Haven't seen a post like this yet... How many of you guys are gamer-enthusiasts or just gamers in general that have been setting up your rigs in anticipation of the next generation of video games? [sc2, d3, etc] Now the game we are all most interested in here is of course SC2, and the nice thing is that blizzard tends to keep a generation or two behind. But seeing as how they ramped up the system requirements for WoW expansions, it wouldn't surprise me if they up the ante for the two SC2 expansions as well.

With that in mind, use this thread to post your rig, and discuss, criticize, speculate, and help others improve their rig for SC2.

Its unfortunate, but if any of you guys are still running computers that don't run at least warcraft 3 TFT in full quality at 30+FPS, it may be time to shell out some cash!


I'll start:
OS: Windows 7 64bit
Cpu: i7 920d0 @4ghz
Mobo: Evga x58
Memory: 6gb triple channel OCZ Platinum 7/7/7/24
Graphics: 2x SLI EVGA 260 core216 at 737/1487/1140
Hard Drives: Velociraptor 10krpm (runs OS and Games) + 500gb Seagate 7krpm (storage)
PSU: Corsair 850watt


Ill admit my computer is probably over the top, but I am a perfectionist at heart... so when I go out to make a purchase I usually try to get the best deals and the best equipment. =)

With that in mind, if you guys are looking to upgrade, you guys shouldn't worry about spending too much. A good computer to run SC2 will cost anywhere around $400 at the low end, to $1000+ at the high end.

We know for a fact that Starcraft 2 will require pixel shader 2.0 at the very least. We also know that it is being optimized to run on multiple core processors. With that in mind we can safely assume that to build a computer to run Starcraft 2 well will require the following components:

OS: XP, Vista, Windows 7, OSX and pretty much everything under the sun since Blizzard is developing this game.

Cpu: Dual core processor or better. Anything on this chart will run SC2 very well.
http://www.cpubenchmark.net/high_end_cpus.html

Mobo: A good motherboard is the backbone of your computer. If you guys are looking to eventually upgrade to possibly SLI then always make sure to buy a mobo that supports at least 2x pci-e x16 slots. EVGA , ASUS, & Gigabyte are brands that come to mind.

Memory: 4gb ddr2 preferred. 2gb at the very least. 6+ DDR3 if your crazy like me =) Ram is super cheap these days anyways, a few sticks can improve your computer's performance by leaps and bounds. Corsair makes very good ram.

Graphics: This is where everybody is interested. Many people go out and buy the latest and greatest cards, but don't realize that a good graphics card needs to be supported by a good CPU and Powersupply. Otherwise it runs the risk of being bottlenecked, or not being fed enough power. With that in mind I would recommend anything on this list ABOVE the 9800GT if you want to play Starcraft 2 at High Quality and not take hits to your FPS.

http://service.futuremark.com/hardware/gra...ardsList.action

The higher on this list the better. If budget is an issue, the cards between the ATI Radeon HD 4550 and the 9800GT MAY be able to handle Starcraft 2 at the lower quality/resolutions. As always, the higher on the list the better, but I truly recommend looking at anything above these cards. At any rate, Starcraft 2 looks to be more CPU intensive than GPU intensive, so you might be able to get away with skimping on your graphics card. Ati or Nvidia, make your pick.

Hard Drive: Its always a good idea to have a high performance hard drive, especially if you game alot. It will reduce any read lag when you are playing your game, which of course translates to FPS lag. Western Digital makes great gaming hard drives, and the raptor velociraptor series are very very good.

PSU: aka Power Supply Unit. Dont ever ever EVER skimp on your psu. This is the Heart of your computer. It pumps the energy for all of your components, and if its faulty or can't handle the load, it could go down... and take parts of your computer with it. When going for a power supply always remember to meet the minimum recommendations of your Graphics Card, but also keep in mind that you need extra juice to run the rest of your components and peripherals. Don't make the mistake of buying based off the Wattage reading. The Amperage on the rails is extremely important, and having a good high amperage (30+) on the 12V rails will keep your computer safe from electrical death. Corsair is the top brand of power supply makers.



As you guys read this keep in mind that Blizzard has not officially released the system requirements for starcraft 2. I used a mixture of common sense and small word from Blizzard to compile my post. Use this thread if you guys know your system isn't up to par (say in WC3 or WoW) and you need to upgrade.

(Besides... the future is just around the corner)

-HDstarcraft


Also... post your rigs and discuss/ask questions! lets hear what you guys have and what you guys think =)

I'm beginning to search for parts for my own computer. It'll probably be dual-boot XP (or 7) and Ubuntu. I need to find a mobo with an Ethernet card that doesnt require writing a shell script to get working. Besides, SC2 will most likely have XP as a target, sine the majority of computer users run XP.

