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Another BF3 related upgrade

PaoloUK

PaoloUK

PaoloUK

Associate
Joined
15 Dec 2007
Posts
126
Hey, been ages since I came to OCUK for help but I've never been let down in the past so I'm back.

Basically my PC is 4 years old now, and whilst it's held it's own with all I've thrown at it in that time, BF3 looks set to kill it.

Here are the specs:

Q6600
Sapphire ATI Radeon HD 4850 512MB GDDR3
Abit IP35 Pro
Corsair XMS2 4GB DDR2 PC2-6400C5 TwinX

Now whilst it all needs an overhaul, I went on the "can you run it?" website and tested it for BF3. The rest of the system passed both the minimum and recommended requirements but the GFX card was the weak link for the recommended requirements.

Being in my final year at Uni I've not exactly got much spare cash so I need a card that's going to run BF3 smoothly and see me through till next summer when I can do a full rebuild.

I've no preference on ATI or NVIDIA, I had an NVIDIA before this 4850 so either is fine.

Thanks in advance!
 
My spec is almost identical to yours Paulo and I went for the GTX 560Ti.

If you aren't already also consider overclocking your CPU. I have the same CPU running at 3.2GHz with barely a voltage change for everyday use but I have had it up to 3.8GHz as well. That should give it more life.
 
kegz665 said:
whats your exact budget?
Click to expand...
£200ish I would say, selling 360 + games etc so really depends on what I get for them but the minimum for them I expect is around £120 and I've about the same saved up.

Imy said:
My spec is almost identical to yours Paulo and I went for the GTX 560Ti.

If you aren't already also consider overclocking your CPU. I have the same CPU running at 3.2GHz with barely a voltage change for everyday use but I have had it up to 3.8GHz as well. That should give it more life.
Click to expand...

I've looked at this one today, seems a popular choice.

I'd be willing to try OC'ing, never done it with anything before though. There any useful guides I could maybe read to see if it seems like something I can do?

Thanks
 
Quite rare to see such a large 4:3 res.

You may be able to get away with the 1GB 560Ti but if you plan to keep the card for a while then go for the 2GB.

For CPU overclocking see the overclocking sub-forum. I remember a while back there was quite a large thread on overclocking for your specific motherboard. I would try search for it.
 
Imy said:
Quite rare to see such a large 4:3 res.

You may be able to get away with the 1GB 560Ti but if you plan to keep the card for a while then go for the 2GB.

For CPU overclocking see the overclocking sub-forum. I remember a while back there was quite a large thread on overclocking for your specific motherboard. I would try search for it.
Click to expand...

Aye, it's a Dell 2007FP, had it aaages and it's still going strong, can't really fit anything bigger on the desk thanks to my iMac lol.

I may look at diff resolutions in BF3, see what gives me the best results.

Thanks, I'll go check that out now.

I'm pretty much decided on either MSI GeForce GTX 560Ti OC Twin FrozR II 2048MB GDDR5 or Asus ATI Radeon HD 6950 DirectCU II 2048MB GDDR5 anyone got a solid reason to go with one over the other? If not I'll probs go with the 560Ti given BF3 has been pushing NVIDIA in all it's hosted events.
 
for BF3 i would go with the 560 as as you say DICE have been pushing NVIDIA.
but both cards are defo on par with each other in terms of performance

it all comes down to if you prefer ATI/Nvdia
 
If these benches are anything to go by, I'm actually surprised how well the £130-150 6870 does:

http://forums.overclockers.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18333226

Pretty much equals the 560ti!

So you have to decide if to buy a cheaper card for now, 6870, and get something from the newer cards next year when you build a new rig.

I'd wait and see some more review benches as at that low res you may not need a £200+ 2GB 560ti with a Q6600. As mentioned above, a 1GB 560ti will do you.

EDIT:

Actually, looking at the benches again the best choice for a cheaper card would be a 1GB 560 (non Ti) and overclocking it rather than a 6870, given nVidia's special support and recent driver release for the game.
 
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