Can You Play the Game?

[Ghan_04]

Starcraft II looks awesome, sure.
And we're all waiting with bated breath for it to come out, right?

Well, can you run it on your computer? Don't know, huh?
Well, I have here a good estimate as to the requirements of the game. While Blizzard is (trying) to keep everything uptight, some sources have managed to piece together a few things.

So! I'll cut to chase.

Minimum Specifications*
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 2.4 GHz OR Athlon XP 2500+
Memory: 1 GB RAM
Graphics Card: Nvidia Geforce FX 5500 OR ATI Radeon 9700
Disk Space: ~7GB

Recommended Specifications*
Processor: Core 2 Duo OR Athlon X2
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Graphics Card: Geforce 8600 GT OR Radeon HD 3850
Disk Space: (This probably won't change much.... ) ~7GB

*Estimated

My apologies if this has been discussed before. I didn't see any topics on the subject.

Source: StarCraft 2 System Requirements - StarCraft 2 The Unofficial Site!

 

[Aeroblyctos]

Nooo can dooo.

 

[DrazharLn]

That's very scalable. Simply "Core 2 Duo" is a bit vague though. My PC should be in the top end of that bracket.

I think disk space should be higher actually, think of all the extra maps you'll be downloading

 

[Aeroblyctos]

Disk space is nothing for me actually, I have a lot of space for files... But computer is just too slow I think.

 

[ragingspeedhorn]

I'll have a new computer by that time.

 

[Eleandor]

2.3 ghz; well, it might just run on this one.

 

[X.e.r.e.X]

Not a problem for me

 

[MateuszD]

full details without a problem! maybe not with 4x aa but 2x aa should work leakfree! xD

 

[Newuser]

My computer meets the min except the processor.

I'll probably upgrade my computer just for Starcraft 2 though(I haven't had any reason to upgrade my computer until Starcraft 2).

Though I'd hate to have possibly replace my motherboard, I mean I don't know what it's maximum specs are for the RAM, and processor(I have the manual, I'll check it later when Starcraft 2 is nearing relaese).

I remember how hard it was just to unplug and plug the power cables on stuff when I installed a new power supply(especially, the floppy drive, it was like it was super glued on the drive. I had to use so much force remove the plug from the drive that I had to actually removed the floppy drive from the cast before succeeding. Inserting the power plug back in was just as much as a pain).

Besides the power plugs, the CPU, and the fan which are kind of tedious to install/remove, everything else won't be too bad.

 

[FamousPker49]

Barely plugging away with WC here. I should *hopefully* have a better computer.

 

[Gikon]

Yup. According to the specs, My computer can run 8 copies of it at once...
*cough* mostly because my job gave me a 3k USD gaming computer for and I quote "off site work related testing and development"... Apparently I am suppose to play UT3 non-stop then? lol *cough*

 

[DrazharLn]

Gikon, where do you work, and how can I get hired?

 

[Gikon]

Gikon, where do you work, and how can I get hired?

Epic Games and try this link?

 

[Dark.Revenant]

Epic Games

Nice.

 

[Gikon]

Nice.

It is actually fun working there, We almost never have any projects to do..

 

[Gilles]

Which one are you?

 

[LordDz]

It is actually fun working there, We almost never have any projects to do..

Lazy bastard

 

[Gikon]

Lazy bastard

It is not that I am lazy..It is just..well..We do not work on games a lot..(ever..)

 

[Dr Super Good]

Minimum Specifications*
Processor: Intel Pentium 4 2.4 GHz OR Athlon XP 2500+
Memory: 1 GB RAM
Graphics Card: Nvidia Geforce FX 5500 OR ATI Radeon 9700
Disk Space: ~7GB

Whoever thought of those obviously had no idea about computers.
Intel Pentium 4 2.4 GHz struggled with age of empires 3 with raggdoll on which is sure as hell not going to be as demanding as SC2 will be with all its added physics and modern engine. I would put the minimum requirements for processor at a P4 3.0 with HT or faster if not even a dual core. Remember that some custom maps can be demanding and the minimum should be the minimum for it to be playable and not for it to run (at like 1 fps)

Nvidia Geforce FX 5500
This card is just a big no no, Nearly every modern game fails to run on it and SC2 will be no exception, especially concidering that card lacks even shaders 3.0. Also, although the 3D will be able to tune down a lot, they will still be quite demanding in huge battles so even if it does work it would hit like 17 or less FPS in actual game play on minimum. I would have to say a PCI-E card like a 6800 would be the minimum if not even a geforce 7 card for play at a decent level of quality and FPS.

