Battlefield 3 cpu upgrade

[boxojustice]

So, I am poor but would like to play battlefield 3 on higher settings.

Current specs

evga nforce 680i lt motherboard
intel e6550
4 gb ddr2 800
nvidia gtx 560 ti

I currently run battlefield 3 on low to avoid performance hitches while playing online. I believe I am being held back by my cpu. My question is if I were to upgrade my cpu to a qx6850, the fastest quad core cpu my current motherboard supports, would I see a significant upgrade in performance over my e6550? It looks like I can acquire this cpu for around $200 off of ebay. Compared to the roughly $400 it would cost to upgrade to a more current mother/cpu/memory combo. Obviously the $400 option would net me better performance but I am poor so I would like to go with the cheapest viable option but I also don't want to just throw money away if the qx6850 wont give me the boost I want over my current setup.

 

[sosofm]

core 2quad Q 9400,9450 i think your motherboard will support. Its at almost 200$ on ebay.Do a bios update before changing the processor.These cpu's are better than qx6850

 

[geekapproved]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115078
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128527

You can also pick up 8GB of ddr3 for between $20 and $30. Total we be around $195-205. Also the 2100 is on sale for $115 all the time.

The i3 will blow away any QXXX in BF3 and hang with any i7 quad. The cpu only consumes a max of 65w, and has integrated graphics if your video card ever takes a crap.

Plus the platform would be upgradable to a faster Sandy Bridge or Ivy Bridge cpu.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/battlefield-3-graphics-performance,3063-13.html

 

[cbrunnem]

honestly you should hold out and just bight the bullet and when you save up the money get a sandy bridge cpu and ram mobo. its either 200 now and 400 later or just 400 now. the 200 dollars would be a band aide to the bigger problem.

Bf3 needs a good fast quad core to be good online, dont let people tell you otherwise.

 

[geekapproved]

Bf3 needs a good fast quad core to be good online, dont let people tell you otherwise.

or 2 sandy cores with hyperthreading. A good graphics card is the key with BF3.

 

[tokadub]

I would advise anyone upgrading their computers to get a 2500k or 2600k, I know the cost seems high. But it is so worth it if you want to play games like Battlefield 3.

 

[cbrunnem]

or 2 sandy cores with hyperthreading. A good graphics card is the key with BF3.

2 cores plus hyperthreading makes playing online unplayable for me.

 

[amuffin]

i3-2100, then use your saved money on the highest end ivybridge cpu (i7-3770k) :lol:

 

[boxojustice]

Thanks for the info guys. Very helpful.

 

[majorgibly]

i3-2100, then use your saved money on the highest end ivybridge cpu (i7-3770k) :lol:

I'm not to fond of that advice to be honest. You may as well not buy a computer and just wait then with the saved money buy a new GPU or something lol

 

[geekapproved]

What baffles me is Tom's did an article about BF3 cpu scaling, and they did all the tests in single player....?? HUH

Why wouldn't they do the test in MP, I mean who plays the SP more than once or for more than one day....??

How dumb. I've yet to see a BF3 cpu scaling article where the tests were done in 64player MP.

 

[amuffin]

I'm not to fond of that advice to be honest. You may as well not buy a computer and just wait then with the saved money buy a new GPU or something lol

Oops I meant the i5-3750k