Intel i3 3225 3.3Ghz and Gigabyte GTX 760 Good enough for BF3/BF4?

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Christie Clark

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If I stick to my Intel i3 3225 and buy a Gigabyte GTX 760 2 GB OC Edition, will I be able to run BF3/BF4 at 1080p on high/ultra at at least 50fps?

Here is my build:
1. Intel Core i3-3225 CPU
2. Gigabyte GTX 760 OC 2GB
3. Asus P8-H77-I Motherboard
4. Corsair Vengeance Blue 8 GB (2X4 GB) PC3-12800 1600mHz
5. Asus 24xDVD-RW Serial ATA Internal OEM Drive DRW-24B1ST
6. 500GB Western Digital Caviar Blue Hard Drive
7. Arctic White BitFenix Prodigy Case
8. Airlink WiFi USB
10. 500W Corsair Power Supply

Unfortunately, I can only afford an i3...what do you guys think?

Will I get by just fine or will I have problems down the road?
 
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No problem. Ah, I totally understand. I'm pretty much an Amazon exclusive shopper myself...
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wolfkraut

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I can see why you made a new thread. :p

Anyway, why do you have the i3 3225 listed? Did you already buy it? If not, get an i3 3220 if you will be getting an i3. The ONLY difference between the i3 3220 and 3225 (besides the 3225 being more expensive) is that it includes the Intel HD4000 IGP, rather than the HD2500. That is completely irrelevant for you because your dedicated GPU will replace it, making the 3225 a total waste of money unless you plan to actually use the IGP.

Anyway, the main issue with the Battlefield games will be in multiplayer. In singleplayer BF3 is almost entirely GPU bound and you will run it on Ultra easily with those specs. However, multiplayer is where you may run into issues. It's quite hard to say for sure because multiplayer isn't such a closed environment like singleplayer is, as such, few quality benchmarks exist for us to compare it. I did go through a similar issue when picking parts for my build, I was on a tight budget and planned to go for an i3, as well. From what info I could find, the general consensus was that an i3 could run BF3 multiplayer on High with at least 40+ FPS depending on the map and total number of players, with high action areas causing drops below that. I would honestly recommend an i5 if possible, but an i3 will be playable, I just think you might be slightly disappointed. It will still run better than on consoles, though, and lots of people, myself included, enjoy that!

BF4 is, of course, currently in alpha testing and not yet released to the public, so we have no idea how it will perform, but you can only estimate that it will be even more demanding.

Do you have a budget by any chance? I feel like a could whip something up just a little bit better than what you have listed.
 
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Christie Clark

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Budget:
$700-$800

One more question, in a game. How does the graphics quality go? At 1080p is it in this order: 1. Low, 2. Medium, 3. High, 4. Very High, 5. Ultra?
 
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wolfkraut

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It varies from game to game, there isn't really any set system. And it doesn't matter what the resolution is, the presets stay the same. But in BF3 I believe it scales like this: 1. Low, 2. Medium, 3. High, 4. Ultra. But everything is fully customizable, so you can mix and match settings to your liking, for instance you can set shadow quality to Low and still have texture quality on Ultra.

Ok, I tried to tweak things a little bit to get you an i5, albeit a low end one. Honestly, I'm not sure how you went over budget without one. Is a monitor included in that price or something? Using only what you had listed, here's what I came up with (I tried to say as close to what you had picked out as possible, although, I personally would probably do things a little differently):

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-3330 3.0GHz Quad-Core Processor ($168.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Asus P8H77-I Mini ITX LGA1155 Motherboard ($102.24 @ Amazon)
Memory: G.Skill Sniper 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($58.99 @ NCIX US)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.98 @ Outlet PC)
Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 760 2GB Video Card ($259.99 @ Amazon)
Case: BitFenix Prodigy (White) Mini ITX Tower Case ($59.99 @ Microcenter)
Power Supply: Corsair CX 500W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V Power Supply ($49.99 @ Microcenter)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($16.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $777.15
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-08-04 19:34 EDT-0400)
 
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Christie Clark

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Alright, I took your advice into serious consideration. Thank you for your time. Unfortunately, I am only an "Amazon" person since I am familiar with their shopping, refunding, billing system, etc. So I made 1 key important change to my build.

Here we go:

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 (with packaged cooling only)
GPU: Gigabyte GTX 760 2GB OC
PSU: Corsair 500Watts (I think this is more than enough, right?)
RAM: 8 GB Corsair Vengeance Blue
Motherboard: Asus P8-H77-I
Memory: 500GB Western Digital Caviar Blue
Case: Bitfenix Prodigy (with 2 installed fans)

What do you think? A lot better than what I had before thanks to my CPU change, right?
 
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wolfkraut

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No problem. Ah, I totally understand. I'm pretty much an Amazon exclusive shopper myself. However, do you happen to live near a Microcenter? They are an actual brick and mortar store, so if you need to return something you can just walk right in, you can also just pay with cash if you're worried about privacy/safety. But their prices are second to none, they currently have the i5 3470 for $149.99. But, of course, you actually to live in one of the few areas where they have stores. Just an idea.

