Will this CPU upgrade suffice for Battlefield 3?

[patlav1980]

I have the current system:

Intel Core 2 DUO E8400 @ 3.00GHz, 2997 Mhz, 2 Core
AMD Radeon HD 6850
4.00 GB Ram
600W ATX Seasonic SS600ET
Windows Vista 64x

and after playing BF3 (came out yesterday), I found out the gameplay was pretty bad. After asking around, I was lead to believe that upgrading the CPU / MOBO / Memory would do the trick. (PSU and GPU stays the same).

Here's what I have in mind for the upgrade:

CPU: i5-2400: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115074
MOBO: ASUS P8H61: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131724
Memory: 2x4GB DDR3 SDRAM 1333G.SKILL Ripjaws: http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231311
Total: 321.97$

My budget being 325$ or lower, is this the best I can do atm or am I missing better/cheaper parts that will allow me to play BF3? (the specs are below).

ATM, playing the game is next to impossible, everything is choppy when running / crouching around.



Here are the min and recommended requirements
*************************************************
Minimum System Requirements
OS: Windows Vista (Service Pack 2) 32-Bit
Processor: 2 GHz Dual Core (Core 2 Duo 2.4 GHZ or Althon X2 2.7 GHz)
Memory: 2 GB
Hard Drive: 20 GB
Graphics Card (AMD): DirectX 10.1 compatible with 512 MB RAM (ATI RADEON 3000, 4000, 5000 OR 6000 series, with ATI RADEON 3870 or higher performance)
Graphics Card (NVIDIA): DirectX 10.0 compatible with 512 MB RAM (NVIDIA GEFORCE 8, 9, 200, 300, 400 OR 500 series with NVIDIA GEFORCE 8800 GT or higher performance)
Sound card : DirectX compatible
Keyboard and Mouse
DVD ROM Drive

Recommended System Requirements
OS: Windows 7 64-Bit
Processor: Quad-Core CPU
Memory: 4 GB
Hard Drive: 20 GB
Graphics Card: DirectX 11 compatible with 1024 MB RAM (NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 or ATI RADEON 6950)
Sound Card: DirectX compatible
Keyboard and Mouse
DVD ROM Drive
*************************************************

 

[gnomio]

That resolution your gpu is the more important factor.
Ill get a x4 955 Oc it a bit and save the cash for a future gpu upgrade whenever you feel your gpu is not cutting it anymore or when the newer Gpus arrive

 

[patlav1980]

Here's another info I just found out.

Always on lowest settings, I've tried playing in a less populated server (23 ppl) as opposed to the previous gaming sessions with 55+. This time, its much more playable as there's no skipping, excess lagging.

Does this suggest a GPU bottleneck or CPU bottleneck?

 

[gnomio]

Drop your settings all to do with the graphics and to your gpu to its lowest. Then push them back up if your fps is more or less the same its your cpu bottlenecking.

 

[patlav1980]

Did a little test, I went on a 23 players server and ran around where the action was at.

Low settings: 40-60 FPS
Medium: 35-50 FPS
High: 29-35 FPS
Ultra: 23-25 FPS

My computer is really having a hard time when there's more stuff going on around me. (example: multiple players with tanks and jets and all the bang bang)

 

[gnomio]

Yeah thats the AI which your dual core have a bit of a hard time with probably. Bump its frequency up a bit then run the test again. But I suggest start thinking about a Quad

 

[simon12]

Its official a dual core with no hyper threading is all you need for BF3

"Battlefield 3's single-player campaign doesn’t care if you’re using a $130 Core i3 or $315 Core i7. It doesn’t care if you come armed with two Hyper-Threaded cores or four Bulldozer modules. It just. Doesn’t. Care.

In fact, after getting a little overzealous swapping out Lynnfield-, Clarkdale-, and Sandy Bridge-based chips, I tried one AMD CPU and decided to call it a day. Any reasonably-modern processor is going to be held back by graphics long before hamstringing performance itself."
http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/battlefield-3-graphics-performance,review-32308-13.html

 

[ElMoIsEviL]

Indeed... it should have been intuitive to all that a stronger CPU was not of great importance. The game uses several layers all working one on top of the other (post processing effects). This is a rather shader intensive game. Throw in Tessellation and you've got a really GPU heavy title on your hands.

 

[patlav1980]

Best answer selected by patlav1980.

 

[gostumpy]

Just want to chime in here...

I came in wanting to say the HD6850 is a great card for BF3...However upon realizing that OP is playing at 1920x1200, a HD6850 is not going to cut it... Lowest graphics settings possible, it may 'work', but still won't be completely 40-50+ FPS.

Not sure what to suggest, however... I'm just glad I play at 1680x1050, so the 6850 is almost perfect for me on 'Medium' to 'High' settings...

I'd suggest a GTX570 or a Radeon 6950 2GB for 1920x1200 resolution

 

[sibela]

I agree with the previous poster. I also read somewhere from a guy who tried BF3 with a 6850 and later a 6950. He said difference was night and day. Dunno about his resolution, but since OP plays at 1920x1200 I too suggest getting a 6950, better 2gb if it's a really high resolution or plan on setting Eyefinity setups later.