What should I upgrade for SWtoR?

[jimmybaws]

Hey guys, I need some advice to what I should invest m money into.

My current specs are as following:
Intel Core 2 Quad @ 2.66ghz.
Radeon HD 5770 1GB OC (Gigabyte)
Asus Motherboad 4 DIMM Slots (DDR2)
2x2GB Ram 800Mhz (DDR2)
650w PSU

Im trying to run swtor low settings 1920x1080, and i get 30fps questing, the warzones/battlegrounds are unplayable, i dont care about shadows/quality im quite happy with low but for some reason i have to have 1920x1080 play. Call me picky.

I currently have around $350 to spend.

My question is: With my money should i upgrade My motherboard and CPU (Including DDR3 Ram) and stick with the 5770 Or should I go and buy a Radeon 6870.

I Didnt know whether my old-ish ram and mid priced CPU from 2 years ago would or would not bottleneck the 6870.

Which one of these upgrades would affect my performance greatly?

Thanks for all posts, and merry christmas!

 

[fuggles]

budget ?

I believe though a graphics card will make he biggest difference

 

[jimmybaws]

budget ?

I believe though a graphics card will make he biggest difference

Yea i edited it in just then.

 

[fuggles]

oh 350 ?

get a new graphics card

 

[sephirothmk]

MMORPGs tend to be very CPU intensive. Still, SWToR is a new game and i have no idea what makes a bigger impact.

 

[jaguarskx]

Can you overclock your CPU?

Can you try lowering the resolution to 1600 x 900 to see if that helps?

 

[jimmybaws]

Can you overclock your CPU?

Can you try lowering the resolution to 1600 x 900 to see if that helps?

didnt help ;(

 

[halolll]

Im in a similar situation as you, same gfx card except my processor is an amd tri core at 2.1 ghz and I have 8 gigs ddr2. I personally think that in my case the processor is the bottleneck. I game at 1680x1050, and I have had completely playable fps while questing but warzones are unplayable. I am not entirely sure, but I think the cpu is the bottleneck on my system simply because it cant process the information coming in from the game about the location of other players and the abilities they are using fast enough to get the info to the graphics card to be rendered. This is a complete hypothesis on my part and I would get some more opinions before proceeding with your upgrade

 

[jaguarskx]

How about playing at the lowest possible resolution?

I don't think there would be an issue with the amount of data the CPU can process especially a quad core. I don't believe so much data is coming through the network that it would lockup a CPU in a game.

Can you play the game in Window mode, then launch Task Manager to look at both CPU usage and network traffic? I don't play multiplayer games, but maybe the servers' bandwidth are too overwhelmed. Unlikely, but it could happen.

 

[dontcrosthestreams]

why do you car about swtor performance. the space fighting is snes graphics on a rail...the rest is a small handfull of cookie cutter builds on small levels. what 18 planets to explore. the games a bigger flop than bulldozer.

 

[halolll]

How about playing at the lowest possible resolution?

I don't think there would be an issue with the amount of data the CPU can process especially a quad core. I don't believe so much data is coming through the network that it would lockup a CPU in a game.

Can you play the game in Window mode, then launch Task Manager to look at both CPU usage and network traffic? I don't play multiplayer games, but maybe the servers' bandwidth are too overwhelmed. Unlikely, but it could happen.

Thing is we dont know how many threads SWTOR scales with. If it only scales with two then the micro arch and topography become much more important.

 

[keha12]

Man didnt realize that came out. Im going to have to check it out .
Back on subject lol.

The system requirements are kinda vague. Had to hunt a little just to find them, on the official site!

But given what I read. Id say "internet" is the culprit. Either playing on a server to far. Or since it just launched. The servers might be overloaded. Check ping in game, if you can. Should be under 100-ping, under 50 preferably.
They might havent "optimized the game yet either. Out of any game with problems. MMO's exhibit the most at launch. so you might just wanna wait.

Then you can download "msi afterburner" run that in background. Play the game some.
You want your GPU usage near max %.
Now in task manager. Look at CPU usage. If all cores are at 100%, then thats the bottleneck. Especially if your GPU never comes close to 100%.

High GPU=good. High CPU=gpu waiting on CPU. In most case scenarios.

But also could just be some setting. That should be off. Googling "fps tweaks" for your game. Might just show you, that you dont need to upgrade.

Far as requirements. You CPU is borderline. But they did a horrible job is showing the requirements. They dont have "recommended" they just have "minimal" specs.

 

[tziakas]

Dude, I play SWTOR with 1920 x 1080 full graph (only shadows at low setting) and I get over 40fps with this spec:

Pentium Dual Core E6800 3.33 (oc 3.4)
Sapphire 5770 (oc 900 - 1250)
4gb DDR2 800mhz (4 x 1gb - oc 820mhz)

I had some troubles in the past with game crushes and low perfomance. I found out that my PSU was a mess, so the system wasn't getting the right power to function correctly. It doesn't matter if your PSU says it's 650w. If it's bad quality or damaged from time use, system won't work right. Try using another from a friend or something just for check.

 

[noob2222]

Thing is we dont know how many threads SWTOR scales with. If it only scales with two then the micro arch and topography become much more important.

Toms did a pre-release review

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/star-wars-gaming-tests-review,3087-8.html

goes well to at least 4-cores. make sure your c2q is running at 3.0+ ghz, seems to drop off fast below that mark with the PII.

Toms showed the 5770 should handle low settings just fine up to 1900x1080

At high detail, it struggled tho, even at 1280x1024.