Will this configuration be able to run FPS

BFfan0057

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Hi I need some help I was wondering if what i plan to upgrade my computers hardware to will be able to play Battlefield 4 with the same performance or better than the the ps4 and if not what will.

I bought this nice PC off of Craigslist it is a HP a6000 GN561AA, for a couple hundred dollars that has been upgraded a little bit only has one small graphics card driver problem other than that it runs great.

My current specs
MOBO:Asus P5BW-LA
CPU:LGA 775 socket Intel Core 2 Quad @2.40Ghz (does show up in device manager with all four cores)
RAM: DDR2 4x 1GB mixed sticks
PSU:Stock 300w model:DPS-300PB-3A
GPU:zotac GT210 synergy 1GB DDR3 64bit
HDD:500GB Samsung mechanical
OS:Windows 7 PRO 64bit

What I plan to upgrade to
GPU:EVGA Nvidia Geforce GTX660 superclocked 2GB GDDR5 or Gigabyte Nvidia Geforce 650 Ti 2GB GDDR5 depends on overall price to upgrade.
PSU:600 watt that is compatible with rest of system
RAM:try to upgrade to 8 GB


So can/will this hardware work together to play fps games as good as a PS4 or better settings.
And if not what will im trying not to spend more than 300$ for these upgrades.

Please help.
Thanks in advance.
 

Fulgurant

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Yeah, don't mean to wax negative here, but when did you buy the PC from Craigslist, OP? $200 is a decent price for that machine if all you want to do is browse the web, but if you planned to use it as a headstart on a current-and-future-game-capable machine, you would have been better off saving that money and buying individual components at retail prices.

The OS and the case and the HDD in your machine might arguably cost $200 retail, but unfortunately you didn't just buy an OS, an HDD, and a case: your CPU is old and (comparative to today's CPUs) fairly weak; you can't (I'm assuming, given that you're using an OEM machine) overclock it, and you can't upgrade it meaningfully without ditching the motherboard. And if you ditch the motherboard, your OS and your RAM become useless. The power supply isn't worth mentioning. And since yours is a Hewlett Packard pre-built system, we can't even be sure that you can reuse the case without modding it.

So for the purpose of salvage, you've essentially bought a 500 GB hard drive for $200. You're gonna have to start basically from scratch if you want a theoretical PS4 substitute.

And no, $300 won't get you to the finish line. Based on what I've read, my loose guesstimate is that the PS4 will boast graphics' horsepower roughly in the same ballpark with an HD 7850 or GTX 650 Ti Boost. Can't say what kind of CPU power you can expect from the PS4, but it's probably safe to say that we're talking current-mid-tier-comparable processing power at worst.

Those two components, alone, would cost you at least $300. Then you need a motherboard (at say, $60), a ~500W PSU (call it $50), a case (assuming the HP won't work, and/or assuming you want to keep the HP machine as its own thing -- another $40+), ~$60 in RAM, some sort of storage solution (call it another ~$50+), and probably another copy of Windows (~$90 for the Home edition), unless you're interested in using Linux.

A reasonable low-end estimate, then, is about $650, unless I've miscounted somewhere, for something that's likely to compete with the PS4 in gaming for the foreseeable future (until code optimizations for the closed console platform begin to pull better performance out of its hardware than you'd expect from a PC analogue). The best case, based on what you already have, is that you can use the chassis and the HDD from the Hewlett Packard, which would cut ~$100 from the bottom line. Spending $200 to save $100 isn't a good deal, so either try to sell the whole HP system as-is or keep it as a web browser.
 

rex4235

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Not to mention, if your goal is to have an equal experience to what a PS4 will theoretically deliver, you will need to overshoot the specs in a PC since it has many more tasks than simply playing a game like a console does.
 

BFfan0057

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So I was looking online at microcenter.com and found this and was wondering if this would work to play bf3 and bf4 on PS4 or better tier

MOBO: SKU 870733
CPU: SKU 006759
GPU: GTX 650 ti or GTX 660 as mentioned earlier
RAM: 8 GB or more
 

BFfan0057

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About 200-250$ for MOBO RAM and CPU and about 200$ for graphics card.
I was gonna start by getting MOBO and CPU RAM,
then graphics card. Is there a better bang for my buck within the price the same price range for MOBO and CPU?
You said its a heck lot better then what ive got now will what i plan to get not run FPS decently at ultra to medium settings?

