So, I wanna start this off by saying, when it comes to computers.... I'm pretty stupid, which is why I'm coming with questions to all you bright and computer savvy TLers. Since playing SC2, my computer has lagged much more significantly than it ever did with BroodWar, for obvious reasons. I believe the main reason for my lag is most likely due to my graphics card (NVIDIA GeForce 6150 LE). So, I was wondering if any of you awesome people out there would know of any fairly cheap, although decent graphics cards that I could purchase so I can have an enjoyable, lag-free, SC2 experience?

This is the rest of my computer set-up ( at least what it says from the stickers on the front of the computer ) in case anyone is interested or can see anywhere else I could improve my set-up.

Windows Vista
4600+ AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core Processor
2048 MB Memory
320GB Hard drive

salito

1647 Posts

July 11 2011 19:31 GMT

try tech support

when i browse there for no reason i don't understand a damn word they say

Inkarnate

Canada840 Posts

July 11 2011 19:31 GMT

Get rid of vista for either xp or 7 is a good first step.

MasterOfChaos

Germany2896 Posts

July 11 2011 19:33 GMT

4600+ AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual-Core Professor

I'd like to have a Professor in my comp too. Where can I buy one?

Probe1

United States17920 Posts

July 11 2011 19:34 GMT

Taken from the Blizzard support page:

1 GB RAM (1.5 GB required for Windows Vista®/Windows® 7 users)

You're right at recommended. I'd say you should just stick to playing on Low settings unless you want to upgrade or buy a new computer. I'm not sure if you got a store bought computer or built one (Sticker on the front makes me think store bought

) But as far as video cards go my GeForce 470 GTX
rarely fails me and the only time any lag can occur is when two maxed out armies meet on extreme settings. I also have four times as much RAM and a faster processor however.

I'd ask this question in Tech Support. They seem very friendly.

blabber

United States4448 Posts

July 11 2011 19:37 GMT

first thing you need to find out is if your computer has PCI-Express slot or AGP slot for graphics cards

Probe1

United States17920 Posts

July 11 2011 19:38 GMT

On July 12 2011 04:33 MasterOfChaos wrote:

Show nested quote +

I'd like to have a Professor in my comp too. Where can I buy one?

You must find and ask this man a riddle:
+ Show Spoiler [picture] +

skyR

Canada13817 Posts

July 11 2011 19:38 GMT

You need to specify the resolution you play at. Your computer is five years old so getting a new graphics card won't exactly solve all your problems. You'll still suffer performance drops in late game scenarios due to your ancient processor.

TheSchwA

United States248 Posts

July 11 2011 19:39 GMT

On July 12 2011 04:33 MasterOfChaos wrote:

Show nested quote +

I'd like to have a Professor in my comp too. Where can I buy one?

I wish I could remember, but they come in handy when I'm enduring homework struggles.

JingleHell

United States11308 Posts

July 11 2011 19:41 GMT

#10

http://www.teamliquid.net/forum/viewmessage.php?topic_id=137554

Computer Build Resource Thread. Frankly, your whole PC is a bit light in the pants for SC2, and since it's CPU dependent on low settings, even though your GPU blows balls, getting more GPU won't help much, since your processor is bound to limit you in larger engagements.

You can upgrade to an i3 2100/GT450 rig for a few hundred dollars and get massively better performance all around.

Dammit, even in blogs, skyR ninjas me!

schaf

Germany1326 Posts

July 11 2011 19:49 GMT

#11

On July 12 2011 04:38 skyR wrote:
You need to specify the resolution you play at. Your computer is five years old so getting a new graphics card won't exactly solve all your problems. You'll still suffer performance drops in late game scenarios due to your ancient processor.

Im not a processor professor, but usually the processor load is really small while playing. I'd suggest a HD6850 (if your mainboard supports PCIE), pretty standard and pretty cheap.

JingleHell

United States11308 Posts

July 11 2011 19:50 GMT

#12

On July 12 2011 04:49 schaf wrote:

Show nested quote +

Im not a processor professor, but usually the processor load is really small while playing. I'd suggest a HD6850 (if your mainboard supports PCIE), pretty standard and pretty cheap.

You clearly aren't, SC2 is extremely CPU limited.

http://www.techpowerup.com/forums/showthread.php?t=128080

http://www.techspot.com/review/305-starcraft2-performance/page13.html

Look at the GPU performance pages, and you'll clearly see a massive CPU bottleneck, even with a heavily OCed i7.

TheSchwA

United States248 Posts

July 11 2011 20:03 GMT

#13

I really appreciate everyone's advice/comments so far, even if some of them are going over my head due to my lack of computer knowledge, ha. But, from what I'm reading it kind of seems like getting a new computer might be the way to go, in which case I may just go to newegg and see what I can find?

JingleHell

United States11308 Posts

July 11 2011 20:06 GMT

#14

On July 12 2011 05:03 TheSchwA wrote:
I really appreciate everyone's advice/comments so far, even if some of them are going over my head due to my lack of computer knowledge, ha. But, from what I'm reading it kind of seems like getting a new computer might be the way to go, in which case I may just go to newegg and see what I can find?

Uhm, prebuilts suck and kits are worse. Would you be comfortable building one to get better performance for your money? It's easy, and there's video guides.

Check out the Computer build resource thread I linked, there's tons of info and you can get help once you've read through the basics.

Scorch

Austria3371 Posts

July 11 2011 20:36 GMT

#15

I don't think upgrading parts is the way to go here, rather go for a whole new machine. Any modern graphics card would be bottlenecked by your CPU, and vice-versa. As was said, check out the computer build resource thread. Don't be afraid of building your own machine. It's not that difficult, a fun experience and saves a lot of money.

HornyHerring

Papua New Guinea1054 Posts

July 11 2011 22:47 GMT

#16

I've got AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 4200+ 2.21 Ghz
2 G ram
GeForce 9800GT 512mb
Windows XP 32
Playing on 1900x1200 and 1280x1024(monitor broke :<)

and I run SC2 without any problems on low. The fps only drops in team games and in maxed out zergling vs zergling battles.

And yea, buying a new gfx wont solve anything, to actually upgrade you'd have to buy a new mobo, processor and gfx.