I'll probably run a 32 bit XP just so that Starcraft works well on it.



EDIT: And HD SC, nice overclocking. You might want to spend some money on liquid nitrogen cooling for your PC soon.

Hey HD. I just spent about £50 on a 1gb nvidia 9500gt graphics card. And i am getting a new PSU that states what you say is required.

I am also running an AMD Athlon dual core board that is just over 5.0ghz. Which is more than enough. And i am going to upgrade to 2gb of ram.

I am also running a SATA 140gb hardrive.

What do you think?

Uhh, how do I find all this info? Keep in mind that I'm not at all familiar with computer terms.

dear god, im scared now X|
i hope my comp runs it

I think that's a bit over the top! =D







Wow your core is over 5ghz? Awesome =) Its also good you are using sata hd. I guess the only thing is the 9500 GT which is somewhat considered mid grade. If you just wanted to run it at the medium to lower quality, that should be fine =)




Its pretty hard to take in all of this at once. It was for me =) The best way is to start googling some of these terms. Check the links I posted to the benchmarking graphs so you can get an idea of what's good and what's not.

Yeah.. Hold on over 5ghz with BOTH CORES. Sorry if that makes things worse :S

and i was hoping this 1gb card would be sick

Yay, epenis thread!

cpu - Intel Core2 Duo Processor E7400
mobo - BIOSTAR TForce TP43D2A7 LGA 775 Intel P43 ATX Intel Motherboard
videocard - EVGA 01G-P3-N870-AR GeForce 9600 GT 1GB 256-bit GDDR3
ram - 2 x G.SKILL 2GB 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM
psu - RAIDMAX HYBRID 2 RX-630SS 630W ATX12V V2.2
hd - 2 x barracuda 500GB (currently ghosting)

Got it for cheap at newegg xO Everything came out to be around 500 bucks. It can handle almost anything I throw at it.

Lets not forget, internet connection will play more of a role in sc2. I rent a room so I pay the people I live with like 20 bucks a month for their sweet ass connection. Pirate all the crap I want lol. The only thing I can really complain about is my screen. Highest resolution is 1366x768, so you can imagine what playing sc on it is like =/.

pic pic :

OS: Red Hat Enterprise Linux and Fedora
CPU: IBM Roadrunner
Proc: Hybrid of AMD Opteron 2210 @ 1.8 GHz (13,824 cores) and IBM PowerXCell 8i @ 3.2 GHz (116,640 cores), connected by InfiniBand
Memory: 103.6 TB (8GB per Opteron, 4GB per PowerXCell 8i)
Graphics: ATI Radeon R800 (dual RV870), one per blade
Hard Drives: 1,024 Cheetah 15k.5, 15,000 RPMs, 300GB storage (300 TB total)
PSU: Large industrial feed capable of supplying 4 MW.
Cooling: All Triblades and HDs stored in double-vacuum flasks, with the inner flask containing liquid He and the outer flask containing N2.

Do I win?

No I win.
OS: Human Brain OS
CPU: Human Brain >9000 cores of 1.1 GHz
Memory:A lot (>1 PB)
Graphics: NO graphics card
Hard Drive: over 4 Petabytes of memory and storage space
PSU: Food
Cooling: The brain needs no cooling

Haha xD!
You totally win.

my computer:

CPU - 13 inch macbook
OS - mac osx
Memory - 2GB of DDR3
Graphics - NVIDA GeForce 9400M
Processor - 2ghz intel core 2 duo

i have no idea what that shit means besides the OS and CPU, but i'm sure you guys do. my computers pretty new so I don't anticipate any problems, but is there some weird system requirement i wouldn't fit?

And hirashirou your rig looks like some crazy alien space-ship computer
Can it teleport things?

No, no alien technology here...just two, big ass fans lol.

Your lappo seems like it'll stand up to the challenge but I can't really say much since I'm not a mac person and I'm anti-laptop X.x Hell, I didn't even know starcraft could run on a mac till recently.

I've tried running SC on my brain before. It didn't work so well. But you're welcome to try.

And I don't know where you got the idea the human brain operated at 1.1 GHz.

Havent been posting here but I have gotten back into SC in prep for SC2 and I must say that Im in the boat of the OP in being over the top right now.

