Battlefield 3 system

mixmastertravis · Sep 4, 2011

hi, im looking to build a new comp from the ground up for battlefield 3 coming out soon. looking to purchase in about 2 weeks time and have some what of an idea of what i want but could a use a little help from the toms hardware community. mi price range for the rig is about 1000$ but for absolutly everything for it to come around 1250$ to the max of 1300$

thanks for any feed back

michxymi · Sep 4, 2011

Best option Is to wait for Bulldozers, see their perfomance and then choose according to your budget

AbdullahG · Sep 4, 2011

Waiting in the PC world is not always a good thing. For all we know, BD may not even compare with the Sandy bridge CPUs. An i5 2500k is a great CPU and will last quite awhile until you need to upgrade. I would swap the monitor for this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16824262011

As for your GPU, a Radeon HD 6950 will perform very well:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150549

For you HDD, a Samsung Spinpoint F3 is cheaper and has just as much space:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152185

Just get 4GB of RAM. You won't get much of a performance gain with 8GB:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820145343

You can game with a standard keyboard for a few bucks less.

powercroat783 · Sep 4, 2011

I would Highly recommend this Video Card http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130604

Considering what Battlefield 3 is going to require (I might have a friend or two in EA ;D) then this video card will definitely make the cut. It is very good and runs every game there is on max settings with 45+ fps.

I would also recommend G-Skill RipJaws over Corsair vengeance, but that's more of a philosophical debate.

And here is another recommendation, if your budget allows. Try investing in a SATA 3 SSD and installing Windows 7 on it. It can be very useful in boot times.

Otherwise I would say this is a very excellent system, everything you need and nothing you dont. Also you have a keyboard listed here and not a mouse so make sure to get one of those too (just making sure).

Other than this is a very good budget computer but will still run games on max settings, so you can have a cookie

Also, you COULD move down to a 650 Watt, but a 750 Watt is definitely a safe bet.

Why_Me · Sep 4, 2011

Stay away from that CM psu.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.730392 $147.98 - $15.00 Mail In Rebates FREE SHIPPING $10 off w/ promo code EMCKAKH34, ends 9/5
CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX750 V2 750W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CML8GX3M2A1600C9B

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.717976 $453.98 - $20.00 Mail In Rebates
Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
ASUS ENGTX560 TI DCII TOP/2DI/1GD5 GeForce GTX 560 Ti (Fermi) 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.722409.11-119-233 $154.98
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
COOLER MASTER HAF 912 RC-912-KKN1 Black SECC/ ABS Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

powercroat783 · Sep 4, 2011

And to just argue against the guy that posted before me, I would say my GPU is better because not only is it 20 dollars cheaper but it has a higher core clock and more than TRIPLE the memory clock

8GB of RAM should be purchased. Trust me, when you upgrade from 4GB to 8GB Windows 7 realizes this and uses much more of the RAM then the page file from your HDD or SSD, resulting in better performance. Also helps make it more future proof.

I like Western Digital more than Samsung HDD simply over the face that WD fails less on me than Samsung has, but hey I just build and maintain super-workstations in my office for 100+ employees so what do I know about HDD failure rates. And if you like gaming keyboards, get one. Its not that much of an increase but I am definitely happy that I got mine.

AbdullahG · Sep 4, 2011

He can still do well with the Samsung and for a cheaper price. As for your GPU, the HD 6950 based on tests runs faster. A GTX 560 Ti would be a cheaper option, but the 2GB of VRAM offers more headroom for demanding games (I tested a GTX 560 Ti 1GB in Crysis 2 DX 11 and it averaged 25 to 30FPS; the Radeon HD 6950 2GB I tested averaged 30 FPS to 45 FPS). Extra RAM isn't worth it. Having 4GB of RAM vs 8GB of RAM won't give any performance gain, so what is the point? He can get more when prices drop (which was mentioned in an article not long ago on Tom's that prices for RAM will drop in the upcoming quarter). Not to mention you only see a performance gain if he is using programs that take advantage of the extra RAM such as photoshopping and heavy rendering (and considering he is gaming, the 8GB of RAM won't be much use considering games barely use 4GB of RAM).

mixmastertravis · Sep 4, 2011

powercroat783 :

im going to go with a SSD 500gb hybrid and another standard HD 500gb for excess storage and such

and i am taking all of the graphics card into consideration and am going to look into some benchmarks for them

sticking with the 750w in case i choose to SLI and just to be sure (might not need that much power to SLI but what the heck) i already have razr naga mouse i use for gaming right now so got that covered, and thanks for the help mate! really appreciate it.

mixmastertravis · Sep 4, 2011

AbdullahG :

i get what your saying mate about the 6950 vs 560 ti and i was thinking about downgrading to 4gbs like you said and maybee downgrade one other thing such as little things like keyboard or monitor and jump straight to a 570.

