Battlefield 3 able?

[Eldd]

Hello everyone!

I was wondering if it'd be a huge leap in gameplay in Battlefield 3 to switch from AMD X4 965 BE to AMD X6 1100T? And which one of the two video cards: ATI Radeon HD 6950, or ATI Radeon HD 6870? Right now I am running games on a Radeon HD 5770 but it's getting a bit old and I was thinking of updating the CPU and the GPU. Opinions, please?

 

[namelessonez]

Really doubt if the 6 core AMD will be of any use since no games today can utilize 6 cores. Your 965 is pretty good.

Couple that with a 6870 and you should be good to go! The benefit of moving to a 6950 is certainly there, but not going to make much difference unless you game above 1920x1200. At 1920x1080, the difference between a 6870 and a 6950 is about 5-10fps, unless somebody can correct me!

I'd suggest get the 6870 and if you feel that you need some more juice in the future, you can always get another 6870 and crossfire it. The 6870's quite a peppy card!

 

[Eldd]

Thanks for the reply, mate. Actually the max resolution on my monitor is 1920x1080, so there's no way I can go above that unless I buy a new one, which I don't really intend to do in the near future. If the difference is so slight between the two, I guess I'll probably go with the 6870 then.

 

[namelessonez]

1920x1080 is a pretty good res! Really not required to go above that, unless you're gaming on a 30-35 incher or something like that!

 

[Eldd]

Then again...

I did my share of reading the reviews and benchmarks here and there, and I might go with the 6950 though; I still have a few 2-3 months ahead before I am doing that (first comes the memory upgrade, from 4GB to 8GB) and I'll see what happens on the scene in the meantime.

 

[Gman450]

You should definitely go for a HD 6950 2GB. You would need a good GPU to run games at that resolution.
As for the CPU upgrade, keep your current 965 BE. It will be a waste if you go for a 1100T.

You should also think about getting a better PSU, unless you've got a good one as of right now, that is.

 

[Eldd]

Then I will do just that. Current PSU is at 650W, you think I would need more wattage?

 

[Gman450]

Which PSU is that ? I mean the model no. and brand.
Like Corsair, Antec, Seasonic etc.

 

[Eldd]

It's a Spire, not sure which model number though.

 

[Gman450]

I haven't heard about Spire PSUs.
But some reviews suggest that it isn't really that good.

HD 6950 only needs about a 500W PSU, so it would be enough.
How much amps does it deliver on it's 12v rails ?

 

[Eldd]

How can I measure or check that out?

 

[Gman450]

On the side of your PSU, there should be a sticker, in that, you can see all the power specifications.
Just record and type it here.

 

[Eldd]

I'll have to check that when I get back home from work, and let you know, thanks, mate.