4850 or GTS250?

[Termie]

Ah, Starcraft. As others have said, that requires CPU power. This article will give you an idea of how important CPU power is to the game: http://www.techspot.com/review/305-starcraft2-performance/page13.html.

I still think you'll get some benefit from a GT240-class card on your old pentium. Obviously buying the game will set you back ~$60, so that has to come within your budget too. It really isn't fair to recommend to you that you spend hundred of dollars on a new system just to play Starcraft.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

+1 this^^^^^^ Except pentium D's suck.

Yeah they do but they will still be like twice as fast in SC2. Plus they are super cheap on ebay.

 

[happy medium]

Yeah they do but they will still be like twice as fast in SC2. Plus they are super cheap on ebay.

I think its safe to say a pent d will not run Starcraft 2.
Look at the x2 555 @ 3.2 struggling, and that should be way faster then a pent d.

 

[cpals]

I finally had a chance to find the mobo product on my NewEgg history... don't laugh but I bought it back in 12/2005. Dang, that's a long time ago in tech terms!

Anyways, my motherboard is a
MSI 945P Neo-F LGA 775 Intel 945P ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130516

 

[Phynaz]

I think its safe to say a pent d will not run Starcraft 2.

Looks like it's running to me.

 

[happy medium]

I finally had a chance to find the mobo product on my NewEgg history... don't laugh but I bought it back in 12/2005. Dang, that's a long time ago in tech terms!

Anyways, my motherboard is a
MSI 945P Neo-F LGA 775 Intel 945P ATX Intel Motherboard
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16813130516

It does support a pentium d. But really don't spend more then 20 bucks on one, if you even wanna try it.

http://cgi.ebay.com/Pentium-D-/180546331993?pt=CPUs

 

[Termie]

I think its safe to say a pent d will not run Starcraft 2.
Look at the x2 555 @ 3.2 struggling, and that should be way faster then a pent d.

Not quite right. That graph is showing 1920x1200 at ultra quality, which taxes not only the GPU but the CPU as well. I bet his CPU can push something in between that and the "low settings" he was using with his 7600gs.

 

[cusideabelincoln]

Dammit, I really hate it when websites don't have the exact model number. Anyway, these are the two closest matches on MSI's website:
http://us.msi.com/index.php?func=prodcpusupport&maincat_no=1&cat2_no=&cat3_no=&prod_no=195#menu
http://us.msi.com/index.php?func=prodcpusupport&maincat_no=1&cat2_no=&cat3_no=&prod_no=229#menu

I would try to find a Pentium D 900 series processor, although an 800 series would work fine too.

I think its safe to say a pent d will not run Starcraft 2.
Look at the x2 555 @ 3.2 struggling, and that should be way faster then a pent d.

Ultra settings mean nothing. He won't be playing at Ultra. If we go by your logic then Blizzard is currently lying about their minimum AND recommended requirements.
http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=26242&locale=en_US

2.4 GHz Dual core? HA! Even a 3.2 GHz can't run SC2!