I want to build a new PC, and WoW is the only game I play. I simply want it to run with every option maxed out in 1920×1080 on a single display. Can I stick with a 32-bit OS, or do I need to go 64-bit?
(P.S. I don't have any idea what parts to buy, there are too many these days. No actual computer exists yet.)
Best Answer
This is outdated now; please see Ben's answer.
The World of Warcraft client is a 32-bit program. As such, running it in a 64-bit OS provides no benefit except possibly extra available memory. In fact it may be slower on a 64-bit OS; Windows 7's WOW layer, which essentially translates between 32 and 64 bits, is naturally slower than native 32-bit Windows 7.
As for the memory, a 32-bit OS generally only allows for 3-4 GB (see info for Windows). This should be enough for WoW and the rest of the system, depending on what you have running in the background. If you want a lot of other apps using memory, then you should probably go 64-bit with more than 4 GB RAM.
Again, I can't see this being a problem. The hardware requirements for Wow: Cataclysm state that only 2 GB of total memory is required, so having 4 GB in the system should be plenty.
That all said, if you're building a new computer this shouldn't be an issue at all. WoW should run great if you have a good enough graphics card to support the resolution and maxed options. In that case I would go with 64-bit myself, since there will be more and more software that takes advantage of it (and you might want to play crazier games that need more memory than WoW does).