# Will this laptop run Starcraft 2 smoothly?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-this-laptop-run-starcraft-2-smoothly/561669>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 23, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-this-laptop-run-starcraft-2-smoothly/561669 "2010-11-23T16:45:40Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 5\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 4:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-this-laptop-run-starcraft-2-smoothly/561669/1 "2010-11-23T16:45:40Z")

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Linked here: [http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=10809889](http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=10809889)

I normally wouldn’t buy a laptop from Radio Shack, but they’re selling this thing for $350 on Black Friday - even taking into account their normal price inflation, that isn’t a bad deal.

So, will it run Starcraft 2? On greater-than-minimum settings? That’s pretty much the height of my PC gaming ambitions - so if it will do that, I’m sold. 🙂

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**Author:** ![Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/b38774/32.png) [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Swords_to_Plowshares)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 5:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-this-laptop-run-starcraft-2-smoothly/561669/2 "2010-11-23T17:06:14Z")

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If it has a discrete graphics card it will run SC2 well. If not, it will run horribly. I have never seen a $350 laptop with a discrete graphics card.

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**Author:** ![Mr.Excellent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f19dbf/32.png) [@Mr.Excellent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Excellent)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-this-laptop-run-starcraft-2-smoothly/561669/3 "2010-11-23T17:08:19Z")

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> [@Swords\_to\_Plowshares](#):
>
> If it has a discrete graphics card it will run SC2 well. If not, it will run horribly. I have never seen a $350 laptop with a discrete graphics card.

And this is no exception - it uses an ATI card that runs off shared memory. No joy, then?

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**Author:** ![Caldazar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/8e8cbc/32.png) [@Caldazar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Caldazar)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-this-laptop-run-starcraft-2-smoothly/561669/4 "2010-11-23T19:16:57Z")

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Probably not. I tried running SC2 on an NVIDIA 9400GT which has slightly more processing power than the mobile version of the ATI Radeon 4250. The game ran poorly, even on lowest graphics quality settings.

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**Author:** ![Kinthalis](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kinthalis/32/16084_2.png) [@Kinthalis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kinthalis)\
**Post date:** [November 23, 2010, 9:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/will-this-laptop-run-starcraft-2-smoothly/561669/5 "2010-11-23T21:40:39Z")

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Yeah, no. It’s an integrated chip with shared memory. According to reviews it struggles with Quake 4 at lowest settings.

If a desktop is not an option then you need to look for a laptop with a discreet graphics solution.