graphics card/processor help!

[Coldfire]

This game relies heavily on the processor.
If you have the cash to switch to intel, the i5 will do you some justice.

You can make the switch for as little as 300 dollars. I would spend possibly 400-500; for an SSD and 8 gigs of ram.
8 gigs is overkill but it's so cheap today; why the hell not?

This game is NOT heavily relying on the processor and AMD is fine. Especially a highend quadcore.

And I don't recommend a HD6850 as it is far inferior to the HD6950 :P

[Davern]

This game is NOT heavily relying on the processor and AMD is fine. Especially a highend quadcore.

And I don't recommend a HD6850 as it is far inferior to the HD6950 :P

I disagree, my score doubled in the bench by merely swapping to a faster cpu and beat out the score of a 5850 compared my 6770. I'm in town right now and lagging, my cpu is at 80%+ and gpu only at 40%. Outside of town I don't drop below 38fps.

[Zorlin]

any quad core can play this game maxed with a decent gfx but for solid 60fps anywhere yea you do need an high end cpu.

[Davern]

That I can agree with. Hoping that won't be the case come 2.0 as it's just ridiculous that an 2600k can't get 60fps maxed out anywhere without OC'n.

[Lucifer]

This game is NOT heavily relying on the processor and AMD is fine. Especially a highend quadcore.

And I don't recommend a HD6850 as it is far inferior to the HD6950 :P

Sorry but you're wrong.
Phenom 2 is garbage compared to the i5.
I upgraded not too long ago myself and now I can safely say that the i5 2500 is a monster.

[Zorlin]

Atm there really is no question sandy bridge trounces amd even the new bulldozers get easily pwn. But for gaming phenoms are just fine. My brother has a phenom X4 965 we both do alot of video editing you have no idea how fast the 2600k is against his phenom specialy if you OC. Sometimes he even asks me to render video for him so it doesnt take all day. The 2500k are just like the 2600k without HT, actualy its easier to get higher OCs on the 2500k since HT is vcore hungry i always end up disabling it to achieve max OC.

[Coldfire]

Sorry but you're wrong.
Phenom 2 is garbage compared to the i5.
I upgraded not too long ago myself and now I can safely say that the i5 2500 is a monster.

You totally didn't get the topic it seems. The op is looking for a way to make the game run smoother on his machine and a new CPU won't help at all. And I doubt you switched from Phenom II to i5 as the difference in games is almost none(I have both in my house with the same GPUs).
About SLI/Crossfire: causes too much trouble, never scales well, almost never works in windowed mode, requires a strong PSU and produces too much heat for normal gamers. Better go with a single card if you're not sure about it.

[Zorlin]

A single 6950/560TI can max ff14 1080p at 60fps the fps in populated areas will depend greatly on CPU but having a 560 or a 580 will give the same FPS at 1080p. So id only recomend the 580 if you plan on going over 1080p/multi monitor. Also the 580 needs alot of power as the 6950/560TI both draw 140w the 580 draws 363w so you would need atleast a good brand 650-700w PSU Corsair/Antec/Seasonic/XFX where with a 6950/560TI you could keep yr 550w PSU not to mention case airflow the 580 can get really hot in small/bad airflow cases.

[Kiara]

A single 6950/560TI can max ff14 1080p at 60fps the fps in populated areas will depend greatly on CPU but having a 560 or a 580 will give the same FPS at 1080p. So id only recomend the 580 if you plan on going over 1080p/multi monitor. Also the 580 needs alot of power as the 6950/560TI both draw 140w the 580 draws 363w so you would need atleast a good brand 650-700w PSU Corsair/Antec/Seasonic/XFX where with a 6950/560TI you could keep yr 550w PSU not to mention case airflow the 580 can get really hot in small/bad airflow cases.

Hi Zorlin,

Thanks for the information.

Do you know if Nvidia is planning a new line of cards in the near future (like AMD is doing), so that we'd see a price drop of a 560 or 580?

Thanks.

[Lucifer]

You totally didn't get the topic it seems. The op is looking for a way to make the game run smoother on his machine and a new CPU won't help at all. And I doubt you switched from Phenom II to i5 as the difference in games is almost none(I have both in my house with the same GPUs).
About SLI/Crossfire: causes too much trouble, never scales well, almost never works in windowed mode, requires a strong PSU and produces too much heat for normal gamers. Better go with a single card if you're not sure about it.

Stop doubting because it happened.
The phenom 2 is garbage. The difference is highly conceivable; and with a good reason too. Sandy Bridge is no joke.