1 GB of RAM is possiable on minimum however.

For recommended, it would obviously be 2.2 Ghz intel core 2 duo and nvidia 8800 with 3 GB ram (vista).

A 8600 GT being recommended makes no sense as it is barely stronger than a 7800.

 

[Devine]

... I beat the minimum requirements ... with like 5% moar D: ...
Ima kill myself.
And I got pwnd by DSG's requirements D:

 

[Dr Super Good]

The whole definition of minimum requirements and recommended is wrong. It is curently the spec for which the game is assured to be able to be run (minimum) and the spec for it to be able to run decently (recommended). However this is far from the actual truth, the minimum should be the minimum for the game to run well (all settings on minimum and constant frame rate which is highish) and the recommended being the specs needed to run the game well at medium or high.

As it is many modern games are almost unplayable if run on systems with the minimum requirements. Thus you should always use the recomended to judge weather your PC will run the game moderatly or else turn to third party benchmarks to see how well the game will run as the whole minimum and recommended thing tells you nothing about how playable the game will be for you.

 

[Gikon]

Can You RUN It?
Click Command and Conquer 3
If you can run CnC3 on high you can run SC2...If you can run it on low..you might be able to run sc2 with some lag...

I found out today they will have equal requirements.

 

[LordDz]

Got a pass on everything on recommended except one thing:
I didn't have Vista.

The irony..

 

[Kwah]

3.8 gig hertz, dual core
2 gig RAM
I don't recall my graphics.

I'm not worried.

 

[Newuser]

Got a pass on everything on recommended except one thing:
I didn't have Vista.

The irony..

I'd say things like DirectX10 features is more of a "just to have" rather than recommended(since recommended equals no-lag, while min is lag but you can still play the game). Though they haven't said exactly what they're going to add for DirectX 10 support.

Speaking of Vista, Windows 7 is coming out and from the sounds of it, it's "Vista but much much better".

 

[rover2341]

I have been waiting for 2 years for starcraft to come out. telling my self ill buy a computer as soon as we are within a few months of it. And intill they say when its comeing out. I can wait. I still mainly just play warcraft 3 and my computer runs that fine.

 

[Kwah]

Necro-post?

 

[LordDz]

Necro-post?

Who cares? This forum part doesn't get that many posts anyway..

Ontopic, anyone know any graphic card that is good? :>

 

[Raethe]

The starcraft 2 dev team has stated that each in game model will have about the same polygon count as a player model in wow, though starcraft 2 will also have advanced video effects and a physics engine.
If you consider this, you might be able to gouge what system you will need to play starcraft 2 on high. think of a battleground in wow with shadows on while you look over a cliff. I don't think I will be able to run it but I'm not afraid, when warcraft 3 came out, and even starcraft itself, I could not run them with 60 fps, rather a very disgustingly low fps, but in time, I can get the gear I need. with that in mind, I hope that starcraft 2 has as long a legacy as both starcraft and warcraft 3 I believe that if people do not enjoy the game, map makers like us can most definitely keep the game alive, and I do so want that new map editor...

 

[PrinceofIce]

I'm good for it. I'm glad about it too :3.

 

[The_wand_mirror]

Simply "Core 2 Duo" is a bit vague though.

Agreed, wtf is about that =/

I have a 3.0 ghz dual core so i should be fine.

Yeah i can run this on highest (Vista supports DX10 right?)

 

[DrazharLn]

Vista is the only operating system to support DX10. They made it an incentive to "upgrade"...

My PC has a 2.66GHz CPU that I overclocked to 3.0GHz, WiC runs slightly jerky on high settings and my graphically modded version of oblivion sometimes runs slow outside.

