Attached is the DxDiag file.. I am wondering if it will run well enough to make it worth purchasing. Also, would upgrading to a higher end video card be worthwhile, or is it just going to be time to get a new pc? (A new comp is not a great option right now) Thanks!
You've got some upgrade wiggle room, although it seems users almost universally call this machine a POS... it's to be expected, its a Gateway. You got what you got though, so lets work with it. 1st if you are able too, I personally would upgrade to Windows 7 64-bit. You got a 64-bit able machine, and it'd speed up things to have it running in 64-bit. It's a personal preference, but XP 32-bit isn't a bad choice in this case (I basically go one way or the other: Running XP 32 or Win7 64). The game should be playable on low with maybe a few med settings, perhaps even med entirely. First you need to prep the machine with updated drivers. Newest chipset drivers here. Important! Install before video drivers! If you have a choice, choose not to install the display driver in this package! Newest video drivers here. Newest audio drivers here. Newest wireless card drivers here. I recommend removing the modem from the machine if your not using it (I'd home your not stuck using it like me!). Is your LAN card enabled? Its not showing up on the dxdiag? I guess the LAN driver isn't in the nForce drivers like it should be, so if you are unable to use it... I'll need to find out the PnP string for it (I'll explain how to find that). I always recommend to use the wired connection, but the driver seems elusive... but not from me! Also, I would try to free up as much hard drive space as you can. Clear out the junk. You might be able to get a hold of a guest pass for StarCraft 2, so you can try it before you buy, to make sure its going to run okay. After all of that... yeah, you may be able to install a newer video card later on and get better performance. Most of your good videocard choices would require an upgraded Power Supply though.
As TheXev mentioned, it should work okay on low-medium settings on your current hardware. It certainly runs well enough on less capable hardware. At this point, I don't think it's worth upgrading the PC beyond a <$100 GPU such as the GT 240 or HD 5670. The processor is too much of a bottleneck and being socket 939, you don't really have a lot of upgrade options. That said, I'd recommend holding off on any upgrades. Your PC is able to run SC2 even without upgrades anyway and you're better off saving funds for a complete replacement somewhere down the line. Bulldozer and Sandy Bridge are just around the corner and both would probably offer more significant upgrades to what you have now.
