thanks to the new lighting and the HD models, Forever needs more graphics power than the old Classic. The higher the resolution and detail level, the more important the graphics card becomes: for WQHD, a current card with 12 GB serves you well; for 4K or ultrawide at high details, 16 GB of video memory is worth it.
Memory and SSD
Blizzard recommends 16 GB of RAM. Despite rising memory prices, we fit all three systems with 32 GB of DDR5 – because hardly anyone has only WoW open: Discord, a browser with a guide or map, add-ons and maybe a video run alongside it. An SSD is mandatory: Blizzard requires 128 GB of free space on an SSD, and a classic hard drive no longer appears in the requirements at all.
Quiet, monitor and comfort
What didn't matter at 20 counts all the more today: a quiet PC, a large monitor and an interface you can still read comfortably after a long day at work. A WQHD or ultrawide monitor gives you more space for action bars, chat and raid frames, and the in-game UI scaling lets you adjust the text size. If noise is a top priority for you, you'll find more quiet systems in our Low Noise Editions.
Still wondering which system fits your play style? Our support team is happy to advise you.
Frequently Asked Questions about WoW Forever and the Right PC
Only if it meets the minimum requirements: Windows 10 (64-bit), a quad-core processor at 3.0 GHz, 8 GB of RAM, a DirectX 12 graphics card with 4 GB VRAM and 128 GB of free space on an SSD. In addition, the graphics card must be based on at least AMD Graphics Core Next 1, NVIDIA Maxwell or Intel Skylake – older cards such as the GeForce GTX 770 are no longer supported.
Both play a role. Like every version of WoW, Forever puts the most strain on the processor wherever many players come together, such as in capital cities and raids. On top of that, the new lighting and HD models give the graphics card more work than in the old Classic.
In modern WoW, the large cache helps in crowded scenes, according to the PC Games Hardware test. Reliable measurements for Forever are still missing, but the foundation is the same. If WoW is your main game, an X3D processor is a sensible upgrade: the POWERED BY MSI VELOS already comes with the Ryzen 7 9800X3D, and SILENTBASE and HELLSCREAM can be fitted with it in the configurator for an extra charge.
No, Forever is included in the regular WoW subscription or Game Time. Only add-on packs cost extra, such as the one for the new Skyborne race.
Yes. All versions run through the Battle.net launcher on the same subscription. Just keep in mind that, according to PC Games Hardware, modern WoW: Midnight demands a particularly large amount of processor power in its capital – a strong processor is the best investment there, too.
Yes. Blizzard lists 128 GB of free space on an SSD for both the minimum and the recommended requirements. On our gaming PCs, you choose the SSD size in the configurator: 1 TB is plenty for Forever, while 2 TB leaves room for Classic, modern WoW and other games.
A Short History of World of Warcraft
The story begins long before WoW: Blizzard laid the foundation with Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994, and Warcraft III turned characters like Thrall and Grom Hellscream into legends in 2002. World of Warcraft was released in North America on November 23, 2004, with Europe following on February 11, 2005 – and an online role-playing game became a piece of pop culture.
With The Burning Crusade (2007) and Wrath of the Lich King (2008), Azeroth kept growing; many expansions later, modern WoW has now arrived at Midnight. In 2019, WoW Classic brought back the original, and in 2026 Blizzard goes one step further with WoW Forever: the same world, the same rules as back then, but new stories. For many, that's the invitation they've been waiting for for years.
Do you play other online role-playing games besides WoW? Then take a look at our PC recommendations for Final Fantasy XIV.