Which video card for StarCraft II?

[AkumaX]

I definitely want to run it on Ultra, but not sure about AA yet.
I was going off of this preliminary beta benchmarks

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/blizzard-entertainment-starcraft-ii-benchmark,2611-6.html

and have decided upon the GTX 260 (192) and the 5770, they can both be found for roughly ~$150, i think. However, these don't show AA enabled, but this does:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/blizzard-entertainment-starcraft-ii-benchmark,2611-7.html

however, they didn't bench the 5770 because it wasn't working at the time.
Anyways, which one would you do?!


Moved from PC Gaming

Anandtech PC Gaming Moderator
KeithTalent

 

[shortylickens]

As has already been discussed literally hundreds of times in PC Gaming: Do NOT purchase hardware for a game thats not even out yet. Despite what the betas and speculations may lead you to believe, we have no idea what kind of hardware a new game will actually need. Just wait.

And if Blizzards past actions are any indication, you probably wont need to upgrade to the latest generation hardware anyway.

If you are just curious what the rest of us are gonna do, I intend to wait until its been out for a week and see what users have to say.

 

[Powermoloch]

I'm pretty much with Shortylickens here, I would wait for the reviews first before pulling the trigger. Besides, bugs will show up when you have millions upon millions start playing SC II.

 

[AkumaX]

As has already been discussed literally hundreds of times in PC Gaming: Do NOT purchase hardware for a game thats not even out yet. Despite what the betas and speculations may lead you to believe, we have no idea what kind of hardware a new game will actually need. Just wait.

And if Blizzards past actions are any indication, you probably wont need to upgrade to the latest generation hardware anyway.

If you are just curious what the rest of us are gonna do, I intend to wait until its been out for a week and see what users have to say.

I see - it actually plays just fine on older hardware (plays 1920x1080 on LQ with a Geforce 6600GT!!!)

I'm just preparing for Ultra Q + 4xAA (is there even going to be 2xAA?)...

 

[shortylickens]

I see - it actually plays just fine on older hardware (plays 1920x1080 on LQ with a Geforce 6600GT!!!)

I'm just preparing for Ultra Q + 4xAA (is there even going to be 2xAA?)...

Get whatever hardware you want, but DONT use a single video game as your purchasing decision. Wait until it comes out at least.

 

[Bateluer]

Man, just wait until the game is released before you go spending any money to play it. This should be stickied at the top of the PC Gaming, CPU, and Video Card forums.

 

[AkumaX]

Get whatever hardware you want, but DONT use a single video game as your purchasing decision. Wait until it comes out at least.

Sorry, in this case, StarCraft II will be the defining factor for this video card purchase, as it will be the only game that "I" (not me) intend to play for the next few years.

 

[nenforcer]

Starcraft 2 is due July 27th I believe. If you wait just a week or so longer and get a guage on what kind of card you will need there will also be a ton of new mainstream DX11 cards from nVidia either announced or more than likely hard launching. This is going to be a big event for all PC gaming vendors so expect more product annoucements around this time.

In the next month and a half do nothing!

 

[TurtleCrusher]

You need a Radeon 5970 and a GTX 480 on a Lucid Hydra setup.

No pun there

 

[smackababy]

SC2, I believe based on my beta experiences and WoW playing, will be more CPU limited than GPU limited. I had no problems with my 5850, and even less when I added another. When things got hectic on screen, however, my FPS would drop and I am suspecting CPU had more to due with it. At the time I was using stock clocked i7-860. Since overclocking it quite a bit, I gained considerable stability in WoW but I couldn't check out SC2 beta with it.

 

[Barfo]

SC2, I believe based on my beta experiences and WoW playing, will be more CPU limited than GPU limited.

:hmm:

Well, based on my experience with The Lost Vikings, any computer from the last 5 years will run it fine, though the 320x240 or so resolution is shitty.

 

[TurtleCrusher]

SC2, I believe based on my beta experiences and WoW playing, will be more CPU limited than GPU limited. I had no problems with my 5850, and even less when I added another. When things got hectic on screen, however, my FPS would drop and I am suspecting CPU had more to due with it. At the time I was using stock clocked i7-860. Since overclocking it quite a bit, I gained considerable stability in WoW but I couldn't check out SC2 beta with it.

Wait, so the game uses two threads and still kind of runs crappy on an i7? Even drops with a 5850?

I'm so fucked.

 

[smackababy]

:hmm:

Well, based on my experience with The Lost Vikings, any computer from the last 5 years will run it fine, though the 320x240 or so resolution is shitty.

Because clearly, the Lost Vikings is continuously updated...

Wait, so the game uses two threads and still kind of runs crappy on an i7? Even drops with a 5850?

I'm so fucked.

I wouldn't say you're fucking, it is just that the game is more CPU limited when a bunch of shit starts going on.

 

[HendrixFan]

Wait, so the game uses two threads and still kind of runs crappy on an i7? Even drops with a 5850?

I'm so fucked.

I never had any slowdown running my i7 at 3.6 with HT on. Loading the maps seemed to be the biggest drain on my system.

 

[tweakboy]

Try what the gurus said. Should be safe to do so..

That is a weird thing, I dont think its virus u know..

 

[Face2Face]

I play Beta, and I don't remember seeing anything in the graphics options for AA? I run it on Ultra settings @ 1080 with a 9600 GT and a AMD be2350 2.1 ghz X2 (Plays great). Not a very demanding game. I remember reading an article somewhere stating that running 30 FPS in a strategy game is all that is really needed. I don't know if I am running 30, but it plays just fine with the only slowdown being lag from myself or from other people.

 

[Grooveriding]

So long as you have a decent CPU, SC2 doesn't need much. q6600/e8400 and up with an 8800gt or better will max this game at 1080p

 

[Face2Face]

Yes it would.

 

[0roo0roo]

wow, 4x aa rapes many cards at even low rower res.

 

[0roo0roo]

were those tests done with massive epic battles going on?

and i guess it makes sense that they waited this long. took till now to get even those frame rates when reproducing the 2d visual style in 3d. early starcraft builds looked pretty bad... like warcraft 2 blobby low poly stuff