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Upgrading For PlanetSide 2

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This may be a pretty straight-forward upgrade question as far as they go, but the last time I built a computer was back in April 2009, and a lot has changed since then, while I wasn't watching specs and prices. Below are the current minimum and recommended system requirements for PlanetSide 2, along with my current computer's specs. I meet pretty much all the requirements on the minimum recommended system requirements list, except for the RAM, and possibly the processor.

So, my question is: What Kind of upgrades, specifically, could I do to bring it as close as possible to the recommended PlanetSide 2 system requirements, for a grand total of $300, including shipping & handling? Yeah; that's the catch: I've got all of $300 to spend on the upgrades. I've considered upgrading to 8 GB of DDR2 RAM & an nVidia GeForce GTX 550 Ti for a total of just under $300, but I don't know if that will actually bring be up to what the minimum specs really are or not, considering the game has not been optimized very well at all, and probably won't be for several months yet, at least.

Any help or suggestions are appreciated. It's disappointing to have gotten into the closed beta early, but not having a powerful enough computer to be able to play the game at more than 10-12 FPS, even at absolute lowest settings, and even in sparsely-populated areas.

PlanetSide 2 Current Minimum System Requirements:
OS: Windows XP
Processor: Intel Core 2 Duo E6850 or higher / AMD Phenom II X2 or higher
Memory: 4 GB RAM
Hard Drive: 15 GB free
Video Memory: 256 MB RAM
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 8600 series or higher / AMD or ATI 4850 series or higher
Sound Card: DirectX compatible

PlanetSide 2 Current Recommended System:
OS: Windows 7
Processor: Intel i5 processor or higher / AMD Phenom II X6 or higher
Memory: 8 GB RAM
Hard Drive: 15 GB free
Video Memory: 1,024 MB RAM
Video Card: nVidia GeForce 500 series or higher / AMD HD 6870 or higher
Sound Card: DirectX compatible

My Current System Specs:
OS: Windows XP
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 X2 5800+ Brisbane 3.0GHz Socket AM2 89W Dual-Core
Memory: 2 GB DDR2 800
Hard Drive: 40 GB free
Video Memory: 512 MB RAM
Video Card: ATI Radeon HD 4870
Sound Card: DirectX compatible
Motherboard: JetWay AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G ATX AMD
Power Supply: Silverstone 400W ATX 12V 2.3 80 PLUS Certified Active PFC

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Homebuilt system Authority

I recommend waiting it out, accumulating some more cash, then attempt an upgrade. You have quite a mess on your hands. Unless I'm mistaken, DDR3 memory isn't supported on your mobo/CPU. Not entirely sure. My internet is acting up so I don't feel like researching it at the moment, lol.

All jokes aside, if I'm not mistaken, you'll need to upgrade your CPU and mobo just to upgrade the memory. That in itself will eat nearly all of your budget. Then if you plan on upgrading your GPU, you'll more than likely need a PSU upgrade. I'd recommend you increase your budget to around $500+

Don't take my advice and run with it just yet. There may be someone else on here who can offer a better alternative. :) 

You're correct: My current motherboard doesn't support DDR3 RAM. I can't increase my budget right away, though, as $300 is all I have to spare for an indefinite amount of time, currently being unemployed. But assuming I get the job I've applied for, I'll have quite a bit of spare cash on my hands in the next six months or so. Enough to probably even build a whole new computer with, which is waht I'd like to do, ideally.

Zokk said:
You're correct: My current motherboard doesn't support DDR3 RAM. I can't increase my budget right away, though, as $300 is all I have to spare for an indefinite amount of time, currently being unemployed. But assuming I get the job I've applied for, I'll have quite a bit of spare cash on my hands in the next six months or so. Enough to probably even build a whole new computer with, which is waht I'd like to do, ideally.

Wait, i think i can get u a good upgrade for cheap.

AMD Athlon II X4 640 3.0GHz Quad-Core= 98.98$
ECS A885GM-A2 (V1.1) ATX AM3 Mobo= 52.98$
HIS Radeon HD 6670 1GB= 98.99$
G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333= 42.99
A grand total of 293.95$
I do believe that is with shipping and handling and with mail in rebates. :D 
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maskills24 said:
Wait, i think i can get u a good upgrade for cheap.

AMD Athlon II X4 640 3.0GHz Quad-Core= 98.98$
ECS A885GM-A2 (V1.1) ATX AM3 Mobo= 52.98$
HIS Radeon HD 6670 1GB= 98.99$
G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333= 42.99
A grand total of 293.95$
I do believe that is with shipping and handling and with mail in rebates. :D 

maskills24 said:
Oh the best part, no new psu needed. That can run on a 400w psu

Oh, wow; thank you for doing that research! That helps a whole lot!