But I believe that's due to the small amount of memory on my GFX card, not the processor.

 

[MGCǂSpectre]

Yes whoever said 2.4 GHz has no idea about computers or hasn't played Blizzard games enough. On the market PCs, laptops are 3.00 GHz at best. Does the claimer of that number think Blizzard would cr8 a game that requires 2.4 GHz processor or more so that only few people and I mean those with the latest good computers to play it?

My estimation for min/recommended:

• 1.5-1.7 GHz processor or higher
• Windows XP SP3, Windows Vista 32/64 bit - duh ofc Vista since now only Vista is sold with PCs
• 512 MB RAM minimum (recommended 1 GB or higher) memory - war3 which also has relatively many things runs on 128MB tested it myself on old junk laptop. While SC2 will req more memory, I doubt it will be more than 512 MB. I lol-ed at the claim 1 GB minimum.
• 5 GB of free space
• 128 MB video card minimum (or 256MB and more recommended). SC prolly ran on 8 MB video card and war3 can run on 16 MB video and recommended is 32 MB. SC2 will req much more than war3 but from 32 MB video (war3) to jump to anything wayy too high - other games maybe but not Blizzard.

Conclusion: the creator of those stats forgets that war3 is also a game with a lot of graphics and stuff that loads the memory and SC2 has twice as much, not 5 times more.

I'm not worried. I will upgrade my laptop in the future which for now has only 512 MB video, 3 GB DDR3, Intel® Core™ 2 Duo P8400 2.26GHz (which I doubt will be insufficient coz SC2 WON'T be 2.4 ghz req), 7200 rpm HDD with enough space. Let me remind you that a strategy game will require less than a MMORPG or my claim goes - the same as Wow expansion or slightly more.

 

[DrazharLn]

I'd be very surprised if SC2 has lower requirements than WoW, MMORPGs are designed to run on a huge range of computers to maximise cash flow.

The guy (sorry, can't be bothered to browse back to find who you are) who said 2.4GHz was talking about the requirements to play well.

SC2 is probably made to be very scalable, but some of us like our games prettier than others.

All these specs are inconclusive anyways, the speed of the RAM (latency), FSB and the processors on the video card are all key things to look at too.

A GeForce 7000 with 512mb memory is clearly inferior to a 8800 with 312mb memory, it's the number of processors and other variables that count.

 

[LordDz]

I'd be very surprised if SC2 has lower requirements than WoW, MMORPGs are designed to run on a huge range of computers to maximise cash flow.

And they don't want that with other games?
Na but really I think cause of the whole korean playerbase and fans of the starcraft I who can't afford better computers. (Not meaning that Koreans are poor).

 

[Gausslander]

The space is a BIG problem for me.

 

[Avex]

So by June, I need 7 gigs of space.

I have 4.91gig free space.

Shit, and I have 1,000,000 files on this computer.

(EDIT, by deleting 1 game its 6gig now)

 

[Dark.Revenant]

The requirements will be roughly similar to the latest CC imo. Any computer bought within 1-3 years with a decent gfx card should be fine.

 

[Dr Super Good]

As it is a modern Game, expect 6-8 GB HDD space or more. For expansions and patches maybe 16 GB just to be safe.

 

[Ralle]

I am probably only here to brag
My Core 2 Quad Q6600 overclocked at 3.0ghz and my GTX 260 Core 216 will probably be able to play it somewhat ^^

 

[Serbianbeast]

I wonder what will happen with ATI Radeon 2600 HD Pro :S

 

[KingBob]

My computer pwns all the requirements but one...
I'll apparently need to downgrade my comp from XP to Vista

Also, I just lost the game

 

[Gilles]

Seems like most computers could handle this. A mid range card would probably run it on good settings.

 

[Jaakko]

Yes I have the recommended settings.

 

[redmarine]

My main computer is well capable of running the game according to those hardware requirements.
I'll probably get a new computer by the time this game gets released. I'mma getz einz zuper computerz!

 

[Ricardo Irving]

I can play this.