upgrading via pcspecialists

[Jose]

Hello Chaps,
I bought my new machine via pcspecialists about 8 months ago, with the following specs:

Case
ANTEC NINE HUNDRED TWO - UK, The Ultimate Gaming Case, Evolved
Processor (CPU)
AMD PHENOM II X4 970 (3.50GHz/8MB CACHE/AM3) - BLACK EDITION
Motherboard
ASUS® CROSSHAIR IV FORMULA: DDR3, USB 3.0, SATA 6.0Gb/s, R.O GAMERS
Memory (RAM)
8GB SAMSUNG DDR3 DUAL-DDR3 1333MHz (2 X 4GB)
Graphics Card
2GB AMD RADEON™ HD6970 - 2 DVI,HDMI,2 mDP - DirectX® 11, Eyefinity 4 Capable
Memory - 1st Hard Disk
120GB OCZ VERTEX 2 SATA II 2.5" SSD (upto 285MB/sR | 275MB/sW)
1st DVD/BLU-RAY Drive
24x DUAL LAYER DVD WRITER ±R/±RW/RAM
Power Supply
CORSAIR 750W TX SERIES (TX750) 80+ ULTRA QUIET PSU (£88)
Processor Cooling
STANDARD AMD CPU COOLER
Sound Card
ONBOARD 8 CHANNEL (7.1) HIGH DEF AUDIO (AS STANDARD)
Network Facilities
ONBOARD 10/100/1000 GIGABIT LAN PORT - AS STANDARD ON ALL PCs
USB Options
6 x USB 2.0 PORTS @ BACK PANEL (MIN 2 FRONT PORTS) AS STANDARD
Operating System
Genuine Windows 7 Professional 64 Bit - inc DVD & Licence (£109)
Warranty
3 Year Silver Warranty (1 Year Collect & Return, 1 Year Parts, 3 Year Labour) (£5)


Now, loving it thus far, havent had any issues, playing games on 1920x1080. I've played Rift on very hight setting with 30 to 90 fps. I've played crysis, supreme commander 2, wow, ut3, and other less demanding games, all without any trouble, but moving on. Battlefield 3 is coming out soon, and it will probably take over my life. now, I want it to run as smoth as possible all of the time on as high a settings as possible, which is a lot to ask in a action packed gigantic map with 64 people doing all sorts of stuff.

I wanted to know if:
A – Can I upgrade my PSU and add a second 6970 via pcspecialist?
B- is it even worth it having a crossfire set up with a single monitor? (my guess is yes, but im a computer nub)
C – is it worth doubling the ram? My guess is not with a single gfx card, but I haven’t got a clue regarding it with a crossfire set up if I was to go for it.

Your comments and help are, as always, much appreciated.
Kind Regards,

José

 

[Gorman]

I would seriously recommend waiting for launch and the inevitable supporting driver update before even considering upgrading that rig for BF3.

• PSU should be able to take it as is.
• Could be, depends on use.
• Absolutely not, no benefit to gaming whatsoever

 

[MeveM]

http://www.pcspecialist.co.uk/forum...-3-Alpha-Benchmarks&highlight=alpha+benchmark

^^

At max settings 1920x1080 DX 11

Radeon 6970
Max: 64
Min: 49

Since it's Alpha, those numbers will probably go up. And on the big maps with 64 players, drop the AA
You won't need upgrading at all.

If you did, DICE would possibly have made the worst game in history, if the 2nd best Radeon can't max the game, then the game fails from all marketing angles.

 

[Jose]

ah, thank you very much guys , means i can add additional funds to my server rental for BF3 than

Since you think it would be ok to have a second HD6970 on that rig as is, If i do decide to upgrade once the game comes out, how easy is it to set up with crossfire? is it a matter of just plugging the second gfx card onto the mobo and add the little piece thing so they are connected, or is it more complex then that? (I know that for sli they need to be the same model of graphics card, with the same clock speed and such, so i assume its the same for crossfire).

I'll go and google it now anyway, but I'm to lazy to delete all I just typed in XD

anyway, thanks again guys!
even more excited for the game after seeing that benchmark , coupled with the video they released yesterday, October 28th can't come soon enough!!!

 

[Gorman]

[video=youtube;m8S_eEv_A5k]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=m8S_eEv_A5k[/video]

Fit new card, give it power, attach crossfire bridge, boot up, enable in drivers. Done.

Yep yesterdays vid, utter geekgasm.

 

[MeveM]

That video was awesome. Can't wait.

 

[Jose]

I know , I had to get changed after watching it XD (almost anyway )
but awesome, sounds pretty straight forward. from what I just read on wikipedia, I could have a 6990 on crossfire with the 6970 with np. is that right?

 

[Gorman]

That would push your PSU a bit far, another 6970 you could most likely get away with.

 

[MeveM]

According to PCS website, if you select a 6990, it says you need a minimum of 750w for the card itself alone.

 

[Jose]

oh, ok, cool. those 2 would probably be an overkill for anything I actualy do anyway (in perfect honesty, 2 6970s probaby are too ) but I'll wait and see than. cheers guys

 

[MeveM]

If I was you, I'd wait until its out, see personally how it runs on your PC the first week or so on what you've got now, then if you're not happy, concider a upgrade. I highly doubt you need it, just get rid of that silly AA that doesn't make that much of a difference compared to the amount of FPS it drops.

 

[Frenchy]

If you did, DICE would possibly have made the worst game in history, if the 2nd best Radeon can't max the game, then the game fails from all marketing angles.

Sorry but thats the most silly thing ive heard all week.

By your standards Crysis is therefore a failure since when it was released only a small handful of pcs were even capable of playing it nearly maxed out.

Not being able to play a game max settings on release is not a reason for failure, a reason for failure is not enabling the majority of people to play it. They have already stated that the graphics in all trailers isnt max settings and that they are still to build a rig that can handle full graphics. I believe from other things ive heard a single gtx 580 just handles high but not max settings, and as it stands the 580 is the most powerful single gpu card on the market.

Id be extremely dissapouinted with DICE if they were capable of creating a game which challenged graphics for years to come (but still playable today) but didnt bother because people like you say it would be rubbish game if it cant be maxed out on a card which isnt even classed as the best in the world today.

 

[MeveM]

Right, so according to you Frenchy, DICE should make a game that PC's 3 years down the line can only just max out, and once DICE has then released Battlefield 4 in 3 years time, the PC's 3 years down the line will be able to run Battlefield 3 and 4 at the same graphics, so why should anyone buy Battlefield 4 when they can just continue playing BF3 which they bought 3 years ago.

Yes, it's all about money, and DICE will, and probably already have moved on and started making another another Battlefield game, or at least throwing out plans for it, point is the same as with GPU's to keep the standard to move up steadily instead of making rigid jumps in the market.

I certainly wouldn't buy their next game if I can just run BF3 at the same graphics in 3 years.

Guess we'll agree to disagree then.

And yes, Crysis is a failure compared other shooters who cater for current GPU's, not the future. Why play Crysis 2 when Crysis Warhead has the same or better graphics? Marketing error at its best, it's not making customers buy, since it's not that much of an improvement.

 

[MeveM]

DICE are in the market of selling games, not GPU's, if they sold GPU's, then they'd make more money down the line on a game that requires a upgrade to be played, but since they're not, and Battlefield is a one time payment buy, it's not a MMO, you buy it, there, its yours, how does it provide DICE with any benefit to cater for PC's 3 years down the line. It doesn't.

 

[Gorman]

Sorry but thats the most silly thing ive heard all week.

oh wow, you need to come work here for a bit!

 

[Frenchy]

Right, so according to you Frenchy, DICE should make a game that PC's 3 years down the line can only just max out, and once DICE has then released Battlefield 4 in 3 years time, the PC's 3 years down the line will be able to run Battlefield 3 and 4 at the same graphics, so why should anyone buy Battlefield 4 when they can just continue playing BF3 which they bought 3 years ago.

Yes, it's all about money, and DICE will, and probably already have moved on and started making another another Battlefield game, or at least throwing out plans for it, point is the same as with GPU's to keep the standard to move up steadily instead of making rigid jumps in the market.

I certainly wouldn't buy their next game if I can just run BF3 at the same graphics in 3 years.

Guess we'll agree to disagree then.

And yes, Crysis is a failure compared other shooters who cater for current GPU's, not the future. Why play Crysis 2 when Crysis Warhead has the same or better graphics? Marketing error at its best, it's not making customers buy, since it's not that much of an improvement.

Lol rubbish, DICE have made a game which is very playable at really good graphics on current cards and in 2 to 3 years time will still probably only just start to be maxed out on a lot of systems, nothing wrong with that. People will still buy BF4, they dont just buy for the graphics, I know I dont, we buy for gameplay, if BF4 was lifelike on graphics but gameplay was shoddy I would stick with BF3. Same reason people have stuck with MW2 over BOps or Forza 2 over Forza 3.

No point a games developer not pushing their limits, id be extremely dissapointed if I worked for a developer who didnt want to try their best to push the limits, while still allowing the masses to play their game currently.

You may think everything is about money when it come to companies making games, however the majority of developers I work with are extremely passionate about the product they are working on and will always try their best to produce great software, be it games, applications or middleware. Might be about the money overall for dice but asliong as the game is perfectly playable then people will buy it.

Also going back to you not buying the next game, who said the next game will be the same graphics? for a start i can pretty much guarantee tht in 3 years even if graphics were the same you would buy it anyway, thts just what 99% of people are like. Secondly, with advancements in technology, optimizations of code, creating better realtime renderers etc game graphics will become better for the same processing power so you will always get an improvement from generation to generation even on the same hardware.

 

[Frenchy]

DICE are in the market of selling games, not GPU's, if they sold GPU's, then they'd make more money down the line on a game that requires a upgrade to be played, but since they're not, and Battlefield is a one time payment buy, it's not a MMO, you buy it, there, its yours, how does it provide DICE with any benefit to cater for PC's 3 years down the line. It doesn't.

Because not everyone is in it just for the money, people are in it to make incredible games and show off their potential. Sad fact is some people like you obviously only care about the money. Im glad as a developer myself I care about the products I create and if I can make it better I will. Also DICE would benefit massively like crysis did, crysis most deffinately isnt a failure, its still classed as the benchmarking game, it still looks incredible, I and many others still play it after what, 3 years. Not a failure at all.

 

[MeveM]

You might be right, I've been playing too many Blizzard / Activision games lately.

However, next time you try to correct someone, get off your high and mighty chair and stop belittle people you respond to. Don't need to start a discussion with;
"Sorry but thats the most silly thing ive heard all week."
"Lol rubbish"
"Sad fact is some people like you " (Do you know me?)


I'm perfectly able to argue my view, doesn't justify your need to start every post by belittle the person who's view you argue against.

 

[Frenchy]

You might be right, I've been playing too many Blizzard / Activision games lately.

However, next time you try to correct someone, get off your high and mighty chair and stop belittle people you respond to. Don't need to start a discussion with;
"Sorry but thats the most silly thing ive heard all week."
"Lol rubbish"
"Sad fact is some people like you " (Do you know me?)


I'm perfectly able to argue my view, doesn't justify your need to start every post by belittle the person who's view you argue against.

Perfectly entitled to my own opinion too, my opinion of you saying crysis is a failure is indeed "rubbish".

Also, no I dont know you, however, from your posts its quite clear you assume everything is about the money and not about pride of showing off your abilities.

 

[Gorman]

You might be right, I've been playing too many Blizzard / Activision games lately.

However, next time you try to correct someone, get off your high and mighty chair and stop belittle people you respond to. Don't need to start a discussion with;
"Sorry but thats the most silly thing ive heard all week."
"Lol rubbish"
"Sad fact is some people like you " (Do you know me?)


I'm perfectly able to argue my view, doesn't justify your need to start every post by belittle the person who's view you argue against.

I will have to agree to this, we have a good community and everyone should be trying to treat each other with due respect.

Although i am the first to admit i readily succumb to geek rage.