StarCraft 2 System Requirements
Publicado: Jue Nov 06, 2008 8:52 amTechnical Analysis of StarCraft II by Kalos
Recently I was asked about the demands and requirements StarCraft II would place upon a user's computer system. The first section I have put together is a simple system that will most likely boot and operate the game to a basic degree. Underneath I have also gone into more formal analysis of some of the specifications and demands we know StarCraft II to have from what Blizzard has released so far, and what is in that section is designed to be said with certainty. Something like this, or better should be used to play StarCraft 2.
StarCraftWire.net Minimum Specifications:
CPU: Intel Pentium 4 2.4 GHz
Memory: 1 GB RAM
Graphics Card: Nvidia Geforce FX 5500
Hard Disk Space: Undeterminable*
StarCraftWire.net Alternative Minimum Specifications:
CPU: Athlon XP 2500+
Memory: 1 GB RAM
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon 9700
Hard Disk Space: Undeterminable*
This rig obviously isn't going to run the game well, it'll be about as choppy as a storm in the middle of the Atlantic, but it shouldn't be too far from the base line. These projections can't be said to hold overwhelming accuracy or the foresight worth of a great prophet, merely a guide that if you hardware is below this bar, don't expect to be able to run the game in a playable fashion that isn't a slideshow (just like every "min spec" out there!).
The technical bit:
As it stands, Blizzard has given away titbits of information over the last few months that I have been busily trying to put together. While much of this may be obvious to those of a similar technological disposition, it may help to confirm what we do know so far.
Thanks to Xordiah we have it confirmed that the game will be based upon Pixel Shader version 2.0. This comes as no surprise, and has become a pretty basic level of shader technology to most graphics cards for the last five years. Nothing requiring outrageously demanding in terms of the graphics cards inherently in that.
We know that the game is not a Vista exclusive title; it has to run on XP and Mac OSX as well. This means it cannot be a native DirectX 10 title at heart, because that simply wouldn�t run on XP as XP doesn�t have the appropriate API libraries and therefore wouldn�t run the game. So don�t expect out of this world next gen graphics through this route (though some use of X10 features while using Vista through extensions would be possible).
The use of DirectX 9 is also in line with the use of Pixel Shader 2.0 technology discussed in the first bullet point. More specifically, it looks as if Blizzard would be using either DirectX 9.0 or 9.0a as the DirectX basis, not 9.0c as that would be using Pixel Shader 3.0 then.
Additionally it also has to have an OpenGL rendering capabilities which would be necessary to run on OSX, as it has no DirectX APIs of any kind to speak of, thus the game must have an OpenGL mode, just as its predecessors World of Warcraft and Warcraft 3 did. It would be possible then to use one mode or the other for rendering for either on Windows XP or Vista.
Blizzard licensed Havok�s Physics technology and development tools nearly two years ago, well before the announcement of Starcraft II, for use in their games. This technology would ease the creation of realistic movement, destructibles, and basically enhancing realistic appearance. Blizzard confirmed in an FAQ listed on their website that the Havok Physics engine has been integrated into Starcraft II and will feature in the game.
At this point there are few Product lines that will/will not work by definition:
Sorry all of you out there with Nvidia Geforce 1-4 cards, you have no Pixel Shader 2.0 support, and as far as Blizzard have made clear that�s a basic part of the game�s requirements. Without compatible cards with the PS 2.0 standard, they are a no-go, not that the performance of these cards have allowed for their owners to have any real gaming use out of them in the last few years anyway.
Compatible Pixel Shader 2.0 and above cards start with the Geforce FX series from Nvidia, the Radeon 9500 and above from ATI/AMD, and the GMA 900 onboard graphics from Intel. These are pretty much the bottom grade possible to get StarCraft running with Blizzard's technical demands. These aren't recommendations to rush out and buy for your machine as most likely these cards would run awfully, but they'd get the game going on a bare level, and if you have worse than that... Unlucky
Recommended StarCraft II Specifications
Right now I have very little in the way of knowledge regarding specific CPU or RAM demands beyond the standard gaming generalisations we are all used to. StarCraft II's multithreaded abilities are not being emphasised thus I wouldn't expect something like a quad core processor to yield any tangible benefits, but that could easily change. I'll keep looking for more info to scratch from Blizzard interviews and post updates when I locate something, but historically factors like physical memory and CPU demand hands on experience with different hardware configurations to tell how much they effect the performance makeup, something which wasn't an option at the WWI event.
