System Requirements

[IskatuMesk]

PC Minimum System Requirements*:
Windows® XP/Windows Vista®/Windows® 7 (Updated with the 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 better
12 GB available HD space
1 GB RAM (1.5 GB required for Windows Vista®/Windows® 7 users)
DVD-ROM drive
Broadband Internet connection
1024X720 minimum display resolution

PC Recommended Specifications:
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



Mac Minimum System Requirements*:
Mac® OS X 10.5.8, 10.6.2 or newer
Intel® Processor
NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT or ATI Radeon® X1600 or better
12 GB available HD space
2 GB Ram
DVD-ROM drive
Broadband Internet connection
1024X720 minimum display resolution

Mac Recommended Specifications:
Intel® Core 2 Duo processor
4 GB system RAM
NVIDIA® GeForce® 9600M GT or ATI Radeon® HD 4670 or better

Personally, the thing that gets me the most about sc2 is how relatively well it runs. But make no mistake, you are not running max settings 1920x1200 on a 3870 or 8800.

[AA7Dragoon]

I'm running on minimum requirements for Mac, and it still runs pretty well for me.  I don't have lag issues in multi-player games.  I hope the single-player campaign has no issues.  I'm planning to get a new iMac in the fall anyway.

[IskatuMesk]

The minimum settings gut almost everything out of the engine. It's actually kind of amazing that the engine can just off over half of its rendering capabilities at the flip of a switch.

[AA7Dragoon]

^ I know.  The graphics don't look great on my old Mac however, it gives me something to look forward to when I play the campaign again with my new Mac!

[Xenon]

I'm willing to cut my resolution in order to see better effects. My laptop runs it well on "high" settings (except for texture detail), but my major concerns are related to CPU load due to me going overboard with triggers. Again. 

[Frozty]

Well I have to run everything on Low for my Macbook Pro. And on my PC, I can move up to at least Medium, but that thing is so obsolete.

I've already convinced myself that half of my refund check will being going to what is essentially a new computer. I'm just basically start from scratch from the motherboard up. I'm planning on getting the AMD Phenon II X6 1090T Black Edition, 6 gigs of RAM from GSkill, and going Crossfire 5770's. I figure that will be more than enough to run SC2 at Ultra at 1600 x 1200 (or whatever) and anything past SC2 for the next 4 or 5 years at a pretty satisfying level.

[IskatuMesk]

My lone 4870x2 easily handles sc2 at max 1920x1200. If they fix their shader performance then that should stop the weird lag I get with cloaking when motherships spawn.

[Maglok]

There have been a few tech reviews/benchmarks and they all conclude that SC2 is seriously, seriously, scalable. To a level not really seen before.

I will be playing full HD with ultra settings. Bring on the game!

[IskatuMesk]

The big thing about sc2 is that you can, like, completely turn off the lighting and shadow engine. That's what makes the big difference. You can also totally turn off normal mapping and some other stuff. The game looks so silly without those running, haha.

[Frozty]

Agreed, but it does make it possible to play on DX9 cards

[Xelxiuz]

My lone 4870x2 easily handles sc2 at max 1920x1200. If they fix their shader performance then that should stop the weird lag I get with cloaking when motherships spawn.

I only have one 4870, is the difference THAT BIG?

[IskatuMesk]

It's a dual GPU card. Can't think of anything that doesn't run well for me.