CPU : E8400 dual Core @ 4.25 ghz [i7 920 arrives at my door later this week; plan to OC to 3.6-4.0ghz]
Cooling : Artic Cooling Pro [upgrading to SOMETHING when I get i7 but havent choosen yet]
RAM : 2x2 gb G.Skill DDR2 @ 1066 6-6-6-18 [upgrading this week to 3x2 gb Crucial DDR3 @ 1066 cas 7]
Mobo : EVGA 750i FTW [Upgrading to MSI x58 PLAT SLI]
HD : 2x WD Raptor 74GB 10000 RPM SATA I in RAID 0 for OS and programs ; 1x 500GB WD 7200 RPM SATA II for storage
GPU : EVGA Nvidia GTX 280 [plan on adding a 2nd one late this year]
PSU : OCZ Stealth Stream 750 Watt
OS : Windows 7 64 bit

I plan to play sc2 on my 22 inch 1680 x 1050 montior and watch replays on my 1080p (1920 x 1080) Plasma.

I love my toys.

It figures a thread like this would draw me out of lurking.

I reckon those with suped up computer machines spend some of their time on other games aswell.

SC is a game for when I dont feel tired at all. Its the type of game that takes your 100%.

I like playing games Empire : Total War, Fallout 3, Farcry 2 and some others when Im not in the right mind set for SC.

I also build computers as a side business... doing that gives me access to great deals (lightly used parts are cheap comapred to brand new).

For instance, i got my i7 for 175. Got my GTX 280 for 190.

Nice rigs guys. I feel like a noob now though

Playing SC2 honestly won't require much in the way of memory or processing. It would still be nice to have a decent monitor and a decent video card, but there's no reason to go over the top.

Starcraft Wire posted an article about probable system requirements. They are not extreme at all.

I think it was something like -

Nvidia 8600 or better (or readon equiv) [must be pixel shader 2.0 or higher]
P4 CPU or better (single core)
256 megs of Ram

One question still not answered in a straight way is wether the game will have Direct X 10 specific effects.


I would say that the game sounds like it will be the type you can tune from very very low settings to mediem high settings.

I'm betting anyone with a 9600 gts or the readon equiv will be FINE graphics wise and will probably run it at full settings for most resolutions.

I have yet to see anything that makes me believe that SC2 will be a multi thread application. Dual Cores / Quad Cores will of course still run the game smoother just because it can dedicate one whole thread to the game and other threads to OS and other programs.



For the average gamer that has a cheapish off the shelf computer, you probably have a monitor with a smaller resolution so you dont need the nicer hardware.

Its always true for gaming that you need a better graphics card the larger your resolution is.

If you can run WC3 at full settings you can probably at least play sc2 on low/med settings if not high.

It really comes down to if Blizzard adds direct x 10 effects into the game. If they do, some graphics card that are a few years old will struggle with the highest settings.

quick question: i hear alot of talk about cpu being a bottle neck for graphics cards, what specs do you look at to make sure your system isnt being bottle necked?

im running an older computer (my first build) and have been very pleased with it; i am thinking of upping the graphics card--thoughts?

my rig:

OS: Vista home premium 64-bit (OEM so upgrading the mobo isnt an option)
CPU: E7200 2.53 ghz dual core
MOBO: gigabyte P35-DS3R mobo
RAM: 8gigs mushkin DDR2 800
GPU: nvidia 8800 GTS (640mb EVGA)
PSU: vx450w corsair
HD: Wester Digital caviar 640g 7200 RPM

i assume that i'll be able to run SC2 at medium settings and drop to lower setting for performance with my current build. my hope is that i can stretch this build out mb for a year or two (with a few more upgrades) before building something IMBA for next gen gaming

any thoughts would be awesome,

cheers

Actually for sc2 that rig might be at the bottom end of what can the game on full settings.

If I were you, I would OC that CPU to about 3.0ghz and drop a new PSU (that 450 watt will not be able to handle much more GPU) and a GTX260 into it.

Really though you should be fine.

What resolution do you game at?

The memory is going to be more important than the clock speed, here, and I highly doubt the video requirements will be that extreme. His CPU should be fine for most settings, and if he has a good GPU (he didn't say), maybe for the highest settings.

i don't know if my computer can run sc2 or not. here are my specs:

cpu: 3.0 intel core 2 duo
ram: 2gb ddr2
videocard: nvidia 8500 gt
power supply: dunno, whatever came with the computer, probably around 300 watts

He has 8 gigs of Ram. His RAM will not be a concern at all for him. Also I stated in the first line of my post that his computer would probably run the game at its fullest settings as is.

He asked about a possible bottle neck for his GPU caused by the CPU and that GPU def can be bottlenecked in some cases by a 2.5ghz dual core.

He stated clearly that he has an Nvidia 8800 GTS.


His question was basicly do I need to upgrade my CPU in order to take full advantage of the GPU AND will my rig play SC at highest settings.

