Upgrade suggestions for BF3/SKYRIM/FUTURE

[Cultasare]

Hey guys, I'm really looking to max out everything that comes at me this fall/winter. As well as keeping framerates 60+. My PC at the moment handles most things pretty well, but i'm really looking to experience these games to their fullest.

I'll post my specs below for you guys to look at and give me your opinions on what you feel I should upgrade. I was thinking a new Motherboard/CPU/RAM however i'm not sure what my best options would be when it comes to things like (intel i5 2500 vs intel i7 2600) or (16gb ddr3 1600 Vs 16gb ddr3 2200) Any help would be great! Thanks!

Also, I have had bad experiences with AMD in the past so I kinda favor Intel / Nvidia and SLI interests me.


CURRENT SPECS:

Motherboard: ASUS Striker II Formula

CPU: Intel Core 2 Quad Q9540

Video Card: EVGA Geforce GTX 470

RAM: 4GB Corsair DDR2 800.

PSU: Antec Truepower Quattro 850w

Case: Antec 900

HDD: WD Caviar Black 1TB + WD Caviar 750GB

I have a decent budget for this, however I don't want do splurge and spend unneeded cash on upgrades when I wont notice any difference. I'm not an overclocker, however it is something I would try.

 

[Proximon]

This is a classic example of what I was talking about in the last thread. Don't take it wrong, we have all done it... planned for SLI/Crossfire and then by the time it is actually needed the card is no longer made.

You could easily get more mileage out of the CPU with an overclock, if your board can deal with it. I'm not sure the northbridge on a 780i board can take a lot more heat... just depends.

You would bump the core speed up to 400mhz... making the CPU run at 3.2Ghz. That would cover your gaming for the time being.

Your memory could stay the same as it will run at the core speed x2... 800mhz.

Grab a GTX 580 and a good cooler that is likely to be compatible with the next gen Intel platform, LGA 2011 (Ivy Bridge).

Noctua is very good about upgrading coolers, so go with them in this case:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835608018
That way you can have confidence it will work with the next one.

And an SSD
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148442
won't run at full speed on your system but it will still be a nice upgrade.

Then after the holidays you can look at the new Intel Platform to finish your upgrades. This will get you through BF3 and Skyrim and that surprisingly good MMO that is currently in Beta (wink,wink).

 

[Cultasare]

Thanks for the suggestions! I was thinking about waiting for Ivy bridge too, the current stuff is halfway through it's prime now at the rate technology is going. Im new to the whole SSD thing, does it really make much difference to in-game performance? I heard from someone that it mostly just helps with loading times?

 

[Proximon]

Yes that's true.
Boot times, loading times, installation times, virus scans, windows updates... FPS, no, except when the game is trying to load textures on the fly.

Don't dismiss loading times though. They can be pretty long in newer games, or so I hear :lol:

I have a 160GB Intel 320. I bought size and reliability over speed and don't regret it a bit. I do want a larger one now and find myself moving some less important games off the SSD onto the HDD, but that is fairly painless with the right tools.

 

[blaze413]

Ya when you getthe money for later upgrades likes the CPU and motherboard that will give you the chance to boost up that ram...ddr3 is very nice not to mention the newer boards come with USB 3.0 which will also help with load and download times

 

[Cultasare]

Alright so Video card and SSD now, then Mobo/ram/CPU when Ivy comes. Do you think the next gen Nvidia cards will be out by then? Might be better to wait and do a full upgrade?

 

[Proximon]

I haven't heard anything definite on GPU release dates.

I have a 5870 and I'm still satisfied. I think your GTX 470 has very similar performance. I'm certainly waiting, but then when I replace it's a big deal as it's all water cooled.