"The" Starcraft 2 Graphics Card

[shockem]

With my new PC I am building I have run into a bit of a road bump.

I want to run Starcraft 2 on the highest settings possible for everything.

I will be using 1920x1080 Monitor and the MOBO is a ASRock 870 EXTREME3 AM3 AMD 870 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

I will be using a Phenom II X4 965 3.4 GHZ.

My current ideas are....
ASUS CuCore Series EAH5770 CuCore/2DI/1GD5 Radeon HD 5770 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

or

XFX HD-575X-ZNFC Radeon HD 5750 1GB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

or possibly if some how some way I come up with the money

SAPPHIRE 100297L Radeon HD 5830 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card w/ ATI Eyefinity Technology


In no way am I attached to any of these cards but through research I have found these to be my best bet. My question is the cheapest card I can get to run Starcraft 2 on the highest settings

Also I can't afford the 5850.. or I would select it

Here are the minimun system requirements if that helps at all..

Processor: 1.4 Ghz Processor
Memory: 512 MB RAM
Graphics card: 128 MB RAM video card capable of Hardware TnL. DX10 is not required, but will be supported by SC2 and Blizzard are considering adding DX10 specific effects.
Pixel Shader 2.0 (Officially Confirmed)

Harddisk:
Soundcard: A DirectX-compatible 16-bit sound card.


Thanks guys!

 

[bildo123]

You could just get a Phenom X4 940 and OC it 400Mhz which should be no sweat at all, and you'll save $55 that might make the better cards affordable. the 940 is even a Black Edition, it's made for OC, might as well put the mobo to work too.

 

[shockem]

Ya I was thinking about that Bill, although, I have not a clue when it comes to overclocking. I also want it to last a while :/

 

[bildo123]

No problem, just check out in the OC forums, honestly, with such a small OC I don't even think you'll have to mod the voltage much, if it all. With that being said the OC shouldn't hinder the CPU's life much (it'll last way longer than your next re-make comes along)

 

[wolfram23]

5770 would be the best of your choices imo. SC2 isn't all that GPU intensive tho, it relies a lot on the CPU.

 

[shockem]

Its pretty hard to hit 4.0Ghz on a 940, as its limited by its limited HT, you could hit 3.8GHz just fine, but not much higher.

Would hitting 3.8GHZ shorten it's life span? I really don't want to kill anything soon I wanted to get a better processor for the longer haul of the computer and I could just upgrade the graphics card later.. ya know

Just curious.. on a AMD Phenom II X4 965 what would be an "easy" OC range. (without modifying voltage)

 

[okini55]

HD 5770

 

[shockem]

Do you have any idea if SC2 use 6-threads? If so, an 1055T should be considered.

I am really not sure about it.. I will look into it

 

[wolfram23]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/blizzard-entertainment-starcraft-ii-benchmark,2611-9.html

Tomshardware looked into SC2 performance.

 

[shockem]

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/blizzard-entertainment-starcraft-ii-benchmark,2611-9.html

Tomshardware looked into SC2 performance.

Thanks I didn't see that. It seems Phenom II X4 @ 3.0 wouldn't be bad and I could overclock if needed. I have not looked into any processors besides Phenom because I read they are the best for the money at this point. I'm looking to pay 150-250 on processor depending on how much I slack with my video card.

 

[seanma0314]

Before a 965 I'd just go with a 955 BE saves 20$ plus this one has a special 15$ gift card with purchase http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103674

and as for a video card go with a 5770 at the least.

 

[shockem]

Nevermind answered my own question by reading the Radeon HD 4870 thread, I should just get the 5770 if I wanted that.

 

[shockem]

Best answer selected by Shockem.