The answer to his first question is that a CPU bottleneck would def happen if he upgraded his current GPU BUT that if he was to OC his CPU it be more than enough.

The answer to the second part of his question is rally hard to say becuase we dont the extent of the graphics engine at its highest settings for sc2. If it contains any cool DX10 effects, he might def be capped at mediem settings. Also if he has a nice monitor (1920 x 1080 for instance) he might need more GPU power to not have issues gaming at his monitor's native resolution.

The short answer that he would want was my last post, if you are going to upgrade, get a new PSU and GPU and just OC that CPU a tiny bit. Best bang for the buck.


@rinkuhero

You will def be able to run sc2. At what setting with that graphics card though... We cant really know yet but if you get sc2 and decide that you need an upgrade to make it run better/nicer I would upggrade that and the PSU (if needed for the new GPU).

Thought I would give this a little bump since I just put together a (sorta) new system. I'm pretty sure I will be able to play the game, but I wonder how high I will be able to crank up the settings (particularly since the native resolution on my monitor is 1920x1080). Anyway, here are the specs:

Windows Vista (soon to be Windows7 once they send me the upgrade disk)
MSI P43 Neo Motherboard
Pentium Dual Core e6300 wolfdale @ 2.8 ghz (I think there is room to overclock here, but I'm holding off on that for now)
Geforce 9800 gtx+ (the version I bought was already overclocked by the manufacturer)
4 gigs RAM
WD Caviar Black hard drive (7200 rpm, 32 mb cache, 500 gigs)
Corsair 520hx power supply

I bought it on a budget, so I hope me cutting corners here and there doesn't impact the performance too much.

You will run it just fine.

If I was you, and I was thinking of adding an OC to that CPU, I would shoot for like 1 3.6ghz OC and be VERY happy with it. Do yourself a favor and get a cheapish (30-40 bucks at most) after market cooler for that CPU as the stock intel ones are garbage.

I feel fairly confident as an avid comp enthusiast and custom computer maker that the 9800 GTX+ will be enough to max out SC2 at 1920x1080. If not, things like AA will prolly be all that you have to turn down.

specs:

intel core 2 duo 2 ghz
4 gb RAM
64bit vista
9600 GT mobile



love my CRT

Thats gonna struggle at times I bet.

struggle as in performance struggle or huge-ass CRT convenient wise struggle?

either way sc2 is an rts, I don't need 100 fps at all times.

Def meant both.

That 9600M is NOT very strong. It may do it, very hard to tell.

What resolution is that monitor?

1280*768

its 10 years old, thats why its ballin

Blizz does have a reputation of having low sys req in their games though

Keep in mind SC2 is a 3d Game.

That resolution will probably be playable though.

Try running Dawn of War II on that comp. I imagine that sc2 is going to be like in between wc3 and dawn of war II.

Your cpu means the game will run. I just hope it will have like higher than 10fps. Trust me in that you want like at least 25-40 fps to micro.

Intel Core 2 Duo CPU
- E8400 @ 3.00GHz
2 GB of RAM
ATI Radeon HD 4800

I sure hope it runs Starcraft fine on high, and I think it will, but who knows. Depending on the difference between medium and high I probably wouldn't have a problem have to turn down the resolution or some settings. I usually set the resolution on games I play to 1680x1050.

I'm not gonna play sc on the CRT screen since I don't need the awesome refresh rate in an RTS. I'll just use super low settings to play, I'm not gonna mind.

Woo epic fail time!

Operating System: Windows Vista (fuck this shit)
Processor: Intel P4 2.6 GHz
RAM: 1 GB
Video Card: nVidia GeForce4 MX 440 (64 MB)

Buy some RAM and you'll be fine. It's really cheap. And to be honest, you need more than 1 GB for Vista, anyways. 4 GB should be sufficient, and you can get that (2x2 GB) for under $200 easily.

i was planning to get this gaming notebook, can anyone tell me if it will run sc2?
btw apologies for the german site.

toshiba satellite l500d

Yeah. Because I have $200 to drop arbitrarily.

Fuck that shit.

Well, I'm not telling you you are obligated to have a functioning computer. I'm just telling you the cheapest way to get one. Don't piss on my advice.

i upgraded my videocard basically just for starcraft/COD6

rig is pretty old now...

E2140 @ 3ghz
2gig ram @ 450ghz 2t
gigabyte S3L
powercolor HD4890
x-finity 600watt psu
7200.9 120gig hdd

i'm sure it'll run starcraft 2 though.

Post your Rig! no

[Will it run SC2?] Oh yes

Wolf.