Upgrade graphics card or build a new PC? Specs (dxdiag) included

Hey I wanted to know if there are any upgrade(s) I could purchase to help Starcraft 2 run smoother, or if I should just buy and build a new gaming PC for cheap.

dxdiag.zip attached

Thanks for the help!



-Justin


EDIT:
Found out that I have an open PCIe slot but my PSU is inadequate at only 250W, can anyone suggest a good combo PSU/video card so that SC2 will run as good as I can get it to run? My budget is about $400 I know that's probably more than enough for what I need, can anyone help me out?

 

almost any new graphics card would help providing that your computer has a big enough psu and a open pci express slot.

 

2GB is sufficient but not ideal. Same with the Celeron. It's not the best but the minimum requirement for SC2 of Pentium IV 2.6GHz is even slower. You might need to use lower settings in some of the options as some are CPU dependent.

Graphics Hierarchy Chart (August 2010)
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-460-radeon-hd-5570-gaming,2697-7.html

GPU Power Consumption
http://www.behardware.com/articles/781-1/report-the-true-power-consumption-of-73-graphics-cards.html

If you find that a GPU upgrade isn't enough, then at least the GPU will still be usable on a new build. What power supply do you have? Some safe bets power-wise are the GT240 and HD5670. Both are relatively low-power (<75W) and don't require a separate power plug. Even a good quality 200~250W PSU like those found on most pre-built desktops would be enough for either.

 

Here is my power supply:

Delta Electronics Switching Power Supply
Model: DPS-250AB-22E Rev: 01F
Input: 100-127V~ /6A; 220-240V~ /3.15A: 50hz-60hz
Output: 250W Max.
+5V --- /16A, +3.3V --- /20A,
+12V --- /15A, -12V --- /0.5A,
+5VSB --- /2A
+3.3V& Total Output Power Can't Exceed 110W
+3.3V& +5V& +12V Total Output Power Can't Exceed 245W

Sorry if that's too much info but I just wrote down everything it said on the PSU

Should I still go with the above graphics card suggestions?

 

Those are actually all useful information. Since you've got a smallish power supply, I suggest you don't go any higher than the GT 240 or HD 5670.

Some additional thoughts: either card would probably allow for high settings, maybe even ultra at low resolutions. Around medium if you enable AA. If you're fine gaming at those settings, then go ahead and upgrade to a GT 240/HD 5670. If not, you might be better off doing a whole system replacement as a GPU upgrade alone is not enough for ultra everything.

You can also probably get away with the following upgrades:
Intel Pentium E6500, $80 or Core 2 Duo E7500, $120
GTX 460 1GB, $230
Corsair TX650, $90

Should make for quite a boost over what you have now. Although if you can stretch you budget, it might be worth going for a new rig altogether.

 

Thanks a bunch for the quick help!

I guess I'm about to order this (because it's the cheapest),

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102870&cm_re=HD_5670-_-14-102-870-_-Product

I read online that HD 6750 is a little better than GT 240 (I don't know why). Before I order though:

What's the difference between a video card that has 512 MB and one that has 1GB?

Am I positive this will be compatible with my computer? (Here's a link to my computer specs and it has some information about PCI Express that I don't understand):
http://www2.shopping.com/xPO-eMachi...Celeron-Dual-Core-E1400-2-0GHz-2GB-DDR2-320GB

Are there potentially any unforeseen problems? I just want to run the game on lowest settings (medium would be awesome) without it slowing down the game or having the screen drag problem (where you can't move the screen without it being choppy and lagging behind)

Again thanks a lot!

EDIT:
I just saw where you suggested those upgrades, If I could just spend 100$ on the GT240 or HD6750 and see a significant change (being able to play on low without slowing down the game or the screen drag problem) I would be thrilled. If I have to spend $200-$300 to accomplish this I'd much rather build a new comp. I'd like to take some weeks to save up and put some money into it and be able to run Diablo III good when it comes out.

 

The HD 5670 should work. Keyword should. I don't see any reason why it shouldn't work but weird things can always crop up on computers.

More video RAM allows you to use higher textures, particularly at very high resolutions. Here are some benchmarks showing the performance penalty of cards with less memory in SC2:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/blizzard-entertainment-starcraft-ii-benchmark,2611-8.html

As you may notice, it's really not much. You can see huge gains on some games particularly when you're gaming at 2560x1600. It doesn't seem as if StarCraft II is one of those games, though. Just save the money and stick to 512MB.

 

Thanks for the help, do you think that just the video card upgrade will help my performance problems? How much will my close-to-minimum-requirements processor/RAM effect my gameplay experience? I've got my finger on the buy button..

 

Yes, definitely. I've been able to play at 1360x768 low on an Atom 330+NVIDIA ION (GeForce 9400M). Both the Celeron E1400 and HD 5670 would be faster than that. I've only played the campaign, though.

 

Ok I just ordered the HD 5670, thanks a lot! I'll let you know how it goes.

 

Hee hee Just thought I mention that ive been running the game at the lowest settings using a integrated ATI Raedon HD3200 and my computer is a 2.10GHZ Triple Core AMD Phenom 8450. another thing that will help is having alot of ram.

 

As it usually comes down to budget I would upgrade ram first in amount (up to 4g as W7 can use all of this) and speed of ram. THEN go for card-as most current games use more memory from the card than the clock speed of the cpu (and make sure the game uses both cpu's and you can increase cpu priority) for some tweaking.

 

I am going to correct this statement, since in inseRtname's case it is NOT true. You must install the 64-bit version of Windows 7 to address this much RAM completely (especially after you install your new video card). This should be a free upgrade for you, just get a hold of a 64-bit installation disc and install using your current key. You can either update your current installation or install fresh (I will always recommend installing fresh). You would then need to reinstall of your drivers using 64-bit counterparts.

 

Not for the OP. Assuming he's on a limited budget, a video card upgrade (even to a low-end Radeon HD 5450) would benefit him more than a RAM upgrade would. He's using integrated graphics (GeForce 7050) that's three generations old and while Blizzard has done a lot to make StarCraft II work on older hardware (even those below minimum specifications), his graphics is just too slow.