New Arkham Destructor - GPU options

[regulator86]

Hi guys,

Recently Purchased:

- Case: Antec 300 Gaming Case
- Power Supply: OCZ ZS 550w PSU (Bronze 80)
- CPU: Intel Core i5 2500K 3.30GHz @ 4.40GHz Sandybridge CPU
- Motherboard: Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard ** B3 REVISION
- Cooler: Corsair H60
- RAM: 4GB DDR3 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit
- Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6GB/s
- Graphics Card: Nvidia GTX 560 1024MB GDDR5
- Sound: Realtek 7.1 Channel Sound (On-Board)
- Optical Drive: LG DVD+/-RW SATA Drive

Been out of the computing loop for almost a decade so didn't do my due dilligence to check if the MB was SLI or crossfire compliant. Turns out it's crossfire only.

I've pretty much got the system just to play ARMA 2 and 3 when it's released next year (Haven't played anything since Op Flash). 2 questions:

1) I know ARMA 3 specs are speculative at best, but is it worth upgrading now to maybe 2 x 6850 or 6870 in crossfire, or waiting till next year before upgrading
2) Will I need a new psu? I've read conflicting advice on whether a more powerful psu will be required

Thanks

 

[tommybhoy]

Arma 3 will be a system killer, so in answer to your questions:

1. Wait till next year, newer, better and faster.

2. As above.

 

[regulator86]

Thanks Tommy,

No such thing as "futureproof" but will the I5-2500k @ 4.5 suffice for then?

 

[Duff-Man]

Thanks Tommy,

No such thing as "futureproof" but will the I5-2500k @ 4.5 suffice for then?

I'm sure it will... Progress with CPUs has slowed dramatically in recent years (at least as far as gaming applications are concerned). That CPU should set you up for a good while.

But, as mentioned above, wait until the new year rather than upgrading your GPU now. The coming generation of 28nm cards should be a major improvement over the current generation, so if it's performance for 2012 you want then waiting is a sensible option.

 

[regulator86]

I'm sure it will... Progress with CPUs has slowed dramatically in recent years (at least as far as gaming applications are concerned). That CPU should set you up for a good while.

But, as mentioned above, wait until the new year rather than upgrading your GPU now. The coming generation of 28nm cards should be a major improvement over the current generation, so if it's performance for 2012 you want then waiting is a sensible option.

Thanks.

Just done some reading. I have the Gigabyte Z68AP-D3 motherboard. It has:

- 1 x PCI-E slot at 16x
- 1 x PCI-E slot at x8
- When running crossfire, both operate at x4

I'm assuming that is a massive no-no in terms of performance? Would be handy if OCUK could list the MB for pre-built systems in the future, as (unless what i've read is wrong), x4 slots for crossfire aren't really up to scratch. Will stick with a single Nvidia card in the future I think...

 

[Duff-Man]

I'm assuming that is a massive no-no in terms of performance?

It's not ideal, but it's not the end of the world. It seems to be about a 5% performance dropoff or so (see here). Next-gen cards with higher bandwidth may see a larger dropoff, but I still wouldn't expect more than 10% loss.