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Fall Upgrades - BF3/MW3 FTW!

L

Lucifer Morning Star

Weaksauce
Joined
Aug 12, 2006
Messages
105
Hey guys, doing a few upgrades and just wanted to get your insight. Here's a link to the last thread I made in this section. I ended up not upgrading my 22" lcd but would really like to do it this time because I plan on adding a second 5850. While in Texas this weekend, not only did I discover that Tiger Direct had built their own brick and mortar, but they carried the Corsair 800D. I was awestruck and bought it on the spot. So I'll be gutting my old Thermaltake Soprano as soon as I get the go ahead from you guys on my parts. I would like to upgrade the following:

replace 40gb ssd with a 100-200gb ssd
add a second 5850
27" lcd
please recommend a new cd-rom drive
should I upgrade my psu?


Here's my current build:

Intel Core i7 920 CPU
Corsair 750TX 750W PSU
Gigabyte GA-X58A-UD3R Intel X58 ATX Motherboard
Corsair CMX6GX3M3A1600C9 3 x 2GB DDR3 1600 RAM
XFX HD-585A-ZNFC Radeon HD 5850 1GB PCI-E Video Card
Intel SSDSA2MP040G2R5 2.5" 40GB SSD
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit OEM



1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
gaming/programming

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
I'd like to keep it around $700 but that isn't a hard number.

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
Little Rock, Ar

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget?
ssd, second vid card, cd-rom, lcd

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
cpu
mobo
vid card
ram
psu?

6) Will you be overclocking?
no

7) What size monitor do you have and/or plan to have?
currently have a 22" but would like to upgrade to 27" so that I can crossfire

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
In a couple of weeks

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc
.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
I'm runnin 64bit win7 but I don't know if I can ghost with ssd's or not.
 
Last edited:
For the SSD, I recommend the Intel 510 series or the Crucial M4 series. Get whatever size your budget allows.

Well two 5850s will be faster than a single 6970, but trying to find a new 5850 will prove to be difficult and cost a good penny I am sure. Going used will void any warranty you might (might not) need.

$19.99 - Sony Optiarc CD/DVD Burner

Your PSU can handle a second 5850 in CF.
 
I wouldn't bother with a second HD 5850 because Crossfire scaling wasn't that good or well updated with the HD 5xxx series. Maybe go for a single HD 6970 2GB. But if you want to chance it, try to buy a used HD 5850 for around $160. Do not buy it new as you're better off with a single HD 6970 2GB at that point.

I concur with the rest of Skillz's recommendations.
 
Lucifer Morning Star said:
What compatibility list should I check to make sure the card and ssd are compatible with my mobo?
Click to expand...
There really is no compability list like that. But the parts mentioned should work.

Now does your 22" monitor have a max res of 1920x1080 or 1680x1050 or lower? If the 1680x1050 and lower, no need to get the HD 6970 2GB at all. Stick with your current HD 5850.
 
not to thread jack :) but are we expecting BF3 and MW3 to require a big jump in required gpu & cpu power?
 
Danny Bui said:
There really is no compability list like that. But the parts mentioned should work.

Now does your 22" monitor have a max res of 1920x1080 or 1680x1050 or lower? If the 1680x1050 and lower, no need to get the HD 6970 2GB at all. Stick with your current HD 5850.
Click to expand...

how would I check that? To be honest I'm not really sure about my lcd's exact size, I think it may be a 20".
 
After talking with you guys I've decided to just transfer my current build to the new case with a new ssd and rom drive. I may still ugrade to a bigger monitor depending on the deals at Best Buy. I'll do the vid card upgrade closer to christmas and buy two new cards.

Danny I'd just like to thank you again for helping me put together my current build as well the info you've given me in this thread. I'd be lost without you. Thanks goes to Skillz as well.
 
hossdaddy said:
not to thread jack :) but are we expecting BF3 and MW3 to require a big jump in required gpu & cpu power?
Click to expand...

We don't really know, other than BFBC2 being a large resource hog on both the CPU and GPU, so we can only speculate that BF3 will be at least as hungry as BFBC2.

Lucifer Morning Star said:
ok I found it, I have a Dell 2007 with a resolution of 1680 x 1050
Click to expand...

I wouldn't bother with replacing the video card until you get a new monitor(s) with resolutions at least 1920x1080 or higher.

Lucifer Morning Star said:
After talking with you guys I've decided to just transfer my current build to the new case with a new ssd and rom drive. I may still ugrade to a bigger monitor depending on the deals at Best Buy. I'll do the vid card upgrade closer to christmas and buy two new cards.

Danny I'd just like to thank you again for helping me put together my current build as well the info you've given me in this thread. I'd be lost without you. Thanks goes to Skillz as well.
Click to expand...

You are very welcome.


Benchmark between 2 x 5850s and 1 x 6970; just for reference.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/303?vs=292
 
hossdaddy said:
not to thread jack :) but are we expecting BF3 and MW3 to require a big jump in required gpu & cpu power?
Click to expand...
I am expecting a big jump in required GPU and CPUI power with BF3 at the very least. Considering that BFBC2 is pretty demanding with only 32 players, relatively small maps, and a few vehicles and building destruction, I have a hunch that BF3 with 64 players, significantly larger maps, greater details, and probably a dozen or more vehicles is gonna have higher GPU and CPU power requirements.

As for MW3, maybe a performance increase judging from how COD:BO started using more CPU power than MW2 and how MW2 started using more CPU power than MW1.
Lucifer Morning Star said:
Danny I'd just like to thank you again for helping me put together my current build as well the info you've given me in this thread. I'd be lost without you. Thanks goes to Skillz as well.
Click to expand...

You're welcome :)
 
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