Pc for bf3, quite complicated problem i guess too....

Eliot

Eliot

Eliot

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Joined
29 Mar 2005
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Hi guys, Im looking to build a pc this month, for bf3.
However money is realll tight, the idea is i need a computer that can play bf3 well, maybe even high at 1080p well. BUT how good is the 2600k onboard gpu? Could it handle bf3 on say.. low/medium settings at 720p? this woulod be while i save money for an amazing gfx card and 1080p tv the following month.

Just an idea.... but basically i want to be playing it as soon as, dont want to miss out :P Oh and also the pc must be <40cm in height, sorry about that one but theres only one place for it in my flat :)


I can afford about 500 quid in one go for all the permanant/ hard to upgrade things. such as Motherboard / case /psu/cpu

then the following month i could use extra money to add double the ram, add some storage or a ssd and a proper gpu (again dont know how feasible that is), sound cards cooling etc etc.

Also am i restricted to M-atx with that height and is it a problem?

Sorry about the questions, last time i made a pc was 2005., any help/views would be awesome!

Cheers
Eliot
 
The 2500K is more than enough for BF3, same onboard as the 2600K, but the onboard won't be able to play BF3 with good framerates. Any parts from your old PC you think you can salvage? Do you need an OS as well? I'm assuming you have the monitors/mouse/keyboard/speakers/etc.
 
yeah all of that im covered for, OS wise i can get windows 7 no problem. And i have keyboards and mice. Although in that second month i will be getting wireless ones.

It will be connected to a 23inch 720p hd tv, which will be upgraded to a 24 inch 1080p one afterwards (small flat)
 
Save the money and get a 2500k rather than the 2600k, you won't see the added benefit at all if all you're doing is gaming. That's already freed up £75~ for other / better things.
 
Something like this would be pretty good. As you want M-ATX you're a bit limited, but the case got a great review for the money. Has on board graphics via HDMI, so will make do until you buy yourself a good graphics card the following month. I don't know much about the motherboard, but I was impressed with the spec's on it. There's a little room left in the budget if you want a more expensive one though.

YOUR BASKET
1 x Intel Core i5-2500 3.30GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £167.99
1 x Gigabyte Z68MA-D2H Intel Z68 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Motherboard £104.98
1 x Cooler Master GX 550W '80 Plus' Power Supply £54.98
1 x Hitachi Deskstar 7K1000.C 1TB SATA-II 32MB Cache - OEM (0F10383) £39.98
1 x Kingston HyperX Genesis Grey 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9D3X2K2/8GX) £37.99
1 x Fractal Design Core 1000 Midi Tower Case - Black £28.99
1 x Arctic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro Rev 2 CPU Cooler (Socket 939 / AM2 / AM3 / 775 / 1155/ 1156 / 1366) £19.99
1 x OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
1 x Fractal Design 92mm Silent Cooling Fan £8.99
Total : £494.88 (includes shipping : £12.50).

 
bobbarley's build is good, but change the 2500 to a 2500K, you can overclock this. The motherboard is capable of 4ghz+. The 2500 only has Intel HD 2000 graphics instead of the 2500K's HD 3000 too.

Swap out the PSU for this: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-055-OC&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat=1098

And I don't really feel confident in Hitachi drives but this Samsung one is a good drive: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-082-SA&groupid=701&catid=14&subcat=1279
 
Just noticed OP also gets free shipping too! Knocks off £12.50 ;)

But I have no idea how the onboard will cope with BF3... What's your current graphics card? Could reuse that maybe?
 
i can tell you your not getting any sort of decent framerates on the i5 2500k's onboard graphics. i seriously doubt that it would even cope with the majority of games on their lowest settings

you say your restricted to mATX motherboards. is this because of the case, or where you keep the PC, because you can get a very good full sized case for £40 (coolermaster elite 430)
 
Cheers for this guys :)
Yeah the m-atx thing is due to the height restrictions i have, unless i can get a atx case at <40cm?

my current card is a x850xtpe :P..... vintage.

I love the look of that case though looks almost server ish.
Spec looks awesome as well, any recommendations fir gfx card, ive always lent towards ati. But framerate for price is key really :) am i right in saying bf3 is supposed to be gpu ram intensive or is this ****
 
any more advice? are many gfx cards less than 35cm?
and also whats the smallest atx case? are there any with the motherboard flat on the bottom that might fit?
 
do you need it this month?

the game will be out for a few years before dice release a second one.

instead of getting cheap items now, it may be better wait until you have sufficient funds and buy a proper rig. otherwise you may end up wasting quite a bit of money.

___

a case no more than 400 high is pushing it that can fit a gaming rig is pushing it.

the haf 912 is 490 high and is an epic little thing, fit all your parts and only around 50 quid
 
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The 400mm limit on the case is a real bummer unfortunately. It really limits the case options but more importantly the internals. The Fractal Design Core 1000 Midi Tower Case is about the best your going to get I'm afraid and measures 355mm in height. Is this height restriction fixed in stone? The 350mm limit it has on graphics cards, however, is not an issue. It will take pretty much every mainstream card on the market. With money being a bit tight here is another option for you, under budget but will cope with new games at med/high settings at 1080p fine.

Product Name Qty Price Line Total
Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail Intel Core i3-2100 3.10GHz (Sandybridge) Socket LGA1155 Processor - Retail £89.99
(£74.99) £89.99
(£74.99)
OcUK GeForce GTX 460 768MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card - OEM OcUK GeForce GTX 460 768MB GDDR5 PCI-Express Graphics Card - OEM £85.99
(£71.66) £85.99
(£71.66)
MSI H67MA-E35 Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro-ATX Motherboard - (Sandybridge) **B3 REVISION** MSI H67MA-E35 Intel H67 (Socket 1155) DDR3 Micro-ATX Motherboard - (Sandybridge) **B3 REVISION** £61.99
(£51.66) £61.99
(£51.66)
BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply BeQuiet Pure Power L7 530W '80 Plus' Power Supply £45.98
(£38.32) £45.98
(£38.32)
Fractal Design Core 1000 Midi Tower Case - Black Fractal Design Core 1000 Midi Tower Case - Black £28.99
(£24.16) £28.99
(£24.16)
Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G) Kingston HyperX Blu 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 PC3-12800C9 1600MHz Dual Channel Kit (KHX1600C9AD3B1K2/4G) £26.99
(£22.49) £26.99
(£22.49)
OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM OcUK 22x DVD±RW SATA ReWriter (Black) - OEM £15.98
(£13.32) £15.98
(£13.32)
Total: £358.42 (inc free shipping).

  • You can reuse you old hard drive and maybe even the optical drive.
  • The i3 performs generally on par if not faster than the Phenom II X4 955.
  • No need for 8GB of RAM with games.
  • Better PSU than the Coolermaster GX series.

edit.

Ideally if you could get a ATX case & motherboard, you can get a cheaper Z68 motherboard with the i5 2500K, use onboard GPU for the time being and when BF3 is released at the end of the month buy a dedicated graphics card then.
 
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