Do I need to upgrade to fix lag in Battlefield 3

[scooterthedj]

My son has overtaken my pc to play games like

Team fortress 2
black ops
MW2
MW3
Battlefield 3
Sniper Elite V2

Battlefield 3 and snipper elite V2 lag a little so he says, so my question is what improvement can I do to make the games rum more smoothly, I have not over cloocked my system and would maybe try that if it would improve the gaming.

here is what I'm running on just now

SiSoftware Sandra

ID
Host Name : scott-PC
Workgroup : WORKGROUP

Computer
Model : OEM System Product Name To Be Filled By O.E.M.
Serial Number : System Serial Number
Chassis : Chassis Manufacture Desktop
Mainboard : ASUS P5G41C-M LX
Serial Number : MT700A015321402
BIOS : AMI (OEM) 0506 07/12/2010
Total Memory : 3.5GB DIMM DDR3

Processors
Processor : Genuine Intel(R) CPU @ 2.40GHz (2C 2.4GHz, 4MB L2)

Chipset
Memory Controller : ASUS G41 DRAM Controller 4x 267MHz (1GHz), 2x 2GB DIMM DDR3 1GHz 128-bit

Memory Module(s)
Memory Module : Kingston 99U5471-002A00LF 2GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-10700U DDR3-1334 (9-9-9-25 4-34-10-5)
Memory Module : Kingston 99U5471-002A00LF 2GB DIMM DDR3 PC3-10700U DDR3-1334 (9-9-9-25 4-34-10-5)

Video System
Video Adapter : ATI Radeon HD 4300/4500 Series (SM4.1 600MHz, 512MB DDR3 800MHz 64-bit, PCIe 2.00 x16)

Graphics Processor

Storage Devices
Hitachi HDS721050CLA362 (500.1GB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, 14MB Cache) : 466GB (C (E (H
Seagate ST3500312CS (500.1GB, SATA150, 3.5", 5900rpm, 8MB Cache) : 466GB (G
PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-216L (2kB, SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 64kB Cache) : 2kB (F
ILENU 4HU3O1IJCL (SCSI, BD-R, HD-DVD-R, DVD+-R-DL, CD-R) : N/A (D

Logical Storage Devices
System Reserved : 100MB (NTFS)
All other backup and PC games (G : 466GB (NTFS) @ Seagate ST3500312CS (500.1GB, SATA150, 3.5", 5900rpm, 8MB Cache)
Large XBOX ISO Files (E : 47GB (NTFS) @ Hitachi HDS721050CLA362 (500.1GB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, 14MB Cache)
Darnells Space (H : 31GB (NTFS) @ Hitachi HDS721050CLA362 (500.1GB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, 14MB Cache)
Windows 7 (C : 388GB (NTFS) @ Hitachi HDS721050CLA362 (500.1GB, SATA300, 3.5", 7200rpm, 14MB Cache)
Optical Drive (F : N/A @ PIONEER DVD-RW DVR-216L (2kB, SATA150, DVD+-RW, CD-RW, 64kB Cache)
Optical Drive (D : N/A @ ILENU 4HU3O1IJCL (SCSI, BD-R, HD-DVD-R, DVD+-R-DL, CD-R)

Peripherals
LPC Hub Controller 1 : ASUS 82801GB/GR (ICH7) LPC Interface Controller
LPC Legacy Controller 1 : T0 B0-73
Audio Device : ASUS 82801G (ICH7) High Definition Audio
Audio Codec : VIA VT1708S HD Audio
Audio Device : ASUS RV730XT Audio device [Radeon HD 4670]
Audio Codec : ATI (AMD) HDMI Audio
Serial Port(s) : 1
Parallel Port(s) : 1
Disk Controller : ASUS 82801G (ICH7) Ultra ATA Storage Controller
Disk Controller : ASUS 82801GB/GR/GH (ICH7) Serial ATA Storage Controller
Disk Controller : VIA VT6421 IDE RAID Controller
USB Controller 1 : ASUS 82801G (ICH7) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 2 : ASUS 82801G (ICH7) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 3 : ASUS 82801G (ICH7) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 4 : ASUS 82801G (ICH7) USB Universal Host Controller
USB Controller 5 : ASUS 82801G (ICH7) USB 2.0 Enhanced Host Controller
SMBus/i2c Controller 1 : Intel ICH SMBus

Printers and Faxes
Printer : Send To Microsoft OneNote Driver (300x300, Colour)
Printer : Microsoft XPS Document Writer (600x600, Colour)
Fax : Microsoft Shared Fax Driver (200x200)
Printer : EPSON Stylus S20 Series (360x360, USB, Colour)
Printer : Epson ESC/P Standard 3 (360x360, USB, Colour)
Printer : EPSON Stylus S20 Series (360x360, USB, Colour)

Network Services
Network Adapter : Realtek PCIe GBE Family Controller (Ethernet, 1Gbps)
Network Adapter : VMware Virtual Ethernet Adapter for VMnet1 (Ethernet, 100Mbps)
Network Adapter : VMware Virtual Ethernet Adapter for VMnet8 (Ethernet, 100Mbps)

Operating System
Windows System : Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate 6.01.7600 (Service Pack 3)
Platform Compliance : x86

Windows Experience Index
Current System : 3.8


thanks for any advice


scott

[kalniel]

Quite a bit really.

