Computer upgrade

[nivram_07]

Hello there. I'm still new in computer upgrading so I'm gonna ask you guys some questions.

Which parts do I have to change in able to max out battlefield 3 at 1080p (given that I'm on a budget)?

current specs:

ATI Radeon HD 4870
AMD Phenom II X2 550
Gigabyte GA-MA790GP-UD4H motherboard
4 GB DDR2 RAM
500W PSU

I searched online and I'm looking at:

Radeon 6950 2GB
Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition (*will it be better if I get the phenom II X6? Will that make a big improvement?)
Corsair TX750 V2 750W

^are these new parts enough to max out battlefield 3? I know I want to upgrade in the future so can somebody recommend some parts?


Thanks in advance.

 

[nivram_07]

I also use some video editing and photoshop guys. ^so the phenom II X6 is way to go?

 

[night_wolf]

why don't you go for the Intel processors ??

 

[BlackHawk91]

Or you could wait for bulldozer, it's around the corner.

 

[nivram_07]

I'm afraid that bulldozers are gonna be expensive. I'm looking at core i5 2500k. What do you think?

 

[lilotimz]

The most immediate thing you can do is upgrade the graphics card and try to unlock / overclock that phenom II. If lucky, you'll unlock the 2 locked cores and get a Phenom II X4 B50 and save yourself money.

An 6950 will do good on high settings on BF3 but max out might make it stutter.

 

[nivram_07]

is there any single gpu that can ultra BF3? or I can just wait and buy a second 6950 in the future and run it on crossfire?

 

[enzo matrix]

is there any single gpu that can ultra BF3? or I can just wait and buy a second 6950 in the future and run it on crossfire?

I would advise against crossfire or SLI due to stuttering issues. The GTX580 is currently the single most powerful card. The Radeon 7000 series is supposedly going to be released before the end of the year.

Here are your performance numbers on current high end cards with AA disabled at 1920x1200:
http://www.techspot.com/review/448-battlefield-3-beta-performance/page5.html

Here are your CPU scaling numbers with a single GTX580:
http://www.techspot.com/review/448-battlefield-3-beta-performance/page7.html

So, cost no option and you are one of those people who can stand stuttering:
triple SLI GTX580 with i7 2600k

Something more cost effective:
single GTX580 with phenom IIx4 955/965/975/980 or i5 2500k/2500/2400/2300

Or if you don't mind stuttering, buy a second 6950 and one of the above mentioned CPUs

Remember that your video editing performance will scale with the price of your CPU. Last I checked, all the CPUs I mentioned perform according to their pricepoint.
Here's a random video encoding benchmark:
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/CPU/28

Just a note: telling us you are on a budget, then not telling us your budget, does not let us help you lol.

 

[nivram_07]

hmm. my budget probably $600-$800 max.

 

[enzo matrix]

hmm. my budget probably $600-$800 max.

Big budget. In that case:

Phenom IIx4 960t (I didn't know AMD brought these to retail. 3.4 turbo. based on the x6 overclock, prolly better overclock than the old x4's, not to mention the possible core unlocking)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103995&Tpk=960t
http://www.cpu-world.com/CPUs/K10/AMD-Phenom%20II%20X4%20960T%20Black%20Edition%20-%20HD96ZTWFK4DGR.html

GTX580 (or the cheapest brand at whenever you decide to buy)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130587

 

[nivram_07]

Best answer selected by nivram_07.