[Solved] New BF3 1920x1200 Ultra Max AA Built

Hi everyone,

I want to build a new desktop to run BF3 all maxed out on the Dell U2410 IPS monitor.

Total budget = $2,000

This budget includes a $549 U2410 monitor, as well as all other components except the SSD and HDD.
Despite the budget stated above I'm looking for a conservative built that ensures to meet the requirement without going completely overboard. For example, I'd like to just overclock i5-2500K CPU, since an i7 processor doesn't really seem necessary here or cost efficient.

Feel free to correct me if any of my above assumptions are incorrect.
Please submit your suggestions with respect to the following components.
I have ranked them in decreasing order of interest. Thus don't hesitate to solely focus on the graphic card and mobo.

1. Graphic card(s)
2. Motherboard
3. Case
4. Cooling
5. PSU
6. Memory

I look forward to the responses.

Thanks & regards,

Reply to PeDRo_O

Well, if I were you, I would honestly wait for the HD 7970. They will supposedly be 140-160% faster than the GTX 580 at roughly the same price. Even if they won't be and its all hype, why not just wait for the benchmarks and make an informed decision? Hmmm...I'm not waiting for the HD 7950/70 because A) they will both be out of budget and B) there probably won't be a price reduction in the current line of cards until Nvidia drops whatever they have in store for us.

Message edited by Sailor Moon on 12-20-2011 at 01:31:48 AM

Reply to Sailor Moon

First off, that's a lotta money to pay for the U2410. I own one and would advise any gamer that it is NOT a gaming monitor. It is great for photography and video editing but frankly, I think you will find games look "washed out" compared what you will view on $150 TN panel monitors. Again, it's great monitor IPS panel is essential for anyone into photo editing...... but if gaming is the only usage, I'd opt for a cheaper 120Hz Asus 24" model such as this one for $290

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824236104

Again, I have the two of em in adjoining rooms and I don't game on the Dell.

Case - $ 115 - Corsair 500R White http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811139010
PSU - $ 150 - Corsair HX850 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139011
MoBo - $ 210 - ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131790
CPU - $ 320 - Intel Core i7-2500K http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115070
Cooler - $ 83 - Thermalright Silver Arrow http://www.frozencpu.com/products/ [...] 2_AM3.html
TIM - $ 5 - Shin Etsu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835150080
RAM - $ 50 - (2 x 4GB) Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600 (White) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820233186
GFX - $ 230 - Asus GTX 560 900Mhz http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814121425
GFX - Later - Asus GTX 560 900Mhz Same
HD - $ 110 - Spinpoint F3 1TB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822152185
SSD - $ 210 - Mushkin Chronos Deluxe 120 GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820226236
DVD Writer - $ 58 - Asus Model BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827135247
Card Reader $ 50 AeroCool FP-01 55 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820314001
Monitor $ 280 ASUS VG236HE Black 23" 120 Hz Monitor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824236104
OS - $ 100 - Win 7-64 Home Premium OEM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6832116986

Total $1,971

That will give ya just 10% less fps than twin GTX 580's at a savings of $560 ($430 vs $1,000) for just the GFX cards....SSD is fastest 120 Gigger on THG's Heirarchy Chart, ya got Blue Ray, a cooler that can get you 4.8 - 5.0 Ghz no problem, 10 performance rated (jonnyguru) PSU.

Message quoted 1 times

------------------------------ If a man speaks in the forest and no woman hears him, is he still wrong ?
Reply to JackNaylorPE

JackNaylorPE wrote :

First off, that's a lotta money to pay for the U2410. I own one and would advise any gamer that it is NOT a gaming monitor. It is great for photography and video editing but frankly, I think you will find games look "washed out" compared what you will view on $150 TN panel monitors. Again, it's great monitor IPS panel is essential for anyone into photo editing...... but if gaming is the only usage, I'd opt for a cheaper 120Hz Asus 24" model such as this one for $290

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824236104

Again, I have the two of em in adjoining rooms and I don't game on the Dell.

