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First Time Build Advice: BF3

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Hey guys I have been strictly a console gamer, but the mind blowing graphics on Battlefield3 preview made me a PC gamer believer and I am in the process of building my first rig, newbie here. Here is my planned setup. I have all the components except a SSD & the Silver Arrow. I will be using 1920x1080 3 multiple displays, possible 3d .

Questions:
1.I will be installing the computer this weekend. My Silver Arrow wont be in until next week and i will be busy the next few weeks with work. Is it easy to install the factory i5 fan now and then remove and install the Silver Arrow at a later date?

2.Will the i5 2500k stock speeds bottleneck the system? Is it safe to overclock i5 much with the stock fan?


3.Is there much of a real world difference in SSD sata2 vs sata3? Load times of OS and games? Any links of benchmarks? I was looking at Crucial M4 with 415MB/s read time, but its very expensive....

4. Any site to download Windows 7 OS at a good price? Or just buy from store?

5.Any comments on the 6970 CF with setup for Battlefield 3.

-Asus Z68 Pro mobo
-i5 2500k (will OC)
-Thermalright Silver Arrow cooler(Dont have yet)
-Gskill 8gb DDR3 1600 @ 1.5v CL8
-Diamond HD 6970 x2 Xfire
-Corsair 1050w professional series (for double or triple SLI future upgrades)
-Samsung Spinoint F3 HHD
-SSD 128GB- (sugguestion?)
-Cooler Master haf x 942
-disc drive(undecided)

Thank for all the help guys.


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windows 7, on sale for $80 with promo code EMCKCHB36, i highly doubt you will find it cheaper:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

looks like a beautiful build. you will be able to install the silver arrow later. you could probably overclock the i5 a bit with no fan, but theres going to be no reason to do so at the moment, just wait.

there is definitely a big difference between SSDs, the sata ii vs iii is only one factor (although youll definitely want a sata iii aka sata 6gb/s, dont call it sata3) unfortunately the fastest ones also seem to have big reliability issues. if i had to get one it would be an m4, but i have plenty of money and im personally waiting it out.



genghiskron said:
windows 7, on sale for $80 with promo code EMCKCHB36, i highly doubt you will find it cheaper:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

looks like a beautiful build. you will be able to install the silver arrow later. you could probably overclock the i5 a bit with no fan, but theres going to be no reason to do so at the moment, just wait.

there is definitely a big difference between SSDs, the sata ii vs iii is only one factor (although youll definitely want a sata iii aka sata 6gb/s, dont call it sata3) unfortunately the fastest ones also seem to have big reliability issues. if i had to get one it would be an m4, but i have plenty of money and im personally waiting it out.



Thanks genghiskron for all the tips. M4 it's is. I can't wait to put this bad boy together!

One thing you should look into is the depth of the Silver Arrow compared to the case. I have an Obsidian 650D and I am uncertain as to whether it fits. I'm not sure how much wider your case is compared to mine, so it may not be an issue.

Clearance on the Ripjaws should be ok since you can use the A2/B2 slots located further away from the CPU and should clear the bottom of the Silver Arrow's pipes.

I recently bought a Corsair 120GB Sata III SSD for CDN$200 on sale, which is a pretty good deal for an in-store purchase. I have yet to install it, as I am about to put together my new rig in the next day or two once I get the Silver Arrow or an alternate. All I hear is that an SSD will spoil you so badly that you will wish you had more space to load the game du jour on your system.

That is quite a machine for BF3. You will have no problem getting the full juice out of that game! :) 
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You don't need to OC your processor for battlefield.

Running the in game performance monitor at 2560X1600 with a 6970 CF setup my Core-I7-920 2.66 is only running at 23% average usage while the graphics cards are pegged at 100%.

SSDs make a huge difference in BF3. I just bought a Corsair ForceGT 120GB SSD and I'm always one of the first few people in the game and it makes tabbing in and out of the game between games to check stats etc instant. I'd definately recommend picking one up. Sata 6GBs is not important at this point, don't even bother, you won't notice a playable difference. Just upgrade to 6GBs with your motherboard at your next processor upgrade.

ezareth said:
You don't need to OC your processor for battlefield.

Running the in game performance monitor at 2560X1600 with a 6970 CF setup my Core-I7-920 2.66 is only running at 23% average usage while the graphics cards are pegged at 100%.

SSDs make a huge difference in BF3. I just bought a Corsair ForceGT 120GB SSD and I'm always one of the first few people in the game and it makes tabbing in and out of the game between games to check stats etc instant. I'd definately recommend picking one up. Sata 6GBs is not important at this point, don't even bother, you won't notice a playable difference. Just upgrade to 6GBs with your motherboard at your next processor upgrade.


What do you use to monitor performance? I'd like to see how my system is performing and fps while in game.

TheinsanegamerN said:
usually if you can record with fraps and still maintain 60 fps, your golden. however, i've heard of many problems with crossfire and battlefield 3.. be warned


Ya I ended up exchanging the ATI cards and getting the EVGA 590 Classified. It's amazing. Running BF3 with everything maxed on ultra and getting 83 fps average and a min of 61fps so everything looks beautiful.
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