BF3 Machine from scratch (comments, advice, help)

[Girr]

Hello! This is my first post on the forums so hello everyone, I'm sure I will be posting frequently here during my projects.

I have been a long-time Battlefield player and I plan to build a new machine from the bottom up specifically for Battlefield 3. Other minor games I play include: Counter-Strike:Source, Portal, Dead Space, Guild Wars, and Skyrim.

I usually build my computers with a cost-to-quality mindset sticking with respected brands and mid-high level hardware. I do not like to spend the extra money when the increase is minor. I am shopping in the $1,000 range TOTAL for the computer (+/- $100)

Here is my list so far:

Option A

Case:

COOL MASTER HAF932 ATX Full Tower (http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811119160)

Power Supply:

CORSAIR Enthusiast Series 650W ATX12V (http://www.newegg.co...N82E16817139005)

Mother Board:

ASUS P8Z68-V ATX (http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131729)

Processor:

Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy Bridge 3.1GHz (http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819115078)

Graphics Card:

EVGA GeForce GTX 560 (Fermi) 1GB GDDR5 (http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814130660)

Hard Drive:

Seagate Barracuda 1TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s (http://www.newegg.co...N82E16822148840)

Memory:

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) (http://www.newegg.co...N82E16820145345)

Monitor:

LG 23" 1920x1090p 50,000:1 120Hz 5ms (http://www.jr.com/lg/pe/LG_IPS231BBN/)

OS:

Windows 7 Home premium 64-bit

Option B

Swap the processor and motherboard for the following:

Processor:

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition 3.2Ghz (http://www.newegg.co...N82E16819103808)

Motherboard:

ASUS M4A87TD ATX (http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131651)

The difference between the two is about $100, but option A gives me the option to upgrade to an i5 or i7 if I ever felt the need.

I would appreciate any thoughts, comments, and suggestions you all have to offer!

Thanks!

-Dess

[philcruicks]

To be honest I'd get the i5 now, i3 is a bit under powered but the i7's aren't enough of an upgrade to warrant the extra price.

Other than that specs are good, should run BF nicely.

You could save some money by downgrading the case, you won't need one that large.

Normal ATX mid case would be fine. This is the mid version of the one you speced http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811119197

[Gaffney]

I would go with intel but can't you get an i5 instead of an i3.

[Girr]

I suppose the upgrade to a quad core would be worth the $60-$100. It would put me above the price i wanted, but not much. Would you advise getting an after-market cooling-fan/heat-sink for an i5?

Thanks for the link to the mid case, this does make more sense and practically pays for the upgrade to i5

[philcruicks]

I suppose the upgrade to a quad core would be worth the $60-$100. It would put me above the price i wanted, but not much. Would you advise getting an after-market cooling-fan/heat-sink for an i5?

Thanks for the link to the mid case, this does make more sense and practically pays for the upgrade to i5

That was my thought in recommending it....

On the cooler... probably not...the case has good cooling already, and Intel i CPU's don't run all that hot anyway...plus its an easy upgrade at a later date if you do find it running a little hot.

My i7 has the Freezer 7 Pro http://www.newegg.co...N82E16835186134 and runs about 35C at idle...so probs worth it if you have the spare cash...but getting the i5 is far more important than a cooler and it'll happily run with the stock cooler until you have cash for a new one.

If/when you do want one, something like the COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus or COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Evo would make good choices.

[Mr. Gibs]

To be honest I'd get the i5 now, i3 is a bit under powered but the i7's aren't enough of an upgrade to warrant the extra price.

Other than that specs are good, should run BF nicely.

You could save some money by downgrading the case, you won't need one that large.

Normal ATX mid case would be fine. This is the mid version of the one you speced http://www.newegg.co...N82E16811119197

An i3 gets, near as makes no difference, the same performance as an i5 (hell even an i7) on Bf3.

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

Stick with the Core i3 if you want to play Battlefield 3. Benchmarks have shown that the game is CPU-bound so any decent CPU should be fine. If you're fine with buying an AMD video card, I recommend getting the Radeon HD 6870 1GB. It slightly outperforms the GeForce GTX 560 in Battlefield 3 for at a lower price. You'll be getting better performance while saving money. This is the cheapest one I could find on Newegg.com: http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814102948

Newegg.com is very slow for me at the moment so I can't look at the prices of other video cards. Refer to this and try to find what you can afford: http://www.techspot....ance/page5.html

I'd also take a look at getting a slightly cheaper motherboard and a cheaper monitor. That 23" LG monitor seems a bit pricey at $239.99.

[ixne_hombre]

An i3 gets, near as makes no difference, the same performance as an i5 (hell even an i7) on Bf3.

Thats pretty interesting - a little surprising actually. Just wonder though, since the consistent performance is apparently due to the sheer power of the 580, how does a 560 do in comparison? If the 560 doesnt do as well, then might make sense to get the i5/i7 to even it out a bit. Where is that graph from anyway?

