Spec me a gaming rig for BF3!

Spikey

Spikey

Spikey

Soldato
Joined
28 Feb 2004
Posts
5,992
Location
North East, UK
Hi all,

Been out of the computing scene for a while and I would like to see if I could build myself a decent gaming system. The last system I built was in 2005 and I don't have a clue what is good and what isn't these days as I've been using a laptop since then!

Basically I'm looking for a PC that will run BF3 at decent-high settings. A few questions I need answering are:

I'm guessing I'm better off with a dedicated monitor rather than using my 40" 3DTV?

I've got a Thermaltake "Skull" PC case, will that still fit modern motherboards?

I have Windows 7 on my samsung laptop with a "recovery" CD which has windows 7 32 bit, can I use this for the new built for windows or would I need to re-purchase Windows for my new setup? ie Win 7 64-bit?

What sort of monitors/displays are best these days for gaming within my budget?

If someone could spec me a rig for £700 (I may be able to go a bit higher as I could flog my laptop) all in that would be great. The only things I currently have are a mouse/keyboard and a thermaltake PC case. I understand I'm asking loads of questions here but any help/specs/feedback would be much appreciated! Looking forward to starting a build again!

I'll try and dig up my last build specs if possible!

Spikey.
 
Whilst some members would murder me use your TV tbh...

It'll probably be running at 1920x1080...

I've included 7 to be safe, think you'd need a new copy tbh...

Added in a case that I know is nice :)

YOUR BASKET
1 x OcUK GeForce GTX 560Ti 1024MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** £163.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail with FREE TrackMania 2 Canyon PC Game £161.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68A-D3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £72.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £30.98
1 x OCZ ZS Series 650W '80 Plus Bronze' Power Supply £56.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £45.98
1 x BitFenix Merc Alpha Gaming Case - Black £32.99
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
Total : £701.41 (includes shipping : £20.10).






kd
 
pretty much in the same boat as you. Last build was 2005, laptopping it since 2007.

For £700 you are going to struggle to even build a medium to low PC if im honest considering you need a monitor with that. sure you could scrape something together but it wont run BF3 to anywhere near what you will be wanting having just shelled out £700.

My advice, save up at least £300 more, and in the mean time sit tight an wait for the BF3 demo to get released so we know exactly what bang for buck were gonna get. I'm even contemplating waiting for AMD to bring out their new Bulldozer chip, especially if it comes out November, if anything it will push the Intel prices down a little.
 
Thanks, I could probably do £1k but would need some advice on what I'd need because I don't have a clue! Thanks for the replies so far!

EDIT - I don't mind using my TV as I have 2 x 40" TV's I could use in theory just wasn't sure how ideal they are for PC gaming? Also that spec above, is it likely to run it on top end settings? I'd rather not bother and shell out the extra £300 if it's only going to look half decent.
 
Spikey said:
Thanks, I could probably do £1k but would need some advice on what I'd need because I don't have a clue! Thanks for the replies so far!

EDIT - I don't mind using my TV as I have 2 x 40" TV's I could use in theory just wasn't sure how ideal they are for PC gaming? Also that spec above, is it likely to run it on top end settings? I'd rather not bother and shell out the extra £300 if it's only going to look half decent.
Click to expand...
Is ur TV the full 1080p or just 720 ? do you know its refresh rate ?
 
Spikey said:
It's a 1080p Samsung 3DTV, The C750 I believe.
Click to expand...

in that case, definitely stick with ur TV but maybe save up a couple hundred more ontop of that build KD posted, invest it in a GTX 580 and a better PSU.

have a look at these FPS comparisons from BF3 beta.
battlefield3betagpu5p0n.png


again this is just my opinion.
 
For £1000 you could definitely make a good leap in progress...

