Hi, tech noob, please help with reqs

I am running a AMD Sempron(tm) Processor LE-1300 single core processor, and according to the system requirements lab, it has a speed of 2.31 GHZ.

Is there any possible way I can run SC2 with this? My graphics card is horrible, but I have just enough of a cash flow to upgrade that and the power supply.

According to Best Buy the package is already on it's way here from the warehouse, due to reach me between 7/27-8/02, so I really need to get this all figured out ASAP. Thank you very much for the help, I am just starting to learn about the technical aspects of desktops.

 

What is your graphics card? Need to know just how bad it is. Is it able to run other games?

 

Nvidia GeForce 6150 SE, but I have already planned on upgrading. Not too sure what to get though honestly.

And sorry for the late response on the second half of the question. For the most part with games it is the video card that gets me. Anything that requires a lot of processing power though, like resident evil 5 or something like that, simply does not fly. Does it help that I only want to play through the campaign? SC has a great story, and I really want to see the conclusion!

The reason I am left clueless about the processor is the actual SC2 reqs listed on their official site. It says 2.2 Ghz so I should be okay, but then system reqs lab says 2.6, so I am a bit confused. Does it REQUIRE a dual core? Or can a powerful enough single core get the trick done.

 

First of all, if you plan on doing any purchasing, read this:

http://i.imgur.com/Owy3Z.png

This will give you a good idea of what you can get. But honestly, if you spend over $70 on a graphics card, the card will be good enough that the bottleneck will be your processor. I don't know for sure, but that using that processor to run SC2 is really stretching it.

 

I already have my hardcopy here (thanks, amazon) and the package says: Minimum requirements: 2.6 GHz PentiumIV or aquivilent AMD processor - dual-core is just for recommanded specs.

I had a AMD Athlon XP 3000+ before i upgraded but a bad graphics card (ATI Radeon x1650). I were able to play the game and haven't been limited by my CPU - more by the video card.

Would be interesting on how much you're willing / able to spend on a new system. As far as i know, your Sempron COULD run SC2 but not really sure. The Sempron-CPUs are much like the Intel Celerons - cheap - both in money and performance. NEVER go buy one again

Your video card is also not in the minimum-specs, but as i said, my old wasn't to good, either. Maybe you would be able to run the game on lowest (and i mean LOWEST) settings......I'd definatly upgrade that machine.....

 

Pentium IV 2.6 GHz is slower clock for clock than what you have. After a GPU upgrade, your system should be able to meet the minimum system requirement. However, take into consideration that StarCraft II is much more CPU bound than GPU bound. I would suggest not going all out on the GPU so you can also upgrade the CPU. There's already one poster with a Core i7 CPU and dual-GTX 295 complaining of getting less than 60FPS on his set-up during heavy battle and his CPU is considerably faster than what you have.

What power supply do you currently have? You might not need to upgrade it if you're just going with a modest graphics card. Assuming you already have a 200~300W PSU, I would suggest upgrading to AMD Athlon II X2 250 3.0GHz ($62) and ATI Radeon HD 5670 ($90). Those components use fairly little power so you wouldn't need to upgrade the power supply, not to mention those upgrades also put you above the recommended requirements for StarCraft II which should make for a smoother gaming experience.

 

Took me a few but I got the information, it runs at a low 250w. Is that normal for a newer tower? My old Acer came with a 300w PSU at least I contacted a friend who is willing to help me install a new video card, but he is vehemently refusing to tool around with the PSU, so if I really do not need a new one that would be fantastic!

 

I'd take out the old PSU of your old PC and install it into the new one. Nothing really dramatic you can do. Just pull out all the old connections of your PSU (1 on the mainboard, one for each harddrive/DVD-Drive, system Fans), unscrew it and put it into your new PC (screw it in, reconnect - everything will run just fine!).

 

Alright, and thanks for being patient so far. Looked up a few things, and I am unsure about that processor because of it's AM3 socket status and the specs on mine say AM2. So I changed that one to another, but I like the video card.

So my upgrading thoughts are as follows:

AMD Athlon 64 x 2 Processor dual core that runs at 2.70 GHz, and the ATI Radeon HD 5670 recommended. My question now would be just what wattage of a PSU would be required to run these without any risk? Most likely wrong, but being too high or too low could be bad for multiple reasons, so what should I get to run these both optimally? I was told to buy namebrand on PSU, so I just need to figure out the exact wattage. Again, thanks for all the advice!

 

PSU must be namebranded. Otherwise, you're buying some no-name 1000W PSU running on average 500W Power.

Id assume you go for something about 350-450W - but namebranded, as you said! Don't go for something cheap as $20

 

What specific motherboard do you have? I've seen several GeForce 6150 boards that support AM3 processors. The older Athlon 64 X2 processors are slower clock for clock and tend to use more power than newer Athlon II's. Check your motherboard first if it supports newer processors before you go with older tech.

Also, what brand PSU do you have? Even if it's just 250W, as long as it's of decent quality, then you should be fine. Assuming you only have a basic build with MB, CPU, 1~2 7200RPM HDD, 1 ODD, GPU, I estimate actual power consumption of the system at load to be less than 150W (DC).