- Oct 20, 2011
- 7
- 0
- 18,510
Hello all! I've been surfing for info a while now and am astonished at how helpful you all in this forum can be!! I figured I would post for some advice from those much wiser than I 
(I hope this is the right area to do it! If not, feel free to move my post, sorry!)
I'm a big BF3 fan, and with all the great games out/coming out this year, I'd like to upgrade a bit to try and max some settings (currently only get about 25-30FPS on a good day when maxed in Metro 2033)
I primarily use my pc for gaming. I do some web design but I'm moving all that over to a "work PC", so that's irrelevant now. I also like to record gameplay and upload it to YouTube. I've got two 1920x1080 res monitors, but use only one while gaming at the moment.
I'd say I wanna spend <$700 on an upgrade. Preferably much less, but I do want quality parts that will last for a bit.
I built my first and current rig a little over a year ago and it is as follows:
A few questions:
1) Are my CPU & RAM slowing my gpu down? Or is the 2GB GPU memory not helping as much as I think it is?
2) Is it worth overclocking my CPU? Or should I just replace it? I honestly have no idea how to OC, but might be able to get help from friends and research.
I was checking out articles, and saw the i5-2400 (or slightly better -2500K) was recommended, but I would have to update my MOBO, since mine's LGA1156 (apparently that's old
).
3) If I upgrade my GPU, is the HD 6870 a significant jump from my 5870 2GB? Or should I go up to HD6950 (which can unlock to 6970 if I figure that out) I'm leaning toward the 6950...
4) 8GB of RAM seems like plenty to me, but I know that 1333 speed is really dragging me down. My current board says it supports DDR3 2200/1333/1066/800... I think my mobo is holding me back here. I'd like to get at LEAST some 1600 RAM.
The i5-2400 and 6950 would put me at about $430, plus a new board and much needed RAM... I think I could get in under 700, but I want to make sure I have the best stuff. Any ideas/suggestions? I would love to learn more and get the best bang for my buck! Thanks so much for reading!
(I hope this is the right area to do it! If not, feel free to move my post, sorry!)I'm a big BF3 fan, and with all the great games out/coming out this year, I'd like to upgrade a bit to try and max some settings (currently only get about 25-30FPS on a good day when maxed in Metro 2033)
I primarily use my pc for gaming. I do some web design but I'm moving all that over to a "work PC", so that's irrelevant now. I also like to record gameplay and upload it to YouTube. I've got two 1920x1080 res monitors, but use only one while gaming at the moment.
I'd say I wanna spend <$700 on an upgrade. Preferably much less, but I do want quality parts that will last for a bit.
I built my first and current rig a little over a year ago and it is as follows:
A few questions:
1) Are my CPU & RAM slowing my gpu down? Or is the 2GB GPU memory not helping as much as I think it is?
2) Is it worth overclocking my CPU? Or should I just replace it? I honestly have no idea how to OC, but might be able to get help from friends and research.
I was checking out articles, and saw the i5-2400 (or slightly better -2500K) was recommended, but I would have to update my MOBO, since mine's LGA1156 (apparently that's old
).3) If I upgrade my GPU, is the HD 6870 a significant jump from my 5870 2GB? Or should I go up to HD6950 (which can unlock to 6970 if I figure that out
) I'm leaning toward the 6950...4) 8GB of RAM seems like plenty to me, but I know that 1333 speed is really dragging me down. My current board says it supports DDR3 2200/1333/1066/800... I think my mobo is holding me back here. I'd like to get at LEAST some 1600 RAM.
The i5-2400 and 6950 would put me at about $430, plus a new board and much needed RAM... I think I could get in under 700, but I want to make sure I have the best stuff. Any ideas/suggestions? I would love to learn more and get the best bang for my buck! Thanks so much for reading!
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