Graphics Card for SWTOR

[HalcyonJedi]

I will try and make this short and sweet since I know there have been a ton of SWTOR threads in the last week or so

I have an aging PC that will not run SWTOR - I've currently got an nVidia 6800 Ultra and an older AMD 64 Socket 939 Processor

I'm looking to pick up a new mobo/processor combo, most likely an AMD Phenom™ II X6 1100T Black Edition with an ASUS M5A87 motherboard ($240 at Micro Center for the combo, which seems like a very good price). With at least 8GB RAM.

Where I don't want to break the bank is on the GPU - The only game I will be playing on this PC is SWTOR, that's it. I want it to run on maximum settings, look great and run great; that's it. All my other gaming is done on my PS3 (please put the bricks down ) This video card came highly recommended and I was hoping if someone could tell me if this will get me the best bang for my buck so to speak:

http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0363815 (It's an MSI AMD Radeon HD 6670 1024MB GDDR5 PCIe 2.0 x16 for $99 and comes with a $20 rebate). I certainly don't think the processor/mobo combo I've picked will have an issue running the game, but I'm not sure on the graphics card, so that's where I was hoping for some advice I've been out of the gaming PC arena for a long time (as you can see from my current setup), I'm partial to AMD processors, but as far as GPU's I don't have a preference one way or another.

Micro Center also has a Gigabyte ATi Radeon HD 6850 1024MB GDDR5 PCIe 2.1 x16 Video Card GV-R685OC-1GD card for $169 with a $20 rebate, but I'm not sure if that card will be overkill for what I want? Any/all advice is much appreciated!

 

[refillable]

If you are playing in 1080p get the 6850 one. But if you are playing in low resolution 6670 will suffice.

Anyway what's your PSU?

 

[kajabla]

Skyrim is largely CPU-limited; you'll need a 2500K to fully max it out.

 

[jryan388]

I've only got a 5750 with my 2500k and I can play everything maxed except shadows (horrible stuttering with shadows for some reason) at 1080p. Not 60fps but definitely playable.

EDIT: sorry, only read the post above mine. Fail.
Tom's benchmarks: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/star-wars-gaming-tests-review,3087.html
Looks like you'd better get a Phenom quad at least; a 955 would be great.
Graphics-wise, it's really quite demanding at max. 1280x1024: a 560/6870 would be great. 1080p: a 570 would work but a 580 or 6970 would be better.

 

[kajabla]

^Right. With a great CPU you don't need much of a GPU. I think a 2500K and a 6850 would do it.

 

[HalcyonJedi]

refillable - how would I determine if I am running in 1080p? I've got a Samsung 21-inch LCD monitor..does it support 1080p you think? And I want to run the game in the best graphics settings possible

kajabla - I was referring to Star Wars The Old Republic, not Skyrim

 

[kajabla]

LOL oops
OK. Maxing SWTOR takes a whole lot more GPU-wise and a whole lot less CPU-wise. A 955 would do it (drop that 1100T), but you'd need a 570 for the graphics, I think.

 

[HalcyonJedi]

When you are referring to 2500k, are you talking about the processor?

I'm planning on getting the Phenom™ II X6 1100T Black Edition processor

 

[kajabla]

I know you're planning on it, and I'm telling you to change your plans, unless there's some reason you really need 6 cores (professional media work). The 955 works just as well in gaming and it's significantly cheaper. The 2500K's miles better, but it's also much more expensive, and I think you can get by without it.
Yes, the processor.

 

[jryan388]

The 2500k is Intel's i5 2500k processor. Quad-core, sandy bridge architecture (which is significantly faster than anything AMD has to offer). It's about $220. The Phenom II x4 955 is one of AMD's cheaper quad-core processors, and it's only $120. It's still pretty fast (but not in the same league as the 2500k), fast enough for SWTOR for sure. I'd say go for the 955 because according to the Tom's benchmarks anything better than that won't help much.

 

[HalcyonJedi]

I was going with the 1100T because Micro Center had a deal where you could get that processor and the ASUS board I mentioned all for $240 - they don't have that same bundle offer with Intels

They don't have the 955 processor, the closest they have is the 970 with that ASUS board, and it's only $40 less than the 1100T combo.

I don't *need* the 6 cores, but I figured if it was only going to be $40 more then I'd go with the best one available..

As far as the video cards, what do you guys recommend if I want to play it with all the settings maxed? I want to go with a Radeon, but I don't know which one would be powerful enough to handle all the settings at maximum

 

[refillable]

Yeah I think 1100T will give you good performance. It's a beast when comes to 7ZIP and Photoshop stuff, the only thing is that it is not comparable to i5 2500k in gaming. If you don't do these stuff then 970 will suffice.

For the GPU what you should choose is 6850. And to answer your question 1080p is the resolution. In windows to check the resolution go right click at the desktop and click ''Screen Resolution'' It will tell you about it there.

If you ask which brand you should buy, go check these: MSI, Gigabyte, ASUS, HIS, Sapphire or XFX.

 

[kajabla]

As I said, it'll take a 570 to really max SWTOR. http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/star-wars-gaming-tests-review,3087-9.html

 

[GArrigotti]

I'm a tad late to this thread, but hopefully this will answer your question.

Star Wars The Old Republic is more reliant on your CPU. You'd be better off getting a 1366 Intel based unit; or even a 2nd or 3rd gen 1155 unit. The processing power will be far better then AMD's especially in raw calculations. The Intel 1366 may be hard to come by due to it being around two-three years old.

The 1155 will be really easy to come by and are on sale due to the third generation Ivy Bridge about to release. So Sandy-Bridge 1155 units such as: Intel i7-2700K on sale for around $309 dollars, or an Intel i7-2600K for $289. The one you may consider especially for a budget is the 2500K which is on sale for around $219.

A great budget combo: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboBundleDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.864873

A better board for overclocking: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.877692

Those are a few examples; you can find others that may hit your criteria better.

As for a graphics card Swtor utilizes one obviously, but isn't solely reliant on it. The lowest card you can get away with maxing everything from Ati are: 6970, 6770. They will be slightly harder to come by now that the 7000 series has been released.

From Nvidia: 560 Ti, 570, and 580. Their 560 and 570 will be a far greater bang for the buck especially since they are about to be phased out by their 600 series counter-parts. They are about $250 at the current moment after rebate.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130738

With Intel & Nvidia setup shouldn't cost more then $800 dollars.

Hope that helps.