World of Warcraft Not Enough Memory: 4 Working Solutions

Written By Farhan Max

World of Warcraft is still one of the best-looking games out there. Sure the retail version of the game is supposed to look great, but if you take a look at the classics of the world of warcraft, you will simply be amazed.

Even though the game has been out there for a long time and constantly updating on a daily basis still cannot perform well if you don’t have a good gaming pc.

Not exactly saying it’s the developer’s fault, it’s more like games, and gamers are demanding a lot of graphical improvements in games nowadays. So to keep up with the expectations, blizzard is delivering updates that are only capable of running on a good gaming pc.

world-of-warcraft-not-enough-memory

How much memory does WoW use?

World of Warcraft requires 4GB of RAM if you want to play the game in the lowest possible settings. However, if you have an integrated GPU along with your processor, then 8 GB of ram is needed to match the requirements. Also recommended RAM needed for wow is 8GB.

It is quite understandable if you have a low-end PC. But World of Warcraft still can be run on your Desktop with ease with some tips and tricks.

But if you are facing memory issues even if you have 8GB of ram, don’t you worry; in this guideline, I will explain how you can fix this error.

So keep reading till the end to get your desired fix.

Also, check out our separate post on WOW best starting zone.

Why does my computer keep saying not enough memory?

It is common for the “Your Computer is running out of memory” issue to appear when there are several processes running or when your applications are utilizing a large amount of memory.

You may come across the following error message on a regular basis: “Not enough memory available to finish this operation.” “Please close one or more apps to boost available memory before attempting the task again,” or “There is insufficient space on the disk(s) to finish this operation,” respectively.

It might be because the extended partition of your computer is restricted, making it impossible to add another disk partition even if there is empty space, or because the RAM is not being used properly.

Either your computer doesn’t have enough physical RAM installed, or the RAM that is currently installed on your computer has been utilized up by other applications, rendering it inaccessible at the time.

Also, don’t forget to check out best 4800MHz DDR4 RAMs for gaming freaks.

Similarly, When you launch World of Warcraft, you might be out of memory; that is why your computer can longer launch the program. Now you might be thinking I have a good amount of ram according to the wow requirements; still, my game is not launching.

See, even if you have a good amount of ram installed on your PC, you might still be out of RAM. 10 google chrome tabs can eat alone 8GB of ram. Also, in your background, if you have programs running like Spotify, Netflix, and other media platforms, it will consume a lot of RAM. On the other hand, if all you game launchers, for example, Origin, Steam, Rockstar launcher running in the background even on that case 50 percent of your RAM will be allocated to those applications.

So yes, if you have applications running in the background, that will eat a lot of your ram and give you difficulties in launching another program or game.

A simple solution would be to close all the applications that are not needed while you are gaming. Stop all the game launchers while you are playing wow except battle.net because you will be needing that throughout your wow gameplay.

You can close chrome tabs and music streaming platforms. Also, do keep in mind gaming streaming platforms take a lot of RAM as well. So if you are not using it might as well stop it from running in the background.

If you don’t want to stop them one by one, just give it a clean reboot. It will help you up.

Now we will discuss the solutions more elaborately.

Check out our experts tested and reviewed the best Aura Sync compatible RAM for gaming freaks.

How do I fix not enough memory?

The fix of this problem is quite easy, not at all complicated. Before moving into that, it will be better if you take a look at World of Warcraft requirements. World of Warcraft requires you to have at least a minimum of 4GB RAM. So if you are trying to run the game in 2GB of ram, there is no way you will be able to play the retail version of the game on your PC. However, if you want to play the MMORPG, you can play the classic version of the game.

In order to play World of Warcraft Classics, you must meet these requirements:

Processor: AMD Phenom X3 8750 or Intel Core 2 Duo E6600

RAM: 2 GB of RM

OS: Windows 7 / Windows 8 / Windows 10 64-bit operating system

GPU: GeForce 8800 GT 512 MB or AMD Radeon HD 4870 or Intel HD Graphics4000

Sizer: 5 GB of storage space is available.

Now, this is the configuration you need to play the classics that came out in 2003. If you want to play the re-release of the classics, you have to have 4GB of ram.