First and biggest gain will be to improve the graphics card as the hd4670 isn't really up to BF3. Improving CPU is next, followed by RAM (might require a new operating system if yours is the 32 bit version of windows 7).

Improving the graphics card will be primarily limited by what power supply you have, it's not listed, so do you know anything about it? If not, you need to open up the computer and list everything you can find, especially the table on the side that shows what loads it can take.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Is the PC one you built or one you bought from a retailer or shop?? If the clockspeeds reported are correct,it looks like the OP has an HD4650 DDR3 and a E6600. The OP also seems to be using Windows 7 32 bit,since 3.5GB of available RAM is being reported.

Perhaps,the OP should run the following applications:

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/

I would have a look inside the PC to see the size of the PSU and the model number.

[scooterthedj]

the power supply is a 650 watts

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

the power supply is a 650 watts

What model number and company??

[kalniel]

the power supply is a 650 watts

Unfortunately that's pretty much meaningless, we need the table on the side as that lists the all important amperages on which rails etc. Alternatively if you know the make and exact model we can look up the manufacturers website and see if they have a copy of the table online.

[scooterthedj]

the power supply is a CIT 700UB 700 watts.

I can Install windows 7 64 bit also if required,

what budget graphics card would you suggest? If I went to upgraded the CPU to a quad core is there specific model that has a large cache like the E6600 that I have, or would that not be important

[scooterthedj]

sorry , here's the model
the power supply is a CIT 700UB 700 watts.

sorry i dont know what the amperages mean

[blueball]

http://www.maplin.co.uk/700w-black-c...ent-fan-264565

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Ah!Oh!

CiT are not that great,so I would change that PSU out at some point especially with newer parts.

What case do you have?? This way we will know what graphics cards it can take.

The cheapest upgrade I can think ATM is:
1.)A secondhand Q6600,Q8300 or Q8400. These can be had for £50 to £60 on Ebay if you are patient.
2.)A new PSU. An XFX PRO 450W or an OCZ ZS 550W can be had for around £40 to £45
3.)An HD6850 for around £80 to £90

This should make the game more playable. However,BF3 is one of those games which can take advantage of even much faster hardware.

[Rookie1986]

If you have Windows 7 64 then imo what it would cost you to bring your system up-to-grade for BF3 it might be best to get a whole new system, I know its a bit harsh against your old system but BF3 is one of the leading benchmarks for GPU's at the moment and its a beast to run even on top spec systems.

What budget did you have in mind for the upgrade and we might be able to spec you something new instead?

Rookie

P.S. - Not to sound like an arse here but going by your post I'm guessing your computer knowledge is limited? IMO if this is correct then going the second hand route and having to install everything yourself might not be the best direction to take. Possibly a nice Pre-built X3S system from Scan Computers could be a better yet more pricey option?

[scaryjim]

I'd put money on the graphics card being a low profile ASUS 4650, which means it'll actually be 512MB DDR2 800 on a 64 bit bus (ASUS cut costs by having the same card for their 512MB and 1GB 4650 LP, and just ripping two of the memory chips off to make the 512MB version - sadly dropping the bus to 64 bits at the same time ). To improve games the first step would definitely be an upgrade to the graphics card, and a new PSU at the same time would make sense. I'm going to go a bit left-field and suggest an AMD 7750 - it's a very low power card and ideal as a replacement in an older machine (IMNSHO ).

The E6600 is still a decent chip: it might be worth looking at overclocking it a little as moving to a quad core is not going to gain you anything in terms of single threaded performance, and most games still (whatever the developers try to tell you) benefit more from increased clockspeed than more cores. To be honest though, if you decide you do want to upgrade the CPU your best bet is probably to look at a complete new build - the problem with upgrading older technology is that you eventually get to a point where the upgrades you're buying are more expensive than new components with similar or better performance...

[Pob255]

Son . . .
I hope you do realise, as a responsible parent, that all the games you've listed are PEGI16 http://www.pegi.info/en/index/id/952 apart from the two Modern Warfare games that are PEGI18+ (PEGI ratings are backed by the BBFC which are legal)
http://www.bbfc.co.uk/BDM283343/

Just saying is all.

[JamieH]

Hey, what's to say his son isn't 35 years old and called Barry?

[GoNz0]

time for a new PC really.

[kalniel]

sorry , here's the model
the power supply is a CIT 700UB 700 watts.

sorry i dont know what the amperages mean

OK thanks. You have a poor power supply in terms of quality. Normally we'd not recommend using them at all on these forums. If you want to keep using it, then do not put too much demand on it.

According to the advertised specification, each 12v rail can supply 21A, and it has 1 PCI-E connector. Backing away from the 21A limit you should probably look for a card that draws no more than 16A from the 12v rail, and only requires one PCI-E connector as that's all you've got (on a more reliable PSU you might be able to use adaptors, but I don't recommend it here).

So the AMD hd6850 that was mentioned seems like a good choice, and will make the single biggest difference to the performance of the machine in games for the money.