Hey guys,
I would really need your or the testers' advice on what to do to get better performance!
I've investigated and checked all possible forums and benchmarks since June 2011 and still haven't found the solution. Generally I don't ask advice as I have sufficient knowledge on the topics I need. Also, in most cases most topics are easily researchable on from a variety of different reviews and benchmarks.
SPECS:
- i5 2500k at 4.2 ghz
- gtx 560 ti TF OC II, clocked at 900mhz
- 8 gb of 1333 mhz RAM
- 7200 rpm hard drive
- windows 7 64 bit home premium
- nvidia 285.38 driver (285.62 didn't have as good performance imo)
- samsung syncmaster 2233 120hz 1680x1050 monitor
- maximum pre-rendered frames set to 0 in nvidia control panel
At the moment I play BF3 competitively and therefore need every last frame I can get. Most competitive players, regardless of their systems, put all or most of their settings to low for the smoothest gameplay.
As I said above, I also own a 120 hz samsung 1680x1050 monitor with 3ms response rate. My goal is to get an ultra smooth gameplay on 120hz, in terms allowing me to get the maximum results in my gaming. Therefore, I've OC-ed my graphics card, tweaked all the settings to max performance on nvidia control panel, play on all low settings with no AA or any eye-candy. Generally, in BC2 and BF3 I get around 105 to 115 average fps, which sounds relatively nice, right? Well, in 80% of the situations my fps stays at around 100-120. In about 20% of the cases it drops below 90 or sometimes even, however rarely, below 80.
Here is the issue ! In such situations, the gameplay feels less than smooth and in all honesty feels like 50 fps, which feels stuttery!. If I were to play an important clan match and were to get killed because my fps was less smooth than what it normally is, it is completely unacceptable.
Because of that, I'm forced to play on 60 hz, because my monitor's refresh rates go as follows: 60,100,110,120. Even on 100 hz, the same phenomenon happens.
Now, I had my friend, who has an i7-950 and gtx 560 ti SLI with the newest drivers, at my exact settings, do a benchmark for me on a SP map Operation Guillotine. The latter can be considered as relatively static, which I am able to reproduce. He reported an average of 108 fps. When I tried the same, I also found my average to be 108-110.
The problem is all benchmarks in almost all reviews do all of their benchmarks on ultra or high settings with AA. However, I would need some insight on how certain graphics cards at this performance point perform on low settings, in other words, which has the most raw power in that scenario.
Now, my question is, will a gtx 560 ti SLI give me an average of at least 120 fps in all low settings on 1680x1050 resolution. In my friend's case (he's no dumb monkey) it proved that the gain ranges anywhere from 0 to 80%. I'm currently considering a 5970, a second GTX 560 TI SLI, a gtx 580 or a new radeon tahiti series graphics card. It seems to me more and more that a single card will perform better on the low end spectrum because of the increased number in shaders and in nvidia's case, cuda cores. Basically, the stronger the GPU, the higher the minimum. Also, I would like to note that I can not afford to deal with any micro-stuttering or such issues, so for the time being, a crossfire combination is out of the question, unless it is a good tri-fire system.
I'm thinking, at the moment a gtx 580 would be the best buy, since I would like to stay under 500 $ or 500 EUR to be exact, since I live in europe.
My goal is to get the best combination for the cheapest price. Any suggestions what would be a better upgrade?
Apologies for such a long novel, I hope peeps out there with similar experiences can help me out!
I would really need your or the testers' advice on what to do to get better performance!
I've investigated and checked all possible forums and benchmarks since June 2011 and still haven't found the solution. Generally I don't ask advice as I have sufficient knowledge on the topics I need. Also, in most cases most topics are easily researchable on from a variety of different reviews and benchmarks.
SPECS:
- i5 2500k at 4.2 ghz
- gtx 560 ti TF OC II, clocked at 900mhz
- 8 gb of 1333 mhz RAM
- 7200 rpm hard drive
- windows 7 64 bit home premium
- nvidia 285.38 driver (285.62 didn't have as good performance imo)
- samsung syncmaster 2233 120hz 1680x1050 monitor
- maximum pre-rendered frames set to 0 in nvidia control panel
At the moment I play BF3 competitively and therefore need every last frame I can get. Most competitive players, regardless of their systems, put all or most of their settings to low for the smoothest gameplay.
As I said above, I also own a 120 hz samsung 1680x1050 monitor with 3ms response rate. My goal is to get an ultra smooth gameplay on 120hz, in terms allowing me to get the maximum results in my gaming. Therefore, I've OC-ed my graphics card, tweaked all the settings to max performance on nvidia control panel, play on all low settings with no AA or any eye-candy. Generally, in BC2 and BF3 I get around 105 to 115 average fps, which sounds relatively nice, right? Well, in 80% of the situations my fps stays at around 100-120. In about 20% of the cases it drops below 90 or sometimes even, however rarely, below 80.
Here is the issue ! In such situations, the gameplay feels less than smooth and in all honesty feels like 50 fps, which feels stuttery!. If I were to play an important clan match and were to get killed because my fps was less smooth than what it normally is, it is completely unacceptable.
Because of that, I'm forced to play on 60 hz, because my monitor's refresh rates go as follows: 60,100,110,120. Even on 100 hz, the same phenomenon happens.
Now, I had my friend, who has an i7-950 and gtx 560 ti SLI with the newest drivers, at my exact settings, do a benchmark for me on a SP map Operation Guillotine. The latter can be considered as relatively static, which I am able to reproduce. He reported an average of 108 fps. When I tried the same, I also found my average to be 108-110.
The problem is all benchmarks in almost all reviews do all of their benchmarks on ultra or high settings with AA. However, I would need some insight on how certain graphics cards at this performance point perform on low settings, in other words, which has the most raw power in that scenario.
Now, my question is, will a gtx 560 ti SLI give me an average of at least 120 fps in all low settings on 1680x1050 resolution. In my friend's case (he's no dumb monkey) it proved that the gain ranges anywhere from 0 to 80%. I'm currently considering a 5970, a second GTX 560 TI SLI, a gtx 580 or a new radeon tahiti series graphics card. It seems to me more and more that a single card will perform better on the low end spectrum because of the increased number in shaders and in nvidia's case, cuda cores. Basically, the stronger the GPU, the higher the minimum. Also, I would like to note that I can not afford to deal with any micro-stuttering or such issues, so for the time being, a crossfire combination is out of the question, unless it is a good tri-fire system.
I'm thinking, at the moment a gtx 580 would be the best buy, since I would like to stay under 500 $ or 500 EUR to be exact, since I live in europe.
My goal is to get the best combination for the cheapest price. Any suggestions what would be a better upgrade?
Apologies for such a long novel, I hope peeps out there with similar experiences can help me out!
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