J_Th4ng
24-03-2010, 05:55 PM
Hey guys, in the interest of those of us who are looking at PC upgrades for BC2, I’ve put together some comparative quotes to look at. This is looking purely at the ‘core system’, which I’ve defined as Motherboard, CPU and RAM i.e Graphics cards are excluded from this. It’s easy to do comparisons of graphics cards; there are plenty of reviews out there to look at.
The prices that I’m including here come from the latest Frontosa pricelist, and are inclusive of VAT. Of course at time of purchase, prices and availability may well change.
My assumption is that anyone looking to upgrade now should be running on a Core2 platform, most likely Core2Duo. These individuals would also most likely be running with ~2GB DDR2 RAM, so any upgrade of socket will also require a move to DDR3 memory.
Budget upgrader – CPU and RAM only
The first option that we have is for the budget upgrader,the gamer on an extreme budget who simply wants to get a quad core CPU onto their existing PC. They will also most likely want to get their RAM up a bit, as 2Gb isn’t really enough for modern applications. Remember that although a 32bit operating system won’t address more than 3.2GB of RAM, it doesn’t mean that you can’t install 4GB+ into your system. In fact, it would be prudent to do this, as with the goodness that is Win7, you’re going to want to move off XP sooner rather than later...
Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 – R1757.88
2x2GB DDR2-800 CL5 – R955.32
Total: R2713.20
Pros: Cheap and cheerful. Should give a decent increase in performance over a Core2 Duo in BC2.
Cons: No future upgrade path. You may regret this decision a year down the line, as all components will need to be replaced in any upgrade.
The midrange upgrade
The second option, looks at a cheaper full system upgrade, replacing motherboard, CPU and RAM. In this option, we have a choice of an Intel i5 platform, or an AMD Phenom platform. Prices are similar between the two, as is performance in games.
In both of these midrange upgrade options, I have included an ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG)motherboard. This means that these systems could be obtained for a lower cost, but as the motherboard is the basis of the system, it is my opinion that it’s well worth shelling out a little more to get a good one. My experience in working with the ROG motherboards has been fantastic. They overclock very well, they have all of the features that one could want on the board, and are made with high quality components. They also have SupremeFX X-Fi soundcards, which gives very good audio performance for an onboard card.
Midrange Option 1: An Intel i5 system
Intel LGA1156 i5-750 Quad core, 2.66ghz – R1893.54
2x2GB DDR3-1600 CL9 – R1193.58
ASUS Maximus III Gene (Republic of Gamers) – R2392.86
Total: R5479.98
Pros: Upgradeability. The i5-750 can be replaced with a higher clocked i7 CPU at a later stage, which will add Hyperthreading support as well as higher speeds. Aggressive step up, means that the CPU will overclock itself fairly well if only one or two cores are used.
Cons: The PCI-E controller is on-die, meaning limited lanes for Graphics card communication. This means that this platform is not ideal for SLi/Crossfire configuration.
Midrange Option 2: A Phenom II X4 system
AMD Phenom2 X4 , Quad-core 965 Black Edition (3.4Ghz) – R1936.86
2x2GB DDR3-1600 CL9 – R1193.58
Asus Crosshair 3 Formula (Republic of Gamers) – R2278.86
Total: R5409.30
Pros: Black Edition CPU is multiplier unlocked for maximum overclocking potential
Cons: Although gaming performance on this platform is on par with the i5 system, performance in other areas is lacking (e.g video encoding). Also, may not overclock as well as the i5.
The high end – Intel i7 and a socket 1366 Platform
I have included this here for two reasons. Firstly, it’s the way to go that gives the best performance, as well as future upgradeability. Secondly, and more importantly I think, it’s not as expensive as one may believe. If we consider that the midrange systems are going for ~R5500, the high end system at ~R7000 isn’t hugely more expensive. And it comes with more RAM (6GB instead of 4GB), a faster CPU which has hyperthreading support, and is built on a very mature chipset which is also slated as Intel’s performance platform going forward. This means that future upgrades to 6 core (and possibly more) CPUs will be possible.
Although this is a high end option, I’ve still gone with the slowest CPU in the i7 range, the 920. The reason for this is that this CPU is an absolute beast of an overclocker, it’s very possible to get a 50% overclock on this CPU with a decent cooler. Also, as you go up in the range through the i7 CPUs, prices increase dramatically, yet stock performance is not much faster at all. There is very little price/performance gain in going with a 950 and even less in a 975.
Intel LGA1366 i7-920 - Quad Core+Hyper-Threading, 2.66ghz – R2734.86
3x2GB DDR3-1600 CL9 – R1768.14
ASUS Rampage 2 Gene (Republic of Gamers) – R2533.08
Total: R7036.08
Pros: The fastest chipset currently available, combined with a very capable (and overclockable CPU). 6GB RAM in triple channel configuration means extreme memory bandwidth. Plenty of upgradeability going forward as the Intel enthusiast platform.
Cons: Price. It’s the most expensive option here.
I hope that this is useful to anyone looking to get their archaic rig souped up in order to experience Bad Company 2 at it’s best. Please note that the prices quoted here are dealer prices from Frontosa, and are subject to change without notice. Denis or I can help anyone looking to get the components from Frontosa, whether it be in Johannesburg or Cape Town.
One last thing!! Regardless of the upgrade option chosen, I’s strongly recommend getting a decent aftermarket cooler to plonk on top of the CPU. All of the CPU’s listed should give decent overclocks, and to do so you’ll want to have good cooling. There are many good coolers available, the one that I recommend is the Coolermaster V8. It’s a beast of a cooler, and can be yours for R584.82 including VAT.
Please feel free to post any questions/suggestions that you might have. These options are my selections, and I’m sure that people will have slightly (or largely) different components that they would choose. However, this should give a good indication of the price ranges that you’d be looking at to do a core system upgrade.
