Need help, trying to upgrade computer to run Starcraft 2

[ArmorPierce]

My computer been real slow running starcraft 2 and I been having some difficulty running it even with all settings to the lowest.

I ran the program here http://www.systemrequirementslab.com/cyri/download.aspx

It states that whilst I meet the minimum requirements, my computer does not completely meet the recommended settings. I am lacking in two areas, which are cpu and video card.

CPU Speed
Recommended: Dual Core 2.4 GHz Processor
You Have: 2.80 GHz Performance Rated at: 4.2 GHz


Video Card
Recommended: 512 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800 GTX or ATI Radeon® HD 3870 or better
You Have: ATI Radeon Graphics Processor (0x7280)

Features: Recommended attributes of your Video Card
Required You Have
Video RAM 512 MB 2.2 GB
Hardware T&L Yes Yes
Pixel Shader version 4.0 3.0
Vertex Shader version 4.0 3.0

The graphic card and cpu specifically are, according to the device manager, a amd athlon 64 fx-57 processor and 2 Radeon x1950 pro set up for crossfire i think.

Any suggestions on what I should get that will meet the recommended settings and will fit into my computer?

Motherboard is a abit at8 32x. Let me know if any more info is required.

[General Zod]

For less than $100 you could buy any number of 1gb ATI graphics cards. http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductLi ... 0-%20%2475

Of course without knowing what you can afford to spend it's a bit more tricky to make recommendations.

[Lonestar]

You have one rinky-dink motherboard(no PCIe 2.0). What does your PSU look like?

[adam_grif]

My computer been real slow running starcraft 2 and I been having some difficulty running it even with all settings to the lowest.

Oh man, when did you last upgrade your PC? I'm running an AMD Athlon 3500+ and a 7600 GT and I can run the game perfectly fine. Your PC should actually be better than mine, in theory, given crossfire setup and superior processor. Maybe SC2 just hates older ATI cards?

[General Zod]

My computer been real slow running starcraft 2 and I been having some difficulty running it even with all settings to the lowest.

Oh man, when did you last upgrade your PC? I'm running an AMD Athlon 3500+ and a 7600 GT and I can run the game perfectly fine. Your PC should actually be better than mine, in theory, given crossfire setup and superior processor. Maybe SC2 just hates older ATI cards?

It could also be his drivers are out of date. I had to update mine to get SC2 to run properly, which was rather annoying.

[phongn]

Here be SC2 beta benchmarks. The Radeon 5750 seems like it's performing nicely and is reasonably priced.

[ArmorPierce]

Hey I'm not sure what the psu is but I'll crack it open and take a look later. Since it's supporting crossfire I would think that it shouldn't have any problem supporting new cpu or graphic card.

When Was the last time I updated the computer? I think like 2004 or some where around then.

What am I looking to spend? Around $200 range for graphic card. Don't know how much cpus cost but I don't need top of the line shit but something that is still good. If need be I'd get a new motherboard too but I'd rather not if possible. How am I able to tell what equipment would fit into the motherboard that I presently got?

Also I have windows 7 64 bit if that matters.

[Tolya]

Hey I'm not sure what the psu is but I'll crack it open and take a look later.

PSU is your power supply, the big metal box attached to the back of your case, where you connect the power cable to. I doubt this would cause any performance related problems. In case of power shortage the system would just reboot.

What am I looking to spend? Around $200 range for graphic card. Don't know how much cpus cost but I don't need top of the line shit but something that is still good. If need be I'd get a new motherboard too but I'd rather not if possible. How am I able to tell what equipment would fit into the motherboard that I presently got?

Your mobo is your main problem, especially your old PCIe slot. I would ditch the mobo right here, as that bloody slot pretty much bottlenecks your ability to install a good GPU. The beautiful thing is, with a 200$ budget you could probably have a new mobo + dual core processor + a high-end GPU (if you stick to previous gen cards like Nvidia 9800GT).

