The Final StarCraft II System Requirements Are...

By Marcus Yam
published

The rather low system requirements means that nearly everyone with a modern computer should be able to play Starcraft 2.

Can you believe it? Starcraft 2 will be here in less than two weeks, which means that you have less time than that to make sure that your system is up to snuff to play it.

Blizzard has finally released the final system specifications for Starcraft 2, which we're sure that most of you meet. Still, it's nice to know where you fall in the range from "required" to "recommended" and beyond.

Minimum System Requirements*:PC: Windows XP/Windows Vista/Windows 7 (Latest Service Packs) with DirectX 9.0c 2.6 GHz Pentium IV or equivalent AMD Athlon processor 128 MB PCIe NVIDIA GeForce 6600 GT or ATI Radeon 9800 PRO video card or betterMac: Mac OS X 10.5.8, 10.6.2 or newer Intel Processor NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT or ATI Radeon X1600 or betterPC/Mac: 12 GB available HD space 1 GB RAM (1.5 GB required for Windows Vista/Windows 7 users, 2 GB for Mac users) DVD-ROM drive Broadband Internet connection 1024X720 minimum display resolution *Note: Due to potential programming changes, the Minimum System Requirements for this game may change over time.Recommended Specifications:PC: Windows Vista/Windows 7 Dual Core 2.4Ghz Processor 2 GB RAM 512 MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTX or ATI Radeon HD 3870 or betterMac: Intel Core 2 Duo processor 4 GB system RAM NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT or ATI Radeon HD 4670 or better

(source: Big Download.)

Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam
Marcus Yam served as Tom's Hardware News Director during 2008-2014. He entered tech media in the late 90s and fondly remembers the days when an overclocked Celeron 300A and Voodoo2 SLI comprised a gaming rig with the ultimate street cred.
100 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Tamz_msc
    Its good to see that I can run it.Great!
    Reply
  • stevesauce
    The beta is incredible. I could only imagine the finished version will compliment the core of the experience. CANT WAIT!
    Reply
  • vectorm12
    Well it's great that they made the game run on such modest hardware but I can't help but feel Blizzard have somehow decided that it's "good enough" at this point. After all PC gaming is where limits should be pushed, if I want modest visuals and across the board compatibility I'll just stick with a console.
    Reply
  • Separate desktop/laptop requirements would be nice.
    Reply
  • toxxel
    Funny how the mac version requires more hardware than the pc equivalent.
    Reply
  • gho3t
    Not really, OpenGL vs DirectX, differant graphics APIs, different optimizations. Also, Microsoft have invested a lot into building a games friendly OS, Apple.. not so much.
    Reply
  • aznguy0028
    vectorm12Well it's great that they made the game run on such modest hardware but I can't help but feel Blizzard have somehow decided that it's "good enough" at this point. After all PC gaming is where limits should be pushed, if I want modest visuals and across the board compatibility I'll just stick with a console.Yea, i agree with the PC pushing gaming limits, but this is blizzard here. They made all their games run on very modest hardware to ensure the largest possible player base to get the most sales. It's always been that way, I wished that blizzard would push the envelopes on visuals as well, but it'll prolly never be the case :(

    Sc2 doesnt even have AA atm, which is so sad imo...i do hope they add it in later!
    Reply
  • vectorm12Well it's great that they made the game run on such modest hardware but I can't help but feel Blizzard have somehow decided that it's "good enough" at this point. After all PC gaming is where limits should be pushed, if I want modest visuals and across the board compatibility I'll just stick with a console.
    Stop worrying about the visuals. Rather, focus on the gameplay which is where its strength lies.
    Reply
  • sliem
    So will it be $60*3 for all three?
    Reply
  • Kelavarus
    hotsacomanStop worrying about the visuals. Rather, focus on the gameplay which is where its strength lies.
    Meh, I'm not really impressed with visuals OR gameplay. Rather, I'd say its strength lies in the modding capability, as well as hopefully the story.
    Reply