Optimizing my computer for StarCraft II

[pcaston2]

Hello,

I have an old computer that I'd like to get more miles out of it. Currently I am running on Low settings and have manually altered my Variables.txt file to gain further frame rate.

My specs are as follows:

1.5 GB ram
2.4Ghz Intel Xeon (2 CPUs)
GeForce 6600 AGP
500 GB Hard drive space
Windows XP SP 3 (fresh install, only StarCraft 2)

I realize this doesn't really meet the minimum specs for StarCraft II but I believe my CPUs are power enough to support it, and my CPU seems to be the bottleneck.

I borrowed a better video card (about a year old, 4x more powerful) and got no improvement. Also, the moments of lag don't occur to me as the typical lag from a GPU, they can occur when the screen is relatively free of units but there is intense computation needed (hundreds of moving units, triggers executing, etc). This leads me to believe my CPUs are slowing me down.

I'm running x86, and I've tried putting Hyper-Threading on and off with no real benefit. When I monitor my CPU I notice one of them hits 100% when StarCraft loses framerate, whereas the other is relatively idle. I have read that StarCraft II is optimized for two cores, so I don't understand this.

In 1v1s the framerate is not horrible (15-20 FPS) mid to late game, but in 2v2s I am running 10 FPS mid game and 0-1 FPS during end game battles.

I'm frustrated with not being able to let the game progress to these levels and am not able to use casters as I pretty much have a lock up until all units are dead.

Anything anyone can do to help is appreciated, I do not need it to run smooth, just need little bit of a framerate boost. If a BIOS setting or registry tweak or a change to the variables.txt will allow both my cores to process or run smoother, that's all I'd need to keep this box from being replaced.

Thanks in advance,

-Phil

 

[borisvodofsky]

You're computer is a joke. (as is mine) 2.7ghz opteron

Starcraft (ACTUAL requirements) is 4.5ghz+ i7 CPU for solid 60 frames per second..

The gpu doesn't matter that much above an ati 4890 at low resolutions.

Your cpu cannot handle Starcraft 2, Not even close. Don't bother.. nothing you can do besides buy whole new setup..

Dame you blizzard.

 

[pcaston2]

Thanks for your honesty, I guess that's it.

 

[eggrolls]

If you're running XP home edition with dual physical CPUs, then that's probably your problem. XP home supports multiple cores, but not multiple CPUs.

Then again, dual P4 era xeons aren't that fast, so I don't know what to expect with SC2.

 

[CurseTheSky]

Unfortunately, if you're getting down to the 10's or single digits FPS on even low settings, there's not much you can do with your current rig. An upgrade is in order.

The good news is, you can put together a computer that will run Starcraft II smoothly for under $500.

Athlon X4 640 - $100
ASUS 785G, AM3, mATX - $80
G.Skill 2x2GB DDR3-1333 - $65
Gigabyte GTX 460 768MB - $160

You could put it together even cheaper by going with an older graphics card (HD 4850 or 4870 if you can find one, perhaps used? 9600 GT / 9600 GSO / GT 240 may be an option as well), a dual core AM3 processor rather than quad core, and cheaper motherboard. I suggested the part that I did because it looks like you don't upgrade often, and this rig should last significantly longer than the cheaper parts will.