Plea for Aid: Can these laptops run Starcraft 2?

[zeroexia]

My original laptop finally was rendered useless after the graphics card, a Geforce 8400m GS, self-destructed due to the manufacturing defect. Thank you NVIDIA. Now I am getting a new laptop, but I am on a very tight budget. I have 2 options from Dell and HP.

DELL:
Inspiron 15 Intel® Pentium® Dual Core™ T4500 (2.3GHz/800MHz FSB/1MB cache)
Operating System Genuine Windows® 7 Home Premium, 64bit, English
Memory 4GB Shared Dual Channel DDR2 at 800MHz
Video Card 256MB ATI Mobility Radeon HD 4330
Hard Drive 320GB SATA Hard Drive (5400RPM) 320GB

Total Cost- USD $631.46

HP:
# Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
# AMD V-Series(TM) Processor for Notebook PCs V120 (2.2GHz, 512KB L2 Cache)
# 2GB DDR3 System Memory (2 Dimm)
# FREE Upgraede to 320GB 5400RPM SATA Hard Drive (I commend HP for spelling Upgrade wrong.)
# 512MB ATI Mobility Radeon(TM) HD545v Graphics and 5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader & HDMI

Total Cost- USD $586.83
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Can any of these 2 laptops run Starcraft 2? Which is the better deal and why? I apologize for being inept in computer specs and ask for leniency. And if it is not too difficult or bothersome, may I please ask if there are possible better deals? For my tiny budget, $631 is already testing the limit. I thank any responders.

[synaesthetic]

They will likely run the game. Blizzard has always been good about making sure their system requirements are very low.

It will not be in a high resolution and you will have to have all effects turned off, though. It will not be an optimal experience.

[0utf0xZer0]

The AMD V120 the HP uses is a single core if I remember right, and from the few performance tests I've seen from the beta Starcraft II really need a dual core.

The Dell might be okay but I wouldn't guarantee it. The Mobility HD4330 is probably fairly similar in terms of overall performance to the desktop HD3470, based on the specs I've seen. And the 3470 is roughly equivalent to a Geforce 7600GT... a card on which Gamespot ran the Starcraft 2 beta at 1024X768 minimum and got... 27FPS.

[Random32]

the starcraft 2 minimum system requirements are:
-2.2 GHz Single Core (Pentium4) CPU
-1GB of RAM (1.5GB for Vista)
-128 MB NVidia GeForce 6600 GT/ATI Radeon 9800 PRO video card
-Windows XP/Vista/7

both laptops make the cut, but don't expect to run anything above minimum resolution or use any eyecandy. The 545v is a bit faster than the 4330 and the PentiumDC is definetely faster than the AMD chip.

[MeoTwister5]

Take the Dell if you can spare the extra 50. Anyway as everyone else has said you can run SC2, very well I might add. It has surprisingly low specs for this generation, and you might be able to run it decently on medium settings.

[0utf0xZer0]

Originally Posted by MeoTwister5

Take the Dell if you can spare the extra 50. Anyway as everyone else has said you can run SC2, very well I might add. It has surprisingly low specs for this generation, and you might be able to run it decently on medium settings.

If the Beta is any indication though, Blizzard is seriously cutting it close with the minimum requirements. 2.2 ghz Pentium 4 and a Geforce 6600GT? Gamespot tested the beta on a 3.8GHZ P4/7600 GT rig and only pulled 27 FPS at 1024X768 on low settings:

http://www.gamespot.com/features/6251839/p-2.html

Now, the Dell's CPU is a fair bit quicker than a 3.8 ghz P4 and the HD4330 is a bit faster than a 7600GT, but I'd still say it's kind of borderline.

[Random32]

I would expect Blizzard to optimize the game to run a bit better if they intend to use said specs as the minimum

OP,
1. what is your budget, there might be better computers that still fit it
2. do you have a desktop? you might be able to put in a cheap video card for a bit of gaming and buy a laptop with integrated graphics for better battery life or lower cost

[synaesthetic]

If your budget is that tight don't get a laptop, you can't get even a semi-decent multimedia (not gaming) GPU in a laptop without laying out $800 or more. I paid $800 for my laptop and it has a Mobility Radeon 5650, which is more like a desktop HTPC card than anything resembling a real gaming GPU (3DMark06 scores about 7200, good for mobile and $800, but not so good for actual gaming).

If you have $600 to play with, toss together a quick little desktop and it'll let you play SC2 (and so much more!) a hell of a lot better. You have a monitor, keyboard, mouse, DVD drive etc you can scrounge from an older PC? Check this out:

AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition 3.1GHz - $81
MSI 790XT-G45 Mainboard - $90
G.Skill Ripjaws Series 4GB (2x 2GB) DDR3-1333 - $103
PowerColor AX5770 1GBD5-H PCI-E 2.1 Video Card - $152
Rosewill FB-02 Black Mid-Tower Case - $30
Corsair CMPSU-450VX 450W ATX Power Supply - $65 ($15.00 mail-in rebate)
Western Digital Caviar Blue 640GB SATA-II 7200RPM Hard Drive - $70

Total: $591

There you go, a VERY respectable budget gaming box for under $600, and it will kick the shit out of any gaming laptop under $2000.

Edit: Yeah I know I toot the 550BE's horn a lot but it is a seriously awesome CPU for the money, especially with the Callisto fab process so mature now you can almost always unlock the two disabled cores and have a stable 3.1GHz quad-core Phenom II for eighty bux.

[spikexp]

Maybe he just want is laptop to run starcraft 2 as a supplement.

There many reason to use a laptop over a desktop, the portability is the biggest thing.
Maybe he don't want a portable for gaming, just for starcraft 2.

I will install the beta on my laptop and see if it run well.


The 550 is a reel beast in CPU area, it can unlock to 4 core most of the time stable, it can overclock to 3.8ghz easily with a 1.4 vcore.
I love AMD, you can have a Quad-core + motherboard for less than 200$.
All Hail the PII x2 550

[synaesthetic]

Yeah I know but I always get kind of facepalmy when I see people ask for a gaming laptop with a budget under $1000.

[RhythmStats]

Yes it did, I prefer the specs of DELL for better gaming experience. Goodluck!

Originally Posted by spikexp

There many reason to use a laptop over a desktop, the portability is the biggest thing. Maybe he don't want a portable for gaming, just for starcraft 2.

Yes I agree, but I prefer long time playing and smooth gaming rather than portability.

[MeoTwister5]

If you actually want to play on Battle.net, those specs are likely just barely.

[synaesthetic]

If you absolutely have to use a laptop, save up some extra scratch and get an Acer Aspire 5740-6979. It's basically the same as my Gateway (only not discontinued) with an Intel Core i5-430M and Mobility Radeon 5650. Should play SC2 with moderate to high settings at native resolution just fine.