Upgrading 9800GT for Battlefield 3

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Pwnstarr

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So my current outfit is:

Intel i5 (don't remember which version)
4 GB RAM
GeForce 9800GT

I haven't kept up with computer hardware. The 9800GT runs roughly on all low settings, 1920x1080 60hz. It's playable, but not pretty or smooth... like 20 fps or so. How much of a performance increase could I expect from upgrading my video card? Any recommendations for less than $200? Considering both Nvidia and Radeon GPUs, don't really know the difference between them though. Thanks!
 
I'll let someone else fill you in on the performance increase, but for the $200 price limit

nVidia: You're lookiing between the GTX 460 (Fermi) at $160 to the GTX 560 (Fermi) at $200. Those are the rough price points, and there will be more expensive, and more cheaper models available. You can also get the GTX 550 Ti under $200

ATI/AMD: You'll be looking at the 6850 at $160 to the 6870 at $200.

Regardless, you'll see a nice performance boost from your 9800GT.
 
Nice, thanks! Leaning toward the Radeon 6870 but might splurge for Xmas and get the 560 Ti...

LOL stupid me, I just tried lowering the resolution to 1366x768. Runs totally smooth now. I guess 1920x1080 was just too much for my card with BF3...
 
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Pwnstarr said:
Nice, thanks! Leaning toward the Radeon 6870 but might splurge for Xmas and get the 560 Ti...

LOL stupid me, I just tried lowering the resolution to 1366x768. Runs totally smooth now. I guess 1920x1080 was just too much for my card with BF3...
Click to expand...

probably :P. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130660 that's the card I have, Ran BF3 beta maxed out settings, highest res, etc with no problems. Don't know what kind of fps I was getting but I am going to assume at least 40 fps as the only time I noticed the game not running smoothly was from lag.
 
mdgrim said:
probably :P. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130660 that's the card I have, Ran BF3 beta maxed out settings, highest res, etc with no problems. Don't know what kind of fps I was getting but I am going to assume at least 40 fps as the only time I noticed the game not running smoothly was from lag.
Click to expand...

GTX 560 (non-Ti) is the same as a GTX 460, but the 560 has slightly higher stock clocks. (both have 336 cores). You can get similar overclocks out of both cards, so there is really no point in paying extra for a 560 as long as 460s are availible.

GTX 460
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130571
 
Pwnstarr said:
Nice, thanks! Leaning toward the Radeon 6870 but might splurge for Xmas and get the 560 Ti...

LOL stupid me, I just tried lowering the resolution to 1366x768. Runs totally smooth now. I guess 1920x1080 was just too much for my card with BF3...
Click to expand...

Since you're on a budget I suggest going for AMD cards. The 6870 is pretty amazing for it's price range, considering it's supposed to compete with the 460 SE in terms of price it actually out performs the 560 ti in most cases. If you're going spend 250 bucks on a 560 ti you'd might as well buy the 6950 which is on par with the gtx 570 and considerably much cheaper. Don't believe me? Also crossfire scaling is much better than SLI scaling in battlefield, almost a 200% increase on the 6870. Lol I don't mean to bash nvidia, those are just facts.

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/battlefield-3-graphics-performance,3063.html

Look at these benchmarks, disregard the rest.
 
GTX 460s are also horribly overpriced right now considering the HD6850 is on par for $130 after MIR. That and nVidia still doesn't have a good answer to the 6870, so for under $200 you ought to be looking at AMD. A GTX 560Ti is very competitively priced right now, if you're going to splurge.

Side note: Crossfire 6850s at ~$260 for the performance of a 580.
 
I had this narrowed down to the 560 TI vs the 6870 depending on how my wallet was feeling, but since I am considering splurging on the 560 TI anyways that adds the 6950 and crossfire 6850s to the list as per RustyPwns and pet rock's suggestions, some versions of which can be had for less than a 560 TI... Much to consider. Maybe too much thinking over all of ~$50 lol. But shopping smarter is good right?

Found this very handy comparison though, maybe it'll help others out too!

http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/2011/11/10/battlefield-3-technical-analysis/4
 
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The 560 Ti is a great card, as is the 6870. Both are very much worth the money.

If you value AA in BF3, though, The 560 Ti is the only answer. There's a bug with AMD/ATI cards where AA cripples performance pretty harshly.
 
What games are you playing on low settings at 20fps with an 8800gt? :huh:

Just about every game used to run well on high for me. Except now, Metro, Skyrim, BF3 and BC2 (maybe Crysis 2, I don't even acknowledge that garbage game though) might run a little difficult on medium-high.
 
I was going to suggest the card I got now (GTS 450), but found that my vid card barely passes the min specs for bf3, so I would suggest the 560ti. Get as close to the gtx as u can (like reflex said, go w/ the 460, no sense in wasting extra $$).
 
update!


I ultimately decided on the eVGA Geforce 560 ti. It was on sale for $220 :) This thing is ROCKING bf3, holding at least 35 fps in ULTRA settings which is actually quite playable, barely any roughness even in really intense scenes.



thanks for all the advice! :w00t:
 
shadows5631 said:
What games are you playing on low settings at 20fps with an 8800gt? :huh:

Just about every game used to run well on high for me. Except now, Metro, Skyrim, BF3 and BC2 (maybe Crysis 2, I don't even acknowledge that garbage game though) might run a little difficult on medium-high.
Click to expand...

I think you mean 9800gt :P
I'm using one right now, and if you tweak the settings abit, you get pretty good performance all around :)
 
Yes the 9800GT is definitely no slouch. Could have made do with it if I wasn't set on buying a new one anyways. Only the very latest and greatest games push it hard on higher settings.
 
Which is why im hoping to get a GTX 560 Ti for sunday on xmas :D. Thats all i asked for. So hopefully i get it. lol
 
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