SC2 choppy - What should I upgrade?

Im only playing vs AI right now, since my comp specs were too shitty to get opted-in. But anyways, Im still getting a considerable amount of choppiness, even on the absolute lowest settings. Its not unbearably bad, but its bad enough that At the start of the game, I cant do a super fast split like in BW, its physically impossible.

Here are my specs from when the opt-in thing measured my comp.

# Operating system:Windows 2.5.1.2600 (SP 2)
# CPU type:AMD Athlon(tm) 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 3600
# CPU Speed (GHz):1.92
# System memory (GB):1.936
# Graphics card model:NVIDIA GeForce 7050 PV / NVIDIA nForce 630a
# Graphics card driver:nv4_disp.dll
# Desktop resolution:1024x768
# Hard disk size (GB):465.646
# Hard disk free space (GB):419.411

Rather than buying a new comp, which I'd love to do but Im really strapped for cash lately, what would be the best thing I can upgrade that will help improve SC2's performance?

How do you know that you're hardware-limited? Did the opt-in program warn you?

Try overclocking the GPU.

your graphics card is the limiting factor here. if you want medium settings, try getting something at the level of an nvidia 9600 (i'm not a graphics guru, so I'm sure theres better models for the money, but that's the ballpark to aim for)

just for comparison, i have equivalent processor and memory, but a better gpu, and i can run sc2 at medium settings without a hitch.

I dont necessarily want medium settings, I just want the game to be 100% smooth as possible. I play competitively and dont like any slight "catching" of the screen as I scroll, or any stuttering of the game while I play. That quarter of a second delay in micro can be game-ending.

I'd say Video Card and/or RAM.


The game has an FPS counter, if you didn't know. Press ctrl+alt+f, or something like that.

More RAM, and find out how to increase your page file size. (It can only be 1.5 to 2x the amount of RAM you have.)

2 GB RAM isn't too bad.

Your graphics card needs help though. If you just upgrade to a card with over 512 mb of memory - which shouldn't cost too much - you'll be in much better shape.

Graphics card... there are some very cheap models which should be good enough for SC2

Definitely your graphics card.
I looked up your card, it gets roughly 350 for a 3dmark06 score. That's horrible!
For reference, I have an older card, Radeon 2600... I get 5300 on 3dmark06. I am able to run at medium-low settings and get 60-90fps average, never below 45fps.