BF3 Performance on an AMD Athlon X2 4450e

[BlastFX]

I have a Compaq Presario PC SR5710y with an nvidia geforce 6150se graphics, which is garbage, I was wondering if you can lead me to a better gpu to add on to my Iris 8 mobo with 250w psu so I can be able to play bf3 on med settings 720p with 30 or more frames per second. BTW, it has 3gb of ram, for more spec info visit this link for any additional resources thanks in advance:
http://support.hp.com/us-en/document/c01616203

 

[BlastFX]

It has Windows Vista 32-bit, but I am going to upgrade to Windows 8.1 64-bit. I am also willing to buy more ram if that will help...

 

[thor220]

That computer cannot handle a newer GPU. The PSU is too weak and the processor would bottleneck nearly as GPU. You need to upgrade the whole system.

 

[BlastFX]

I just need a small gpu that just requires power from mobo, I already know that it could play bf3, ive seen it on youtube. I do know that I need an upgrade just for the meantime I would like to know a good gpu.

 

[thor220]

I just need a small gpu that just requires power from mobo, I already know that it could play bf3, ive seen it on youtube. I do know that I need an upgrade just for the meantime I would like to know a good gpu.

That motherboard only has PCIE 1.0. The best you probably can do is the R7 360. It's the lowest graphics card that AMD sells.

 

[BlastFX]

I just need a small gpu that just requires power from mobo, I already know that it could play bf3, ive seen it on youtube. I do know that I need an upgrade just for the meantime I would like to know a good gpu.

That motherboard only has PCIE 1.0. The best you probably can do is the R7 360. It's the lowest graphics card that AMD sells.

Would that gpu work on my system? If I were to put 4-8 gb of ram, that gpu, and windows 10 64-bit would I be able to play bf3 720p med settings? If not, would I need a bigger psu?

 

[thor220]

Your PSU states it is 250w but usually OEMs state the maximum wattage, not the sustained maximum. I would recommend a power supply upgrade as well. It doesn't have to be anything expensive or large wattage, just a quality unit. Something like an Antec earthwatts 430w unit would be more than enough.

Would the R7 360 be able to play bf3 at 720p? Yes, it would.

 

[BlastFX]

Your PSU states it is 250w but usually OEMs state the maximum wattage, not the sustained maximum. I would recommend a power supply upgrade as well. It doesn't have to be anything expensive or large wattage, just a quality unit. Something like an Antec earthwatts 430w unit would be more than enough.

Would the R7 360 be able to play bf3 at 720p? Yes, it would.

Would I need more than 3gb of ram, and would any of this bottleneck my cpu? Oh, and the r9 360 needs a 6 pin from the psu while the evga 750ti sc is just pci-e, and it performs better than the r7 360. It is also just 5$ more...

 

[thor220]

Your PSU states it is 250w but usually OEMs state the maximum wattage, not the sustained maximum. I would recommend a power supply upgrade as well. It doesn't have to be anything expensive or large wattage, just a quality unit. Something like an Antec earthwatts 430w unit would be more than enough.

Would the R7 360 be able to play bf3 at 720p? Yes, it would.

Would I need more than 3gb of ram, and would any of this bottleneck my cpu?

The problem with getting more RAM is that DDR2 is legacy, which means it's expensive. In addition, if you add RAM to the system it has to be all be of the same model and brand. Mixing RAM sticks can actually make things worse than better.

The R7 360 is really the fastest GPU your CPU can handle. There's nothing faster you can upgrade to without having to upgrade your CPU first.

 

[BlastFX]

Your PSU states it is 250w but usually OEMs state the maximum wattage, not the sustained maximum. I would recommend a power supply upgrade as well. It doesn't have to be anything expensive or large wattage, just a quality unit. Something like an Antec earthwatts 430w unit would be more than enough.

Would the R7 360 be able to play bf3 at 720p? Yes, it would.

Would I need more than 3gb of ram, and would any of this bottleneck my cpu?