Why_Me · Sep 4, 2011

AbdullahG :

He can still do well with the Samsung and for a cheaper price. As for your GPU, the HD 6950 based on tests runs faster. A GTX 560 Ti would be a cheaper option, but the 2GB of VRAM offers more headroom for demanding games (I tested a GTX 560 Ti 1GB in Crysis 2 DX 11 and it averaged 25 to 30FPS; the Radeon HD 6950 2GB I tested averaged 30 FPS to 45 FPS). Extra RAM isn't worth it. Having 4GB of RAM vs 8GB of RAM won't give any performance gain, so what is the point? He can get more when prices drop (which was mentioned in an article not long ago on Tom's that prices for RAM will drop in the upcoming quarter). Not to mention you only see a performance gain if he is using programs that take advantage of the extra RAM such as photoshopping and heavy rendering (and considering he is gaming, the 8GB of RAM won't be much use considering games barely use 4GB of RAM).

+1

powercroat783 · Sep 4, 2011

Crysis 2 = An entirely different story. Added VRAM will offer some additional headroom for EXTREMELY demanding games. For the most part too much extra VRAM at current times is just a waste of money. As for Battlefield 3, 1 GB will be more than enough to suffice, and I run Crysis 2 at max settings and I get around 35+ fps so you cant judge me there, and I really didn't even OC that much.

I will stick with what I said about the Samsung my main problem with HDD is how often I have to run to FedEx to RMA them for my company. Id like to say I drop off alot more samsung, Seagate and etc. of HDDs than I do Western Digital. And when you are in Software Development, you understand the importance of reliable HDD. And also come to appreciate using RAID 1.

And you are correct that RAM increase does not have a performance increase in Games. At least not directly. What it does is reduce Windows 7 reliance on the SWAP that it reserves on the Primary Drive. When Windows 7 detects only 4GB it goes whoa, better not take up too much space cause my user(s) might need it. But if there is 8GB it will say Woah, plenty of room here might as well use it. It will then use the SWAP less and allows for faster communication for possibly critical windows functions, such as DLL, that the game may need to help it start up and function properly. Try it yourself, If you have possibly 8GB, pull out a stick and downgrade to 4GB. Look at task manager and take note of exactly how much memory is being used right upon startup. Reinstall the other 4GB and look again. There will be slightly more memory being used.

As for memory getting cheaper, well it isn't expensive to begin with is it? from 2x2GB to 2x4GB is only a 20 dollar increase. Hardly anything in comparison to the rest of the machine. And it is much better to have 2x4GB rather than 4x2GB sticks in your machine, thanks to the fact that communication will be much faster with 2 rather than 4. Of course there is nothing wrong at all with having 4x4GB if you ask me. But like you said, when Memory gets cheaper this fall I am definitely buying myself another set of 2x4GB to have a set of 4x4GB

powercroat783 · Sep 4, 2011

mixmastertravis :

I couldn't comment that much personally on hybrid drives since I have no direct experience with them. However I can say that many people dont recommend them due to the fact that performance increase is not worth the price. I have a 60Gb SSD (Sata 3) and two WD 750GB HDD in RAID 0 (All data on my system is either easily replaced or backed up, so I went for performance on the RAID 0) and I have to say My Load Times are god-like. I turn on my PC and boom windows 7 boots in ~ 20 seconds. I login and I am ready to go. Huge game maps load off of my RAID 0 set lightning fast (SATA 2 HDD, since HDD cant really take advantage of SATA 3) So RAID 0 is something else you might want to try, although it can get a we bit confusing. Although like I said, I cant say anything against the Hybrid Setup you described because I haven't tried it out personally myself, but I can say I am very satisfied with my setup that I am describing right now.

