Upgrades for BF3, SWTOR

[PaladinDebonair]

Hi all:
My comp is getting a bit dated and i'm concerned about its ability to run BF3 and SWTOR at high/ultra high quality.
My build is as follows:

Case: Cooler Master Storm Scout
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119196

MBoard: ASUS P6X58D-E LGA 1366 Intel X58
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131641

VCard: EVGA GTX 460 (Fermi) Superclocked EE 1GB
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130567

PSU: Corsair CMPSU-750TX 750W ATX 12V
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006

CPU: Intel i7-950 Bloomfield 3.06GHz LGA 1366 130W
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115211

RAM: Corsair Dominator 6GB (3x 2GB) DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 PC3 12800
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145224

HD: Hitachi Deskstar 1TB 7200 RPM SATAhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822145368

If relevant, I'm using a Cooler Master Hyper 212 for my CPU Cooler.

What upgrades would y'all recommend to increase my ability to play BF3 and SWTOR (and other games as the future rolls forward)? I don't want to go crazy, and I've got a budget of about $300. I'm also slightly concerned about my Mboard and PSU's ability to handle additional upgrades given their age, and would gladly accept any advice on the subject.

Thanks,
Alex

 

[x Heavy]

My first advice to you is look at the EA's Recommended specs to play BF3, not the basic specs.

My build was 3000 dollars and still counting. This is not about money.

What it is about is that games have become very large and require strong up to date hardware. You can update your system and get adequate results and rapidly find yourself observable within the year. I literally bought a Dual core to go run BFBC2 and thought that was good. It wasnt I had to go get a dual core and replace the video cards to run (And stay alive in) BFBC2. 4. Months. LATER.

Now here we are in BF3. Alphas finished, Beta is underway, have played a few days with my new rig. I have consumed half of my 16 gig of 2133 memory, used 4 of 6 availible gigs of video GPU memory on two SLI 580's being fed by a sinewave Corsair PSU protected by a bigger UPS along with the house itself also protected and grounded. I run a i7 2600K which has time and time again to show it can run within a few frames of the 1366's, AMD and a few Intel EXTREME 1000.00 dollar CPU's

I am a free and clear home owner and can do this.

And that CPU still is able to stay with the new i3xxx's coming later this year. The Z68 with the Intel raid is a very strong Platform. Marvell is crap for raid or sata. Killer 2100 Bigfoot for NIC specifically gaming is included in some Z68 boards now. (I use one in a top PCIe slot)

And you think I would be done. No. I still have several more SSD's to bulk up and speed up my Raid, new replacement coolers to lower temps, replacing HAF's crappy 200 mm fans with Antec big boys (Essentially drilling and tapping my own holes and making screws myself now) and modding the *** out of it to accomodate what it takes to keep everything cold and running well.

I accept nothing less.

300 dollars may upgrade you to play BF3 for a while. But consider a bigger budget by taking on a second job or something. You are going to need it.

 

[ScrewySqrl]

the only thing I'd suggest is a graphics upgrade. Either a second 460 for SLI, or a step up to a 570 or 6950 2 GB model

 

[festerovic]

I have 2x6850s with 2600k and BF3 is in the 40-60fps range with all settings at ultra except AA, running at 1920x1200 res. Ocing the video cards provides actual results, I don't think you need to get too extreme.

 

[PaladinDebonair]

Right now im using a crappy 17 inch POS monitor but im hesitant to upgrade it without knowing how my Gpu can handle a resolution increase. Thoughts? Also, will a second gtx 460 really increase performance enough to justify not putting the money towards a newer card? Also, will my psu be able to handle another 1gb 460?

Thanks for the feedback so far. This was my first homebrew computer so im still a bit of a noob at it.

Alex

 

[ScrewySqrl]

Right now im using a crappy 17 inch POS monitor but im hesitant to upgrade it without knowing how my Gpu can handle a resolution increase. Thoughts? Also, will a second gtx 460 really increase performance enough to justify not putting the money towards a newer card? Also, will my psu be able to handle another 1gb 460?

Thanks for the feedback so far. This was my first homebrew computer so im still a bit of a noob at it.

Alex

the 750W PSU will handle a second 460 without breaking a sweat. 2x 460s will roughly equal a 570 (they beat a solo 480 when they first came out), which should be enough to drive BF3 and SWTOR maxxed out at 1920x1080. SWTOR has low enough system requirements you'll be at 95+ FPS, and BF3 shoudl be in the 60s-70s at least.

 

[PaladinDebonair]

Best answer selected by PaladinDebonair.