Upgrading system to handle BF3

[kanazero]

Hey everyone, I'm looking to upgrade my system to handle BF3. At the moment my system consists of:
OS: Win7 64-bit
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 970
RAM: 4GB Kingston HyperX DDR2
Motherboard: ASUS M4A785-M
GPU: ATI Radeon HD 4800

With this my FPS hovers around 30-35, dropping below that as time goes on. Would I mainly be aiming for a new GPU/Motherboard?

 

[samuelspark]

What's your PSU and monitor resolution? Those two things play a huge factor. Also need to know budget. GPU is a bottleneck. Get a 6870 for <1080p and a 6950 for 1080p.

 

[kanazero]

Woops, left those out. My PSU is 650W, and resolution is 1920x1080.
The budget is anywhere around 400-500.

 

[HugoStiglitz]

yeah i would 2nd that. (samuelspark)

6950 for what your doing. (1080p)
note there would be almost no diff in performance between 1gb and 2gb versions.

just if u want to future proof or have the money spare go for the 2gb

 

[samuelspark]

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161372 Excellent 6950 2GB that can be easily flashed into a 6970. Very quiet with excellent cooling performance. P.S. 6970 > 580 in BF3 http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/battlefield-3-graphics-performance,3063-8.html

 

[kanazero]

I see. Would I need a motherboard upgrade as well? I see the bus for the 6950 is at 2.1 x16, whereas my current board is 2.0. Is there a difference?

 

[samuelspark]

There's practically no difference between 2.1 and 2.0 you'll be fine and try to upgrade to ivy bridge next year so you don't bottleneck anything.

 

[blakphoenix]

a decent 650W PSU will be fine for virtually any single gpu configuration unless you plan to overclock to the extreme. i am using a lovely corsair 620w psu and have even run dual 275's on it with no issues at all.

The 6950 (even if not flashed to a 6970) should be great at 1080p, im running a stock 6950 at 2650 and can run high graphics in 64 player maps on a i5 750 with semi decent fps (~30). I would estimate your fps would be around 60 at high with that setup.