The logic here is simple. My archaic hardware should outperform these old consoles even with their optimizations, right? Does that mean I could play BF3 multiplayer at low 1440x900 and achieve 30+ fps?
The GT 640 shouldn't be so bad as long as it's 720p, and no enhancing. But then at that resolution, it becomes dependent on the CPU and memory as much as it is on the GPU.
The CPU is gonna hold u back a bit too especially in multiplayer. I have very similar cpu with yours ( q8200 @ 2.8 Ghz ) + 4 GB RAM + Radeon 6850. The FPS sometimes drops bellow 30 in crowded areas no matter if the settings are set on low/medium/high preset. Most of the time it stays above 30 FPS, but expect FPS drops bellow 30 FPS in crowded areas.
My point was that it will drop bellow 30 FPS in certain cases no matter what kind of GPU he has with his CPU. Even if he plays @ 1024 x 768 , all details on low - it will still drop bellow 30 FPS sometimes. That CPU simply isn't fast enough to run the game above 30 FPS in every situation. Still playable though.
I'm not sure if he will be that CPU limited. I've been playing around with my old Q9650 system lately and in FarCry 3 at least, there is absolutely no increase in FPS when I go from stock 3GHz to 4Ghz on a GTX570. Basically, a stock q9650 is enough to saturate a GTX570 in FarCry 3. A q8400 isn't that far behind a q9650 at stock. GT640 on the other hand is miles behind a GTX570. A GT640 has worse performance than a 9800GTX am I right?
I already stick to 8v8 conquest servers anyways. It is slower than a 9800GTX, but I'm only counting on it being faster than PS3/X360 gpu.
I was speaking from experience because I do have pretty much the same CPU and I have the game. FPS drops mainly occur on big maps when there is a lot going on on the screen ( a lot of people on the same place ). That's when those FPS drops occur ( at least on my PC ). One of those maps where i experience FPS drops under 30 is "Caspian Border" 32 x 32. But on the smaller maps, and most of the time on that map, it stays well above 30 FPS - so it is playable. I am just warning him not to expect super duper extra fluid gameplay in ANY scenario - but overall - it is very playable.