The problem with getting more RAM is that DDR2 is legacy, which means it's expensive. In addition, if you add RAM to the system it has to be all be of the same model and brand. Mixing RAM sticks can actually make things worse than better.

The R7 360 is really the fastest GPU your CPU can handle. There's nothing faster you can upgrade to without having to upgrade your CPU first.

Coudn't I just remove the old ddr2 memory and insert new sticks? I found samsung 2gb sticks for 13$ on amazon i can just buy two of those for a 4gb system instead of 3? I just found a 8gb kit from kingston for 35 bucks with shipping... Once again I also want to know if the 750ti is better for my system because it requires less power, no 6 pin plug, and its better for only 5$ more?

 

[thor220]

Your PSU states it is 250w but usually OEMs state the maximum wattage, not the sustained maximum. I would recommend a power supply upgrade as well. It doesn't have to be anything expensive or large wattage, just a quality unit. Something like an Antec earthwatts 430w unit would be more than enough.

Would the R7 360 be able to play bf3 at 720p? Yes, it would.

Would I need more than 3gb of ram, and would any of this bottleneck my cpu?

The problem with getting more RAM is that DDR2 is legacy, which means it's expensive. In addition, if you add RAM to the system it has to be all be of the same model and brand. Mixing RAM sticks can actually make things worse than better.

The R7 360 is really the fastest GPU your CPU can handle. There's nothing faster you can upgrade to without having to upgrade your CPU first.

Coudn't I just remove the old ddr2 memory and insert new sticks? I found samsung 2gb sticks for 13$ on amazon i can just buy two of those for a 4gb system instead of 3? I just found a 8gb kit from kingston for 35 bucks with shipping... Once again I also want to know if the 750ti is better for my system because it requires less power, no 6 pin plug, and its better for only 5$ more?

Yes those 2 GB sticks will work. The 4 GB sticks may not work. 4 GB memory sticks are high density and many motherboards do not support this.

It doesn't matter if the pick the 750 Ti or the 360, your PSU is still going to have issues. Even on dell's own website it's listed as a "250w Power Supply" with any further details such as amps listed.

Getting a 750 Ti would be a waste of money. It's more expensive than the R7 360, your CPU will bottleneck it so you don't see any of it's extra speed, and it's older than the R7 360. Driver support and warranty are a good thing.

 

[BlastFX]

If I were to upgrade the Psu to what you told me, add those samsung 2gb kit of ram, put a 750 ti, and windows 10 64-bit, would the gpu still be bottleneck ed by the cpu? I don't care about price because there is only a 5$ difference and I could easily just stick it into my future rig. What about games that are more gpu intensive than cpu?

 

[thor220]

The CPU would still bottleneck the GPU but if you plan on using it in another computer I would go ahead and get the 750 Ti. On your current computer, even on games that are GPU intensive, your CPU would be a bottleneck simply because of the lack of cores and low IPC.

 

[BlastFX]

Thank you so much for your help, I know how annoying I can be, but I have one final question for you. With all the upgrades that I am planning to do to this broken machine, I want to know if it will effectively play bf3 720p, med to high settings without much problems at all. THANKS SO MUCH AGAIN.

 

[thor220]

Thank you so much for your help, I know how annoying I can be, but I have one final question for you. With all the upgrades that I am planning to do to this broken machine, I want to know if it will effectively play bf3 720p, med to high settings without much problems at all. THANKS SO MUCH AGAIN.

Yep, you should be good. The power supply and graphics card can be brought over to your next build too so that's another plus.

 

[BlastFX]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQYXKa132I0
This is basically what Ill be dealing with, his sempron 145 unlocked will be a dual core Amd Athlon X2 4450e (My processor)!

 

[thor220]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQYXKa132I0
This is basically what Ill be dealing with, his sempron 145 unlocked will be a dual core Amd Athlon X2 4450e (My processor)!

Not too bad, although his graphics options are really low. You should be able to get a bit more than him.