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PC Upgrade

Rawns

By Rawns
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Rawns

Rawns

Posted
Posted

Like a raving loon, BF3 has driven me on a quest to get my PC up to spec in time for it's release so run it at a decent frame rate. So I'm looking at options for an upgrade. I can't really affor a new rig, so am looking at a mobo, CPU and memory upgrade, followed by a GPU upgrade if necessary in the future. Current spec is:

 

  • AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 5200+@ 2.61GHz
  • 4GB OCZ DDR2 @ 400Mhz
  • ASUSTek M2N4-SLI

 

I've priced this lot up for just over 200 quid which I don't think is too bad. I'd welcome any opinions/alternatives. :)

 

 

The aim is to spend no more than £250 as am more likely to get the wife's consent. ;)

Arthur

Arthur

Posted
Posted

Although a little bit more expensive (£257.70), I would go with an Intel-based system for BF3...

 

Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K (£141.59)

Motherboard: Asus P8P67-M Rev. 3.0 (£80.47)

RAM: 8GB (2x4GB) G-Skill RipjawsX DDR3 1,600Mhz 1.5v Memory Kit (£35.64)

 

As you can see from these benchmarks there is a huge difference between a Phenom II X4 965 BE and a Core i5-2500K. Even more so if you overclock it too.

 

There's simply no better gaming CPU on the market today than Sandy Bridge. The Core i5 2500K and 2600K top the charts regardless of game. If you're building a new gaming box, you'll want a SNB in it. (Source)

 

By the way, have you already got a suitable graphics card? :confused:

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ihaveaproblem

ihaveaproblem

Posted
Posted

Might be talking trash here... but I thought I saw a few reports saying AMD CPU's where performing better on BF3?

Don’t quote me on this.. I’ll go dig some research to see if this is true or if I’m remembering something false:)

 

What GFX card have you got? I'd try to get 6 GB RAM or more because for me BF3 was very close to using 4gb.

Oh, and what’s your OS and reso you play at?

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Rawns

Rawns

Posted
  • Author
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I'm going for 8Gb of RAM. The more the better! I currently have a GTX280 at the moment which I think will do. I will see how it does with the inital upgrade and can always replace later on. I'll have a closer look at the i5 tomorrow. :)
Rawns

Rawns

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Although a little bit more expensive (£257.70), I would go with an Intel-based system for BF3...

 

Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K (£141.59)

Motherboard: Asus P8P67-M Rev. 3.0 (£80.47)

RAM: 8GB (2x4GB) G-Skill RipjawsX DDR3 1,600Mhz 1.5v Memory Kit (£35.64)

 

As you can see from these benchmarks there is a huge difference between a Phenom II X4 965 BE and a Core i5-2500K. Even more so if you overclock it too.

 

 

 

By the way, have you already got a suitable graphics card? :confused:

 

Oooooo, there is quite a big jump between the two! I usually go with AMD as they are good value, but for an extra 30 quid, I think the difference in performance is quite clear that the i5 is the better option! :)

Rawns

Rawns

Posted
  • Author
Posted
Although a little bit more expensive (£257.70), I would go with an Intel-based system for BF3...

 

Processor: Intel Core i5-2500K (£141.59)

Motherboard: Asus P8P67-M Rev. 3.0 (£80.47)

RAM: 8GB (2x4GB) G-Skill RipjawsX DDR3 1,600Mhz 1.5v Memory Kit (£35.64)

 

As you can see from these benchmarks there is a huge difference between a Phenom II X4 965 BE and a Core i5-2500K. Even more so if you overclock it too.

 

 

By the way, have you already got a suitable graphics card? :confused:

 

@Arthur

 

Just had a look on eBuyer to do have another think and I've noticed all the kit you listed is now more expensive then when you posted! :(

 

i5 CPU - £171.00

Mobo - £97.73

Memory - £43.15

 

Takes it up to £311.88 :(

Rawns

Rawns

Posted
  • Author
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Ex Vat and Inc Vat!!

 

All ebuyers prices are inclusive of VAT. Plus the CPU would be £134. Wonder if they had a sale on that I've missed. :(

Rawns

Rawns

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Unless you click the button that says show ex vat prices (like mose people buying for school do.)

[ATTACH=CONFIG]11606[/ATTACH]

 

Now it all makes sense. When buying for home, show VAT! No nasty surprises then! ;)

aerospacemango

aerospacemango

Posted
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Hi Rawns....

