Can You Run It? (spec help)

[Todie]

damn.. my system isnt as strong as i thought..

i thought it would be my processor holding me back; its a Pentium Duo 2.80GHz ...

but apparently, the GFX card my cheap ass bought more or less specifically for sc2 holds it back from meeting the recommended specs.. the 9600 GT doesnt support 4x shaders and whatnot.

i geuss this is why i got some FPS drops to around 10 or even lower during large scale battles.


... i wonder if i have a 2nd slot for another GFX card on my board; i fear i only have one express slot, meaning i'd have to replace the 9600 GT if i were to make a change.



..... ill probably make do with sitting on this system for another year or two, and tehn vamp up my gear properly.

[Twilice]

What should I think about when getting ram? I got 2*2 GB which should be alot. But they are appearantly slower because of DDR2. I'm not really into all this (but I'm learning) So what should I look for when buying RAM?

[protoswarrior]

If you got about $100 lying around, you could get yourself a nice 1GB GDDR3 nvidia GTS250 card. Cheaper and able to run SC2 like a champ. Meself, I sport a nice shiny GTX260 c216 , but that may be way above your budget. $100 is more or less reasonable for an upg, so you may want to look into it.

Also, the GTS250 is what Husky uses for his HD videos of SC2 on Ultra settings.

[protoswarrior]

What should I think about when getting ram? I got 2*2 GB which should be alot. But they are appearantly slower because of DDR2. I'm not really into all this (but I'm learning) So what should I look for when buying RAM?

TBH, 4GB of DDR2 is plenty. I got an old AM2 board which only supports upto 800MHz max DDR2 RAM (8GB). I got 6GB installed at 667MHz, & speed-wise I don't need anything else. I can run Crysis on High, Mass Effect maxed, and SC2 on High for bnet, and prolly Ultra for SP. The amount of RAM is more for your computer able to sustain prolonged gaming hours and caching large amounts of data being sent to your CPU. The more the better of course, but at about 4GB, anything above becomes overkill, even at DDR2.

If you want DDR3, you'll need to change your motherboard, and while you're at it, you might as well get a new CPU and 2x2GB of DDR3 RAM to maximize the performance of your motherboard and CPU.

[Twilice]

Hm, next time then :P The new gtx 460 was enough since I also had to get another *power source* (forgot the name)

How do you know that I have to change my motherboard? How do I know which one to get so it matches my other things?
Isn't the graphic card DDR5 or something, is it different with graphic cards and ram?

Sorry massive spam, but I can't wait until tomorrow so I try to soak in information instead duo to kill time

[EvilGenius]

Hm, next time then :P The new gtx 460 was enough since I also had to get another *power source* (forgot the name)

How do you know that I have to change my motherboard? How do I know which one to get so it matches my other things?
Isn't the graphic card DDR5 or something, is it different with graphic cards and ram?

Sorry massive spam, but I can't wait until tomorrow so I try to soak in information instead duo to kill time

Check the system building thread - all you need is an AM3 motherboard and some DDR3. Your processor will work with the new motherboard (DDR2 really should be sufficient though - I'm running the game with DDR1)

[protoswarrior]

Check the system building thread - all you need is an AM3 motherboard and some DDR3. Your processor will work with the new motherboard (DDR2 really should be sufficient though - I'm running the game with DDR1)

He can't use a Pentium D (LGA775 socket) with an AMD mobo, much less an AM3 socket. He needs to get a new mobo for DDR3, and you're prolly looking at corei3 dual cores for any "lower" budget upgrading, but for really cost effective budget upgrading, I'd recommend any 890GX/FX AM3 motherboards with the new SATA 3.0 (6GB/s) and USB 3.0 technology. They sell these boards in mATX for like $120 or so.

For the CPU, you can grab an Athlon II x4 (lower end quad core) for about $100, or a dual core Phenom II x2 BE (that has the potential to be unlocked to x3 or x4 - not guranteed though) for the same price, or if you have the extra cash, there are better Phenom II processors you can get between $170 (x3) and $300 (x6).

For RAM, 4GB of DDR3 1333MHz cost about $100 on newegg.com - sometimes even less with rebates and price-cuts.



To answer your question, the RAM on board and the RAM on videocards are different. The RAM for your system is fused on "Memory Sticks" while GDDR5 Memory is fused onto the surface of the videocard and is discretely for the videocard and graphics processing.

In other words, The GDDR5 memory on your card CANNOT be used in tandem with your RAM for system memory. BUT, windows 7 can use your hard-disk space and some portion of your free RAM as available memory for the videocard, esp for games. The order is: GDDR > RAM > HDD space, in descending order of speed.

The Memory (GDDR/RAM/HDD<virtual memory>) is used by both the CPU and GPU to calculate and store information of drawn/rendered frames before they are sent to your monitor for display.


TBH, though, if you have a good playable framerate with your setup, I'd hold off on upgrading until you have the budget to change your Mobo, CPU and RAM at the same time. DDR2 RAM is still very good memory to have in terms of speed because a lot of the games out are still running fine with that. Your Pentium D usually is a hotter model of CPU than the core2Duos and core i3's/i5's, but they're pretty great for overclocking if you get good cooling for it. You can still squeeze a couple more years out of your rig if you want to, just to allow yourself to build up the cash for "the latest thing" in a couple of years. Just want to assure you that you're really fine.

If your casing is OEM, it wouldn't hurt to invest $120 on a super-sweet computer case with excellent room for upgradeability and lots of breathing room for good heat dissipation (and plenty of case fans) - not to mention the look of your case will add "personality" to your PC and make you fall in love with it all over again !


My own rig is very old. This is my set up, and I am set up to run SC2 in Ultra


CPU : AMD Athlon 64 x2 4400+ 2.3 GHz (old school 1st generation dual core)
MOBO: M2A-VM Asus with AM2 socket (939pin?)
RAM: 6GB DDR2 @ 667MHz
VIDEOCARD: nvidia EVGA GTX260 core 216 (OC'd to 720MHz core/1193 MHz VRAM)
CASE: NZXT Zero 2 with 7 x 120mm fans hooked on it
PSU: Antec Earthwatts EA500 500W 80+ certified
Hitachi 500GB HDD

I bought this in 2007 and upgraded it gradually to this

My next upg is planned for next year where I am getting a new AM3 890FX or better mobo and a Phenom II x4 965 BE and 4GB DDR3 That should allow for impeccable framerates with the GPU I have. I won't upgrade that till maybe 3-4 years later, maybe in time for Diablo 3

[Twilice]

Will do, but it's so long :P Hard to know what to look for. Someone experienced should write a guide.

[protoswarrior]

Will do, but it's so long :P Hard to know what to look for. Someone experienced should write a guide.

Here are the meat and potatoes of this:

for really cost effective budget upgrading, I'd recommend any 890GX/FX AM3 motherboards with the new SATA 3.0 (6GB/s) and USB 3.0 technology. They sell these boards in mATX for like $120 or so.

For the CPU, you can grab an Athlon II x4 (lower end quad core) for about $100, or a dual core Phenom II x2 BE (that has the potential to be unlocked to x3 or x4 - not guranteed though) for the same price, or if you have the extra cash, there are better Phenom II processors you can get between $170 (x3) and $300 (x6).

For RAM, 4GB of DDR3 1333MHz cost about $100 on newegg.com - sometimes even less with rebates and price-cuts.

[Manik]

How can you find your computer specs on Windows 7?