Coming back to the topic, as I discussed earlier, if you have applications running in your background, then that might be the case of this issue. However, many other probabilities can lead to this problem as well.

Let’s not take any more of your time and directly jump into the solutions.

Also, check out our expert’s recommended best 4400 MHz RAMs and best CPU-GPU combos for gaming 4k, 1440p,1080p.

Here are the steps to fix the world of warcraft not enough memory:

1. Reduce Game Settings

Low-end PC will suffer a lot to run world of warcraft with ease. In official notes from blizzard to solve this issue, they have included reducing the View Distance option in the in-game System menu. This will reduce the pressure on your computer’s resources and allow you to conserve RAM.

Here are the steps to configure wow display settings:

Launch World of Warcraft.

  1. Go to settings.
  2. Open graphics settings.
  3. Set display mode to your screen size.
  4. Remove anti-aliasing and vertical sync.
  5. Set the resolution level to a maximum of 90%.open-graphics-settings

Now, this way, even if you have 4GB of RAM, your game will run with ease. You will get more FPS while playing the game. And there will be less lag while encountering players from PVP mode.

Check out the comparison between WOW VS WOW Classic.

2. Close Background Applications

Another solution that has helped a lot of gamers out there is to stop all the background programs running while playing the game. You can either stop all the processes one by one or use the task manager to stop all the programs.

Here are the steps to stop background applications:

  1. Press Ctrl+Alt+Delete at the same time.
  2. Click on task manager.
  3. Go to processes.
  4. Tap on more details to see all the applications.
  5. Close the applications.close-the-applications

Stop all the programs that are not needed while you are playing the game. But do not close the necessary ones to keep the operating system running. You will free a lot of your RAM if you close all the background applications. If you don’t want to close the applications one by one, you can reboot your pc.

Also, check out our separate post on can you play WOW solo.

3. Reset User Interface

In their official release note, Blizzard also stated to reset the user interface if you face not enough memory problems.

Here are the steps to reset the user interface:

  1. Close World of Warcraft.
  2. Uninstall the addons manager.
  3. Go to the wow game directory.
  4. Click on the wow retail game.
  5. Rename cache, interface, and wtf to Cacheold, interfaceold, and Wtfold.
  6. Relaunch the game.

This way, even if you are resetting your old addons, you will still have access to them, so if you want to go back to the old settings, you can by renaming the folders. Hopefully, this will fix your problem.

Follow our guide to know about WOW ground mounts.

4. Install 64-bit Operating System

Please update to a 64-bit version of Windows if you are presently using a 32-bit version. As a result, your computer will be able to utilize much more RAM, and the problem should be permanently resolved.

Here are the steps to install a 64-bit operating system:

  1. Insert the windows drive.
  2. Restart your pc.
  3. Press any key to go to the installation process.
  4. Select clean installation of windows.
  5. Choose the language.
  6. Select 64-bit(x64) architecture.
  7. Wait for the installation process to be done.

After the clean installation, launch your wow game to see if it’s working. Now keep in mind you will only be able to install 64-bit windows if your processor supports it.

Here’s a complete guide on Wow mounts tracker.

How do I make WoW use less memory?

You can set your game settings to low, which will free up a lot of your RAM. Also, disabling add-ons will use less memory than usual.

Turning off the shadows is recommended. There should be no sun-shafts in use. Reduce the amount of water detail. Anti-Aliasing software should not be used. Reduce the amount of ground detail and clutter to 1.

Set the view distance to five meters. Make certain that projected textures and particle density are both set to their maximum values. The rest may be turned off to a large extent. You may also utilize the sliding scale for resolution if that is what is required. If you place it at, say, 90 percent, that represents a significant decline in performance with minimal discernible loss of detail.

Also, check out our separate post on how much is WOW per month.

Final Thoughts

At times, World Of Warcraft can be a RAM commanding game, which can be troublesome for low-end pc users.

Hopefully, with this guideline, you can fix your error.

And if you still have any queries, you can always reach out to us.

About The Author
Farhan Max is a tech geek with a particular interest in computer hardware. He's been fascinated by gaming since childhood and is now completing his undergraduate studies while researching and testing the latest tech innovations. Alongside his love for all things geeky, Farhan is also a skilled photographer.

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