Should my computer run BattleField 3?

[Hack&Lube]

It looks to me like there is enough space to fit that ASUS card in there but length may be an issue. I would stick with the smaller 6950 cards.





There is one 1x PCI-E slot underneath the 2 slot 5870 in that picture so you could fit a 3 slot card.

[Hack&Lube]

I would either get the 6950 2GB if you could get it for under $250. If you are paying closer to $290, it's not worth it and you could get a 6970 2GB for about $330.

My only issue with Memory Express is that they don't carry any 6950s that have lifetime warranty.

Another card in your price range is the GTX 560.

Can you tell us how many watts your powersupply is?

[Hanni]

^^
I have 2 cards that fit that tight in my case and they are a huge pain to get in and out, try not to break anything.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by Hanni

^^
I have 2 cards that fit that tight in my case and they are a huge pain to get in and out, try not to break anything.

Hopefully he just has to fit it in once but yes, it is very tight. I would recommend a shorter card. Also, the ASUS triple slot card will have the fans crammed against the bottom and they won't get enough fresh air. I would not recommend that card.

[Hack&Lube]

I would get this 2GB HIS card,

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...34361(ME).aspx

pricematched to Newegg:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...td.-_-14161372

Or
http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...34259(ME).aspx

pricematched to newegg again:
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...ech-_-14102945

The other option is the GTX 560 in the same price range. You can see that a 560's performance is about on par with the 6950 in Battlefield Bad Company 2 which is the same engine (Frostbite) as Battlefield 2:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/radeon...0-ti-review/15

http://www.memoryexpress.com/Product...33579(ME).aspx

[mesaywee]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

I would either get the 6950 2GB if you could get it for under $250. If you are paying closer to $290, it's not worth it and you could get a 6970 2GB for about $330.

My only issue with Memory Express is that they don't carry any 6950s that have lifetime warranty.

Another card in your price range is the GTX 560.

Can you tell us how many watts your powersupply is?

So I went to memory express and he did bring up the power supply. The site he looked my power supply was 460 watts. Which is a problem.

He talked about standardized power and other things, im not fully sure as I pretended to know I knew what he was talking about.

The thing about the computer being only 460 watts wouldn't make sense he said, as the Radeon HD 6850 I originally ordered would require more power. So perhaps it had a built in power supply.

Im starting to get worried about this watts issue.

Thanks for all the recommendations btw, you're extremely knowledgeable.

EDIT: Just phoned dell, she told me the 460 watt power supply was the maximum the system could handle and if I increased it the system would not be able to handle it.

Is this true, is it not possible for me to increase the watts?

[Hack&Lube]

Both the Memex guy and the Dell rep are BSing you. What is standardized power? Never heard of that. I never trust those guys. They are trying to get you to buy a new powersupply. It depends on the amps on the +12V rail and quality of PSU. I have a 550 watt powersupply running two 5870s in one system. There's no such thing as a powersupply that is the maximum for a system to handle. You could throw a 1000 watt powersupply in the Dell and it would work normally and even save you on your electric bill because of the high efficiency.

The power draw of a single 6950 is about under 200 watts and yours should be enough if it was the same model they were going to use the 6870 in. Both the 6970 and 6870 have similar power requirements.

See those pictures I posted above? Those are pictures of the Dell XPS 8300 with 5870s inside them. 5870s have the same power draw as 6970s so don't worry about a 6950 in there.

[Vulcan]

I've heard Dell uses good Power Supplies and recommended wattages for cards are often overrated because of the poor power supplies that a lot of pre-built computers use.
Here's one calculator for you to check. There are many other calculators on the net as well.

http://educations.newegg.com/tool/psucalc/index.html

This is better.

http://extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine

[mesaywee]

So what you guys are saying is my 460 watt desktop should be able to handle the 500 watt graphics card? The graphics card says a minimum of 500 watts are needed on the box.

I would buy another power supply but if the 460 can handle it, I should be fine?

I did ask if the 6850 used 460 watts and she said yes. So it does look like the system should handle the 6950.

My god are computers complicated.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by mesaywee

So what you guys are saying is my 460 watt desktop should be able to handle the 500 watt graphics card? The graphics card says a minimum of 500 watts are needed on the box.

I would buy another power supply but if the 460 can handle it, I should be fine?

I did ask if the 6850 used 460 watts and she said yes. So it does look like the system should handle the 6950.

My god are computers complicated.

Measured power consumption Radeon HD 6950
System in IDLE = 174W
System Wattage with GPU in FULL Stress = 312W
Difference (GPU load) = 138W
Add average IDLE wattage ~ 20W
Subjective obtained GPU power consumption = ~ 158 Watts

The 460 watt PSU in the Dell system will be fine, even more so because Dell certifies it for 6870s already. The power requirements are similar.

[mesaywee]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Measured power consumption Radeon HD 6950
System in IDLE = 174W
System Wattage with GPU in FULL Stress = 312W
Difference (GPU load) = 138W
Add average IDLE wattage ~ 20W
Subjective obtained GPU power consumption = ~ 158 Watts

The 460 watt PSU in the Dell system will be fine, even more so because Dell certifies it for 6870s already. The power requirements are similar.

So the dell does in fact use the same power supply with the 6870, so like you said the 6950 should work.

However:
http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards....=635&card2=639
If you go there under details. It says max power draw. The 6870 is 151W while the 6950 says 200W. Is that a huge difference?