While I can't give any solid recommendations that'll stick, Blizzard are known to try and make their games accessible to a wide range of computers. If someone wanted to purchase a computer in advance it is highly likely the following components would be suited to playing the game in a higher gear than the minimums I was able to either take an educated guess or work out from released information.
StarCraftWire.net Recommended Specs:
CPU: Athlon X2 / Core 2 Duo
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Graphics Card: Geforce 8600 GT
Hard Disk Space: 7 GB
As for Athlon X2 / Core 2 Duo; either one should do pretty fine, if it's overwhelming these, we're all in trouble. When it comes to RAM, as cheap as it is right now, and with the hungry demands of Vista, it is the sweet spot for gaming and most gaming computers are shipping with 2 GB now. The Geforce 9600 GT is a very good buy, quite cheap these days, but if lower is necessary, the Geforce 8600 GT should do fine, as will the Radeon HD 3850.
I estimate that the game will probably take up about seven Gigabytes of Hard Disk space, but this is an unreliable figure as they are still ripping the game apart, removing and adding things with every revision we hear about, and they haven't placed the single player campaigns in yet.
While it is highly likely these components will quench the thirst of most modern games, it is possible that some of the more wild proposed special effects, particularly the ones they are thinking about doing in the DirectX 10 mode exclusively, may possibly go beyond the capacity of some of these components. Until the bleeding edge of the game has been defined and experienced much more closely, it is extremely difficult to make such recommendations for high quality play. Hopefully when the Beta starts I'll be able to rack up some days with the game and make something quite a bit more substantial.
If you have any questions about technical difficulties, or hardware specifications, feel free to visit me at the StarCraft Technical Support Forum!
http://www.starcraftwire.net/articles/6 ... ents/page1
Recently I was asked about the demands and requirements StarCraft II would place upon a user's computer system. The first section I have put together is a simple system that will most likely boot and operate the game to a basic degree. Underneath I have also gone into more formal analysis of some of the specifications and demands we know StarCraft II to have from what Blizzard has released so far, and what is in that section is designed to be said with certainty. Something like this, or better should be used to play StarCraft 2.
StarCraftWire.net Minimum Specifications:
CPU: Intel Pentium 4 2.4 GHz
Memory: 1 GB RAM
Graphics Card: Nvidia Geforce FX 5500
Hard Disk Space: Undeterminable*
StarCraftWire.net Alternative Minimum Specifications:
CPU: Athlon XP 2500+
Memory: 1 GB RAM
Graphics Card: ATI Radeon 9700
Hard Disk Space: Undeterminable*
This rig obviously isn't going to run the game well, it'll be about as choppy as a storm in the middle of the Atlantic, but it shouldn't be too far from the base line. These projections can't be said to hold overwhelming accuracy or the foresight worth of a great prophet, merely a guide that if you hardware is below this bar, don't expect to be able to run the game in a playable fashion that isn't a slideshow (just like every "min spec" out there!).
The technical bit:
As it stands, Blizzard has given away titbits of information over the last few months that I have been busily trying to put together. While much of this may be obvious to those of a similar technological disposition, it may help to confirm what we do know so far.
Thanks to Xordiah we have it confirmed that the game will be based upon Pixel Shader version 2.0. This comes as no surprise, and has become a pretty basic level of shader technology to most graphics cards for the last five years. Nothing requiring outrageously demanding in terms of the graphics cards inherently in that.
We know that the game is not a Vista exclusive title; it has to run on XP and Mac OSX as well. This means it cannot be a native DirectX 10 title at heart, because that simply wouldn�t run on XP as XP doesn�t have the appropriate API libraries and therefore wouldn�t run the game. So don�t expect out of this world next gen graphics through this route (though some use of X10 features while using Vista through extensions would be possible).
