World of Warcraft Shadowlands is the latest expansion to hit Blizzard’s popular MMO RPG which welcomes over 3 Million active players every day. Shadowlands is the eighth expansion in WOW’s 16-year history and it features the first-ever level squish, new features like Covenants, a procedurally generated mega-dungeon in Torghast, Tower of the Damned, and 6 new zones.
Shadowlands was announced last November during Blizzcon 2019 and as of last week, it’s been hit with a few delays and still hasn’t got an official release date. Overall the community seems to have no problem with the delay preferring to have a balanced and carefully polished experience. It also gives WOW fans a bit more time to prep their PCs for the launch and we’ve put together this article so you can spend less time researching hardware and more time at the barbers trying out the new character customisations.
Why is World of Warcraft Shadowlands delayed?
You can check out the official statement from Blizzard’s WoW executive producer John Hight below and it’s great to see such a big company listening to community feedback to ensure this latest expansion is enjoyable for all. The good news is that the statement also announces the pre-patch date of October the 13th.
The update includes a revamped new player adventure at Exile’s Reach, Timewalking Campaigns, updates to classes, new character customizations, and more! There’s plenty to keep players busy in the meantime and hopefully, Shadowlands will be released before the festive season when we’ve all got a bit more time off to play.
What are the PC specifications needed for World of Warcraft shadowlands?
The new expansions for World of Warcraft always bump up the graphics to reflect the more powerful hardware that’s readily available and the inevitable improvements to textures and graphics that keep the game looking fresh. World of Warcraft shadowlands will even have raytraced shadows to make use of Nvidia’s RTX GPUs.
Taking a look at the specs it seems that if you’ve been enjoying WOW on a Gaming PC you built for Legion it might be time to upgrade. Thankfully the recommended hardware is still a few years old and Blizzard is keeping the game reasonably accessible for all. The biggest change is the addition of an SSD to the minimum system requirements and although not needed it’s likely the loading screens will be incredibly painful without one. Don’t skimp on the size either as you will need at least 100GB of available space. Blizzard has also said due to potential changes, the System Requirements for this game may change over time.
System Requirements
| Minimum System Requirements | Recommended System Requirements | |
|---|---|---|
| Operating System | Windows® 7 64-bit | Windows® 10 64-bit |
| Processor (CPU) | Intel® Core™ i5-3450, AMD FX™ 8300 | Intel® Core™ i7-6700K, AMD Ryzen™ 7 2700X |
| Graphics Card (GPU) | NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 760 2 GB or AMD Radeon™ RX 560 2 GB or Intel® UHD Graphics 630 (45W TDP) *Requires manufacturer’s driver support. | NVIDIA® GeForce® GTX 1080 8GB or AMD Radeon™ RX Vega 64 8GB or better |
| Video Memory (VRAM) | 2GB | 8GB |
| Hard Drive (Storage Requirements) | Solid State Drive with 100GB available space or Hard Disk Drive with 100GB available space (player experience may be impacted on HDD) | Solid State Drive with 100GB available space |
| Memory (RAM) | 4GB of RAM (8GB if using integrated graphics) | 8GB of RAM |
What hardware is best for Playing World of Warcraft Shadowlands?
Overclockers UK has everything you’ll need to get your PC ready to enjoy the brand new Shadowlands expansion. The hardware requirements reveal that it might be worth upgrading your storage, trying out an RTX graphics card with at least 8GB of VRAM or even upgrading your CPU as an 8 core,16 thread processor enters the recommended list for the first time. Check out our list of suggested products below put together with expert Overclockers knowledge:
Samsung 970 Evo Plus 250GB M.2 NVME SSD
- If you’ve invested in a reasonably new motherboard don’t miss out on the incredible speed of an NVMe SSD. All you need is an M.2 expansion slot.
- The 970 Evo plus reaches sequential read/write speeds up to 3500/3300 MB/s which means you’ll never have to worry about long loading screens.
- It has ultimate performance thanks to the latest V-NAND technology and firmware optimisation.
- Thanks to a great offer pricing starts at just £64.99 for the 250GB version.
Team group Vulcan G 512GB SATA SSD
- There’s no need to worry about motherboard compatibility with a SATA SSD. All you need is SATA power cable, SATA port and space for a 2.5” drive. You can simply swap out your old HDD to make space.
- The Vulcan G is up to 4 times faster than traditional drives. There’s no need to wait with a read/write speed of up to 550/500 MB/s.
- Built-in ECC (Error Correction Code) and Wear-Leveling technology improves the reliability of data transfer and prolongs the life of the drive. You also get a 3yr warranty.
- The 512GB version is only £44.99 and you can even get 1TB for £89.99.
Asus RTX 3070 DUAL 8GB Graphics card
- The RTX 3070 will be available from the 29th of October and with 8GB of VRAM and raytracing technology its perfect if you want to play Shadowlands on a high resolution or fast refresh rate monitor. It’s far from being a must-have but with Cyberpunk 2077 and Assasins creed Valhalla just around the corner you’ll be set for this year’s biggest games.
- The Asus Dual has an Axial-tech fan design, GPU Tweak II software, protective backplate and subtle RGB lighting for an attractive, cool and quiet card.
- The Asus Dual is listed for £499.99 but pricing is subject to change.
OCUK Firefly Essential Gaming PC
- This wouldn’t be a recommended hardware list without a fabulous Overclockers prebuilt PC. The Firefly Essential is bargaintastic and capable of meeting those pesky recommended settings.
- Comes equipped with an Intel Core i5 9400F 6 core processor and RTX 2060 Super graphics card.
- Multitasking is handled by the 8GB of 3000Mhz memory and the 240GB SSD means loading screens won’t hold you back.
- Overclockers have got their very own barber and you can customise many of the components to make it yours. Pricing starts at only £899.99.
HP Omen 15-DH1018NA Gaming laptop
- If you’re a fan of Goblins or Gnomes you’ll love the compact size of the ultra-thin, ultra-light, and unbelievably powerful Omen 15.
- It comes equipped with an Intel i7-10750H, RTX 2070 Max Q and 16GB of memory so you’ll have no problems playing WOW shadowlands and much more!
- The 512GB NVMe SSD is super fast and the 15.6”, 144Hz, anti-glare, 1080p display mean raids will be smooth and crisp.
- Take WOW with you wherever you go with the HP Omen for £1399.99
If you’re wondering where that CPU is that I mentioned you can pick up the latest 8 core 16 thread Ryzen 7 3700X right now HERE. You’ll also need a compatible AM4 motherboard like the X570. Or if you’re willing to wait a while see what Lisa Su has to say about the latest Zen 3 desktop processors on the 8th of October.
It’s a shame that World of Warcraft Shadowlands has been delayed but it seems as though there is plenty to keep gamers happy during the soon to be released pre-patch and I’m sure Blizzard will be working hard to get it fully polished before the end of the year. Let us know if you’ll be upgrading your PC before the big Squish!!
- 7 min read
Overclockers UK
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OcUK has been the home for PC gaming enthusiasts since 2012. The blog is chock full of hardware news, upcoming games, and handy guides. As such, the Overclockers UK Blog team is dedicated to bringing you top-quality content daily.
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