BF3 build advice

G

Gabe3

2[H]4U
Joined
May 23, 2006
Messages
3,847
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
Gaming
2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
$1000-1200 USD, tax and ship incl.
3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
U.S. - south florida.
4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
case, mobo, vid card, psu, cpu, hard drive, ram, heat sink/fan, thermal paste.
5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
dvd burner
6) Will you be overclocking?
Yes
7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
1680x1050 22" 16:10
8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
1 week
9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
ssd caching, stable, good for OC.
10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If so, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Win7 64bit


some stuff I'll be buying from amazon since they have a better return policy than newegg and free shipping. the motherboard, case(do i want usb 3?, i like have side window), psu, heatsink, ram, are all items I'm not sure about(didnt put alot of research into). I'll probably get a second gtx 570 in a couple years or whenever I need it. I'd like to bring the price down closer to $1100. I'm at $1281 on the newegg total. theres maybe $50 to be saved just by getting some of the stuff on amazon. I could also save money on a different case too. I don't know if I need or want usb 3.0, if I can save $30+ on a case that doesn't have it, I'd probably rather save the money.

heres what I currently have picked out:
case: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129097
motherboard: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128512
vid card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130621
psu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139006
cpu: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072
ssd for intel caching: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148441
ram: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428
hard drive: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136795
heat sink/fan: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065
thermal paste: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835154003
 
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A few issues with that build:
1) Unless you like cramped overpriced cases, don't bother with that Antec 903. It's simple a waste of money at $115 shipped. Check out these roomier and better quality cases instead:
$70 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58 ATX Case
$80 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K56W ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K56 ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$100 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance nVidia Edition ATX Case
$100 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$100 - Corsair Carbide Series 400R ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58W ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$110 - Lian Li PC-60FN ATX Case
$125 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$125 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$125 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Black Finish w/Orange Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$130 - Corsair Carbide Series 500R ATX Case

2) For your resolution, that GTX 570 is stupid overkill, even for BF3. If you still want overkill but for a reasonable price, just go with this GPU:
$280 - XFX HD-695X-CDFC Radeon HD 6950 2GB PCI-E Video Card'

3) That PSU is outdated and overpriced. I recommend this higher quality PSU instead:
$105 - Antec High Current Gamer Series HCG-750 750W PSU

4) That hard drive is also overpriced considering that this Hitachi drive is significantly faster and has twice the space:
$156 - Hitachi Desktar 7K1000.D HDS721010DLE630 1TB SATA 6.0Gb/s Hard Drive
 
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Danny Bui said:
A few issues with that build:
1) Unless you like cramped overpriced cases, don't bother with that Antec 903. It's simple a waste of money at $115 shipped. Check out these roomier and better quality cases instead:
$70 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58 ATX Case
$80 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K56W ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K56 ATX Case
$90 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance ATX Case
$90 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K7B ATX Case
$100 - Cooler Master CM690 II Advance nVidia Edition ATX Case
$100 - Cooler Master HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP ATX Case
$100 - Corsair Carbide Series 400R ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li Lancool PC-K58W ATX Case
$100 - Lian Li PC-7B Plus II ATX Case
$110 - Lian Li PC-60FN ATX Case
$125 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001WT White Full Tower ATX Case
$125 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-001BK Black Full Tower ATX Case
$125 - NZXT Phantom PHAN-002OR Black Finish w/Orange Trim Full Tower ATX Case
$130 - Corsair Carbide Series 500R ATX Case

2) For your resolution, that GTX 570 is stupid overkill, even for BF3. If you still want overkill but for a reasonable price, just go with this GPU:
$280 - XFX HD-695X-CDFC Radeon HD 6950 2GB PCI-E Video Card'

3) That PSU is outdated and overpriced. I recommend this higher quality PSU instead:
$105 - Antec High Current Gamer Series HCG-750 750W PSU

4) That hard drive is also overpriced considering that this Hitachi drive is significantly faster and has twice the space:
$156 - Hitachi Desktar 7K1000.D HDS721010DLE630 1TB SATA 6.0Gb/s Hard Drive
Click to expand...

thanks for the help. I want the gtx 570, compared to the 6950 it gets 10 more fps on 1680x1050, I've had issues with two ati cards in the past, probably bad luck but they left a bad taste in my mouth. I may get a 24" monitor and the 570 gives me some headroom for a higher res.

I've had two hitachi drives go bad on me, I'll never buy another. I'm looking at those cases, thanks.
 
Gabe3 said:
I've had two hitachi drives go bad on me, I'll never buy another. I'm looking at those cases, thanks.
Click to expand...
While I respect personal preference, I just want to point out that all HDD manufacturers have products that fail. There is no perfect brand, and generalizing a brand to specific model failures is somewhat useless if they have many other products with acceptable/low failure rates.