 

Have you considered Novatech for your build? I rebuilt my PC with a quad-core, for about £200...including a 1TB HDD.

 

Good delivery speeds too!

 

(P.S. I have no affiliation with the company, I just thought they were good!)

  • Thanks 1
Rawns

Rawns

Posted
  • Author
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Hi Rawns....

 

Have you considered Novatech for your build? I rebuilt my PC with a quad-core, for about £200...including a 1TB HDD.

 

Good delivery speeds too!

 

(P.S. I have no affiliation with the company, I just thought they were good!)

 

Never heard of them before, but I'll have a look on their site tonight. Thanks. :)

Rawns

Rawns

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  • Author
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But talking of upgrades...

 

I need a new graphics card for BF3....but don't want to/can't spend a fortune....Any ideas???

 

What kind of budget are you aiming for?

JoeBloggs

JoeBloggs

Posted
Posted
But talking of upgrades...

 

I need a new graphics card for BF3....but don't want to/can't spend a fortune....Any ideas???

 

BF3 is obviously going to require a beast.

 

I've read min req and recommended req... they recommend basically a £200 gfx card.

 

I'd go with this on a budget MSI ATI Radeon HD 6850 Cyclone Power Edition 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card with FREE Deus Ex PC Game [] Should be able to handle it but probably not full settings etc

Arthur

Arthur

Posted
Posted
Just had a look on eBuyer to do have another think and I've noticed all the kit you listed is now more expensive then when you posted!

It appears that I was looking at the Ex. VAT prices by mistake. Sorry about that. :eek:

Rawns

Rawns

Posted
  • Author
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It appears that I was looking at the Ex. VAT prices by mistake. Sorry about that. :eek:

 

No problem! TBH, I did not even know you could view with/without VAT! Just assumed it was with VAT as that's how I always seem to ew kit on there! :)

aerospacemango

aerospacemango

Posted
Posted

Ohhhhhh....Kayyyyyy!

 

*gulp*

 

Doesn't look like I'll be buying BF3 then! Can't justify paying that kind of money, to be honest!

 

I shall stick to my Steam collection!

 

So...Far Cry 2 anyone??? LOL!!!

Rawns

Rawns

Posted
  • Author
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Ohhhhhh....Kayyyyyy!

 

*gulp*

 

Doesn't look like I'll be buying BF3 then! Can't justify paying that kind of money, to be honest!

 

I shall stick to my Steam collection!

 

So...Far Cry 2 anyone??? LOL!!!

 

You think that's bad! Check out Nvidia's current toppest of top end GPU's! Asus MARS II GeForce GTX 580 X2 3072MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card [4716659008316]

 

If I was the winner of that Euromillions money, I'd buy 6 of these and SLI them together!

Rawns

Rawns

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I need to run the GPU utility on that site....

 

But I'm now away for 5 days! Booooo!!!!

 

If only I'd realised, I wouldn't have let my gf book us a log cabin!!

 

You still have a while until it's released. 28th I think. :)

Arthur

Arthur

Posted
Posted
Might be talking trash here... but I thought I saw a few reports saying AMD CPU's where performing better on BF3?

You might be right actually. AMDs FX-8150 is a bit faster than Intel's i5-2500K and i7-2600k in BF3, but the difference between them is not large enough to warrant the poor performance of AMDs processor in most other areas, in addition to the significantly higher power consumption under load. :eek:

 

In this first graph, we are comparing the AMD-FX8150 to an Intel Core i7 2600K and 2500K at stock, default settings. There were only very small differences in performance, with the Intel Core i7 2500K delivering the lowest performance, but only by a slim margin. Technically speaking, the Intel Core i7 2600K was 3.8% faster than the AMD FX-8150. However, with differences this small it was not detectable in actual gameplay, and meant nothing to the gaming performance we experience on any of these three CPUs.

 

Interestingly, when we overclocked the CPUs there was a slight shift with the AMD FX-8150 coming out technically faster. The difference in this case was 5.5%, which again wasn't anything we could actually feel or detect while we were playing the game. When it comes down to it, for the Open Beta, all three CPUs performed similarly, and we couldn't tell any difference between them in this game. If you put all three systems side-by-side, you would not be able to tell the difference. (Source)

 

http://i.imgur.com/LBd73.gif

 

http://i.imgur.com/O30c8.gif

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