Zokk said:
Oh, wow; thank you for doing that research! That helps a whole lot!

No problem, in a year or two toss in a Phenom II x6 and upgrade to 16 gigs of ram and you will have better performance. But a quick warning, the 6670 is the BEST card to run on a 400w psu. I suggest getting a 550w psu in a year or 2 along with a 6870 or even a 69xx card. If you want to crossfire in the future, get a 600-650w psu with 2 6770s and you will be set for a little while :D 

Hi Zokk,

I was in the same boat with upgrading.

My old rig was

Win XP-32bit
AMD Phenom 9600 Quad Core 2.30ghz
2GB Ram DDR2
HD Radeon 3870 1gb
260GB Hard Drive

I wasn't able to play the game at all. I think my graphics card was the main culprit but I couldnt image running the game with just two gigs of ram.

My Upgraded system

Win 7-64bit UPGRADE
AMD Phenom 9600 Quad Core 2.30ghz
6GB Ram DDR2 UPGRADE
HD Radeon 6570 1gb UPGRADE
260GB Hard Drive

Cost of upgrade: $192.65 from New Egg

Now I am able to play the game with almost no problems. What I have noticed is in VERY large battles (50 - 80+ people) my fps will drop low. Not low enough to quit playing, but low enough to give the enemy the advantage. I think what I will do is upgrade my ram one more time to 8gb since that is the recommendation by planet Side 2 support staff. I would prefer DDR3 ram but for that I need a new motherboard, which means I need a new cpu, which basically means buying and building a new pc from scratch. You can upgrade your specs for less than $300 on new egg no problem. All of the items I got to upgrade was on sale.

maskills24 said:
Wait, i think i can get u a good upgrade for cheap.

AMD Athlon II X4 640 3.0GHz Quad-Core= 98.98$
ECS A885GM-A2 (V1.1) ATX AM3 Mobo= 52.98$
HIS Radeon HD 6670 1GB= 98.99$
G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333= 42.99
A grand total of 293.95$
I do believe that is with shipping and handling and with mail in rebates. :D 



a radeon 4870 is faster than a 6670. so thats a downgrade

maskills24 said:
Zokk said:
You're correct: My current motherboard doesn't support DDR3 RAM. I can't increase my budget right away, though, as $300 is all I have to spare for an indefinite amount of time, currently being unemployed. But assuming I get the job I've applied for, I'll have quite a bit of spare cash on my hands in the next six months or so. Enough to probably even build a whole new computer with, which is waht I'd like to do, ideally.

Wait, i think i can get u a good upgrade for cheap.

AMD Athlon II X4 640 3.0GHz Quad-Core= 98.98$
ECS A885GM-A2 (V1.1) ATX AM3 Mobo= 52.98$
HIS Radeon HD 6670 1GB= 98.99$
G.Skill Ripjaws Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1333= 42.99
A grand total of 293.95$
I do believe that is with shipping and handling and with mail in rebates. :D 


Under No circumstances should you go with AMD for planetside2 the sad fact is you get punished for it, also the lack of quadcore support and optimization means that even decent rigs Can have crushing FPS drops i see 15-20 in medium to large scale battles, you can play but too hell with being able to kill people that you would in smaller fights where you have 30FPS and above

Intel quadcore i5+ is really the lowest CPU you will get away with in PS2 I myself need to do the same and get upgrades =(

Homebuilt system Authority

A 6770 is the same tier as the 4870. Still a pointless upgrade. For $100 nothing will be better than the card that is in there. Now, if he sells it and anything else on ebay he might generate enough for something like a 7850, but then the psu is a concern again. If the power supply is running that card okay then that should probably be left alone.

Jumping to the Athlon II x4 is more about the architecture shift than the speed increase. So I throw my hat in with that idea. Maybe use the extra on a bit better motherboard for future drop in upgrades? Such as an AM3+ motherboard for whatever else AMD puts on that socket.

The guy on a phenom I may have gone backwards or level with that graphics card switch, depends on what type of memory it uses, gotta be careful with that. The only thing really gained by that switch is the ability to run dx11 on it. Other than that I can say that the phenom I architecture is part of the problem, not the DDR2 ram itself.

Another option would be to not get a new mobo but do get a new psu if that mobo can be bios flashed to accept the athlon II. Though that would be more setting up a foundation for future upgrades in a different way. I'd say it would be a bit silly to get more ddr2 ram, but in a few years ddr4 will be in use so if it lasts till then it makes no difference.
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