Do like I did: I got an entirely new computer for about 230 bucks (and Im in Poland, where electronics are more expensive because of... well, I don't really know). With an Intel E5300 (2x2.66Ghz), 2GB of DDR2 RAM and a 1GB DDR3 Nvidia 9800GT card I have yet to meet a game that doesn't allow me to play on a perfectly satisfactory graphic level. A few months later I spend an additional 50 bucks on a new 640GB Caviar HD and Im damn happy with my "low spec"-low budget machine that can run all the hot games.

If you're strapped for cash, you can go even cheaper by choosing AMD components. But getting anything worse than an Nvidia 9800GT (or the ATI equivalent, Im not sure whichever it is) is just throwing cash away, since on tech forums there are loads of people who complain they have a problem running new games on their Geforce 9600's.

I wouldn't recommend keeping your old mobo.

[phongn]

Your mobo is your main problem, especially your old PCIe slot. I would ditch the mobo right here, as that bloody slot pretty much bottlenecks your ability to install a good GPU. The beautiful thing is, with a 200$ budget you could probably have a new mobo + dual core processor + a high-end GPU (if you stick to previous gen cards like Nvidia 9800GT).

PCIe 2.0 isn't going to be a real bottleneck. As long as textures don't need to be swapped in and out the bandwidth advantage isn't that important (and for a card with 1GB of VRAM it shouldn't be a problem).

I wouldn't recommend keeping your old mobo.

He can get a perfectly fine GPU now and then if he wants to do a CPU/RAM/motherboard upgrade he can do so later.

Hey I'm not sure what the psu is but I'll crack it open and take a look later. Since it's supporting crossfire I would think that it shouldn't have any problem supporting new cpu or graphic card.

Your power supply is probably large enough.

What am I looking to spend? Around $200 range for graphic card. Don't know how much cpus cost but I don't need top of the line shit but something that is still good. If need be I'd get a new motherboard too but I'd rather not if possible. How am I able to tell what equipment would fit into the motherboard that I presently got?

Radeon 5700-series would be good. A new motherboard will require that you upgrade the CPU and RAM as well and that is probably not presently cost-effective.

[Tolya]

PCIe 2.0 isn't going to be a real bottleneck. As long as textures don't need to be swapped in and out the bandwidth advantage isn't that important (and for a card with 1GB of VRAM it shouldn't be a problem).

I thought that he said he only has a PCIe 1.0 slot, it turns out Abit AT8 has two PCIe 16x slots. I withdraw my original point.

[phongn]

PCIe 2.0 isn't going to be a real bottleneck. As long as textures don't need to be swapped in and out the bandwidth advantage isn't that important (and for a card with 1GB of VRAM it shouldn't be a problem).

I thought that he said he only has a PCIe 1.0 slot, it turns out Abit AT8 has two PCIe 16x slots. I withdraw my original point.

PCIe 1.0 ≠ PCIe 1x.

[ArmorPierce]

Well I don't know what a PCIe so I'll take your guys word for it.

So the Radeon 5700-series would be superior than the 2gb+ crossfire card that I got on my system right now? It seems like it's lacking in the pixel and vertex shader according to that website.

Also, you don't think I will be needing to replace the cpu as well? It seems to be suggesting that I should replace that as well.

Any website that I can order the radeon 5700 though? I searched newegg and I couldn't find it.

[phongn]

Well I don't know what a PCIe so I'll take your guys word for it.

PCI Express - it's a type of expansion slot. Your GPUs use PCI Express x16 slots.

So the Radeon 5700-series would be superior than the 2gb+ crossfire card that I got on my system right now? It seems like it's lacking in the pixel and vertex shader according to that website.

Yes. It will be much more powerful.

Also, you don't think I will be needing to replace the cpu as well? It seems to be suggesting that I should replace that as well.

You will have to replace your motherboard to upgrade your CPU. There have been no new Socket 939 processors in years.

Any website that I can order the radeon 5700 though? I searched newegg and I couldn't find it.

Sorry - when I said 5700-series I meant the Radeon 5750 and 5770. See this search for available cards.