It would be fair to say that Blizzard know a thing or two about making a successful game, and we expect their F2P card-battling game based on Warcraft to be yet another monumental success.

Appearances can be deceptive though, and while Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft may just be a collectible card game, it's got some moderately high system requirements to get it up and running. So if you're willing to brave Blizzard's latest, and ridiculously addictive, fan-baiting extravaganza, then be sure to check out the Hearthstone system requirements before you're dealt your first hand...

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft Minimum System Requirements

OS: Windows XP SP3

CPU: Intel Pentium D Dual Core 805 2.76 GHz or AMD Athlon 64 X2 3600+

RAM: 2GB System Memory

GPU RAM: 256MB Graphics Memory

GPU: Nvidia GeForce 6800 or AMD Radeon X1600 Pro

DX: DirectX 9.0c

HDD: 3 GB Free Hard Drive Space

Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft Recommended System Requirements

OS: Windows 7 SP1

CPU: 2.2 GHz Dual Core Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 or 2.6 GHz AMD Athlon 64 X2 5000+

RAM: 4 GB System Memory

GPU RAM: 512 MB Graphics Memory

GPU: Nvidia GeForce 8800 GT or AMD Radeon HD 4850

As you can see the minimum requirements are very low, and rig bought the last 5-7 years should be more than capable of running Hearthstone at minimum settings. The dual-core processors are some of the more demanding requirements but we'd expect most PC gamers nowadays to have at least this sort of spec.

Things take a bit of a leap up though if you're trying to hit the Hearthstone recommended system requirements. An Intel Core 2 Duo processor or an AMD Athlon 64 X2 are going to be needed to get Hearthstone looking its best. Meanwhile your rigs are going to need a not inconsiderable 4 gigs of RAM to get it chugging along, although we think most GDers probably have this by now. The ever-popular and trusty GeForce 8800 GT will see you cruising on the Nvidia side of the fence, while AMD's Radeon HD 4850 will suffice for your card-dealing antics. 

Remember, you can always check out how well your PC can run the Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft System Requirements here, where you can check benchmarking and performance from other users.

Compare your graphics card to the Hearthstone: Heroes of Warcraft GPU benchmark chart 

 Okay then, what do you think of these system requirements?

Have you already had a play, how does it run on your rig?