Thanks,
BFfan0057

 

axehead15

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I picked something that will give you no problems whatsoever, and play the games you want at great settings.

MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157323

RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820104339

CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103961

GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500277

And you would need a good PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139028

All of that just 15$ over your 450 budget.

If you wanted to save money on CPU, and go higher on GPU, you could go with that FX-6 you had picked out, and get a GTX 660 instead. Either way I believe this will fit your needs.

Slap all that in your case with the HDD and OS you already have and you should be good to go.

EDIT: You do have an optical drive right?
 

BFfan0057

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Yes I do have a optical drive.
This better than what i picked out correct and for better price?

So I will be able to install the new motherboard and CPU without getting OEM OS activation problems?
Thanks, :)

 

rex4235

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If you have OEM Windows 7 (not 8) you will need a new license if you change out the MB... you can try pleading a sob story to Microsoft but they typically draw the line at a MB swap for reasons other than RMA for the same exact model
 

BFfan0057

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Yeah, Well my MB is probably about to go couple of capacitors are blown. :(
Whats the difference between 8 and 7 I know the visual difference i meen between OEM reactivation

It is the system builder OEM version of windows7 pro with disk (the guy who sold me the PC still has the copy) should I call Microsoft and ask if I can change a semi faulty MB and get a new one please help

Thanks

 

rex4235

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The only way MS is going to give you a reactivation code is if you get another MB of the same make/ model. They wont let you change for another one since the key is bound to the "computer". MS deems the "computer" as the MB. Change MB's, and its not the same computer anymore
 

BFfan0057

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On this website some people have success story's of OEM Mother Board upgrades of up to three and then some fail I really don't have the money to even buy a OEM license.
Should the guy I bought my PC off of given me the installation disk and put the product key on the case for the OS?

 

rex4235

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Right, sometimes it triggers sometimes it doesnt. Ive upgraded every component in my machine aside from the MB and it hasnt yet. But just know, that if it does trigger, youre not likely to get sympathy from MS
 

rex4235

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Disc and sticker or not, that doesnt change the fact that you will no longer be using the OS on the same machine it was purchased for. But you WILL need that license key and disc when you reinstall windows once you preform the upgrade
 

BFfan0057

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Well $h!t I guess I will have to bug this guy about the disc and key, under the MS terms he should have given me the disc and COA at the time of sale of the pc I own right?

Thanks,
 

Fulgurant

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I explained all of this at length in a PM exchange with the OP last night. He's bound and determined, it seems, to try telling Microsoft a sob story -- and hey, I wish him luck, but I doubt he'll succeed.

But leaving the OS aside, axehead's suggested a decent build. I don't think it's equivalent to what we're likely to see in the PS4, but it's close. The only bit of parting advice I can offer to the OP is to make sure the HP chassis can be used with a new motherboard. In my albeit scant experience ripping apart old OEM (Dell) machines, I found that trying to reuse those cases was more trouble than it's worth. OEMs apparently like to play little jokes on the would-be system builder, like soldering the mobo back plate to the case.

If the case will not work for a new build, and if the OP doesn't want to keep the HP system as it is for his own use, I'd strongly suggest he at least try to resell it before he starts to rip it apart. As noted previously, the useful hardware he's likely to net in the exercise isn't worth the $200 he paid for the computer.

The old adage holds true here, and in spades: the whole is more than the sum of its parts.
 

BFfan0057

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What does OP mean?
Will this build that axe suggested last a couple of years?

 

Fulgurant

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"OP" just means "Original Poster." That's you, in this case :)

Hard to say how long the build will last. The answer is tied up in subjective performance standards.
 

axehead15

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It will last a long time, and it is selected to have future upgrade ability. The motherboard will allow you to put up to 16GB RAM, and you won't need more than that gaming. Also, it is an AM3+ motherboard, and imo I don't think that socket will be going away anytime soon.

ATM there are only a handful of AMD processors that will outperform the one I picked, so when they come out with new AM3+ processors, they can be used in this motherboard too.

The GTX 650 Ti 2GB will let you max most, if not all, current games.

Thanks for the props Fulgurant!
 

BFfan0057

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I was just looking again and noticed the motherboard is micro atx is there something with the same performance and price range that is a full size ATX MOBO

Thanks