Battlefield-3 PC Advice

juicemelon

juicemelon

juicemelon

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Joined
28 Sep 2011
Posts
14
Ahoy there!
OK I'm going to cut to the chase. I want to treat myself to a brand new rig
that will run Battlefield-3 on High/Ultra settings with ease :]

I want to play several other games coming out (Diablo 3, Rage, Dota 2), but i won't lie... BF3 is the one I'm most excited about.
OK so my budget keeps changing. I originally was looking at around £1000 - £1200, but I have just received a tasty bonus of around £700 so if I wouldn't mind so much if i had to spend a little over.

I've singled out a few components but there are some i still can't make my mind up - i do have a rough idea of what i am after however.
So far my build consists of the following parts.

CPU:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CP-358-IN

CPU COOLER:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HS-072-AK

MOTHERBOARD:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=MB-443-AS

CASE:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-036-CS

1) Regarding the GPU i was thinking of going for 2 GTX 580s in SLI but i cannot choose which manufacturer to go with. Along those lines I am unsure of a good PSU to get that would handle those 2 beasts churning away.
2) I'm also at a loss with how much RAM and what type to get.
3) I think i will stick with just the 1TB HDD but is there a specific manufacturer i should go with?

I will be sticking with On-Board sound for the time being as its never given me any trouble before!

OK so i think that's it for now. Please tell me what you think because I have put a lot of thought into this and i want it to be a future proof build (as much as it can be!).
I really appreciate in advance any advice that comes my way :]

Thank you!
 
Hello and welcome to the forum :)

have made a slight adjustments:

Your basket
Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £161.99
(£134.99) £161.99
(£134.99)
Corsair Obsidian 650D Gaming Midi Tower - Black £139.99
(£116.66) £139.99
(£116.66)
XFX 850W Black Edition Modular Power Supply £122.99
(£102.49) £122.99
(£102.49)
Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £99.98
(£83.32) £99.98
(£83.32)
Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £46.99
(£39.16) £46.99
(£39.16)
Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £45.98
(£38.32) £45.98
(£38.32)
Gelid Tranquillo CPU Cooler (Socket 754/939/940/AM2/AM2+/AM3/LGA775/LGA1155/LGA1156/LGA1366) £25.99
(£21.66) £25.99
(£21.66)
Sub Total : £536.60
Shipping cost assumes delivery to UK Mainland with:
DPD Next Day Parcel
(This can be changed during checkout) Shipping : £12.50
VAT is being charged at 20.00% VAT : £109.82
Total : £658.92

Link to review of board:

http://www.tomshardware.co.uk/z68xp-ud3-dz68db,review-32228-19.html
 
 
this is the closest i can get to your budget with the stuff your after (assuming you need everything):


YOUR BASKET
2 x Gainward GeForce GTX 580 "GOOD Edition" 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** £377.99 (£755.98)
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £161.99
1 x Corsair Obsidian 650D Gaming Midi Tower - Black £139.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £99.98
1 x OCZ Z-Series 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £96.98
1 x Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £46.99
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 : £1,408.58 (includes shipping : £14.75).

ps. why are you guys recommending a less efficient, more expensive PSU? has something bad been found out about the OCZ or something? (i thought it had been getting amazing reviews)
 
Last edited:
The guys are doing well spec'ing you up.

I just wanted to add that BF3 will support hyperthreading so your original choice of CPU was understandable in a way. We don't know yet how much difference it will make but it seems as if games will start to embrace it. Never hurts to have an eye towards the future trends!

Not suggesting the guys have done you wrong on the i5K, obviously it's cheaper and still offers great performance. If you want the i7 you can, just understand that they think it was wiser to put the price difference towards other parts. If we could see some benchmarks of enabled hyperthreading it would help with the argument.

Good luck with the build. ANy problems or questions, you know where we are
 
WOW thank you so much everyone that has replied - great stuff there. I was just wondering if you could explain a few choices. Such as...

1) Why the Z68 over the P67?

2) Why Dual Channel RAM? Wouldn't 3 x 16000 sticks kick a little more ass?

3) Why the change in CPU Cooler? Is that to save cash or is it superior to the Venom?

