Most efficient way I can increase planetside 2 performance ?

[Tarix]

As the title states, I am looking to efficiently increase my systems performance in planetside 2 with a reasonable amount of future proofing.

Immediate needs:
1) playing planetside 2 with a reasonable frame rate with settings at least on medium.
2) Spend smartly, without too much overkill but with a reasonable amount of future proofing (3-4 years)

Choices/Options:
1) Upgrade only GPU now, and rest of system later.
2) Upgrade whole system cheaply now(for $570)
3) Upgrade whole system more expensively now ($1000)

All I do is game, like I said above, lately just planetside 2. If it was up to me I would just do the expensive upgrade, but my wife is giving me a hardtime about it. So I really only want to go that route if it is absolutely necessary, Especially not if it is complete overkill. Conversely, I don't want to waste money on a budget box that doesn't accomplish my stated goal. If my current system would be significantly improved by just buying a $300 GPU, that would prob be the way to go. I'm just not sure if my current system would benefit from a new GPU.

This is what I currently have:

CPU: Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 OC'ed 3.8ghz (I generally don't OC, I had to to improve Planetside 2 performace.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115036

mobo: Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3r
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128359

RAM: 4gb (2x2) G Skill DDR2-800, pc2 6400
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128359

GPU: EVGA Nvidia 260 GTX 896mb
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130370

PSU: Corsair TX 750w
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

My Cheap Build would include:
CPU : Intel Core i3-3220 ($120)
Mobo: Asrock h77 pro4/mvp ($80)
GPU: Gigabyte Radeon 7870 ($230)
Ram: Gskill Ripjaw X Series 8gb (4x2) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) ($40)
PSU: use above
Keep old case - generic mid-tower with 5 fans
HD: WD Black 1tb, or Samsung SSD (both about $100)
Total $570

More Expensive build:
CPU: Intel core i5 3570k ($215)
Mobo: Asrock z77 Extreme 6 ($144)
Ram: Gskill Ripjaw X Series 16gb (4x4) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) ($80)
GPU: Gigabyte Radeon 7950 ($300)
Case: Cooler master HAF 939 Full tower ($140)
HDD: same as above ($100)
CPU cooler: Cooler master hyper 212 ($35)
Total: $1040

P.s. I will be playing on an Asus 1080p 24 inch mon

Any advice would be greatly appreciated. Specifically how much of an impact each choice would have regarding performance increase in PS2. Currently I have to play on low and get 20-30 fps with too frequent drops to below acceptable levels during big fights.

Thanks so much in advance !!

 

[Derza10]

I would get the 7950, try it out in your current system if you don't see enough improvement take your wife out to a nice dinner date and whatever else it takes to convince her you need the "Expensive build". If that fails go with the cheap build but with the 7950 that you would already have

Edit: Planetside 2 is a pretty CPU intense game so do what you can to end up with the i5.

 

[Tarix]

Thanks for the advice. If a 7950 would make a huge difference for now and I could space out the expense a bit , that would probably fly ok with the boss. I just wish there was a way to know how much of an improvement it would make.

 

[hapkido]

CPU + Mobo: Intel Core i5-3570K + ASRock Z77 Pro3 $291.98
RAM: Mushkin Enhanced Blackline 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 $39.99
GPU: GIGABYTE Radeon HD 7870 $229.99

Total: $561.96

Upgrade the parts that are going to affect performance and keep the rest of your system. A 120GB SSD would be nice to have, but it's not going to improve your fps. You won't need an aftermarket CPU cooler until you overclock. These 4 parts will get you most of the in-game performance as your expensive build for about half the price.

 

[Derza10]

Thanks for the advice. If a 7950 would make a huge difference for now and I could space out the expense a bit , that would probably fly ok with the boss. I just wish there was a way to know how much of an improvement it would make.

Well both your CPU and GPU need to be upgraded to get high FPS, what you can do is Lower your resolution and see if your FPS improve at all, if they do a GPU will help some... If they don't, you are better off replacing the mobo+CPU now and getting a GPU later if the FPS still isn't good enough for you.

This way you can spend the least amount for some improvement, or you could do what hapkido suggested and just do both. 8gb of ram is all you need, 16gb is overkill.

 

[Tarix]

Guys, thanks for talking this out with me, I have been struggling with this since planetside 2 came out.

I just noticed that Newegg has the ASrock Z77 extreme4 for $129.99 and you get 8gb Gskill sniper DDR3 1600 for FREE.

So, what if I got that above combo, and the i3 3220 for $120 and the gigatebyte 7870 for $230, Grand total: $480

Would this be enough??
Is the i3 3220 a huge downgrade from the i5 3570k ?
Is the 7950 worth the extra 70 bucks?


@Hapkido, I do, however, see the appeal of the ASrock +3570k combo, I probably don't need the extreme version of the mobo as I don't imagine I will ever use sli/crossfire and I am not a big oc'er.

@Derza, I have actually turned down my resolution and for some odd reason it actually seems like performance gets worse, that could just be because the game was acting funny because I was messing with the settings. Whenever I do anything in game like that, the game gets kind of screwy.

Also, I should add my current HD is about 6 years old. Its a WD 7200 RPM 250gb Sata 3.0gb/s 16mb cache
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822144701

Not sure how much the HDD matters, as I understand it really only helps with loading the game initially, changing maps, and "zoning"

Again, thanks so much.

 

[Derza10]

You would be better off downgrading to the 7870 and getting the i5 for planetside 2.
You need a strong CPU to keep FPS up when you are in areas with many other people.

If it was me i would get an i5 3570k +mobo combo and a hyper 212 evo and OC it to 4.2-4.4GHz, then either get the 7870 or be extra good and get the boss to allow you to get the 7950

 

[hapkido]

Is the i3 3220 a huge downgrade from the i5 3570k ?
Is the 7950 worth the extra 70 bucks?

Get an i5. i3s are hyper-threaded dual cores (2 physical cores, 4 logical threads, 3MB L3 cache, no L2 cache). i5s are quad cores (4 physical cores, 4 logical threads, 6MB L3 cache, 1MB L2 cache). Planetside 2 is said to be pretty CPU dependent (I can't say for sure, I haven't played it yet). If that's true, you should benefit with an i5. If you're not going to overclock, you can save about $15 on an i5-3570k and get an i5-3470.

7950 is not worth an extra $70 in my opinion. You'd be spending an extra 30% and probably not getting nearly 30% extra fps. 7870 certainly isn't going to struggle with any games -- worst case is maybe you can't run some games on absolute max settings.