Video Card Questions

I play Star Craft 2 with my Macbook using a GMA X3100 video card. I often experience a sluggishness when my army count gets high. I also run less than the recommended RAM, though I intend to fix this within the month. My question is three part:

A. Do you think it's the Video Card or the RAM?

B. If it is the Video Card can it be upgraded to a suitable level without too much expense (my Model IDer is MacBook4,1, I don't know if that helps)

C. Is there a cheap (under 600) PC alternative to buying a Mac capable of running this game?

Thank you for your help in advance.

There is no possible way to upgrade an integrated GPU.
It's probably your processor, as it's a RTS and those need more CPU than GPU, but still a decent GPU.

There are many PC's capable of playing the game.

harinext free

s2odin said:

There is no possible way to upgrade an integrated GPU.
It's probably your processor, as it's a RTS and those need more CPU than GPU, but still a decent GPU.

There are many PC's capable of playing the game.

Click to expand...

My processor is 2.4 dual core Intel. The Processor recommendation only states that it should be a dual core, leading me to believe that the processor's speed isn't that important. The program doesn't notify me that my Video Card is not supported.

Also I should have made myself more clear with my last question. Can anyone link my to a good desktop PC purchase that suits the recommended specs for SC2 that is under 600$? the recommended Specs for PCS are:

* Windows Vista®/Windows® 7
* Dual Core 2.4Ghz Processor
* 2 GB RAM
* 512 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800 GTX or ATI Radeon® HD 3870 or better

TsOPWallace said:

My processor is 2.4 dual core Intel. The Processor recommendation only states that it should be a dual core, leading me to believe that the processor's speed isn't that important. The program doesn't notify me that my Video Card is not supported.

Also I should have made myself more clear with my last question. Can anyone link my to a good PC purchase that suits the recommended specs for SC2 that is under 600$? the recommended Specs for PCS are:

* Windows Vista®/Windows® 7
* Dual Core 2.4Ghz Processor
* 2 GB RAM
* 512 MB NVIDIA® GeForce® 8800 GTX or ATI Radeon® HD 3870 or better

Click to expand...

Yes, it may meet the minimum, but SC2 is an RTS. RTS' need lots of processing power especially with lots of units. If you notice, SC2 is based on gameplay, not graphics. So you need a faster processor. Yes the GPU is important, but lagging with a lot of units on screen = CPU bottleneck.

ASUS G51VX 15.6 LED P7350 2.0Ghz 4GB 320GB HDMI WEBCAM! - eBay (item 170574379331 end time Jan-01-11 12:03:45 PST)

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnline...Search.aspx?rn=2827&SC=&c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh

The dell is a very good deal, probably the most capable of playing SC2 with good frame rate.

known Vadweate

s2odin said:

Yes, it may meet the minimum, but SC2 is an RTS. RTS' need lots of processing power especially with lots of units. If you notice, SC2 is based on gameplay, not graphics. So you need a faster processor. Yes the GPU is important, but lagging with a lot of units on screen = CPU bottleneck.

ASUS G51VX 15.6 LED P7350 2.0Ghz 4GB 320GB HDMI WEBCAM! - eBay (item 170574379331 end time Jan-01-11 12:03:45 PST)

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnline...Search.aspx?rn=2827&SC=&c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh

The dell is a very good deal, probably the most capable of playing SC2 with good frame rate.

Click to expand...

The minimum requirement is any old Intel Processor. the Recommended is a dual core or better, which I have.

TsOPWallace said:

The minimum requirement is any old Intel Processor. the Recommended is a dual core or better, which I have.

Click to expand...

Yes, but just listen for a minute.

You may be fine with a few units. With a lot of units it will lag. That's how RTS' are. I had an old Core2Quad laptop that could handle it with no problems. It was the quad core which helped. And notice how it says dual core or better? Well yea, a quad core is much better than a dual core in RTS'. Just believe me, you want a quad core for optimal performance.

Look at the Dell I posted. That will handle SC2 with ease.

You can also lower the res and settings to take some of the strain off your GPU. Basically your system is not going to handle SC2 with good performance as you have already noticed.

s2odin said:

Yes, but just listen for a minute.

You may be fine with a few units. With a lot of units it will lag. That's how RTS' are. I had an old Core2Quad laptop that could handle it with no problems. It was the quad core which helped. And notice how it says dual core or better? Well yea, a quad core is much better than a dual core in RTS'. Just believe me, you want a quad core for optimal performance.

Look at the Dell I posted. That will handle SC2 with ease.

Click to expand...

I'm getting a 404 error when I open the page.

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnline...Search.aspx?rn=2827&SC=&c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh

If not, go to Dells website, go to the Outlet, then search the Inspiron 15R - M501R. It has the following specs:
Inspiron M501R
Processor: AMD Phenom II Quad-Core Mobile Processors P920(1.6 GHz)
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
500 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
4 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
8X DVD +/- RW Drive
1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD5650, Madison-LP, 64-Bit, DDR3

$599.00

s2odin said:

http://outlet.us.dell.com/ARBOnline...Search.aspx?rn=2827&SC=&c=us&cs=22&l=en&s=dfh

If not, go to Dells website, go to the Outlet, then search the Inspiron 15R - M501R. It has the following specs:
Inspiron M501R
Processor: AMD Phenom II Quad-Core Mobile Processors P920(1.6 GHz)
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium
500 GB SATA Hard Drive (5400 RPM)
4 GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333MHz (2 DIMMs)
8X DVD +/- RW Drive
1GB ATI Mobility Radeon HD5650, Madison-LP, 64-Bit, DDR3

$599.00

Click to expand...

I don't mean to continue the second guessing, but I did a little test using Activity Monitor. My CPU usage spiked to 50% when I opened the game, however even with a max food army (200 is the cap) the CPU usage never went over 60%. The game was still sluggish.

Thoughts?

Basically your whole system is bottlenecking. CPU, GPU, etc.
If you want decent performance you're going to want a newer processor and a newer GPU. The X3100 is an absolute terrible excuse for a GPU. And no, RAM will not help in performance.