CPU for BF3 advice

Dale · 2 Sep 2011 at 22:07

Hi chaps, like most, eagerly waiting for the release of BF3. Currently, still enjoying BC2.

My setup is currently:

Q9550 @ 3.7 (on air)
4gb memory
HD 5970

I have 3x 24" Dell's and play BC2 in Eyefinity which is nice, but really with the above setup all graphics settings are on low (including HBAO turned off) to allow for maximum playability. Sometimes it is a bit of a toss-up as to whether to turn Eyefinity off and go for higher settings.

With this in mind I'm concerned BF3 might be a bit more intensive on the CPU, and my machine will drags it's heals with the CPU even more.

Obviously upgrading the CPU isn't a cheap job, so looking on what peeps opinions are in prep for BF3 (especially compared to BC2).

stulid · 2 Sep 2011 at 22:12

If I was you and looking at what you currently have got, I would wait till you actually try a release copy of the game and see how your system copes.

Also this game is bound to be benchmarked to death by all the tech sites to see what works best, wait and you will get a more affirmative answer on whats needed.

Dale · 2 Sep 2011 at 22:38

Thanks Stulid, I guess in all honestly I was a bit consumed by wanting to get the best out of it from day one - It "may" perform practically the same as BC2, in which case I can cope with that as I don't want to spend money on a new CPU / mobo / memory, well... not yet anyway :-)

Sound point well made - thanks.

haddows101 · 2 Sep 2011 at 22:56

imo i would save incase, try the Beta but remember the beta wont be the full gameso it may be a bit moreheavey when its fully installed(like bc2 was).....hopefully by the day of release you have saved enough so if it doesnt play as smooth as you like then you can upgrade or if it plays well then you got extra cash to have a weekend blowout

LtMatt · 3 Sep 2011 at 08:24

You will see a massive upgrade when you can afford to go i5/i7.

I came from a Q9550 and the difference from [email protected] to [email protected] IS huge.

If you need to upgrade on a budget like me then you need £300

New World Order · 3 Sep 2011 at 08:51

Before you do anything I would wait for the open beta this month. Then you will know just how bad/good it is. Then take it from there. Another benefit is im sure people will post how there rigs coped with it.

Dale · 3 Sep 2011 at 11:35

Thanks again chaps. Matt, didn't realise it would be quite that cheap (well not "cheap", but less that I was expecting).

I'll hang on for the Beta as people suggest, see where we stand then :-)

Bassmansam · 3 Sep 2011 at 16:48

Would it be worth waiting for ivy bridge?(currently have q6600 stock and 48701gb am thinking of getting a new system in the next few months)

seandog · 3 Sep 2011 at 17:12

if your gonna get a new system then yeah I'd wait, the game will be out then and could build a custom rig suited to play this game as reults will be out for what works best with it, atm its all up in the air and guessing til retail release plus the new gen cards may be out too and possibly BD

Skeng · 3 Sep 2011 at 17:28

You have a pretty sweet setup I use 2x 5870's in crossfire I did use eyefinity but switched back to a single monitor. It's weird at first but you can run the game at MAX with over 70FPS so "IT'S ALL GOOOOOD!". =]

kristmace · 3 Sep 2011 at 18:10

Like Stulid said, worth waiting for the retail release to see what it's like on your system. If i remember right from the limited benchmarks I saw from the Alpha test the game loved any Intel Quads, struggled on any dual core and was hit and miss with AMD quads.

If you've got the money though, you can't really go wrong with a sandy i5.

CAT-THE-FIFTH · 3 Sep 2011 at 18:17

kristmace said:
Like Stulid said, worth waiting for the retail release to see what it's like on your system. If i remember right from the limited benchmarks I saw from the Alpha test the game loved any Intel Quads, struggled on any dual core and was hit and miss with AMD quads.

If you've got the money though, you can't really go wrong with a sandy i5.

http://gamegpu.ru/plugins/content/j...sdHJbXT13bWl8d2F0ZXJtYXJrL3dzLnBuZ3xCUnwzMA==

It seems fine with the AMD Phenom II X4 and X6. The Q9550 running at stock speeds looks OK too. At 3.7GHZ it should be fine.

The Athlon II X4 which lacks any L3 cache seems to have much lower performance though.

Spook187 · 3 Sep 2011 at 18:44

Dale my man,how did you get your Q9550 @ 3.7 i got mine to 3.4 just with the FSB change but rather new on the oc side any info please

ukbilleh · 4 Sep 2011 at 10:22

From what I have read dice have stated that bfbc2 on max settings @ 1080p is a good bench mark for bf3 at high settings same res. Not sure how close that will be when the dust is in the air and its kicking off with 64 players however...

Dale · 4 Sep 2011 at 15:15

Thanks again chaps for all the info.

Spook187 said:
Dale my man,how did you get your Q9550 @ 3.7 i got mine to 3.4 just with the FSB change but rather new on the oc side any info please

Spook, hard to say what your issue is tbh, mine was a fairly simple trouble free OC. I first went to 3ghz, then 3.4, then 3.8 and backed down to 3.7 for reliability.
Here is my CPU-Z screenie:

I've got an air cooler on the CPU, with a fan attached, temps don't get that high. I made sure I fitted the CPU with some Arctic Silver compound, but never really had much of an issue with it crashing.

Mobo is an Asus P5K Premium, memory is G.Skill 4GB DDR2 PK PC2-8500C5 bought from OCUK about 3 and a half years ago.

Originally ran a Q6600 at about 3.4 I think...

daveash · 4 Sep 2011 at 23:26

Stulid's advice was sound, wait until it's released and buy the best processor you can once you see how it runs on different setups. Buying hardware in order to run games that have yet to be released is always a risky business.

C64 · 5 Sep 2011 at 02:29

I'll eat my hat if your current setup cant run it maxed out and get 60 fps, anyway for me personally my upgrade path is sell current Q6600 p45 board and ram and go second hand corei5 750/760 @ 4ghz + this is where the bang for bucks at ? how does a core i5 750 at 4gz measure up to a 2500k ?

Dale · 5 Sep 2011 at 13:16

C64 said:
I'll eat my hat if your current setup cant run it maxed out and get 60 fps, anyway for me personally my upgrade path is sell current Q6600 p45 board and ram and go second hand corei5 750/760 @ 4ghz + this is where the bang for bucks at ? how does a core i5 750 at 4gz measure up to a 2500k ?

I'm sure it will be fine on one monitor, it is Eyefinity I'm concerned about (get an odd feeling of claustrophobia when going from 3 to 1 lol!)

Spook187 · 7 Sep 2011 at 14:22

Dale said:
Thanks again chaps for all the info.

Spook, hard to say what your issue is tbh, mine was a fairly simple trouble free OC. I first went to 3ghz, then 3.4, then 3.8 and backed down to 3.7 for reliability.
Here is my CPU-Z screenie:

I've got an air cooler on the CPU, with a fan attached, temps don't get that high. I made sure I fitted the CPU with some Arctic Silver compound, but never really had much of an issue with it crashing.

Mobo is an Asus P5K Premium, memory is G.Skill 4GB DDR2 PK PC2-8500C5 bought from OCUK about 3 and a half years ago.

Originally ran a Q6600 at about 3.4 I think...

was that just with a fsb change or did you need any more volts.

Dale · 7 Sep 2011 at 14:59

I gave it a touch more voltage. BIOS settings are here: