Hardware upgrade for starcraft2

[spaceboy]

Hello,

I have a computer running
* Windows XP SP3
* Intel Core2 Quad CPU, Q6600 @ 2.4GHz
* 2.39GHz, 3.48GB RAM
* Intel GMA 3100 graphics card
with 384M memory.

Starcraft2 is running very slowly on my computer with all graphics set to minimum. What are the simplest/cheapest upgrades I can make to have it run normally?

thanks,
Johnny.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

First call imo would be a graphics card, you cant really play any 'decent' games on inbuilt vga on high settings,
I'd also think at upgrading to win7 64bit and overclocking that chip a bit, at least to 3Ghz
Moto

 

[Maziar]

Hello and welcome to the forums
Aside from your VGA,your system looks fine.
Like moto mentioned,you can't play any games smoothly with that card,so consider upgrading it.What resolution do you play at and what's your PSU ?

 

[spaceboy]

Thanks for the replies.

Sorry for the newbie questions, but I don't really know too much about hardware, only software.

@Motopsychojdn: how do I go about overclocking, and how do I know when I'm overdoing it? Should I overclock the graphics card or the CPU, or both? Why would Win7 make playing SC2 better? My experience with Microsoft OSs is that they're usually heavier with every subsequent generation. Is that no longer true of Win7?


@Maziar: the resolution is 1280x720. I have no idea what PSU I'm using and I can't open my computer's case right now, since I don't have the tools for it here. Can you recommend any specific card?

Thanks again for the replies.

 

[Motopsychojdn]

Overclocking is running the chip at faster than 'stock' settings, theres loads of guides on the overclocking section that should help you out

generally most people just overclock the cpu, some do clock the card as well though so if you feel confident enough at some point, read up on card clocking too
card-wise your budget plays a big part,
Ati 5770's are good enough for gaming and reasonably priced atm too
I would check out your psu when you get a chance as well tho, just so we know what you have and I said about an os upgrade mainly because 64bit vista and 7 have a feature called readyboost that lets you use usb flashdrives as ram, its not ideal but its handy to have headroom.
your system as is I would only put money onto a gfx card and possibly psu (Dependant on your current one ofc)
any other boosts would come from clocking the cpu imo before you would be better to look at a new build aimed at gaming, but thats as you can afford to of course
Moto

 

[Maziar]

For your resolution,HD 5750/Nvidia GTS 250 suffices.A good 400W+ PSU can handle both fine.