The long-awaited sequel to StarCraft is set to release in less than two weeks, and those planning to buy the game digitally can get ahead of the launch madness by downloading a copy today. You can download StarCraft II in full regardless of whether or not you've actually purchased it, but it won't be playable until July 27 at 10AM PDT. At that point, you'll be able to start the client and activate the game.

Blizzard has also revealed the system requirements for the complete title, which demands slightly more horsepower than the SC II beta but it still shouldn't isolate folks running dated hardware. The minimum requirements call for:

PC: Windows XP/Windows Vista/Windows 7 (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

Mac: Mac OS X 10.5.8, 10.6.2 or newer, Intel Processor, NVIDIA GeForce 8600M GT or ATI Radeon X1600 or better

PC/Mac: 12 GB available HD space
1 GB RAM (1.5 GB required for Windows Vista/Windows 7 users, 2 GB for Mac users), DVD-ROM drive
Broadband Internet connection, 1024X720 minimum display resolution

Ideally, Blizzard says your machine should have Windows Vista/7, a dual-core 2.4GHz processor, 2GB of RAM, and a 512MB GeForce 8800GTX/Radeon HD 3870 or better. For a more detailed look at where your system sits, see our breakdown of the beta and watch for our in-depth GPU/CPU performance review as soon as the game is out.