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Th3Boss

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Battlefield 3 Specs:
MINIMUM SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
OS: WINDOWS VISTA (SERVICE PACK 2) 32-BIT
PROCESSOR: 2 GHZ DUAL CORE (CORE 2 DUO 2.4 GHZ OR ATHLON X2 2.7 GHZ)
MEMORY: 2 GB
HARD DRIVE: 20 GB
GRAPHICS CARD (AMD): DIRECTX 10.1 COMPATIBLE WITH 512 MB RAM (ATI RADEON 3000, 4000, 5000 OR 6000 SERIES, WITH ATI RADEON 3870 OR HIGHER PERFORMANCE)
GRAPHICS CARD (NVIDIA): DIRECTX 10.0 COMPATIBLE WITH 512 MB RAM (NVIDIA GEFORCE 8, 9, 200, 300, 400 OR 500 SERIES WITH NVIDIA GEFORCE 8800 GT OR HIGHER PERFORMANCE)
SOUND CARD: DIRECTX COMPATIBLE
KEYBOARD AND MOUSE


RECOMMENDED SYSTEM REQUIREMENTS
OS: WINDOWS 7 64-BIT
PROCESSOR: QUAD-CORE CPU
MEMORY: 4 GB
HARD DRIVE: 20 GB
GRAPHICS CARD: DIRECTX 11 COMPATIBLE WITH 1024 MB RAM (NVIDIA GEFORCE GTX 560 OR ATI RADEON 6950)
SOUND CARD: DIRECTX COMPATIBLE
KEYBOARD AND MOUSE




Approximate Purchase Date: No specific date though sooner the better

Budget Range: Dont really have a budget I just want to build a system as cheap as possible that I can take with me to play BF3

System Usage from Most to Least Important: I only really plan on using it to play BF3 online in 64 player servers at other peoples houses

Preferred Website(s) for Parts:anywhere that ships to US, currently I stick to newegg and amazon though.

Country of Origin: US

Parts Preferences: I have usually stuck with AMD for cpu and nvidia graphics cards but which ever is best for the price I will go with

Overclocking: prefer not to

SLI or Crossfire: Maybe

Monitor Resolution: 1920x1080

Additional Comments: Looking to build the PC as cheap as possible, doesnt need a cd/dvd drive or anything, nothing too huge as ill be taking it to peoples houses. Im looking to play online with atleast medium settings and 30 fps on 64 player servers. I have no problem buying used parts to budget more.
 
Check out my $850 build here:
http://www.squidoo.com/electronicandmore

Technically you could go as low as $700 though:
AMD 955 + MSI 560 Ti TFII/OC (Equals 570 performance) $345 (Avail. $20 MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.748595
Asrock Extreme4 970 $110
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157262&Tpk=asrock%20970%20extreme4
G.Skill Sniper 8GB DDR3 1600 (Free 4GB USB) $47
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231416
OCZ ZS 750w $100 (Avail. $25 MIR)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341049&Tpk=OCZ%20ZS%20750w
CM HAF 912 $60
http://www.amazon.com/Cooler-Master-Tower-Case-RC-912-KKN1/dp/B003ZM7YTA%3FSubscriptionId%3D19BAZMZQFZJ6G2QYGCG2%26tag%3Dsquid1240995-20%26linkCode%3Dxm2%26camp%3D2025%26creative%3D165953%26creativeASIN%3DB003ZM7YTA
Lite-On DVD Burner $20
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827106289
Total: $682 not including MIRs

Reason I didn't include the Hard drive, buy it later. At the moment they've practically raised $15 even doubled in some cases since the floods in Thailand. So with that said, wait a bit.
 
OK now that the games been benched! Its save to say :

Go for a tricore AMD with AM3+ board (for future upgrade) with a AMD HD6970 or GTX560ti.

At the moment AMD's top GPU are ahead in performance on BF3.

CPU matters little in BF3.

Don't budget on Motherboard or GPU.

4GB RAM.
 
Before doing anything you need to read this article posted today in TomsHardware;
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/battlefield-3-graphics-performance,3063.html

The cpu for this game anyways does not matter , any dual core will do , however untill AMD gets its drivers optimized for this game you need to give second thoughts about any AMD video card except the top model (6990). Nvidia seems to be in better shape right now and unless you want to be at the mercy of an AMD driver update I would go with Nvidia. The better the model the better the game play. With this game low budget is not an option.
 

Th3Boss

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Also forgot to mention ill only be playing online multiplayer mainly in 64 player servers. Will that change anyones suggestions so far?

