BF3 Build

celticrobbo · 24 Sep 2011 at 11:44

Hi Guys,

Been out of the high end hardware side of things for a couple of years now and things appear to have moved on at break neck speed as usual!

Last build I done was a Q6600 which was considered best bang for buck back then..is there an equivalent now? i5 2500k?

Anyway building a new one in anticipation of BF3 coming.

Selling my beloved Alienware M11x r2 to part fund it so can go to about 1k.

Requirements - Only need the base unit, have monitor/mouse/kybd etc

Only need an SSD for the OS as have plenty 1TB drives lying around.

Any kind person give me a general idea of the kinda spec I should be going for

Incidentally the margins of building your own vrs getting something prebuilt from OCUK (or other...cough..companies) doesnt seem to be quite as big as it used to be?

Any help most appreciated.

trisonetwo · 24 Sep 2011 at 12:33

I'm sure someone else will do you a proper spec but the i5 2500k seems a popular choice with the Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 mobo. Stick in a m4 SSD and any 2x4GB 16000mhz DDR3 RAM and then the rest is kinda preference.

On top of that I've gone for:

Antec TruePower New Modular 650W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply
Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler
Antec 300 Case

I'm just building mine at the moment and its coming to ~£500 although I've already got the GPU from Jan. Not really sure which GPUs are best to buy at the mo, guess it depends on budget. It's a start anyway.

dfour · 24 Sep 2011 at 12:34

1 x Gainward GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** £233.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail with FREE TrackMania 2 Canyon PC Game £167.99
1 x Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £159.98
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £139.99
1 x OCZ Z-Series 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £94.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £56.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Corsair Obsidian 650D Gaming Midi Tower - Black [CC650DW] £129:98

£886.89 + postage

Gib_Gib · 24 Sep 2011 at 12:46

The cost pre built vs do it your self from OCUK is about £30 for a machine like this vs buying the parts from here
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-195-OE&groupid=43&catid=2040&subcat=1892

Which is not bad at all with the guaranteed OC and all the hassle removed.

Lemin · 24 Sep 2011 at 12:59

Used full budget, sorry

...

olivier renault · 24 Sep 2011 at 13:01

You loose between 10-15% with pre-built, however you get to also choose your components with DIY. dfour's is good, That would be the general idea for me as well.

EDIT : wow, all the GPU prices have shot up like crazy. What's going on?

mjones1 · 24 Sep 2011 at 13:05

olivier renault said:
EDIT : wow, all the GPU prices have shot up like crazy. What's going on?

The £ has become weaker.

I would wait until the beta is out and see what sort of specs are required to run the game at certain settings.

Lemin · 24 Sep 2011 at 13:41

dfour said:
1 x Gainward GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** £233.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail with FREE TrackMania 2 Canyon PC Game £167.99
1 x Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £159.98
1 x Crucial RealSSD M4 128GB 2.5" SATA 6Gb/s Solid State Hard Drive £139.99
1 x OCZ Z-Series 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £94.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £56.99
1 x Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £16.99
Corsair Obsidian 650D Gaming Midi Tower - Black [CC650DW] £129:98

£886.89 + postage

You mean + VAT & Postage ?

edit, Total : £1,043.40

SPG · 24 Sep 2011 at 13:56

I wouldnt touch a OCZ power supply with a barge pole.

Lack of attention to detail in the coil design is shocking.

olivier renault · 24 Sep 2011 at 14:16

mjones1 said:
The £ has become weaker.

Oh yeah, that...

I would wait until the beta is out and see what sort of specs are required to run the game at certain settings.

Would love to see benchmarks before it's released.

I wouldnt touch a OCZ power supply with a barge pole.

Lack of attention to detail in the coil design is shocking.

The last iterations are Sirtec. A step up from FSP. Still...

honosuseri · 24 Sep 2011 at 15:52

The i5K is a good CPU no doubt. BF3 WILL support hypertreading, so the whole i7 is pointless for gaming argument could well be over. We'll have to wait and see what difference it makes.

The beta for BF3 will be out soon. Makes sense to wait and see what benchmarks people post with their setups before you make a decision

dfour · 24 Sep 2011 at 16:04

Lemin said:
You mean + VAT & Postage ?

edit, Total : £1,043.40

Yes your correct must have missed something from my calculations.

Slight jig around

celticrobbo · 24 Sep 2011 at 19:15

Thanks a lot guys.

The effort is much appreciated.