[moneyman11]

Okay, so I made a really cheap computer a few years ago, and was wondering if it was possible at all to upgrade it to be able to play SC2 at the best or almost the best settings. My specs are:

Pentium Dual Core E2160, which I overclocked to 3 Ghz
GeForce 8400gs
2 GB DDR2 800 G.Skill Ram
500gb 7200 RPM HD
380W Antec EarthWatts PSU
ABIT IP35-E LGA 775 Intel P35 ATX Intel Motherboard
Microsoft Windows XP Professional Operating System

Basically I know I have to upgrade my video card, and I probably need to add like 2 more gb of ram, but the main question is, what video card would I need to get that my processor wouldn't bottleneck, and would my PSU be able to handle that video card? If it's not just the video card I would need to upgrade, is there anything I can do that would let me play SC2 without getting rid of my motherboard and processor? Thanks in advance, and let me know if there's any other information you guys need.

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[moneyman11]

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[mkau]

OK, since you want a better graphics card and all that, I'd also suggest upgrading your processor to something like an E8400, which has dropped in price recently (EOL, you know the drill - prices go up then down) to around $150. It runs, stock, at the same clock rate your OC'd pentium does.

You'll probably need a more powerful PSU, probably around 500w for a Radeon HD 5770, which cost about $160-170 each. You probably won't need it too much, a 5750 would probably work fine.

[Dindy]

Yes some E8400 like mkau said would be nice and You have a great power supply I've seen people having ATI 4890 with that power supply but if it's more than 3 years old than You might think of buying some better one 500W brand PSU would be more than enough!

[mkau]

Oh, one more thing: another 2GB of DDR2-800 won't set you back too badly.

[moneyman11]

Guys, thanks for all the advice so far. The only problem is, upgrading to an E8400 and then getting a 5770 would cost me over 300, and then I would also probably need to invest another 50-100 in a PSU and more ram. That's around 400 dollars just to play one game (although this game will be amazing). Anyway, I would want to know if there were any cheaper options that would allow me to play SC2 smoothly at medium or high settings, I don't mind not playing in the max settings. Would there be a semi-cheap video card that would work with the rest of my system that could play SC2 at a decent frame rate?

[Dindy]

Memory: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820231121
Processor: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819116347
Graphic card: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814150482
Power supply: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817371007

This all is around 330$! But as for memory you should see what model is your memory it's best to buy identical to what you already have.

[Alex Carlson]

Hello,
You have better graphics card. You can use 8800GT video card.
Thanks.

[edwardj7337]

I have a 8500GT and am able to play SC2 on Max but with lag which isn't the card but the rest of my PC. If you do not want like a high end card a cheap one would work fine. My card is about $50 or so.