Video Card Help

A friend of mine recently bought a new computer with an on-board graphics card. When he checks Can you run it? on Starcraft2, it says he passes everything "except brand". Being the antisocial he is, I'm here posting for him.

What he wants to know is how important brand name is in video cards, and what to upgrade to. He tells me that he is currently using "Intel® HD Graphics (Core i3)". BestBuy page for the comp he bought.

1) His computer has integrated graphics which is not generally suited for gaming.

2) He should be able to play Starcraft 2 but on the lowest settings.

3) He only has a 300W power supply. This really limits him in terms of which graphics cards he can purchase.

4) The brand name is somewhat important. What's more important is how the company deals with RMAs (Return Merchandise Authorization); in essence, returning the part back to the manufacturer if something goes wrong.

5) Considering his power supply, this is the best card he can get. He will be able to play on medium settings or so. Low settings will run much, MUCH smoother.

300 watt power supplies are really weak by comparison to many PCs you can build or re-model. He would fair better with a Power Supply around 700 Watts.

The Core i3 is not that great a processor. He should consider an i5 CPU for better performance.

If anything most people will not realize until it's too late, that most PCs you buy off the store shelf are more geared for Internet, Office, and Homework usage rather than gaming. Even some of the best off the shelf PCs are just not suited for this. To really get a good gaming rig you do kinda have to remodel what you have to bring it up to standard, or simply Build Your Own.

Here's a good Video Card that's more suitable for gaming... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6814134116
... a very reliable Power Supply to go with it... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6817153129
... and a good i5 CPU to match with it as well... http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.as...6819115215

Core i3 is the Core 2 Quad just renamed

@ Jamie_Kurosawa
I would personally just change the power supply to corsair standards as they great warranty and great power supplies.

If you got micro center around go there before New egg. If you look at new egg prices and there prices. If there price is higher then they will sell it to you a lower price that may consider you to buy it

The corsair 750 watt psu i got at micro center was at $150 and at New egg $110. They lowered the price down to 100.

Core i3 is the Core 2 Quad just renamed

last time I checked, i3s are all dual cores.

Also I like getting brands that are well known.

I had a Thermaltake PSU before and they smell like crap. Crosair is much better.

I've used Thermaltake products for about 10 years now and haven't had any issues with them, including smells from a power supply and I run a ToughPower XT 750 similar to the posted one and it's been very nice to use and very reliable.

I actually stopped buying Corsair products after several items I had ordered from them turned up mismatched, the wrong product in the wrong box, or non-working. I have a strict list of manufacturers I go with for reasons not including warranties. I've had great products that have had 1~5 year warranties and poor products that have lifetime ones. The only time I've had to change a manufacturer was when they go out of business like BFGTech did recently causing me to switch to ECS for graphics hardware... and oddly enough BFGTech was a branch of ECS.