See this?

This is the answer to all hardware questions posed by people considering upgrades or building a new system. I think it should be posted in a sticky that forces all forum members to view it before posting. Those of you who are still asking, read the following.

Cheapos: If you have a dual core system running faster than 2.4GHZ, and card made in the last two years, and 2GB of memory then you're going to be able to play it, but don't expect much in the way of eye candy.

Midrange: If you have a newer i5/7/AMD equivalent, a card made in the last year, and 4GB of memory then you're going to be playing it pretty decently.

More money than brains: If you spend 1K tomorrow on the fastest processer with 16GB of the most overpriced RAM, a SSD Drive, and 4 of the top of the line cards SLI/Crossfired then you're going to be able to play it maxed with a pretty crazy-large resolution.

FAQs

Q: Should I invest in a new system.

A: Depends on a few things. . . Can you afford it? What do you have now? How do you want to run it?

If you can afford to do it, then go for it. It's your money. If you have a year old gaming system and you don't need to play it on a 27" Dell monitor then you're probably going to be fine. If you want high resolution and everything maxed then you're going to have to spend some money. WAIT AND SEE before dropping a few hundred or thousand on a new system.

Q: Should I SLI/Crossfire to get better performance?

A: To most of you, "No". Luthier said the other day that SLI/CF might not give you any performance gains. Generally speaking Multi GPUs/Cards are for people who will be gaming on multiple monitors or at huge resolutions. We don't know if 1xGPU=20fps and 2xGPU=40fps. Maybe there is a huge gain, maybe you just spent $200 for an additional 5fps? WAIT AND SEE before buying another card.

Q: Should I get the latest and greatest Intel/AMD CPU?

A: All depends on your cashflow and your needs. Are you playing this thing jacked will all things enabled and full object counts? Then yes, spend away! From what we've heard it seems that the CPU might be the component that makes the most difference when upgrading. Will having a 2 core system at 4GHZ be better than a 4 core system at 3.5 GHZ? WAIT AND SEE before buying a new CPU.

Q: Should I get another XGB of RAM?

A: Maybe. Luthier said that COD was pushing 1.8GB of RAM Max, but who knows how streamlined it will get in the next month or how much it will expand in the next year. If you have 2GB, you might want to test the waters first. . . then the land. It's dependent on options enabled, so maybe. Given the price of RAM right now I'd probably go with 4GB since I'm sure additional content will be memory hungry. Should you get 8GB of RAM? It's your cash, but I don't see a gaming rig needing more than 4GB of RAM in the next few years.

Q: I'm going to be smart and wait to build a system, but how will I know what will run COD at 60fps at my ideal resolution?

A: Come to these forums and ask people what they are using and what frames they are getting. Maybe Toms Hardware or another site will use COD as their new "Killer App" to test their rigs. Maybe "Can you run it" will add COD and it will tell you what systems run it decently.

Q: What's the big deal in waiting? If I build a killer rig now or 6 months from now I'll still have a killer rig, but I won't be playing that game for 1/2 a year.

A: It all comes down to how much you want to play COD and how much you value your money. If you have the cash, build your rig now. If you want to be a bit more frugal, cool your jets and play the waiting game.

On average, waiting 6 months to build a system typically gets you equal or better frames per second at about 1/2 the price for the gaming components. This depends on the speed Intel/AMD/Nvidia/ATI release their new flagship products and how aggressive they want to be in their pricing. Sometimes you have to wait a year to get it 1/2 off, and sometimes a new product comes along that makes everyone want to get rid of current stock.

Monitors, power supplies, RAM, hard disks, and even mainboards don't really drop in price that often or that fast. Usually it takes some sort of radical new format from Intel or AMD to make all these manufacturers drop prices and start changing their products to keep up.

In summation, it all come down to two simple formulas

Interest in Game + Ability to Wait < Money = Upgrade
Interest in Game + Ability to Wait > Money = Wait for Upgrade

If you're not happy with the way COD plays on your system then you're going to have to upgrade. If you can sweat it out and wait a little while then you're going to same some cash. If you can't wait and have some money burning a hole in your pocket, spend spend spend!