Blizzard reveals StarCraft II requirements

By Robert Purchese Published 16 July, 2010

Nothing there that will start a Crysis.

Blizzard published the recommended system requirements for StarCraft II, and the good news is they're not astronomical.

Mac requirements are higher than those on PC, and we've discarded the minimum set-ups: you'll be able to run StarCraft II, but only just.

Recommended for Mac are an Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 4GB of RAM and an NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT or ATI Radeon HD 4670.

Recommended for PC are a Dual Core 2.4Ghz processor, 2GB of RAM and either a 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800 or ATI Radeon HD 3870. Anything newer equals better, obviously - but a Voodoo2 will no longer cut the mustard.

StarCraft II runs on Windows XP, Vista and Windows 7. You'll need 12GB of free hard-drive space to install the game.

Full specifications can be found on the Blizzard website.

StarCraft II will launch simultaneously for PC and Mac on 27th July.

Picture of Robert.

About Robert Purchese

Bertie is Eurogamer's Senior Staff Writer. When he's not hunting down news stories he's often found playing with his kids or gabbling about fantasy games and strange online worlds. @Clert on Twitter.

Read more articles from Robert by visiting the Robert Purchese archive page.

You may also like...

Comments (32) Latest comment 2 years ago

Comments for this article are now closed, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • Eraysor #1 2 years ago

    Runs easy peasy on my 8800GTS which is being replaced by a GTX470 tomorrow :D
    Edited by Eraysor at 16/07/10 @ 11:49

  • kangarootoo #2 2 years ago

    The most boring article I think I've ever read.

    ;)

  • LazyDan #3 2 years ago

    What Macbook Pro's come with those graphics cards? Just the new (release a few months ago) 13" and above?

  • menage #4 2 years ago

    My rig should cut it, don´t know how maxxed out.

  • Acrid #5 2 years ago

    @kangarootoo

    Agreed, not even a mention of Bobby Kotick being a prick

  • geeza2020 #6 2 years ago

    dammit, now im going to have to rip out my voodoo II....

  • Skywise #7 2 years ago

    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
    Edited by Skywise at 16/07/10 @ 12:41

  • X3Entente #8 2 years ago

    is there some kind of industry standard for determining system requirements. Eg, is recommened specs the hardware needed to run a game maxed out at like 30 fps or so??? and is minimum the hardware needed to run a game on the lowest settings at 30fps??

  • rojjer #9 2 years ago

    surely they're higher on the mac as its running via emulation? Lazy, but I can see why they've done it that way.

  • dunny #10 2 years ago

    'What Macbook Pro's come with those graphics cards? Just the new (release a few months ago) 13" and above?'

    The 15in MacBook Pro that came out in Autumn 2008 has a 9600m GT. The 15in that came out a few months ago is a step up from that (not sure of the card). The 13in that came out a few months ago still has an integrated card (albeit newer) so not sure how it stacks up against the 2008 9600m GT

  • Gurgeh #11 2 years ago

    Just remember to create that bobbykotick1976@gmail.com email address before you install the game. Unless you are Bobby Kotick...

  • kangarootoo #12 2 years ago

    @Acrid

    -6 for me, but +1 for you 'cos you call BK a prick. I see how it is, I see what you have to do to get ahead round here :)

  • kangarootoo #13 2 years ago

    @X3Entente

    Not even remotely, but most devs will set a sensible bar so that players get a decent and expected experience. At least that is the case for recommended specs. Minimum specs can sometimes mean "the game will run well with detail on low", but it can sometimes mean "the game will run, perhaps with poor performance". Usually the former though.

  • zoweewowee #14 2 years ago

    @dunny and lazydan

    I got the MBP 15 from oct 2008 (bought it on release day) with 9400M + 9600M GT, but there were tons of 15" which were sold only with 9400M, even at the beginning of 2010. The latest 15" have 330M which is significantly better than 9600GT M.

  • Derblington #15 2 years ago

    So, it'll run on a Mac but you still need Windows? Doesn't that defeat the point of running it on a Mac, as the hardware isn't specific to their notebooks.

  • kingmong #16 2 years ago

    korean freaks rejoice

  • Ryboy #17 2 years ago

    *runs outside and stamps furiously on his Voodoo2*

  • MrChuckles #18 2 years ago

    I wonder when Starcraft 2 comes out whether sales of PC hardware will get a massive spike in Asia? I'd go and buy some shares in them if i knew what to buy....

  • Desheep #19 2 years ago

    skru u bliizud. glide driverz 4 lief

  • mashk #20 2 years ago

    Ah Blizzard. Is it any coincidence their games so well? When they make sure their games work on as many machines as possible?

  • zoweewowee #21 2 years ago

    @Derblington

    Absolutely not, it will run on Mac without windows, it was already the case with warcraft3 years ago !

  • Feanor #22 2 years ago

    "Recommended for PC are a Dual Core 2.4Ghz processor, 2GB of RAM and either a 512MB NVIDIA GeForce 8800"

    My Dual Core is only 2.13Ghz and my GeForce 8800 only is 320MB. :(

  • mingster #23 2 years ago

    The game is available for downloading today from Battle-net.
    Ready to activate on the 27th.

  • lutas #24 2 years ago

    /puts geek hat on.

    I think the Voodoo 2 was a 3D only card so it wouldn't have even run the first StarCraft ;)

  • jonbwfc #25 2 years ago

    Mac version requirements

    Minimum :
    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

    Recommended :
    Intel Core 2 Duo processor
    4 GB system RAM
    NVIDIA GeForce 9600M GT or ATI Radeon HD 4670 or better
    rest as above

    Research - Eurogamer, I assume you've heard of it?

  • TriggerHippie #26 2 years ago

    @lutas

    My Orchid Righteous 3d Voodoo 2 card ran Starcraft quite happily thanks. But it made Interstate '76 look awsome :p

  • Der_tolle_Emil #27 2 years ago

    Performance has improved a lot during the beta phases - even now though my PC struggles to keep a steady 60fps but at least it never drops below 30 (i7 3.6, 12gb ram, gtx 295; 1920x1200 max details). When I bought my PC I was hoping for solid 60fps :/

  • SpaceDreamer #28 2 years ago

    How about releasing it on OnLive ? I don't want to uninstall my Voodoo2 ...

  • neems #29 2 years ago

    Let me get this straight - have Eurogamer deliberately elected to not tell us the minimum specs? Why? For a lot of people the minimum spec is far more useful than the recommended.

    One million points to Skywise (although presumably i could just nip over to the Blizzard webby).

  • hiddenranbir #30 2 years ago

    I think the Mac specs are higher because their models don't generally have anything lower? Particularly in case of cpu and RAM?

  • zoweewowee #31 2 years ago

    @hiddenranbir
    I was thinking the same, less choice on mac but always high spec hardware…

  • hahayou #32 2 years ago

    I wouldn't worry if you don't have the recommended specs, SC2 looks really nice on low details - instead of looking uglier it looks pleasantly cartoony. Easier to read too. And if you aren't feeling happy missing out on max play a round of the original - just getting away from the huge stretched pixels and missing frames of animation feels like a massive upgrade.