The use of DirectX 9 is also in line with the use of Pixel Shader 2.0 technology discussed in the first bullet point. More specifically, it looks as if Blizzard would be using either DirectX 9.0 or 9.0a as the DirectX basis, not 9.0c as that would be using Pixel Shader 3.0 then.
Additionally it also has to have an OpenGL rendering capabilities which would be necessary to run on OSX, as it has no DirectX APIs of any kind to speak of, thus the game must have an OpenGL mode, just as its predecessors World of Warcraft and Warcraft 3 did. It would be possible then to use one mode or the other for rendering for either on Windows XP or Vista.
Blizzard licensed Havok�s Physics technology and development tools nearly two years ago, well before the announcement of Starcraft II, for use in their games. This technology would ease the creation of realistic movement, destructibles, and basically enhancing realistic appearance. Blizzard confirmed in an FAQ listed on their website that the Havok Physics engine has been integrated into Starcraft II and will feature in the game.
At this point there are few Product lines that will/will not work by definition:
Sorry all of you out there with Nvidia Geforce 1-4 cards, you have no Pixel Shader 2.0 support, and as far as Blizzard have made clear that�s a basic part of the game�s requirements. Without compatible cards with the PS 2.0 standard, they are a no-go, not that the performance of these cards have allowed for their owners to have any real gaming use out of them in the last few years anyway.
Compatible Pixel Shader 2.0 and above cards start with the Geforce FX series from Nvidia, the Radeon 9500 and above from ATI/AMD, and the GMA 900 onboard graphics from Intel. These are pretty much the bottom grade possible to get StarCraft running with Blizzard's technical demands. These aren't recommendations to rush out and buy for your machine as most likely these cards would run awfully, but they'd get the game going on a bare level, and if you have worse than that... Unlucky
Recommended StarCraft II Specifications
Right now I have very little in the way of knowledge regarding specific CPU or RAM demands beyond the standard gaming generalisations we are all used to. StarCraft II's multithreaded abilities are not being emphasised thus I wouldn't expect something like a quad core processor to yield any tangible benefits, but that could easily change. I'll keep looking for more info to scratch from Blizzard interviews and post updates when I locate something, but historically factors like physical memory and CPU demand hands on experience with different hardware configurations to tell how much they effect the performance makeup, something which wasn't an option at the WWI event.
While I can't give any solid recommendations that'll stick, Blizzard are known to try and make their games accessible to a wide range of computers. If someone wanted to purchase a computer in advance it is highly likely the following components would be suited to playing the game in a higher gear than the minimums I was able to either take an educated guess or work out from released information.
StarCraftWire.net Recommended Specs:
CPU: Athlon X2 / Core 2 Duo
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Graphics Card: Geforce 8600 GT
Hard Disk Space: 7 GB
As for Athlon X2 / Core 2 Duo; either one should do pretty fine, if it's overwhelming these, we're all in trouble. When it comes to RAM, as cheap as it is right now, and with the hungry demands of Vista, it is the sweet spot for gaming and most gaming computers are shipping with 2 GB now. The Geforce 9600 GT is a very good buy, quite cheap these days, but if lower is necessary, the Geforce 8600 GT should do fine, as will the Radeon HD 3850.
I estimate that the game will probably take up about seven Gigabytes of Hard Disk space, but this is an unreliable figure as they are still ripping the game apart, removing and adding things with every revision we hear about, and they haven't placed the single player campaigns in yet.
While it is highly likely these components will quench the thirst of most modern games, it is possible that some of the more wild proposed special effects, particularly the ones they are thinking about doing in the DirectX 10 mode exclusively, may possibly go beyond the capacity of some of these components. Until the bleeding edge of the game has been defined and experienced much more closely, it is extremely difficult to make such recommendations for high quality play. Hopefully when the Beta starts I'll be able to rack up some days with the game and make something quite a bit more substantial.
If you have any questions about technical difficulties, or hardware specifications, feel free to visit me at the StarCraft Technical Support Forum!
http://www.starcraftwire.net/articles/6 ... ents/page1
siempre he querido hacerlo sorry jejeje