SC2 Video card with 300W PSU

[Insomniator]

My buddy has a gateway gt 5694 with a Phenom 9100e, 4GB and 300W psu.

The only game he is ever going to play on this machine is SC2 and it does not run well enough on lowest settings on the integrated 3200hd chip.

Would a 5570 or 4650 do the trick on a 300W? I realize the 9100e is only 1.8 ghz but if it can handle not lagging on lowest settings it will be fine.

thank you

 

[MrRamon]

it will be fine... he could even get the 5670

 

[nenforcer]

Well the specs say even the 5550 needs a 400W PS minimum but I wouldn't go lower than the 5570 and just take a chance on it.

 

[Lonyo]

Check the rails to see if it really is a 300w PSU.
Realistically on a quality 300w you might be able to get an HD5750.

 

[hans007]

a gateway will probably have a better psu than a terrible 450watt or something.

they put those labels on boxes like tha tso that if someone buys say a atx 1.3 450w which still only has say 15amps on the 12V rail, that that might be enough.

300W on a atx 2.03 with just a 9100e (which is only 65W max) could easily handle probably a radeon 4850 etc.

starcraft 2 isnt a particularly gpu stressing game, i have run it at 1920x1080 with integrated radeon graphics on low. what might be doing his computer in is the 9100e actaully. sc2 uses only 2 cores, and the 9100e is 1.8ghz ... but yeah a 4670 , 4770 , 5750 etc would help, but you might want to swap his cpu out for even a fast dual core

 

[Insomniator]

Thanks guys, he ordered a 5670. Last time I told him to upgrade his GPU he tried to insert it with the computer turned ON and that did not end well.

If he still lags I'll drop in a faster clocked low power dual core.

 

[Stoneburner]

SC2 may be cpu-dependent. It starts pushing my processor temps higher much faster than GPU temps. the 5670 or maybe a 5550 will be fine. Graphically, my 3870 runs it just fine and the 5670 is faster than the 3870.

 

[Russwinters]

SC2 doesn't effect my Q6600 all that much in temps....my 9800GTX on the other hand runs hotter then anything while playing SC2...

My GTX rarely sees anything over 55c in other games, but SC2 can knock it up to 65-70c, and thats with 100% fan speed.

 

[AyashiKaibutsu]

Runs maxed out at 13x7 on a 9800gt just for reference.