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I'm a pc gamer and since Battlefield 4 is out, and by playing the beta, I can play it on medium settings without that much lagg. (bf3 on high). So I would like to upgrade my pc to be able to play it on high/ultra. My PC specs:

  • Nvidia Geforce GTX 460
  • AMD Phenom II X4 820 2.80 GHz 64bit
  • 6G of RAM

I bought the graphic card awhile ago and it helped my gaming a lot. But I know people who play bf3 on ultra with same card and I know it should, but I can't do it.

Is that because my processor can't keep up with my graphic card? If I buy new processor, does it improve my pc to be able to play games in higher detail? Also, if I buy new processor, do I need to buy better coolers as well? Atm its pretty loud when I play high end games.

Also, if I buy new processor, how do I know its compatible with my motherboard? :s The processor I am already checking out is: AMD FX-8350, AM3+, 4,0GHz, 8-core

Questions:

  1. Does buying a new processor help me play games in higher detail?
  2. How do I check is the new processor compatible with my motherboard?
  3. Do I need new coolers since my pc will be more powerful? (it said the processor package has a cpu cooler in it)
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    Before you consider any new part, first measure where your bottleneck is. Upgrading a part which is not your bottleneck will not help you much. To do that use tools to measure how busy your GPU is (e.g. GPU-Z),, measure if one core on the CPU is maxed out all the time, if the game is waiting a lot on diskIO. Etc etc. After you know what is limiting your game you can make a good upgrade decision.
    – Hennes
    Oct 1, 2013 at 15:11

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@Hennes' comment is a good one -- Ensure your CPU is the bottleneck before replacing it, or else you may be surprised to find out it didn't help any.

To answer you specific pointed questions:

Does buying a new processor help me play games in higher detail?

Depends on the program/game. In general -- probably (See note about bottleneck above).

How do I check is the new processor compatible with my motherboard?

Look up the specs of the motherboard on-line with its manufacturer, and they should provide a list of known-compatible processors.

Do I need new coolers since my pc will be more powerful? (it said the processor package has a cpu cooler in it)

If you buy a new processor and it includes a cooling apparatus, then it will work fine with the CPU it's supplied with (assuming you're not using some horrible non-standard chassis, without proper air-flow).

Aside from that, if you're lost and/or afraid to make wrong purchases then take it to a computer shop and get them to upgrade it for you. That way if they order a wrong or incompatible part, it doesn't cost you anything. :)

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