AbdullahG · Sep 4, 2011

Bad Company 2 is confirmed to exceed over 1GB of VRAM usage at 1080p, though with 1GB you won't notice lag. So if that game uses more than 1GB of VRAM, imagine BF3. Having the extra VRAM will come in use. And for only $20 more for more VRAM and better performance it's worth it. I highly doubt he will be using his gaming PC for JUST BF3. As for HDD, he can decide then. I still think he should just get 4GB of RAM, but if he wants more for some apparent reason, then sure he can get the 8GB.

mixmastertravis · Sep 4, 2011

powercroat783 :

i dont really know much about all the raid 0 setups and stuff so i am definitively going to look into all of that stuff, im going to take your word on the hybrid cause you obviously have lot more knowledge on that subject( and computers in general) so im not going to sacrifice quantity over quality on all of my files and games. last thing i want is it to crash on me and to loose everything. (200gb of games:/)

powercroat783 · Sep 4, 2011

Well honestly Battlefield 3 can probably use up to 4GB of VRAM. I don't think that extra VRAM is going to make much of a noticeable difference but thats just me. I do however work in a software development company that creates, who would have thought, games. Sorry, but they made me sign a big juicy contract asking me to be quite about some things, and due to the fact that I dont really know what I can and cannot say I just dont say anything. I like my internship. ANYWAYS, I keep the machines up to date. Everyone working on the games at my office uses the card I stated above EXCEPT people that deal with the graphics more directly, such as the artists, amongst others. But they get fat juicy EVGA GTX590 in Two-Way SLI on really nice motherboards and everything looks sooooooo pretty. Literally Buildings miles away are in full rendered detail it's quite awesome.

I like my card, It does me wonders at max detail, and I am saying that It will do the same for you. I am not saying Abdullah's is BAD in any way, no it is a very good card. Except I prefer NVIDIA but once again thats a Philosophical debate and let us not get into that, there is about 4823482302384237 forums we can argue that on. He says there are benchmarks saying that his chip works better than my chip. He has yet to post a link to said benchmark. All I am saying is that according to newegg, I have a higher Core Clock and Memory Clock. It is hard to take advantage of alot of VRAM if communication with said VRAM is very slow. If he gives links to benchmarks, especially from toms that says he is right, I will be more than happy to concede defeat on this. However I believe that a higher Core Clock is more important than extra VRAM. I would like to not be a hypocrite and point to a benchmark that says this, but I am pretty sure if you look it up on google you can easily find some. That's my two cents

powercroat783 · Sep 4, 2011

Oh no hybrids are not notorious for failing, I am just saying price per performance alot of people have said that it is not worth it. But like I said, dont take my word for it as I have no personal experience with it. I dont go with what other people say and repeat them to you, I take my experiences and share them with you.

powercroat783 · Sep 4, 2011

Oh and look at Why Me's combo packs those are pretty cool. And there is Video Card in there that appears to be nicer then the on I have recommend that is from ASUS. Very Nice Overclock job from ASUS indeed. same price as mine as well. I am an EVGA man but I cannot complain about ASUS quality, considering I use their mobos. It is GTX560 As well, so it is the same as my card, but ASUS Overclocked more than EVGA did, but hey you can do all that yourself easily in the O.S. (I am not experienced in overclocking, but some nice performance gains can be achieved with some in Windows 7 GPU overclocking, so it would be nice to see.)

Also I would highly recommend buying a few fans to help air flow in your case. And if you get some with pretty LEDs it makes gaming at night pretty cool. They are not hard to install at all.

Good Luck with the system though on whatever you decide to put in there. I hope it does what you want it to do.

mixmastertravis · Sep 4, 2011

powercroat783 :

yea i saw his deals and i really liked the gpu combo

cookie for him

and i got the fans covered too, no leds but nothing a trip to circuit city cant fix

phenom90 · Sep 4, 2011

psu... for the $10 cheaper after MIR... you can get a psu with modular cables and also higher output....

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817194093

graphics card...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130593

evga has an outstanding warranty service.... so for the money and performance you won't go wrong with this one...

mixmastertravis · Sep 11, 2011

Best answer selected by mixmastertravis.

Battlefield 3 system

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