So, my one of my two harddrives are broken wich forces me to buy a new one. But this also a good time to upgrade my comp so that I can run glorious ultra settings on Sc2 I've got an Fujitsu Siemens SCALEO X from 2005. But as I can't get it to boot I won't be able to get a dxdiag, and thus I don't know if I'll miss any important specs. However, here's the specs I can see from the brochure: Motherboard: ATX Proccessor: AMD Athlon 64x2 4200+ 2.2HT RAM: 1536 MB Harddrive: 500GB (2x 250GB) Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 7800 GTX 256 MB I think that's all that's necessary. The only further info is soundcard and optical drivers, just tell me if you want me to post those aswell. So basically I'm wondering what I need to upgrade to be able to run ultra and what harddrive fits with the motherboard.
Your current hardrives should be fine, whats wrong with them, just format them? - If they are really busted, then pick up a SATA 500gb or 1 tb 7200 rpm 3.5" HDD $78 usd, stick with Western Digital Cpu - 2.6 Dual Core and Up can run sc2 smoothly with 3v3 and up(more units=more fps lag) with a 2.2 your probably going to get lag with massive units in 2v2 and up. What resolution will you be running on and how big is your monitor? - if you plan on running higher res like 1920x1080, you will get lower fps and lag Ram 2GB MInimum - with 2gb ram multi-tasking Alt-Tab will take 30-45 sec, I recommend 4gb, you will ahve a bit faster load times and multi tasking will be dramatically increased, 5-10 sec multitasking. You will need windows 7 64 bit to take advantage of 4gb, windows xp 32 bit Os supports only up to 3gb. Also you will need to find out what type or ram you have, open your computer up and write down the description on one of the ram chips. it is usually something like this. (PC-6400 800Mhz DDR2 1GB) Also how many Ram slots do you have as if you only have 2 your going to need to get a whole new set of 4gb ram chips or maybe even a new mobo if you want to upgrade your memory. Video Card You will need to upgrade to get Ultra settings at a higher resolution 1920x1080 I would recommend on a budget, - this is value wise and runs sc2 on ultra with good fps Geforce 450 1gb $140 usd If you have extra money get the - this is overkill but is an amazing videocard, (performance/value) Geforce 460 1gb $230 usd
it's really busted, so I'll have to buy a new one. and yeah, windows 7 is also on the "to-buy" list so 4gb of RAM wouldn't be a problem thanks for your help!
I too recommend any Western Digital drive. Seagate went to the crapper after they bought Maxtor. This is the drive I just speced for my buddies machine (I plan on posting the entire spec here after its built, it's a beast for only $688). http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136533 <- $10 more, 6GB/s SATA speed, and 500GB's more space. I think its a no brainier for $10 more. As for a new graphics card purchase, I would hold off until November after the new ATI cards come out. Price wars, etc, will change the landscape and make things cheaper!