Otherwise great suggestions so far. I do like the ideas from Novuake and Inzone about using better motherboard and gpu for future upgrading.

I might also go with buying used parts instead of new to budget more.
 

madchemist83

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^ yeah shin00bie .. how is that ?
Also noone seemed to address a better case ???
OP says he needs a small case to carry around .. HAF 912 is not a small guy
384-bit's build is allright but as all DIY builds of online retailers lacks quality and deepness
PSU is crappy, only 4 gigs of RAM, mobo only has on PCI-E x16 and HDD costs 140$ .. really

honestly just wait for HDDs to fall in price .. or get crucial m4 64 gb for cheaper .. enough to put BF3 on
for GPU go with 560Ti or HD6950 at least
8gb of ram
and so on
as for a case ... i'll be back :)
 

kreek

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You people seem to forget that the 955 BE is ALL that BF3 needs! The 955 BE is still a great CPU and if he can get a 100 dollar better GPU getting a 955 BE instead of a i5 2500k, then he should do it. BF3 isn't CPU heavy, it is GPU heavy, in that case get the best GPU he can.
 
Lol you're such a fail. With an overclock, even just a tiny bit, the 955 is a better option.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/186?vs=289
That's a 970, which is only 300mhz more than the 955. Which at this point is only $5 more than the i3 2100. It performs much better in gaming. Especially multi-threaded apps.

More importantly if anything you don't know your facts at all either. BD was created during the first gen i7's. It was supposed to be for the the 920+950 etc. Since TMSC botched the fab they had to delay it.
http://www.anandtech.com/bench/Product/434?vs=100
In terms of performance, pretty much on par with the 950. Which the 1090T and 1055T at the time was not.

Though pricing as of now makes BD more expensive, AMD already announced price-drops soon so that's always a plus. Further more, BD was made from a server arch, not a Desktop arch. I do agree BD was a failure for what was expected but they should've have used a Server arch in the first place.

Also, this has nothing to do with a "new CEO" or anything like that. AMD just needs to fab a different arch instead of thinking "sharing-modules" think like the older Denebs/Thubans and start from there.

 

madchemist83

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quote " The real competition for the Phenom II X4 955 BE is Intel's Sandy Bridge-based Core i3-2100. Intel's budget-oriented processor can out-game the Phenom II X4. But AMD's CPU is a good entertainment-oriented option better suited to multitasking, thanks to its quad-core architecture. Since this list is focused on game performance, the Phenom II X4 955's price is too close to the superior Core i3-2100 to take a full recommendation."
that pretty much sums it up
 

Th3Boss

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So what do you suggest madchemist for:

CPU
Mobo
GPU
RAM
PSU
Case

Im thinking id like to try and get it a bit cheaper then aznshinobi's suggestion and would like it a bit smaller for easier mobility.
 

madchemist83

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cpu - i5-2500k microcenter or ncix r ur choices if u can find it for cheap
microcenter also offers bundles with some z68 mobos for extra $40 off
mobo something with 2 PCI x slots capable of x8/x8 SLI/CF
GPU - 560Ti
RAM - 8gb Corsair Vengeance Low Profile
PSU - OCZ ZS, PC P&C, Thermaltake, Antec or FPS - 700-750W .. ask me which ones
Case - Cm Storm Scout - has handles or Antec 200 Illusion
 
@384-BiT Thanks :D
@Dirtyferret Where AMD comes in for cheap. I mean they're not always cheap, but cheaper for what you can get out of it. I.E OCing.

http://www.anandtech.com/show/4083/the-sandy-bridge-review-intel-core-i7-2600k-i5-2500k-core-i3-2100-tested/20

Well looking at that, the i3 2100 does beat out the 970, in fact majority. So I do admit that I was wrong. I still do think the 955 is a better bang for buck than the i3 2100.

Alright but now that I just remembered one CPU that I actually may get. The 960T
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103995&Tpk=960T

Not a lot of reviews on it, but it has 2 dormant cores that make it have the Thuban Arch, which suprisingly almost everyone (pretty much all) have unlocked the 960T to the Thubans.
 
aznshinobi's 955 build would do well, its not the best build you can possible get but is a good deal for the money. A 2500 isn't going to do a ton better so its up to you if you want to spend extra for it. I dont really consider either of them to have CPU upgrade paths at this point, 2600k isnt a big enough boost and bulldozer was disappointing. Most games require more GPU power as time goes on and you do have upgrade paths there, CPU requirements should stay similar so either of those two will do well for a while.
 