Anyway, that looks great. I think you'll be much happier if you go ahead and get the i5 3470. Just a few things to note, the 1TB version of that HDD is selling for, I believe, $62-$66 on Amazon right now, which at one point was actually cheaper than the 500GB HDD, so you might want to make sure you're getting a fair price. Also, 500 watts is enough, but is it modular? For that mini-ITX case, you're probably going to want a modular PSU. It's not required, though. Otherwise, everything looks really good.
 
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Christie Clark

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I think the PSU is modular. It is called Corsair Builder Series CX 500 Watt ATX/EPS 80 PLUS (CX500) http://
OK. My last question, I promise. Then I will select you as "best solution." How reliable are the builds? Where is the guarantee that my build would last me 3-5years? Are there any problems ahead if I choose to build instead of purchasing something already pre-built? What is your angle on this? Thank once again. You have been kind and patient with me.
 
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wolfkraut

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Actually, the CX500 isn't modular, only the CX500M is. It's not a big deal, though, I wouldn't even mention it if you weren't using an ITX case, but I can easily see having all those extra cables being a hassle while building.

lol, no worries, ask as many questions as you like, I'll try to answer them as best as I can.

Well, that's the thing, you are building it yourself (unless you take it to a computer shop or have a friend build it), so there isn't really. But if you assemble it properly (which is not a hard thing to do at all) and take good care of it (keep it clean, make sure you have good airflow) and use quality parts (which the ones you have currently selected are), then it should last a long time, certainly 3 years or more. I'd expect more like 6-9 or who knows, maybe even longer. It is somewhat subjective, though, to stay playing the latest games on High or better settings, you'll be wanting to at least upgrade the GPU in around 3 years and probably build a new system in 5. But if something does fail, the parts themselves do have warranties of varying lengths (the i5, for instance, has a 3 year limited warranty), so hopefully that's reassuring to you. I would definitely expect it to last longer than a pre-built Dell or something, they use crappy generic PSUs and other low end parts that will almost certainly fail before the ones you've selected, not to mention they're mass produced on an assembly line with little attention to detail. I think you (or whoever builds it for you) will do a much better job than that. Simply put, I would definitely build over buy for a number of reasons, including better quality and reliability. I hope that answers your question!

And you're welcome, I'm happy to help!
 
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Christie Clark

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Thank you again.

So having the 2 preinstalled case fans and the stock cooler for the i5 will be good enough for cooling for my system? Or do I need to invest in other cooling solutions? Plus, the bitfenix prodigy is considered to be excellent for airflow since it has openings on all sides of the case....
 
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wolfkraut

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Sorry for the delay.

Yes, you should be fine. I don't personally have any experience with that case, but a lot of people use it with no problems. The Gigabyte 760 (you are getting the Windforce model, correct? I don't believe they make any others) has a great cooler, probably one of the best GPU air coolers on the market. And the i5 will be fine with the stock HSF so long as you aren't overclocking, but that's a none issue here. And if you do feel that, for whatever reason, you need additional cooling in the future, it can all be added without much trouble or expense (within the limits of your case, of course).
 
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Christie Clark

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This is good to know. Thank you again.
I have already bought all the parts accept the GTX 760 which is being shipped. I have also built everything and installed Windows 8 and all the drivers. I am using my 24inch Sony HDTV (1080p, 60Hz) as my monitor. I have plugged in my Monster HDMI cord into the HDMI port in the motherboard and into the tv....I used the BIOS to select Integrated GPU Boost since the Intel HD 2500 came with the i5. I have selected the screen refresh rate to 60Hzp, color 32bit, and resolution of 1080p. However, the screen still looks like it is not sharp enough. I mean the interface looks clear but when I go to YouTube and select a 720p or 1080p video and set it to full screen, it is all pixelated and looks terrible. What do you think is causing this? Is the Intel HD 2500 too weak to render 1080p video on screen? I seem to have a good picture on the start page and desktop but not on YouTube, what might be the problem? The tv or the system? Please, help. I would like to know the opinion of a specialist....
 
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wolfkraut

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You're welcome. And great! It's fun building, isn't it?

I'm sorry to hear you're having trouble, though. So does this happen only on YouTube videos? For instance, do sites like Dailymotion have clear videos? If, so, it could just be a problem with YouTube (they do compress videos quite a bit, which degrades quality, some look grainy for me, as well). I'd actually try watching a video on Hulu or Netflix, the quality of their videos should be up to par. If those things look bad, as well, then there probably is something wrong, but it's hard to say what. It could be a bad HDMI cable, some off setting in your graphics control panel, bad drivers, etc... I'd wait on the 760 and reserve judgement until then, just to be sure. The Intel HD 2500 should fine for HD video, though, so I don't think that'd be the problem unless it's a driver issue. I wouldn't mess with it when you're about to get a video card, though.

If you still have a problem after getting the 760 installed, I would repost this in the Graphics section. There are a lot of real experts over there who should be able to pin-point the exact issue for you. :)
 
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