How is this rig for Battlefield 3?

[h2l]

Well, I really would like to play this game with some nice framrates and no screen flickering or anything like that, so what do you guys think about this setup? This is my current rig:

i3-2120 @ 3.30GHz
Asus P8H61 Motherboard
4GB of memory
Ultra 550W PSU
Sapphire Radeon HD 6870
Seagate 250GB 7200RPM HDD

I know it's not a supercomputer or anything, but can I play on max settings in multiplayer with no log or anything? It's pretty much the only online game I want to play, so I want to be able to play it nicely.

Thanks!

 

[Gman450]

It should work well at high to ultra settings without much lag or anything. Turn off AA too.
For online, it all depends on your PING and internet connection (speed).

 

[TuffLittleUnit]

I play BF3 on a Sapphire 6870 at 1080p with pretty much all the options maxed out and it runs beautifully. What resolution monitor will you be using? 1920 x 1080 or lower will be fine. Go bigger and you might need to turn down some of the options to keep a good framerate.

 

[Gman450]

Even with AA?

 

[h2l]

Nice, just what I wanted t hear I will turn off anti-aliasing. Are there any other settings I should change or modify to make the game run smoother?

Also, my monitors max resolution is 1920 x 1080 so, 1080p I guess lol. I do have this dell monitor though, that I think only maxes out at something like 1440 x 900, or some number like that. How would the game look on that monitor? Would it be all scrunched up or would it look nice? Just smaller?

 

[casualcolors]

a 6870 will handle the game on high* settings with NO anti-aliasing (you can leave post processing on high though) at 1920x1080. As soon as you introduce deferred anti aliasing in multiplayer you'll be well below 60 fps.

 

[h2l]

Ok cool, but will the graphics be distorted on High settings at 1080p instead of being maxed out?

Also, what is anti-aliasing and why do I need to turn it off?

Oh yeah, and for some reason when I'm watching a movie on fullscreen, lets say from Netflix or something, when the camera moves around and stuff I get those invisible lines around the screen, like the screen can't keep up with the camera or something. Or like one frame is overlapping the other one and you can see it happening. It's not like a smooth motion. What the heck is going on? I thought with the 6870 i shouldn't have any problems like that?

Thanks!

 

[Gman450]

Anti Aliasing smooths up the pixels, giving a more sharper image.
At 1080p, I don't think you'll need it too. So just keep it off. The reason we're telling you to turn off AA is because it's quite demanding and can cost you some FPS for eye candy.

 

[casualcolors]

Ok cool, but will the graphics be distorted on High settings at 1080p instead of being maxed out?

Also, what is anti-aliasing and why do I need to turn it off?

Oh yeah, and for some reason when I'm watching a movie on fullscreen, lets say from Netflix or something, when the camera moves around and stuff I get those invisible lines around the screen, like the screen can't keep up with the camera or something. Or like one frame is overlapping the other one and you can see it happening. It's not like a smooth motion. What the heck is going on? I thought with the 6870 i shouldn't have any problems like that?

Thanks!

Sounds like strobing aka ghosting. It's apparent in certain makes of LCD monitors (most prevalent in certain technologies like IPS and VA panels). That is why when people purchase monitors for gaming for instance, they read a lot of reviews about the one they are interested in to determine what the risk of ghosting/strobing will be.

 

[h2l]

Well this monitor is a cheap 22" Visio monitor that I believe is only supported by 1080i resolution, not 1080p, so could that be part of the problem?

Also, the max resolution on my Dell monitor is 1440 x 900, would I be able to run BF3 on ultra settings with a smaller monitor like that? And how would it look? Would the picture be scrunched up or distorted or anything like that?

 

[Gman450]

At that resolution, yes. My cousin with a Radeon HD 6850 can run it at the same resolution with all settings set to ultra.
He even had AA turned on t 4 times.

 

[h2l]

So then a smaller screen with less resolution would work better in my scenario?

 

[h2l]

Also, I switched over to my other monitor just to see how it would look, and the colors are much better then my Vizio, but for some reason I still get that "strobing" or "ghosting" or whatever you like to call it. I really think something might be wrong with my graphics card settings. Idk.. I'm just so freakin tired of not having a smooth picture. I mean, if an Xbox 360 can do it, then wtf, right?

 

[casualcolors]

At that resolution, yes. My cousin with a Radeon HD 6850 can run it at the same resolution with all settings set to ultra.
He even had AA turned on t 4 times.

No, he can't run BF3 on full ultra with 4x MSAA on a 6850 at 1920x1080 and maintain anywhere near 60 fps I'm sorry. Not unless he took a 6850 sticker and put it on a severely overclocked GTX 580.

 

[h2l]

No, he wasn't talking about 1920 x 1080, he was talking about 1440 x 900.

Anyways, I think that whole framerate issue I brought up is because of Netflix's streaming, because I just played BioShock on max settings, and the graphics were INCREDIBLE. I got no lag at all, the colors were fantastic, and whenever there were lights and explosions flickering all over the place, I didn't see any of the ghosting or strobing. This Dell monitor is way better then that Vizio TV I was using. I made this my main monitor now.

 

[casualcolors]

No, he wasn't talking about 1920 x 1080, he was talking about 1440 x 900.

Anyways, I think that whole framerate issue I brought up is because of Netflix's streaming, because I just played BioShock on max settings, and the graphics were INCREDIBLE. I got no lag at all, the colors were fantastic, and whenever there were lights and explosions flickering all over the place, I didn't see any of the ghosting or strobing. This Dell monitor is way better then that Vizio TV I was using. I made this my main monitor now.

Strobing will be more prevalent on certain games. Most titles these days are just too slow to really bring it out, but you do run the risk always with racing games, certain oldschool fast shooters such as quake and unreal tourney, etc. Thanks for the info about the 1440x900 however a 6850 still can't do BF3 full ultra with 4x msaa at that resolution either without going well below 60 fps.

 

[h2l]

True. So how well will my machine do with BF3 on Ultra? Max resolution is 1440 x 900, same specs from before. Do you think I will get any lag or strobing?

 

[casualcolors]

lag is related to internet connection and strobing is related to monitor responsiveness. So your gpu etc won't have an impact on these things.

As far as how well will a 6870 run bf3 on 1440x900? Quite well. Not ultra max settings etc, but you'll be on high settings with ultra textures no problem. It will be enjoyable. I'd recommend a bigger HDD though, not bf3 related.

 

[h2l]

Sweet. Then that seals the deal. I'm definitely going to buy a copy of BF3 and see how it runs. Thanks for all the help dude.

As far as my hard drive goes, there's nothing I can really do at the moment because I don't really have money to blow on another hard drive. I absolutely will be getting another hard drive though, no doubt about that.

 

[h2l]

Best answer selected by h2l.

 

[Gman450]

Strobing will be more prevalent on certain games. Most titles these days are just too slow to really bring it out, but you do run the risk always with racing games, certain oldschool fast shooters such as quake and unreal tourney, etc. Thanks for the info about the 1440x900 however a 6850 still can't do BF3 full ultra with 4x msaa at that resolution either without going well below 60 fps.

Yeah, not at solid 60, but he gets about 40-50 with occasional dips to 35 or so. But it's still playable.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey