Help upgrading Comp

[goldenchessboard]

So since BF3 is coming out in a month, I figured I might want to upgrade my comp.

Right now I have 8800 GT/4GB RAM/2.4 Ghz Core 2 Quad Q6600 Cpu. I'm upgrading from XP to Win7 64 bit soon.

I figured my ram and CPU are fine, but my video card might not run it very well. I want to spend at most around $250, and right now I'm considering:
1) GTX 560ti (around $220)
2) Radeon 6870 (around $190)

Hopefully theres going to be a price drop for the GTX 560ti within the next month, but I'm not expecting it.

If anyone has any recommendations I'd greatly appreciate it.

[swmeek]

I think the 560 would be a good gaming card while the AMD card would be good for gaming and maybe bitcoining too.

[peti1212]

Yep, go with the GTX 560 Ti. This is a great option right here: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127594

[goldenchessboard]

Hmm okay. Do you think my Q6600 will bottleneck it?

[Joshua_Mahr]

Your quad core should be fine. With a 68xx series card or a 560. However I reccomend more than 4GB of mem when gaming under Win 7. But thats just me. Also ram is so cheap right now for Fast DDR3. Might want to talk to scott about his 480's for sale!

[James86]

I have a 560Ti and an AMD quad core and I can play all of the new games I want. I'm waiting for Skyrim to really push my card

[peti1212]

if you overclock your CPU a tad bit, it should be fine. Like 3.4GHz-3.6GHz range is fine without loosing too much performance. There is always a tad bit you can gain with higher frequencies, but 3.4Ghz should be fine. Also, yes, I would recommend at least 6GB, remember when it was 2003-2004 I went from 2GB to 4GB, and I actually saw a difference in overall gameplay. With Win 7 and games that use even more resources, I would say 6GB would be perfect. Heck I'm using Win 7 with just the system files running in the background and a messenger with nothing else open it and shows that I'm already using 2.62Ghz out of 16GB. Well windows will adjust depending on how much memory you have available, but if you have more it just means it can keep more files in the memory without having to dump it when it is not used, which means that you get better overall performance. I hope this is helpful.

[swmeek]

I have a 560Ti and an AMD quad core and I can play all of the new games I want. I'm waiting for Skyrim to really push my card
Hopefully if I get the new motherboard I'm wanting I should have no problems with any games for a good long while .

[PP Mguire]

I'm gonna say, I don't think the Q6600 will be good for anything more than low-medium settings unless you can clock it real high. My 940 and 465 combo (before I traded the second 465) was actually lagging in some DX9/10 games while the CPU was clocked at 3.8.

4GB is still plenty for todays programs. I have 8GB and I never cap 3.5GB of usage unless I'm playing GTA4 or Supreme Commander. Even then, 4GB still runs those games perfectly.

If budget allows it I suggest getting the best GPU you can for BF3 and update your CPU/Mobo asap.

[Dragon]

I agree with PP, get a vid for now and when you can get on a newer CPU/motherboard asap. the Q6600 is getting a bit long in the tooth as my roomy has one and it struggles on some of the newer games with a 4870x2 strapped to it.

[PP Mguire]

I agree with PP, get a vid for now and when you can get on a newer CPU/motherboard asap. the Q6600 is getting a bit long in the tooth as my roomy has one and it struggles on some of the newer games with a 4870x2 strapped to it.You know what sucks is some of my friends are trying to get by with C2D for gaming *le sigh*. And they wonder why we hate it when they come chill and play SupCom with us.

[Dragon]

Don't even get me started on that. Fooking idoits and their slow ass out dated compy's trying to play up to date games online and wonder why others don't like playing with them, or call them laggers, or they get booted from servers.

This is one of the main big reasons why I do not play online much anymore, because it is hard to play online when most of the people in the servers are in the 12-23 frame rates, and they call that playable.

I realize not everyone can afford a 3000+ USD machine, But at least try and use a computer that is capable of handling the newer games.

[PP Mguire]

I don't play PC games online so don't have that problem. I do hold LANs though which can be a big pain if we play any SupCom. Dual cores just can't handle 500+ units.

[Joshua_Mahr]

SupCom? What is this SupCom? I want to LAN Party!

[PP Mguire]

Supreme Commander. It's an older RTS that just sucks up CPU power for AI.

Me and my friend LAN SupCom all the time.

[Joshua_Mahr]

Supreme commander 1 or 2.

[PP Mguire]

1 and Forged.

[Joshua_Mahr]

I will see if I can get it. Can you play over the net?

[PP Mguire]

I've never tried playing it over the net. It requires the use of GPG app to play and I always uninstall that lol.

[goldenchessboard]

Thanks guys, I'll start by upgrading my video card. I was planning on getting this (link below) for $180, the deal ends tomorrow, I'm just worried there's only 1 fan and it won't have good cooling. Also the company is PNY, haven't really heard of them, anyone think it'll be a problem?

http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=58463&vpn=VCGGTX560TXPB&manufacture=PNY%20Technologies%20Inc&promoid=1371

[PP Mguire]

Pretty much all video cards come with 1 fan on the card, especially if they are reference.

I just traded a PNY 465 and it was a good clocker and I haven't had any problems with their warranty or RMA. My first couple of "good" video cards where PNY also. Sounds like a good deal.

[goldenchessboard]

Thanks, I think I'll buy it today or tomorrow :)

[goldenchessboard]

Sadly I was just trying to purchase it but it's sold out :(
So I'm considering getting this one now:
http://ncix.com/products/?mode=productreviewread&product_id=58366

Two fans, Gigabyte, factory overclocked a bit.. anyone see any problem with it?
Thanks! :)

[PP Mguire]

I don't see anything wrong but the price. Seems your prices over there are still pretty ridiculous. You can get a 560 off the eVGA B-Stock site for about 180.