Where to begin on upgrading my graphics card?

[Sharvee]

I have a HP Pavilion Dv6000 with a AMD Turion64x2 processor using a nvidia graphics card. I am trying to get Starcraft 2 to work on my laptop bc my graphics card cannot handle it. I know nothing about computers and i need help trying to upgrade my laptop to support Gaming. Please........Advice from a you experts out there.

 

[Grooveriding]

I have a HP Pavilion Dv6000 with a AMD Turion64x2 processor using a nvidia graphics card. I am trying to get Starcraft 2 to work on my laptop bc my graphics card cannot handle it. I know nothing about computers and i need help trying to upgrade my laptop to support Gaming. Please........Advice from a you experts out there.

Unfortunately there really is no upgrade path for you with that laptop. You'll need an entirely new system if you want more power.

If you do go that way, unless you absolutely must have a laptop, I would get yourself a desktop.

 

[Sharvee]

Are there any other options besides purchasing a new system? My laptop plays starcraft2 but it just lags. Anything i can do for the laptop that i have to just make it run the game smoothly? I just want to play the game lol. =(

 

[busydude]

By 'lags' you mean FPS drops or High ping?

FPS drops- Dial down graphic settings, lower the game resolution.

High ping- Use a wired connection (or move to Korea j/k).

 

[Sharvee]

I did. I lowered all of my graphics and resolutions settings. The Game loads fine but the units move incredibly slow. I am praying i do not have to buy a new computer.

 

[toyota]

I did. I lowered all of my graphics and resolutions settings. The Game loads fine but the units move incredibly slow. I am praying i do not have to buy a new computer.

well praying is about as helpful as rubbing a rabbits foot so good luck with that. lol. what is the EXACT gpu that your laptop has?

 

[sanzen07]

You need a new machine - that laptop isn't going to cut it. You can probably build a desktop PC that can run SC2 for $300-$400 assuming you already have a monitor.

 

[bryanW1995]

new computer. sc2 lags even on some modern systems, too, so get something good. even a very good gaming laptop will probably leave you wanting more, get a desktop or be prepared to spend 2-3k on an ultra high end laptop.

 

[RussianSensation]

That's why I have my laptop with integrated Intel craphics for SC1 and desktop for SC2.

Check the minimum/recommended requirements for SC2: http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=26242&locale=en_US

 

[nboy22]

The DV6000 has, "256MB NVIDIA(R) GeForce(R) Go 7200" - Taken from http://www.pcmech.com/article/hp-pavilion-dv6000-notebook-review/

Starcraft's minimum requirement is: 128 MB PCIe NVIDIA® GeForce® 6600 GT or ATI Radeon® 9800 PRO video card or better.

Your video card does have 256 MB of ram, but it's a go series 7200, which is worse than the 6600 GT. A 7200 go series has a Video Processor Core Speed of 450 MHz. A 6600 GT has a 500 MHz core speed. You are under the minimum requirement in the GPU aspect.

Other than that during my research to make this post, I saw some other users mention on a forum that the 7200 Go series card is a low low end card. Benchmark site articles were dated all the way back to 2006-2007, which tells us that the technology you are using is outdated, and is worse because it's a laptop. Unfortunately, you will have to either purchase a new laptop, or a new desktop. A desktop would be a cheaper to build machine that could keep up with SC2, whereas if you're looking at getting a laptop I would stick with a gaming laptop if you are planning on gaming.