Some new hardware

[Sonny]

Hi,

since I started playing Battlefield 3 some weeks ago, its turning out that my PC is kinda outdated.

I've bought it last year as a "middle class" PC and since BF3 is very hardware-hungry I'm playing with a max of 50FPS with lowest details and a resolution of 1600x900 (or so). Also I cannot switch to desktop without crashing the whole game. At big maps like Karkand or Oman I have lower FPS.

The thing is: I dont want to buy a new PC now. I dont need to play on 1080p on highest settings, what works quite well with mostly every game i play (like skyrim or fifa), but some laggs and stuttering in BF3 drive me crazy.

So i decided to upgrade my hardware, a bit.

The question is: which part would be the best to change? i dont know much about different hardware, because i am just a normal user without the need of doing 3d-work or cutting or so. i just want to play fluidly.

my current setup is:
Processor AMD Athlon(tm) II X4 640 Processor
Memory 4096 MB
Video Card AMD Radeon HD 6670


Please tell me what information you need to help me. i dont really have a clue :D

regards
Jo

Edit:
by chance i just found that:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/forum/316498-10-will-athlon-processor-bottleneck

can you sign that?

[Hangover]

Can´t you overclock the processor from 3 to 3.5 ghz ?

I upgraded my old computor to a AMD 970 processor (runs in 4 ghz), 4 gb xtra memory (8 gb total) and a AMD 6950 card ( flashed to 6970)

It runs BF3 real fast and smoth. I also have W7 64 Pro

[Hidde]

*Please move this topic to hardware & case build, anyone that is able to!*

Videocard is _not_ powerful enough for BF3, if you are going to upgrade take a 6870 or something, you will be able to play on 1080p no problem, not with every setting maxed out, but with low or no MSAA and no HBAO you can use high settings, and still have decent FPS. I can't tell whether the 6870 will fit in your budget or not though, because you did not mention it. Keep in mind that you need enough PCIe connectors to give the 6870 its required power, your power supply has to have two of them for it. Also if your power supply is a low-wattage one you might get problems with the 6870, it's not like it's a very energy-intensive card but it needs more than the 6670.

About the switching to desktop without crashing; neither can I! Everytime I use alt-tab the game crashes, and an estimated 70% of my alt+enters to go into windowed mode (since alt tab always makes me crash) result in a crash too :-/

I won't be able to help you any further, please post your budget and your power supply! If you don't know the model make a picture of the sticker on it.

edit: @above:
That 0,5GHz won't make much of a difference, his current graphics card just doesn't cut it
and the Phenoms are quicker than the Athlons

[FluggerNO]

Def go for the 6950 2GB versjon.
This is an awesome card for the BF3.
About the cpu yes put it up a bit higer and go for 4GB extra ram.

[RPGforYOU]

Uhm well I as well got the 6950, and it runs bf3 very smooth in high and some settings in ultra. :)
I experience no lagg.

But it is all about the budget ... and what you already have that could be used ... :)

(ps: I moved it to hardware section, like hidde already mentioned...)

[Hangover]

Everything has its price. Trying to do something, when the processor is too weak, the video card is defective and the computer has insufficient memory. A computer failures at any point requires a major upgrade and the cost is also a coin.

You bought your computor last year. I bought mine four years ago and i still could upgrade it. The upgrade price compared to by a new one is like a fart in space :-)

Buy one piece every month instead of buying stuff that´s just gona make you disappointed

Surely there must be used processors on the market at a good price, now that the 4 core is replaced with 6 and 8 core processors ?

[Sonny]

Hi guys!

Thanks for your answers for now. I understood that my gpu matters more when playing bf3 then the cpu does.

I ordered Hidde's advice (HD6870). I guess my gaming-profile doesnt require a very up-to-date pc, and since i wont buy many new games in the following years (i mostly play on xbox) this gpu will fit my pc. I hope i wont experience bottlenecks, but i read something about that card and hope that i chose the right one.

I additionally orderer 8 gb ram.

so, soon ill be chasing you guys on our servers with... 50... 60... or even more frames / sec ;)

thank you all again, i will report my experiences with my new setup! :)


cheers
Jo

[Hidde]

I think you made the right choice, now to wait for the mail :)

[FluggerNO]

Well.. Say it this way the price dif from the 6870 1GB to the 6950 2GB is only 30EUR.
The 6950 2GB is also going to last longer for the games to come as it has 2GB of memory and is about 40% faster then the 6870 1GB card.

[Hidde]

This is false, 6870 is about €150 and the 6950 is at least €230. That €30 price difference might currently be the case on a few norwegian websites (like Komplett.no) but not in Germany.

http://www.alternate.de/html/product/XFX/HD6870_Dual_Fan/888426/?
http://www.alternate.de/html/product/XFX/HD_6950_XXX_Dual_Fan/929184/?

[FluggerNO]

This is false, 6870 is about €150 and the 6950 is at least €230. That €30 price difference might currently be the case on a few norwegian websites (like Komplett.no) but not in Germany.

http://www.alternate.de/html/product/XFX/HD6870_Dual_Fan/888426/?
http://www.alternate.de/html/product/XFX/HD_6950_XXX_Dual_Fan/929184/?

Nope.

Its all over Norway and not only Komplett. The max dif I get in other shops is 55EUR.
And I was thinking that I had to pay more for pc parts in Norway then the rest of EU..
Well.. I was wrong there ÂÂ*:wink:

[Hangover]

And one other thing is that if you have trouble with the hardware you bought from Komplett they never whining. They are very helpful and send you new products the same day. If the card i cheaper in Norway or Sweden why don´t you order it here ?

[Hidde]

ho, we have a misunderstanding here

the 6870 is 1449 NOK at Komplett, equals 191 (!) EUR
the 6950 is -24% and still costs 1595 NOK = 210 EUR

210/76 * 100 = 276 EUR

So yes, the price DIFFERENCE is indeed not much, but the prices themselves are a lot higher than in Germany

For those of you interested I compared a few prices, MySQL security won't let me post it here though, so check out
this (http://www.roflsaurus.com/users/Hidde/price%20comparison.docx) if you want to.

[hr:35f84f165f]
6870 price in NO = 560Ti price in NL
6950 price in NO without sale = GTX570, GTX560Ti 448 cores price in NL

So yes, hardware indeed is more expensive in Norway :P
However, for those of you looking for a miraculously cheap case, check this out!

http://www.komplett.no/k/ki.aspx?sku=646593
348 Norwegian kroner = 45.7679766 Euros

Go go get it now!

I apologize for the long post!

[Sonny]

Hey guys!
The 6950 was at about 240€ in germany, thats 90 more than the 6870. with that 90 less i could afford the new ram, and since hidde told me that this card works well with bf3 (and its sold in a package with a copy of bf3, so they must kinda fit together) i am very satisfied with the price for now. i am a student and buying new hardware for 200€ isnt something i can do all day.

so lets wait for the results when i tried out the new card, but as far as i can say it will be the right choice :)

greetings

[Vercetti]

You're a wise ass Hidde :p