BF3 New build $300-$500

Better go for more powerful cpu than gpu. BF3 relies more on cpu than gpu.

I have not read or heard anything regarding the cpu being so important until now. So upgrade from an AMD quad core before changing anything else in my build?

M SUGGESTION:
i5-2400: $190
AsRock H61M/U3S3: $70
4 GB DDR3-1333: $25
GTX 560 ti: $220

total $505

So overlook SATA-6 / BD compatibility, sli, and some marginal ram for a slightly better processor?

i3 2100 - $125
ASRock Z68 Extreme3 Gen3 - $125
Gskill Value Series 4GB DDR3 1333 - $20
PowerColor AX6950 2GBD5-2DH Radeon HD 6950 2GB - $250

Total : $520 before rebates

2GB of vRAM for 1080p. (and multiple monitor setup in future)
Z68 board with PCIe 3.0 slots and Ivy Bridge upgradibility.
4GB of RAM is enough, so is the i3 2100 for running BF3.

you don't need 2gb of vram for 1080p. he would for a multi-monitor setup, but he should only get that if he wants to do that. otherewise, OP should go 560 ti or 1gb 6950

I like this answer because so far the 2gb 6950's have been superior in BF3 beta performance. As a noob builder though, I have to wonder if this config is better than eventually running different GPU configs down the road that are not capable on the ASRock Z68.

"running different GPU configs...." -

I couldn't get it.

The ASrockz68 does not support dual pci express.

the X4 955 will do fine. get a cheaper 770 board for ~60 and go for a HD6950 2GB. Also, get 4GB of RAM and a CPU cooler to OC the CPU. That will give you a higher performance boost than 4GB of RAM that the game dosent need.

What are you talking about ifyoubuild it. It supports SLI and CF, it has 2 PCI Express 3.0/2.0 16x slots.

Why don't you just wait for BD, instead of recommending stuff now gues? I mean the OP is going to buying in November after all.

Yeah.. it supports SLI/CF at x8/x8/x4.

I just saw some benchmark and the Phenom II X4 took top place in performance for BF3. Do not change your CPU, unless you're willing to wait for BD.. Do not buy a non-900-series motherboard like someone suggested.

Please elaborate. I think there's a lot more fail in your comment, not really adding anything to the thread and forcing me but spam further.

http://www.techspot.com/review/448-battlefield-3-beta-p...

You just got owned.

http://www.techspot.com/review/448-battlefield-3-beta-p...

I think this is what he is talking about.

Indeed. I think it's pretty obvious where the fail is, mr. P07H34D  

AMD is where it's at my friends!

  That was a poor choice of words given the context.

My mistake. Thanks for the comments and suggestions everyone BTW. Leaning strongly towards 008's suggestions.

Still debating and I really wonder if waiting for BD on a pretty cheap rag tag rig like this will be worth it.

The BD you are waiting for is supposed to be $150-$190 price tag.

Wow an AMD A8 and 1100T outperform a 2500k? Crazy.

If you look at the benchmark posted you can see the i3 scored about 10% lower than the X4 with a mild OC.

The phenom 955 will easily clock to 3.7 GHz of the 980 .

The initial build suggestion is definitely the right one .

I love that link BTW . The humble little AMD fusion cpu matching intels latest and greatest must have cpu . I hope you dont mind but Im using that about another 400 times on the mb

hmmm. should've check my info. Just openly spilt that because I heard it somewhere.  

Well, well. Look who is here.

More abusive people. That's nice.

Hey, if I were you, don't listen to some abusive people on this forum.

Especially this guy P07H34D. Some abused on my thread based on amd/ati gaming build. As well the guy name zooted. Don't take no notice them two. There bad news in my opinion.

Any way, I'm not here to abuse and name them.

I'm just like every one else is here on this forum.

Good luck in you're build.

Best answer selected by ifyoubuildit.

Right on man, you and FinneousPJ sold me. Going to start piecing this together in the next few weeks. Planning on original build and may get a cpu cooler down the road. I also need to see how this will all fit in an 8 year old partially mangled case  

You should not pay attention to the beta scores because if you had initially read any of the dev' posts you'd see that no matter what you put your settings to in the beta that the graphics would stay at low. The beta was to test their servers and stability, not individuals performance in game. So, those charts are all basically for the low settings with anti aliasing turned on.

Interesting information
But on low settings the cpu is MORE likely to be the limitation and you'd expect the 2500k and 2600K to run away with the result .

They didnt so I went back and read the testing methodology
"Battlefield 3 was tested at three resolutions: 1680x1050, 1920x1200 and 2560x1600. The game was tested using the Ultra and High quality presets which are meant to be the same for the beta, yet we found significant differences between the two.

When set to Ultra every setting is maxed out with the exception of anti-aliasing post which is set to medium. The anti-aliasing deferred settings is set to 4xMSAA while anisotropic filtering is set to 16x. Other quality settings such as texture, shadow, effects, mesh, terrain and terrain decoration are all set to Ultra.

The Ultra preset was extremely demanding, so we also tested using the High quality preset. This turned anti-aliasing deferred off and left the anti-aliasing post settings on medium. All other visual quality settings as detailed above are turned to high. We'll be looking for an average of 60fps for stutter-free gameplay. "

So at high and ultra high setting NOT low as you thought

and still proof the gpu is more important than the cpu in 2011

Its not a matter of what I thought, It's a matter of what I read and can comfirm via playing right now. You switch the settings from low to ultra and nothing changes in game.