Is it really not possible to play BF1 with a 2500K Sandy Bridge CPU?

DaRuSsIaMaN

[H]ard|Gawd
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Maybe a stupid question... Sorry if so, lol.

I barely play any games, but recently my roommate and I were thinking we want to play Battlefield 1. So, I just wanted to double-check: is it really not possible to set the game to all the lowest settings and play it on my 2500K Sandy Bridge CPU? The minimum requirements list a 6600K.

Just curious: what exactly determines the system requirements? It's pretty much entirely due to graphics, isn't it? So, even the lowest settings have graphics that require "lots" of CPU power, right? (At least in my mind, this counts as lots, considering that this CPU is perfectly fine for all my typical computing activities lol.)
 
What GPU are you using? Is your 2500K overclocked? How much RAM? A quick search seems to show Youtubers successfully running BF1 on a 2500K so it should work but it depends on your graphics card. Personally I've flouted minimum system requirements many times and been ok. Graphics quality settings do make a difference on CPU usage but obviously not as much as GPU. A CPU that's not fast enough can cause loss of framerate, or inconsistent framerate (stuttering).

Because I'm bored, I'm installing BF1 on my i5 2500 (non-K) system (see sig) right now and I'll let you know soon how it goes :)
 
You can definitely play it, but those games like cores, I had a 4 core and it hindered performance quite a bit on the GPU, think I was rocking a 1080ti with a 4570s (low clocks). This is a
similar chip with no hyper threading. Swapped for a 6/12 chip and all was well.
 
Nah, it will be fine. They list a fx-6350 as min cpu as well as i5-6600. I ran the game on launch with a fx-8350 and rx 480 8gb @1080p. The real limit is as others have said, 4 cores is the weak spot more than gpu especially with large player maps.
 
Oh wow, can't believe I neglected to Google "battlefield 1 on 2500k" before posting... 😆 Now I see that lots of people have explored this question.

Is your 2500K overclocked?
No, never bothered to even look into it haha.

How much RAM?
I have this slightly awkward arrangement of 24 GB. 8 GB x2 of PC3-10700 and 4 GB x2 of PC3-12800H.

What GPU are you using?
The HD 3000 iGPU 🤣...

I was going to find some used GPU in the For Sale/Trade forum. Ok I just checked, and my PSU is a SeaSonic SS-380GB, ugh. What is the best video card that could work with only 380 W, and would it be good enough for BF1?
 
The HD 3000 iGPU 🤣...

I was going to find some used GPU in the For Sale/Trade forum. Ok I just checked, and my PSU is a SeaSonic SS-380GB, ugh. What is the best video card that could work with only 380 W, and would it be good enough for BF1?

What is your budget for a video card? I would expect your PSU to be able to handle something like a 3GB GTX 1060(or a newer card, depending how much you're looking to spend).
 
Oh geez... Yeah no chance of it working on HD3000 gfx. I recommend a minimum of GeForce 750Ti (should do 1080P Low) or 1050Ti (should get you to 1080P Medium). A Radeon 460/560 would be ok too for 1080 Low

Edit to add- the campaign stays at a mostly-solid 60fps on Medium settings on my i5 2500, OC GTX 670, 16GB system. CPU usage around 80% on all cores and 70-100% GPU usage.
 
What is your budget for a video card? I would expect your PSU to be able to handle something like a 3GB GTX 1060(or a newer card, depending how much you're looking to spend).

Well, based on what I'm seeing in the For Sale/Trade thread, <$100? There's a thread from nearly 2 months ago of someone selling a Radeon 470 4GB for $70. Is that normal? I don't even know what the fair price for anything is... But the bottom line is I'm trying to get by as cheaply as possible lol.
 
Edit to add- the campaign stays at a mostly-solid 60fps on Medium settings on my i5 2500, OC GTX 670, 16GB system. CPU usage around 80% on all cores and 70-100% GPU usage.

Nice.

Thanks for the recommendations! I guess I should not have asked for the "best" card that can work with that PSU lol. Sounds like the 1060 will be more than I'm willing to spend now.
 
You should be able to find a used 1050ti for under $100. That's probably what I would look for. Or if you're really just looking for something inexpensive that's better than the onboard graphics something like a used RX 460 or a GTX 960 would probably be fine and should be well under $100.
 
Stretch your budget and get a 1060 if possible


Yeah, I would avoid AMD cards from the same era as the GtX 1060. The RX 470/480 is slower, and thanks to factory overclock, it can use up to 50% more power(not recommended for that PSU)

If you must use AMD from that era, pick-up the RX 460 (but the 1050 is faster)


The 1060 is the highest performance for a 120w card of that generation.
 
Good to see BF1 is still played by players. I play it usually couple times a week. Still my favorite of the BF series. I Just don't like BFV (hides in the corner after statement).
 
I've played it on my overclocked Xeon 5660 and before that an i7 930.
 
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