[Yusuf M. Veteran]

Thats pretty interesting - a little surprising actually. Just wonder though, since the consistent performance is apparently due to the sheer power of the 580, how does a 560 do in comparison? If the 560 doesnt do as well, then might make sense to get the i5/i7 to even it out a bit. Where is that graph from anyway?

Here: http://www.techspot....ance/page7.html

It wouldn't make sense to invest in a better CPU when Battlefield 3 doesn't take advantage of it (to a degree). Obviously, a low-end CPU would not perform as well as a medium- or high-end CPU. My point is though, anything higher than a Core i3 won't give you better performance.

[Open Minded]

I built a (modest) gaming rig for my buddy using the i3 2100 and he loves it. His wife even says the computer is much faster than their old Pentium E2160 using the same video card (8800 GT) but with different CPU, MB and RAM.

[ixne_hombre]

Here: http://www.techspot....ance/page7.html

It wouldn't make sense to invest in a better CPU when Battlefield 3 doesn't take advantage of it (to a degree). Obviously, a low-end CPU would not perform as well as a medium- or high-end CPU. My point is though, anything higher than Core i3 won't give you better performance.

Thanks - looking at getting some new components for my son, and that helps in deciding.

[Girr]

@ philcruicks - The second cooler was already on my list of potential items so I will take that suggestion into account.

@+/- Razorfold - Thank you for the information about the i3 vs i5. I think the single-thread potential of the i3 and the fact that battlefield performance is not impacted as much in the CPU range above i3 is a good reason to stick with the cheap on this one. However, in terms of processing multiple applications such as itunes, browser, pdf files, excel and potential Drafting (CAD) software in the future; a quad-core would probably be best suited in the long run? Maybe this is a bridge I should cross in the future and not right away.

@ Anaron - Newegg.com is freaking out on me too, but it runs just fine on my cell phone... site maintenance? Anyway, I am a through-n-through Nvidia supporter so switching to ATI, while it may make financial and technical sense, isn't in my heart... I will look though. ATI is a tough sale to me because of troubles in the past. Nvidia has never given me a problem in my life. Call it fandom, call it ignorance, I call it loyalty.

EDIT: Good news, I was able to salvage a $200 power supply from one of my old computers I forgot about. The powersupply itself is less than a year old, old one went bad and had to replace it. So I can scratch that off the list! I can easily tweak my list to accomodate a i5 upgrade or a graphics card upgrade, but which would be better? At the moment I am leaning toward investing more money into the card if anything and keeping the i3 until I need something faster

[philcruicks]

If this is purely for BF3 get a better graphics card, I had recommended the i5 for general all round better performance...

But obviously you could upgrade that at a later date and with Ivy Bridge coming out in 2012 the sandybridge prices should drop then.

[ARchamps]

Do you really need a full tower? I would look for a less-expensive midtower case and use the savings for the i5. The case won't help performance and you can get case with the same features/air flow for a lower price. Something like the HAF 922/Corsair 400R/Antec 900 etc.

I would also upgrade the GPU. I have a 560 Ti and it struggles a bit. If this machine is for BF3, that should be the most important component. Once again, you can get a P67 motherboard such as the ASUS p8p67 Pro. The features are pretty much equal except for on-board video (you likely don't need) and SSD caching. Use the savings to get a AMD 6960 or GTX 570.

[Muhammad Farrukh]

Option A is your best bet.

Also, what resolution you plan on gaming at?

If it is 1080p, then I would strongly recommend going from 560 to 560 Ti, for maximum/high settings

[+Gary7 Subscriber²]

I would go with a Haf 912 case. It is only $59.00 at NewEgg. I use it and it has plenty of space for expansion and cooling.

[Girr]

Sorry Nvidia... I'm toying with the idea of running two Radeon HD 6870 cards in crossfire (http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814150561)

I would get the best FR for the lowest cost. I'm not sure if the motherboard I selected above would be good for running crossfire though as it specifies running 2 cards at x4 instead of one at x16. Can someone let me know if the motherboard will work well for this set-up? I think there might be cheaper options as well, see below.

Also, what would be the disadvantages of running crossfire (if any)?

Some optional motherboards for running crossfire:

$132 ASUS P8P67 LE (http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131706)

$104 GIGABYTE GA-Z68M-D2H LGA (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128523)

[Muhammad Farrukh]

The Z68 motherboard you chose has 2x PCIx slots so you'll be fine with corssfire.

And I don't know any particular disadvantages, or any, regarding crossfire.

Make sure your PSU is rated above 650-700 Watts for 2x 6870

[+Gary7 Subscriber²]

Sorry Nvidia... I'm toying with the idea of running two Radeon HD 6870 cards in crossfire (http://www.newegg.co...N82E16814150561)

I would get the best FR for the lowest cost. I'm not sure if the motherboard I selected above would be good for running crossfire though as it specifies running 2 cards at x4 instead of one at x16. Can someone let me know if the motherboard will work well for this set-up? I think there might be cheaper options as well, see below.