If I install the 6950 without a new power supply and the system doesn't have enough power during gaming will it just crash? Nothing to serious? I was going to just try it out with the stock wattage and if it crashes while gaming i'd then fork over the money to upgrade.

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by mesaywee

So the dell does in fact use the same power supply with the 6870, so like you said the 6950 should work.

However:
http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards....=635&card2=639
If you go there under details. It says max power draw. The 6870 is 151W while the 6950 says 200W. Is that a huge difference?

If I install the 6950 without a new power supply and the system doesn't have enough power during gaming will it just crash? Nothing to serious? I was going to just try it out with the stock wattage and if it crashes while gaming i'd then fork over the money to upgrade.

Max power draw is a specification. In real world testing, the max draw was ~158W.

50 watts is enough leeway and depends on the quality of the PSU. I have a feeling DELL PSUs will be robust because they do such large volumes and want to reduce customer hardware issues as much as possible so they fit something robust that wouldn't take the entire system with it if it goes, incurring more costs for them.

"System Wattage with GPU in FULL Stress = 312W" means that their entire test system including the videocard at full power draw only drew 312W. You should be fine with a 460W PSU. If it doesn't work, your computer may crash, become unstable, or simply shut itself off. No real damage should be done. Most videocards have at least 2 year warranty anyway so I wouldn't worry about that either.

[Hack&Lube]

DELL UK (and all of the EU) offers the 6950 inside the XPS 8300 so unless they have a different PSU, it's officially supported. Perhaps try to find out what PSU is in the XPS 8300 in the UK.

http://search.dell.co.uk/1/1/141761-...hics-card.html

I think Dell USA/Dell Canada just don't want you to be able to add a 6950 into the XPS because they want you to spend more money and buy an Alienware system for that.

[mesaywee]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

DELL UK (and all of the EU) offers the 6950 inside the XPS 8300 so unless they have a different PSU, it's officially supported. Perhaps try to find out what PSU is in the XPS 8300 in the UK.

http://search.dell.co.uk/1/1/141761-...hics-card.html

I think Dell USA/Dell Canada just don't want you to be able to add a 6950 into the XPS because they want you to spend more money and buy an Alienware system for that.

haha, thats hilarious. I'll look into what their wattage is. Im sure it will be 460 watts as well.

So I will most likely go and purchase this card on monday. Looks like the HIS Radeon HD 6950 2gig is my ideal card.

Edit:
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=61...X&promoid=1307
Seems like a great price. Will memory express take into the rebate into account on their price match?

or
this http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=58...A&promoid=1307

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by mesaywee

haha, thats hilarious. I'll look into what their wattage is. Im sure it will be 460 watts as well.

So I will most likely go and purchase this card on monday. Looks like the HIS Radeon HD 6950 2gig is my ideal card.

Edit:
http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=61...X&promoid=1307
Seems like a great price. Will memory express take into the rebate into account on their price match?

or
this http://www.ncix.com/products/?sku=58...A&promoid=1307

No rebates do not count toward price matches. Rebates are tied to the stores that sell them these days. The rebates on NCIX are only accepted if you bought from NCIX. The 570 is a good card but Nvidia cards of the Fermi line reportedly generate more heat and use more power. If you are concerned about your PSU, perhaps stick with AMD but that is not a sure thing.

[mesaywee]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

No rebates do not count toward price matches. Rebates are tied to the stores that sell them these days. The rebates on NCIX are only accepted if you bought from NCIX. The 570 is a good card but Nvidia cards of the Fermi line reportedly generate more heat and use more power. If you are concerned about your PSU, perhaps stick with AMD but that is not a sure thing.

You're right, the 570 does consume more power.

My plan for this rig is to buy the HIS 6950. Use that until I start to have problems then upgrade to a CF 6950 and purchase a new power supply.

You've been a great help lube, I owe you a beer.

[zarrell]

Because I love the Battlefield series and cannot play shooters with a controller, I need to upgrade my computer. I have always built my own but my current one is 6 years old and I have no clue what's hip in the hardware industry now. What should I look at for around $1000? I need a motherboard, chipset, ram and video card(s).

[mesaywee]

Originally Posted by zarrell

Because I love the Battlefield series and cannot play shooters with a controller, I need to upgrade my computer. I have always built my own but my current one is 6 years old and I have no clue what's hip in the hardware industry now. What should I look at for around $1000? I need a motherboard, chipset, ram and video card(s).

I came across this tonight. Pretty simple graphic.

http://i.imgur.com/QbuJR.jpg

This graphic is more in-depth but more helpful.

http://media.photobucket.com/image/r...uide/Guide.png

[Hack&Lube]

Originally Posted by mesaywee

You're right, the 570 does consume more power.

My plan for this rig is to buy the HIS 6950. Use that until I start to have problems then upgrade to a CF 6950 and purchase a new power supply.

You've been a great help lube, I owe you a beer.

Haha, NP.

BTW, you won't be able to Crossfire because the Dell motherboard only has one PCI-E slot. You'll basically have to buy a whole new computer if you want to crossfire because you'll need a new motherboard, new powersupply, new case, etc.

[mesaywee]

Originally Posted by Hack&Lube

Haha, NP.

BTW, you won't be able to Crossfire because the Dell motherboard only has one PCI-E slot. You'll basically have to buy a whole new computer if you want to crossfire because you'll need a new motherboard, new powersupply, new case, etc.

haha, always something eh?

New plan: Buy the 2gb 6950. When that goes out of date (hopefully awhile) ill just upgrade to a single better graphics card and improve power supply.

My processor and ram should be future proof for a while.