"Budget" PC build to play Starcraft 2 on high settings?

What is your actual budget?

 

Haswell i5 CPU + MOBO Bundle (~$310)
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.aspx?sku=583302

EVGA GTX 760 (~$260)
http://www.microcenter.com/product/...CX_Cooler_2048MB_GDDR5_PCIe_x16_30_Video_Card

8GB RAM (~$100):
http://www.microcenter.com/product/...el_Desktop_Memory_Kit_(Two_4GB_Memory_Modules)

Then you need to buy the case, hard drive, etc.
I mean without knowing your budget you're really limiting what we can suggest to you lol.

If you are looking at a full build at the very least you're looking at a $700-800 commitment.

 

Dude is on a budget. $800 is a lot when he can easily build a machine for $500 to play Starcraft 2.

Get an i3-32xx series + motherboard, you can find easily for $200.
For a budget card, get a Radeon 7850 which run around $130 these days.
RAM, you can get 8GB for $70. You're not going to notice 1333 vs 1600.

Your other parts like case, PSU, monitor, you can salvage from what you have already. Maybe not the PSU if it's sub-350W, get a 500W PSU for around $40 if you need.

 

Duncan McDonuts gave you a decent built.
I hate Radeon GPUs compared to Nvidia but it should do the trick.

 

Will depend on the resolution of your monitor.

 

Easy anwser. iMac

 

Not sure on the settings but Starcraft 2 was built to run on machines 4 years ago and I doubt the expansions have really upped the graphics much since then.

I also heard it's more CPU dependent than GPU, and the parts I listed are good budget parts. I think you should be able to play on High settings pretty easily with a 22" 1080p monitor, but I haven't played Starcraft 2 since it first came out so keep that in mind.

 

If you want to do some more research, you can find some help on the teamliquid.net computer guide.

Teamliquid.net is a starcraft/starcraft 2 focused site so they will have lots of people who are very knowledgeable about that specific game's requirements.

 

This is most important. Take some time to educate yourself if you're planning to build a computer because it's a big investment you'll use for a long time.

It's not necessary to buy a $500 monitor to play a game and therefore not necessary to get an iMac unless you like the build quality and like Mac OS X. To get a discreet graphics card, he'd have to spend at least $1500 – almost double the original build that was initially too much money.

That said, two things: 1.) I'm writing this on a MacBook Pro with Retina Display (so I clearly like Apple), and 2.) Message me through the board before you buy anything Apple.

 

I was able to get a 7850 from newegg a year ago at that price after rebate, so hopefully it can be had for cheaper now. RAM and PSU deals commonly spring up on there too, shouldn't exceed 100$ combined. Microcenter usually has a combo deal for motherboard and cpu that's hard to beat online.

Anyways, you gotta make sure your budget covers the extras. If you're not salvaging off another system, then windows 7/8, monitor, keyboard, mouse, hard drive, optical drive, case, 100$ steam gift card.