As BF3 is your main aim:
video-scale.jpg


You get:
Better Mobo,
Better Case,
Much Better GPU
Better PSU
YOUR BASKET
1 x OcUK GeForce GTX 580 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** £367.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail with FREE TrackMania 2 Canyon PC Game £161.99
1 x Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £159.98
1 x OCZ Z-Series 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £96.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £30.98
1 x BitFenix Shinobi Gaming Case - Black £49.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £45.98
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
Total : £1,041.79 (includes shipping : £13.75).





kd
 
Thanks mate, fingers crossed I'll get some further replies, I just want a spec so I can work out what I need and at the cost, if I say then my top whack budget is £1k hopefully people can give me some specs. Keep the info coming!
 
King Damager said:
For £1000 you could definitely make a good leap in progress...

As BF3 is your main aim:
video-scale.jpg


You get:
Better Mobo,
Better Case,
Much Better GPU
Better PSU
YOUR BASKET
1 x OcUK GeForce GTX 580 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** £367.99
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail with FREE TrackMania 2 Canyon PC Game £161.99
1 x Asrock Z68 Extreme4 Gen3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £159.98
1 x OCZ Z-Series 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £96.98
1 x Microsoft Windows 7 Bundle - Home Premium 64 Bit £68.40
1 x Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA 6Gb/s 16MB Cache - OEM (WD5000AAKX) £30.98
1 x BitFenix Shinobi Gaming Case - Black £49.99
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £45.98
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
Total : £1,041.79 (includes shipping : £13.75).





kd
Click to expand...

Thanks so I'm looking at running it at pretty much max settings with that spec?
 
KD's second build does look good.

Although the only thing i would change is probably throw another £30-40 ontop for a more powerful PSU.. not sure but i read the 580 draws massive around of power on load.. close to 400W! .. personally if i was using a GTX580 id have a 850W PSU minimum, so not to be stressing the PSU constantly.

and YUP you will want a SSD drive.. but maybe that can wait for a while. whilst u get this rig up and running and stabilized.
 
Sorry for being a total n00b but what is an SSD drive? And which PSU would you pick over the one mentioned?

EDIT - I think I aso have a DVD writer in my old build unless anything with them has changed these days? ie connections etc.
 
Spikey said:
Sorry for being a total n00b but what is an SSD drive? And which PSU would you pick over the one mentioned?

EDIT - I think I aso have a DVD writer in my old build unless anything with them has changed these days? ie connections etc.
Click to expand...

Solid State Drive (SSD) is the new hard drive technology out. Basically, depending on the drive you can load up programs/games/windows WAY faster than from a normal hard drive. However, because its new its pricey.. your talking £80 for a decent 60gb drive. Typically what most people do is install windows and their most common programs (web browser etc) and a couple of most played games on the SSD drive, and have a normal hard drive for all other data as they are quite cheap. with that setup people boot to windows in crazy times like 20 seconds or under even.

As for PSU, id be guessing as ive not researched them enough yet to tell which one is reliable and what not, all i know is dont just pick on the manufactures reported wattage!

DVD writer, nah not a lot has changed, possibly your DVD writer is an IDE connection and most these days are SATA to motherboard but thats no biggy, a £2 adapter lead will fix that.
 
scotred said:
KD's second build does look good.

Although the only thing i would change is probably throw another £30-40 ontop for a more powerful PSU.. not sure but i read the 580 draws massive around of power on load.. close to 400W! .. personally if i was using a GTX580 id have a 850W PSU minimum, so not to be stressing the PSU constantly.

and YUP you will want a SSD drive.. but maybe that can wait for a while. whilst u get this rig up and running and stabilized.
Click to expand...

I changed it to an 850W :p

SSD's are nice, but by no means necessary. Especially as you wouldn't be able to get one big enough to really have fun with.

kd
 
Cheers, whilst I'm here if I did get a monitor which one would be a good one for gaming? Thanks again.
 
For connecting it to your TV you should be able to do it out the box with a slight adjustment.

Basically the GPU has 2 DVI ports and a mini-HDMI port, but comes with a DVI to HDMI adapter (I believe).

Basically it just means you have to plug in the DVI to HDMI adapter to use your HDMI cable, but not really an issue. :)

Monitors that are good really depend on what you want... 3D etc...?

kd
 
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