StarCraft II on my BlackBook

The system requirements for SC2 have been out for a while now, so why not take a look at them and see how your system stacks up? If it at least meets the min requirements, you're good to go, otherwise you'll either want to hold off buying until you have a new computer, or play SC2 on another computer.

Blizzard's official requirements and recommendations for the game are here:
http://us.blizzard.com/support/article.xml?articleId=26242&locale=en_US

It looks like your computer meets the minimum system requirements, and those are usually a little more beefed up than it actually has to be (just to be safe) so it should perform fine on your computer on lower settings.

Hey man I just bought the game thinking it would work but it doesn't. I have the same specs as your laptop and when I loaded the game, I just got the black screen of death. So if I were you don't get it until something changes. Wasted $60 and I'm stuck with a game that I can't even play now....

In the same situation. Black macbook 2.16 2gb RAM. So far SC 2 doesn't work.

In the same situation. Black macbook 2.16 2gb RAM. SC2 gives me a black screen.

This game will not work on any Mac with integrated graphics. It requires a designated graphics card as far as what I read from their(game) website.

Adam

No their computer does not meet minimum requirements. Check the graphics system requirements and that is where most games won't work on integrated graphic card Macs.

Adam

Not true. New macbooks and 13" macbook pros meet the minimum requirements and they have integrated chips.

Just thought I'd add my own experience here. I have the white macbook from late 2007. Almost identical to the OP's except my model has the GMA X3100 graphics chip instead of the 950. However, it is still an integrated chip.

I bought SC2 last night and installed it on my computer, both in OSX and windows 7 through boot camp. Only hiccup was a message saying my video driver "may not be compatible" while installing on OSX. However, the game runs at playable FPS in both OS's. On the lowest settings of course.

Now, there are issues and there is good reason Blizzard didn't include these chipsets in their minimum requirements. It gets a little weird during in game cut scenes and the mouse lags slightly. Also, under windows going to the in game menu to adjust video settings crashes the game. However, this doesn't happen to me under OSX.

All that being said, I still find the game playable. During game play it really is fine, except for the minor mouse lag mentioned, but I can deal.

Chill out Matt. I am going by what the OP stated as his system and according to Blizzard website, his is not "supported". I should have stated it that way, but neither of their systems are quoted as being able to run.
You have it running on your system and congratulations. But Blizzard will not do anything tohelp you in the future if you have a problem. As their website says, "Minimum requirements - NVIDIA® GeForce® 8600M GT or ATI Radeon® X1600 or better"

Adam

Message was edited by: Adam White

I'm used to more hostile forums, and sometimes I forget to tone down the snark over here. My apologies, no offense intended. I was simply correcting what I viewed as a mistake.

Also, I'm not trying to brag. I posted this because before I bought SC2 yesterday I scoured the internet (these forums included) and couldn't find anything about old macbooks running the game. I suspected that it actually would work enough to chance $60 on it. My gamble was rewarded and I just wanted to share my experience so if other people in my situation do a search, they will at least see that it worked for me and might be possible for them too.

Again, no attitude intended with my first post.

Cheers

UNSUPPORTED:
(If you have any of these then your system is not supported)
All PowerPC processors
Mac OS X 10.5.7 and below (This includes 10.4)
*Intel GMA 950*
*Intel GMA X3100*
NVidia GeForce 7300 GT
NVidia GeForce 7600 GT
NVidia Quadro 4500

http://starcraft.org/blogs/starcraft/469

Doesn't mean it won't run, it's just not supported =)

jdkriek wrote:
UNSUPPORTED:
*Intel GMA 950*
Doesn't mean it won't run, it's just not supported =)

I'm in this boat and get a black screen and the occasional mouse icon...I'd like to play this game and am admittedly low on the upgrade curve, but I can't justify the upgrade just to play SCII. I have no doubt it is real fun, but likely not a $1000+ gameplay experience.

I have SC2 on my late 08 macbook the aluminum one. All i have to say is it runs fine BUT you will be playing on Warcraft 3 graphics. I play WoW fine but Sc2 is a slow, laggy, FPS issued game currently. I can run it ok on low, and tough on medium. I think apple should make these graphic cards able to update...not stuck in the comp itself.

Hi Matt. I came across your answer while I was researching about Starcraft 2 and the possibility of playing it using my white early 2008 MacBook. I must honestly say that it has been so difficult to find a practical answer of somebody with a MacBook akin to ours. I feel that many people immediately advise that, since the intel x3100 graphic card is not listed in the officially-supported list, the game will not play. So kudos to you sir for actually taking the risk and buy the game and test it out.

Since we seem to have the same graphic card, may I inquire which processor, amount of memory, and hard drive your MacBook has? Those facts will be of much help. My specs are posted in my profile so I hope they do match.

Like you, I am also running Windows 7 via bootcamp. I have noticed that games run much better in Snow Leopard than Windows 7, despite the fact that supposedly Windows 7 uses the MacBook's 344 MBs of Graphic Card. Could you go on explaining a little further how your experience has been when playing Starcraft 2 in both SL and Windows 7, the game-settings you are using, as well as how has your multiplayer experience being?

Thank you again for posting this information and I am indeed very happy to hear that SC2 is playable on the old x3100 MacBooks 🙂

Yes thank you for testing it out on a gma x3100 graphics card! i have the same card on my macbook and Im going to test it out tomorow and buy the game. I was planning on spending $700 on a new computer but I believe it will work, if WoW worked on my computer. Thanks alot, and I'll let you know how it goes. My computer is a 10.5.8 2.4 ghz Intel Core 2 duo with 2 gb of ram.