4) Why Gainward with the GPUs? Are they the cheapest, i wouldn't want to skimp on the most important parts :)

5) Finally would that PSU handle slight overclocks? - Regarding the manufacturer i had my eyes on this one for a while Corsair HX 850W ATX Modular SLI Compliant Power Supply (CMPSU-850HXUK) [CMPSU-850HXUK]

Sorry for my pickyness, i just want to know exactly why I'm going to be buying these things :)

Cheers!
 
The Z68 offers some extra features and also some are PCI-E 3 compatible when Ivy Bridge is launched and also offer some extra features over the P67 chipset which may or may not be if use.

Triple channel ram is ideally suited to the X58 boards and 9xx range of CPUs as these have triple channel memory controllers, the SB is dual channel.

Some of the coolers offered are excellent for the price and can give the Venom a run for it's money.

All gpu's are pretty much the same so spending more could be not Be worth it.

850w would be fine.
 
Z68 is newer, though theres little in it

This socket supports dual channel RAM, not triple channel RAM, 8 gig is more than enough

Id say this is personal choice, not much between them

Gainward are cheapest(branded), but theyre still a good make, no worries there

Personally if I were building my own dual 580 OCd system Id go for 1000W PSU, 850 should cover it, but I prefer a little headroom, all the makes recommended above are good
 
YOUR BASKET
2 x Gainward GeForce GTX 580 "GOOD Edition" 1536MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card **Supplied with FREE Batman: Arkham City PC game** £377.99 (£755.98)
1 x Intel Core i5-2500K 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £161.99
1 x Corsair Obsidian 650D Gaming Midi Tower - Black £139.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £99.98
1 x OCZ Z-Series 850W '80 Plus Gold' Modular Power Supply £96.98
1 x Samsung SpinPoint F3 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (HD103SJ) £46.99
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 : £1,408.58 (includes shipping : £14.75).

Sorry but if you're going to run 2 580's get a 1250 w PSU "never scimp on PSU's!"

http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/308
 
Great advice guys :)

I think I will stick with a heatsink/fan over the watercooler - I've seen a few reviews saying it makes a strange clicking noise :(

Another question regarding the RAM recommendations. Any specific reason you have chosen 12800 and not 14400?
My initial guess is 8gig 12800 is going to stomp 4gig 14400!
 
Last edited:
OK cool.

I'm still hesitating over getting the Gigabyte Z68 mobo over the ASUS P67 mobo. I dunno why, it just felt like a really good solid board.
Do both support Ivy Bridge?
 
juicemelon said:
OK cool.

I'm still hesitating over getting the Gigabyte Z68 mobo over the ASUS P67 mobo. I dunno why, it just felt like a really good solid board.
Do both support Ivy Bridge?
Click to expand...

Yep.

There is a BIOS on the Gigabyte website giving their boards ivybridge support, ASUS should follow soon closer to release date.
 
I don't know how they managed to advertise BF3 saying you would need SLI 580's to max it at a 1080p+ res, cause you can run it maxed on 1080, very smoothly on a HD6870...
 
Tibbz2 said:
I don't know how they managed to advertise BF3 saying you would need SLI 580's to max it at a 1080p+ res, cause you can run it maxed on 1080, very smoothly on a HD6870...
Click to expand...

_Battlefield3BetaGPUsv2_1317277428.png


Yeah, Because 25-27 FPS is very smooth. :rolleyes:
 
Tibbz2 said:
I don't know how they managed to advertise BF3 saying you would need SLI 580's to max it at a 1080p+ res, cause you can run it maxed on 1080, very smoothly on a HD6870...
Click to expand...

Too be honest - I'm reconsidering the SLI. I might just get the one 580 GTX and see how it goes. I can always buy another if the need arises in the future.
Besides I would rather get a nice gaming headset (wink wink Razer Megalodon).

So say I only buy the one card, would it be worth getting this one? - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-124-MS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1812
Some nice clocks there :)
 
juicemelon said:
Too be honest - I'm reconsidering the SLI. I might just get the one 580 GTX and see how it goes. I can always buy another if the need arises in the future.
Besides I would rather get a nice gaming headset (wink wink Razer Megalodon).

So say I only buy the one card, would it be worth getting this one? - http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-124-MS&groupid=701&catid=1914&subcat=1812
Some nice clocks there :)
Click to expand...

If you're gonne spend £440 on a 580, I'd definitly go with a 3GB version and OC it yourself, something like this.
 
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