What is this PC rig capable of running?

I recognise this is a rather vague question but I'm looking to invest in this set up but I'm wondering what it'll be capable of running.

How will it fair against such games as:

Battlefield 3

Metro: 2033

Starcraft 2: Wings of Liberty

Diablo 3

And so on...

The Rig

Intel i5 2500k

Asus P8Z68-V/GEN3

MSI r6850 Cyclone OC edition

8GB DDR3 1600Mhz

500GB WD Caviar Blue SATA III

60GB SATA III SSD

600W Gold PSU

(Apologises if there is a dedicated topic for these types of questions)

The graphics card you picked is pretty old will be a bottleneck in performance. Investing in a card like the GTX 560 or 570 will give you much better performance for not that much money. I've got a 570 with an i5 2500k and 8GB of RAM and I run all those games at max or pretty close too with no trouble at all.

I'm assuming max settings you're speaking of and it will run starcraft 2 and diablo 3 fine, but BF3 and Metro 2033 not so much, you're looking at 35 fps avg with constant dips under 25 which is unplayable. Like the guy above said get a GTX or I would personally recommend a Radeon HD 6950 2gig, especially if you prefer multiple monitors.

I reckon one monitor will do me fine.

A friend suggested a Radeon HD 7850 as he also said the 6850 is a tad old. Would the jump in price be worth the performance in purchasing a 7850 or would the GTX 560 be sufficient enough? I'm not a fussy person so turning a few settings down to high from max would be fine.

I say spring for the 7850, its about on par in performance with the 6970 which is what i have and runs everything i throw at it. Its always smart to buy a current gen card instead of a older one imo.

You have my CPU and motherboard, and like @Extreme_Popcorn said, all you need is a proper GPU and you're all set to run BF3 and Witcher 2 on high/ultra.

@dinkys said:

I reckon one monitor will do me fine.

A friend suggested a Radeon HD 7850 as he also said the 6850 is a tad old. Would the jump in price be worth the performance in purchasing a 7850 or would the GTX 560 be sufficient enough? I'm not a fussy person so turning a few settings down to high from max would be fine.

What's your budget? I highly recommend that you buy an nVidia card. AMD are notorious for bad driver support and many triple-A games not running on AMD cards for a while after launch. Just go with first class cards, nVidia.

the card is the let down as others are saying iv got a gtx nvida 460 and runs alot games very well . very cheap now

@dinkys said:

I reckon one monitor will do me fine.

A friend suggested a Radeon HD 7850 as he also said the 6850 is a tad old. Would the jump in price be worth the performance in purchasing a 7850 or would the GTX 560 be sufficient enough? I'm not a fussy person so turning a few settings down to high from max would be fine.

GTX 560 TI would probably be a good baseline, though if you can spring for a GTX 660 or up I would do that.

I went with an HD 7770 with a new build recently, first one I've ever done. Takes up very little power and it's very quiet, but it's only a bit above an entry level graphics card. I'm definitely happy with the performance so far but I'm not maxing out BF3 and Metro 2033 - those games are heavy hitters and you're going to have to spend some money to max those out. Frankly, I am A-OK with not maxing out games, I get a consistent 60 with Metro and BF3 on medium settings at 720P, and this does not bother me in the least, but it might bother you.

You might also want to go with one of the Ivy Bridge i5 processors, the 3570K I believe, since they're newer and a little better.

What's your budget?

EDIT: For clarification - my HD 7770 is a little better than the 6850. It's also cheaper, quieter, and takes up less power - a fine card for a new builder, so if you want to get your feet wet with that sort of thing and maybe upgrade later like I'm planning, then do so. Just don't expect a consistent 60 at high resolutions and the best settings, though it can still look much better than consoles and get 60 frames if you lower the settings a bit.

Appreciate the advice guys.

Not settled on a budget yet. Ranging from £650 to £800 would be suitable.

Okay so no AMD cards, go for Nvidia instead.

Choose between GTX 560, GTX 560 TI, GTX 570 and GTX 660.

Get the 3570K instead of a 2500K Ivy Bridge i5 Processor.

Anything else I should look into or be wary of?

pac man

I've got a GTX 570 Ti, very satisfied. Overclocked as well, runs most at max (together with in i5-2500k). If only the goddamn direct-x 11 on Batman Arkham City was well done... ah well, direct-x 10 in Asylum is still insanely bitching.

@dinkys said:

Appreciate the advice guys.

Not settled on a budget yet. Ranging from £650 to £800 would be suitable.

Okay so no AMD cards, go for Nvidia instead.

Choose between GTX 560, GTX 560 TI, GTX 570 and GTX 660.

Get the 3570K instead of a 2500K Ivy Bridge i5 Processor.

Anything else I should look into or be wary of?

I'd be impressed if you build that anywhere near the lower end of your bracket, but I could be way off with pricing now as I haven't been checking for a couple of years. You might be able to for £800. Also, personally I'd say 600W is a little skimpy on power. At least see if you could get a 750W. It shouldn't cause you any problems, but upgrades and all that.

The Ivy Bridge version of the i5 is only like $20USD more on Newegg than the Sandy Bridge.

Right now, and these are US prices, but for comparison, the high end graphics cards are priced like this.

Nvidia 660 - Under $250

Nvidia 660 Ti - About $300

Radeon 7950 - About $350

Nvidia 670 - Around $400

Radeon 7970 - Around $450

Nvidia 680 - About $500

I think it'd be worth your investment to not settle for anything less than a current gen card (Nvidia 600, Radeon 7900 series). In America, those Nividia 500's and Radeon 7800/7700's all reach near $200USD, so for that extra $50, maybe less on sale, I'd be shooting for the 660.

Plus, the newest cards likely come with free game deals, like Borderlands 2 or Dirt Showdown. They alone may make up for the cost difference between a last series and current series card.