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Bottlenecks Here? Upgrading What I already Got

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I bought an i5-750 with biostar TH55HD motherboard, 4gb XMS3 Corsair Ram, 1tb hdd, Radeon HD 3870 512mb Graphics card, and an Apevia 500 Watt psu/case. ALL for $350.

I want to sell the computer for $400-$450 on craigslist, but haven't gotten serious offers so I'm planning on just keeping it I guess.

My ultimate goal is to play Battlefield 2 bad company and eventually battlefield 3 at highest settings with it being super fast and AWESOME! I just bought a samsung 27'' 1ms screen from costco for the setup as well.

Please let me know if it would be foolish to upgrade the computer with either a Radeon 5870 or 6950 (its a $30 difference) and i'm not sure if there would be a difference between the two.

I just bought a corsair H50 watercooler for the cpu but I haven't installed it because i'm also maybe thinking about buying a new case. Yet if I bought a new case, then I would want a new PSU, and then I would be a square one with trying to sell the computer for $400 and buying the NEWEGG i5 2500k combo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?I...

And then just buying one of the video cards suggested above.

Anyways,

Please let me know what you would do in my situation.

Either way, I'm going to be buying a new video card so I guess which one? and would my current mobo/cpu setup be limiting its abilities? Would I be over-doing it with a 5870 or a 6950?

Thanks,

Ben

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Homebuilt system Master

Your Setup is fine for those cards, the I5 750 is a very capable CPU. Your biggest problem is the quality of the PSU and it should get replaced if you are planning sticking either of those cards in there.
Homebuilt system Expert

My guess is the PSU, along with that old 3870 are the reasons most people would pass on it. IMHO, $350 was top dollar for it.
But on the other hand, either one of those video cards and better quality PSU would really bring this to life as your own personal gaming rig, big step up over that outdated 3870. Personally, I would get the 6950.
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Great! Thanks for the reply and opinions... As far as the PSU/Case goes... I want a new case so I can fit my H50 that I got new from craigslist and I was thinking the Corsair HAF912 and then I found a great combo deal on newegg...

they have a 650Watt coolermaster PSU with haf912 for $109 http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...
As I looked at it, the PSU is 89$ alone and so its like i'm only paying 20 for the case!

If this PSU is not quite enough, for $20 more I can get the 750Watt psu with haf912
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?Ite...

Please let me know what you think! I would like to order the case and PSU as soon as possible.

I do have someone willing to pay $400 for the computer, and I'm just trying to make up my mind if $200 is worth upgrading a better CPU, MOBO, and CASE/PSU.

Thanks for all the help!


Ben

Your better off x Firing or SLI because those cards are like the best you can get, though a nvidia are made for gaming ati is made a lot more for video editing and such and nvidia cards such as the 470 gtx is more powerful than the ati 5870
http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/ite... The ati 5870 can be up to 400$ The nvidia is a much better way to go, also the next upgrade according to much research is worth it the nvidia 480 does better than the ati 5870. Though some games just run better on nividia or ati video cards, some are nvidia powered and work best with them or are ati powered and work best with ati.
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