If I get a chance later, I’ll add to this with some graphics card options for consideration.
The prices that I’m including here come from the latest Frontosa pricelist, and are inclusive of VAT. Of course at time of purchase, prices and availability may well change.
My assumption is that anyone looking to upgrade now should be running on a Core2 platform, most likely Core2Duo. These individuals would also most likely be running with ~2GB DDR2 RAM, so any upgrade of socket will also require a move to DDR3 memory.
Budget upgrader – CPU and RAM only
The first option that we have is for the budget upgrader,the gamer on an extreme budget who simply wants to get a quad core CPU onto their existing PC. They will also most likely want to get their RAM up a bit, as 2Gb isn’t really enough for modern applications. Remember that although a 32bit operating system won’t address more than 3.2GB of RAM, it doesn’t mean that you can’t install 4GB+ into your system. In fact, it would be prudent to do this, as with the goodness that is Win7, you’re going to want to move off XP sooner rather than later...
Intel Core2 Quad Q9400 – R1757.88
2x2GB DDR2-800 CL5 – R955.32
Total: R2713.20
Pros: Cheap and cheerful. Should give a decent increase in performance over a Core2 Duo in BC2.
Cons: No future upgrade path. You may regret this decision a year down the line, as all components will need to be replaced in any upgrade.
The midrange upgrade
The second option, looks at a cheaper full system upgrade, replacing motherboard, CPU and RAM. In this option, we have a choice of an Intel i5 platform, or an AMD Phenom platform. Prices are similar between the two, as is performance in games.
In both of these midrange upgrade options, I have included an ASUS Republic of Gamers (ROG)motherboard. This means that these systems could be obtained for a lower cost, but as the motherboard is the basis of the system, it is my opinion that it’s well worth shelling out a little more to get a good one. My experience in working with the ROG motherboards has been fantastic. They overclock very well, they have all of the features that one could want on the board, and are made with high quality components. They also have SupremeFX X-Fi soundcards, which gives very good audio performance for an onboard card.
Midrange Option 1: An Intel i5 system
Intel LGA1156 i5-750 Quad core, 2.66ghz – R1893.54
2x2GB DDR3-1600 CL9 – R1193.58
ASUS Maximus III Gene (Republic of Gamers) – R2392.86
Total: R5479.98
Pros: Upgradeability. The i5-750 can be replaced with a higher clocked i7 CPU at a later stage, which will add Hyperthreading support as well as higher speeds. Aggressive step up, means that the CPU will overclock itself fairly well if only one or two cores are used.
Cons: The PCI-E controller is on-die, meaning limited lanes for Graphics card communication. This means that this platform is not ideal for SLi/Crossfire configuration.
Midrange Option 2: A Phenom II X4 system
AMD Phenom2 X4 , Quad-core 965 Black Edition (3.4Ghz) – R1936.86
2x2GB DDR3-1600 CL9 – R1193.58
Asus Crosshair 3 Formula (Republic of Gamers) – R2278.86
Total: R5409.30
Pros: Black Edition CPU is multiplier unlocked for maximum overclocking potential
Cons: Although gaming performance on this platform is on par with the i5 system, performance in other areas is lacking (e.g video encoding). Also, may not overclock as well as the i5.
The high end – Intel i7 and a socket 1366 Platform
I have included this here for two reasons. Firstly, it’s the way to go that gives the best performance, as well as future upgradeability. Secondly, and more importantly I think, it’s not as expensive as one may believe. If we consider that the midrange systems are going for ~R5500, the high end system at ~R7000 isn’t hugely more expensive. And it comes with more RAM (6GB instead of 4GB), a faster CPU which has hyperthreading support, and is built on a very mature chipset which is also slated as Intel’s performance platform going forward. This means that future upgrades to 6 core (and possibly more) CPUs will be possible.
Although this is a high end option, I’ve still gone with the slowest CPU in the i7 range, the 920. The reason for this is that this CPU is an absolute beast of an overclocker, it’s very possible to get a 50% overclock on this CPU with a decent cooler. Also, as you go up in the range through the i7 CPUs, prices increase dramatically, yet stock performance is not much faster at all. There is very little price/performance gain in going with a 950 and even less in a 975.
Intel LGA1366 i7-920 - Quad Core+Hyper-Threading, 2.66ghz – R2734.86
3x2GB DDR3-1600 CL9 – R1768.14
ASUS Rampage 2 Gene (Republic of Gamers) – R2533.08
Total: R7036.08
Pros: The fastest chipset currently available, combined with a very capable (and overclockable CPU). 6GB RAM in triple channel configuration means extreme memory bandwidth. Plenty of upgradeability going forward as the Intel enthusiast platform.
Cons: Price. It’s the most expensive option here.
I hope that this is useful to anyone looking to get their archaic rig souped up in order to experience Bad Company 2 at it’s best. Please note that the prices quoted here are dealer prices from Frontosa, and are subject to change without notice. Denis or I can help anyone looking to get the components from Frontosa, whether it be in Johannesburg or Cape Town.
One last thing!! Regardless of the upgrade option chosen, I’s strongly recommend getting a decent aftermarket cooler to plonk on top of the CPU. All of the CPU’s listed should give decent overclocks, and to do so you’ll want to have good cooling. There are many good coolers available, the one that I recommend is the Coolermaster V8. It’s a beast of a cooler, and can be yours for R584.82 including VAT.
Please feel free to post any questions/suggestions that you might have. These options are my selections, and I’m sure that people will have slightly (or largely) different components that they would choose. However, this should give a good indication of the price ranges that you’d be looking at to do a core system upgrade.
If I get a chance later, I’ll add to this with some graphics card options for consideration.