Volunteer

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Get ready for common sense: (or nonsense.. you pick)
(^^Phenom great choice end convo, but below i used intel core2duo as cheap build for intel fans)

Don't listen to the school bus full of fanboys. Unless you only have 3D mark as the only program you use, or you have your cinebench score tattooed on your chest; then forget about it. Dumb advice.
My intel core 2 duo is not much slower then my I5 (2500k or 650 dual core) even with 5400 hdd and ddr2 memory.
Like wise my fx 8 core on Asus crosshair v with 2133 gskill and hd6990 is amazing, but suprise it plays the same games at virtually no difference to my i5 and gtx560ti. I have to vsync my radeon to 75 mhz 27 inch monitor is only difference. My internet (60meg) is my bottleneck due to high ping on a few servers.
I over clocked my wife's athlon QC to 3.4 ghz on asus 970 and it amazingly is slightly slower then i5 system.
SO don't become a babbling lunatic spewing hate over miliseconds on a test made 3 years before some new 'tech' came out. Bulldozer is amazing step into amd's concept of affordable performance,and who knows a new b3 stepping adventure maybe.
The windows scheduler sending random order to the 4 modules instead of ordering the 8 cores is slowing it down, but i'll say on my g13 board my i5 runs 100% work load while the amd runs 40% max out at 80% during level loading in BF3. I love real world stats, and real world is if you don't have the cash for awsome record setting build, don't bash tech you don't own.
(option intel below)
Go buy a used P4 or C2D system at local pc shop and upgrade to C2D extreme (new or used $100 on ebay) and some good ddr2 gaming memory $35-$50, and a good SSD ($80-90) you won't be able to use 6bs sata more then likely so buy a sata or sata II max 3bs and save cash over the 6bs ssd that u will have to revert to sata or sata II anyway.
So locally i bought used
$60 c2d sys (dell)
$150 for used 120gb corsair ssd and c2dExtreme
$18 used Asus LGA 775 Mobo for
$120 *2* new 3870x2 quadfire
$30 used 700 watt psu offbrand i guess? grey metal!?-----
$400(after taxes), and plays bf3 on high to ultra online (resolution 1600x900/ high for higher resolutions).

Credit due -- i5 2500k a lot of fun to own, great all around value and i see it lasting a long time as viable tech and decent performance for me, the c2d will soon be phased out completely (corporate only thing keeping it around but lga775 options dwindle yearly and quality of used is crap a lot of the time).
the amd fx reminds me of my first K6 333mghz, boy i got hated on in the MPLAYER chatrooms starting rounds for Rainbow Six back in the day, but i had a flicker free fun time and dominated those teenage punks as a young child on my knock off crt monitor that said KFC on the logo. So PLEASE dont fall into the bench warmers category of 'o no u didn't' buy that.
Best Advice!!:Save up

save ur cash for SSD, GPU, Mother board.
A quality set (asus, visiontek, asrock, sapphire, pny, evga have lasted long time with 0 probs)
I suggest the Crosshair V -
AMD fx8120 or new watercooled fx8 package (save some $ unlike me who bought seperately)
gskill 1866 or higher memory-
AMD radeon hd6990 or hd6870x2
I like upper end cougar power supplys. Personal pref b/c they are orange.(<-truth)


This platform (unlike half people who bash it by looking up google stats versus owning or properly installing their own things) has been stable, booted 1st go around, and by far best to start dabbling in OC'ing for new comers. It offers at least 10 years (somewhere around there) of processor upgrades due to socket, up to 2400 OC memory, tonz of connectors and fan options. But saving or buying the new intel 2011 is a waste to me, they have crapped on me everytime i try to be a intel fan and recommend to a budget friendly consumer.Personal Example: first my wifes computer (LGA-1156) then 1155, then 1366 still better but noone wants used 1156 b/c they pretty much discontinued the entire socket.and so on..
Get ready for LGA2010 if you buy 2011 is my fear. AMD seems to be more for the normal as well as people who invest or save for quality components and they look to keep customers in their brand by simple upgrade standards at reasonable prices. Intel thinks that you can print money like my government, while delivering as promised unlike AMD has done a "couple" of times.. :)
Good luck to anyone who is freshly reading this post hope it keeps at least one kid off of the benchmark-only-bandwagon and people realize that they shouldn't rely on dummies. (like me seeing as i can't spell or use grammar correctly-my wife pointed it out a long time ago) - Vols

**PLEASE POINT OUT MY ERRORS IF ANY** i'm at work so if i started typing part of my phone conversation sorry! :)

Side note - since the C2D build i went 19/2 KDR in bf3, i propose that we benchmark how the c2d helps your kill death ratio and amd fx lowers it b/c of it's stupid stupid engineering.
 
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