Also, what would be the disadvantages of running crossfire (if any)?

Some optional motherboards for running crossfire:

ASUS P8P67 LE (http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131706)

That is a great price for those video cards. XFX makes good cards. The size is quite large (8.66" x 4.4" x 1.5") you might want to make sure that they will fit in the case you choose. (length)

NM it will fit.

Edited December 1, 2011 by Grinder

[Girr]

I plan on mainly playing BF3 to its full potential and performance. That being the highest settings I can while maintaining around 80+ fps. I could care less about the other games I play, not sure what this build will do for Skyrim. As far as the monitor goes, I want to run my games around the 80-120 fps mark to make full use of the 120Hz monitor. I plan on running at the monitor native resolution of 1920x1080.

Unless someone can convince me otherwise, it looks like the best build for the money will be the following:

$0 (own) - Powersupply 800W

$0 (own) - Sony DVD drive

$105 - GIGABYTE GA-Z68M-D2H LGA Motherboard

$340 - 2x XFX Radeon HD 6850 (running in crossfire)

$60 - Cooler Master HAF 912

$110 - HITACHI 750Gb 32Mb Cache 7200rpm SATA 6.0GB/s

$45 - PNY XLR8 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600

$125 - Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy-Bridge 3.1Ghz

$225 - 23" LG 1920 x 1080p HD LCD (LED backlit) 120HZ refresh rate 5ms response

$100 - Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit

TOTAL: ~ $1110

Pretty much right on the dot for target build-budget! No single part (besides the monitor) is over the ~$200 mark which makes parts breaking and replacements less scary, hopefully will never come up...

[patseguin Global Moderator]

If you have a budget, I would go i5. Everything else should be adequate. Me being the computer junkie I am would heavily recommend a core i7 extreme and GTX 580, BF3 play perfectly fully maxed.

[+Gary7 Subscriber²]

You might want a DVD drive or is that a typo?

[Muhammad Farrukh]

You might want a DVD drive or is that a typo?

:rofl:

I plan on mainly playing BF3 to its full potential and performance. That being the highest settings I can while maintaining around 80+ fps. I could care less about the other games I play, not sure what this build will do for Skyrim. As far as the monitor goes, I want to run my games around the 80-120 fps mark to make full use of the 120Hz monitor. I plan on running at the monitor native resolution of 1920x1080.

Unless someone can convince me otherwise, it looks like the best build for the money will be the following:

$0 (own) - Powersupply 800W

$0 (own) - Sony CD drive

$105 - GIGABYTE GA-Z68M-D2H LGA Motherboard

$340 - 2x XFX Radeon HD 6850 (running in crossfire)

$60 - Cooler Master HAF 912

$110 - HITACHI 750Gb 32Mb Cache 7200rpm SATA 6.0GB/s

$45 - PNY XLR8 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 1600

$125 - Intel Core i3-2100 Sandy-Bridge 3.1Ghz

$225 - 23" LG 1920 x 1080p HD LCD (LED backlit) 120HZ refresh rate 5ms response

$100 - Microsoft Windows 7 64-bit

TOTAL: ~ $1110

Pretty much right on the dot for target build-budget! No single part (besides the monitor) is over the ~$200 mark which makes parts breaking and replacements less scary, hopefully will never come up...

Pretty much sums it up. (Y)

If you can put an extra 100 USD, i5 would be excellent, but this thing here, as it stands, is AWESOME

[Girr]

You might want a DVD drive or is that a typo?

Watchya talkin' bout Willis?

Typo :shiftyninja:

If you have a budget, I would go i5. Everything else should be adequate.

i5 doesn't help me at all with BF3, not worth going $60-100 over budget.

Me being the computer junkie I am would heavily recommend a core i7 extreme and GTX 580, BF3 play perfectly fully maxed.

I hear ya, my laptop is my multi-task workhorse Samsung with i7 sandy panzy. Initially I told myself it is a little over-the-top to build a new computer for one game (BF3), but it is definitely not worth the hundreds of dollars extra just to run everything fully maxed and perfect. I really want to play the game as smoothly as possible with as little cost as possible. I'm only sold on cost-to-quality ratio.

[Girr]

So the Gigabyte motherboard is a micro ATX which I am not used to. Would this board be okay for Crossfire? (http://www.newegg.co...#scrollFullInfo)

I think I will pay the extra $30 for the ASUS P8P67 motherboard (http://www.newegg.co...N82E16813131706)

I like the connection placements compared to the GIGABYTE. Also the spacing of the card slots is a little better, I have always been impressed by ASUS products, and I prefer ATX boards.

Does anyone have any advice/experience for these motherboards? Should I just stick with the GIGABYTE because it does what i need for less $$$. Or is the ASUS worth every penny more?