With that said, what made you choose that WD Black?
 
enginurd said:
While I respect personal preference, I just want to point out that all HDD manufacturers have products that fail. There is no perfect brand, and generalizing a brand to specific model failures is somewhat useless if they have many other products with acceptable/low failure rates.

With that said, what made you choose that WD Black?
Click to expand...

the price, I don't need more than 500gb. I've had two WD drives in raid0 with zero issues for 5 years now. if theres a better drive that isn't hitachi for the same price or less let me know.
 
Gabe3 said:
thanks for the help. I want the gtx 570, compared to the 6950 it gets 10 more fps on 1680x1050, I've had issues with two ati cards in the past, probably bad luck but they left a bad taste in my mouth. I may get a 24" monitor and the 570 gives me some headroom for a higher res.
Click to expand...

But what's the likelihood of you actually getting that larger monitor? Also note that if you do indeed get a larer monitor, that GTX 570's 1.2GB of VRAM will be a major limitation considering that BF3 at Ultra settings easily hits 1.5GB of VRAM. The HD 6950 2GB's extra VRAM will help out in that regard.

In addition, is an extra 10FPS, according to whatever article you read, worth the extra $68?
Gabe3 said:
the price, I don't need more than 500gb. I've had two WD drives in raid0 with zero issues for 5 years now. if theres a better drive that isn't hitachi for the same price or less let me know.
Click to expand...

Go with this Samsung then:
$148 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Still faster than that WD drive but still slower than the Hitachi.
 
Danny Bui said:
But what's the likelihood of you actually getting that larger monitor? Also note that if you do indeed get a larer monitor, that GTX 570's 1.2GB of VRAM will be a major limitation considering that BF3 at Ultra settings easily hits 1.5GB of VRAM. The HD 6950 2GB's extra VRAM will help out in that regard.

In addition, is an extra 10FPS, according to whatever article you read, worth the extra $68?


Go with this Samsung then:
$148 - Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive

Still faster than that WD drive but still slower than the Hitachi.
Click to expand...

Could you link me the benchmarks for the WD drive compared to the samsung and hitachi? 10 fps is a large enough to make a game playable or not. the 570 beats the 6950 on 1080p and even 2560x1600. I've looked at benchmarks by several sites.
 
enginurd said:
$150 for a 500GB WD Black was your deciding factor? :p just kidding. Anyhow, the Samsung HD103SJ would be a better choice over the WD Black, since it's faster.

The only HDTune shots I could find of that drive you want: https://picasaweb.google.com/109029568227447862587/Hdtune#5561949706998684866

Sammy:
http://www.alphaq.org/enginurd/hdd/HDTune_Benchmark_R_SAMSUNG_HD103SJ.png
http://www.alphaq.org/enginurd/hdd/HDTune_Benchmark_W_SAMSUNG_HD103SJ.png
Click to expand...
thanks. the WD 750gb black is $120 shipped at amazon btw.
 
Gabe3 said:
thanks. the WD 750gb black is $120 shipped at amazon btw.
Click to expand...
yah and 2 weeks ago i paid $60 for the 1TB hitachi danny mentioned, hehe. gotta love supply and demand. i feel bad for anyone needing a HDD right now, lol. makes me want to sell all of my extra drives.
 
enginurd said:
yah and 2 weeks ago i paid $60 for the 1TB hitachi danny mentioned, hehe. gotta love supply and demand. i feel bad for anyone needing a HDD right now, lol. makes me want to sell all of my extra drives.
Click to expand...

i know i know, sucks for me, lol
 
Why would you chose that card exactly? Seems over priced.
 
ID take a 6950 Twin Frozr III PE / OC then overclock the dog snot out of it call it a day,

the TFIII comes with a 1.2v VID so you can hit 920-950 core before touching voltages and cooling is top notch

that or id grabe a 2560mb GTX 570 and call it a day and overclock that as well.
 
I just picked up an I5 2500 for $200, Asus motherboard for $115, Sapphire Radeon 6850 for $150 and threw in an old 500w PS, $50~ Antec case and 8gb of Corsair memory for $50 and this PC runs Battlefield 3 perfectly fine on 'High' 16x AA enabled running 1680x1050 res.

Using it as a 'spare' PC for friends to game on when they come over, someone bitched last week about BF3 being slow on the old machine and this was a cheap investment for an amazing running machine. Just thought I'd share.
 
Aehs01 said:
... this was a cheap investment for an amazing running machine. Just thought I'd share.
Click to expand...
IMHO... A gaming PC is not an investment. It's a toy. Investments earn money for you (either directly or indirectly). Toys kill time for you. Time is money. ;)
crazyeyesreaper said:
ID take a 6950 Twin Frozr III PE / OC then overclock the dog snot out of it call it a day,
...
that or id grabe a 2560mb GTX 570 and call it a day and overclock that as well.
Click to expand...
don't call them days, call them video cards! :p
 
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