Case - $ 115 - Corsair 500R White http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811139010
PSU - $ 150 - Corsair HX850 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139011
MoBo - $ 210 - ASUS P8Z68-V PRO/GEN3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6813131790
CPU - $ 320 - Intel Core i7-2500K http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115070
Cooler - $ 83 - Thermalright Silver Arrow http://www.frozencpu.com/products/ [...] 2_AM3.html
TIM - $ 5 - Shin Etsu http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835150080
RAM - $ 50 - (2 x 4GB) Corsair Vengeance DDR3-1600 (White) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820233186
GFX - $ 230 - Asus GTX 560 900Mhz http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814121425
GFX - Later - Asus GTX 560 900Mhz Same
HD - $ 110 - Spinpoint F3 1TB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6822152185
SSD - $ 210 - Mushkin Chronos Deluxe 120 GB http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820226236
DVD Writer - $ 58 - Asus Model BC-12B1ST/BLK/B/AS http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6827135247
Card Reader $ 50 AeroCool FP-01 55 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820314001
Monitor $ 280 ASUS VG236HE Black 23" 120 Hz Monitor http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824236104
OS - $ 100 - Win 7-64 Home Premium OEM http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6832116986

Total $1,971

That will give ya just 10% less fps than twin GTX 580's at a savings of $560 ($430 vs $1,000) for just the GFX cards....SSD is fastest 120 Gigger on THG's Heirarchy Chart, ya got Blue Ray, a cooler that can get you 4.8 - 5.0 Ghz no problem, 10 performance rated (jonnyguru) PSU.

OP, whatever the hell you do...do not listen to this guy. Like I said before, WAIT for the HD 7970 - you won't regret it. If you can't literally wait two or three weeks, then just go with a single GTX 580 or SLI'd GTX 570/Crossfired HD 6970s. I have no clue why he's recommending a GTX 560 when A) you're clearly looking for a high-end gaming build, B) your budget accommodates $400+ GPUs and B) the next generation of GPUs is right around the corner! IMO, unless you're video-editing, hyper-threading or using 3D rendering programs, etc you're better off just getting an 2500k and spending whatever money you saved elsewhere.

Reply to Sailor Moon

Ahhh...whatever

CASE: Corsair 600T $150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811139005
MOBO: ASUS P8Z68-V PRO $214
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] c6ltw3dmn7
CPU: Intel i5-2500k $219
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115072
COOLER: Noctua DH-14 $84
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835608018
RAM: Ripjaws 8GB DDR3 1600 (2x4GB) $43
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231314
OS: Win 7-64 Home Premium OEM $99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6832116986
GPU: Evga GTX 580 Superclocked $529
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130590
PSU: Cooling Silencer Mk II 950W $149
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817703028
MONITOR: U2410 monitor $549
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824260020
OPTIC DRIVE: ASUS Black BluRay $57
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] lxf55v52xh
THERMAL PASTE: Arctic Silver 5 $12
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835100007

GRAND TOTAL: $2,105

HOWEVER...if you were to get a cheaper monitor (let's say $350?), the cost would easily be under $2,000. Counting rebates, the price goes down by about $30-50 (not sure about what they'll charge you for shipping). You could also shave $25 by getting a cheaper case and save an additional $40 by getting a cheaper PSU.

Please don't get that P.O.S monitor. I have absolutely no idea what possesses you to even consider buying it in the first place. Another thing to consider is getting two Sapphire Dirt 3 Edition 2GB HD 6950s for $538 ($498 with rebates). You can unlock them to HD 6970 speeds at the flick of a switch. That setup would definitely destroy Battlefield 3 at 1200p, but you might have to deal with a few driver issues.

So in other words, you could easily get this to around $1,850.

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by Sailor Moon on 12-20-2011 at 04:03:52 AM

Reply to Sailor Moon

I've heard a lot of different reviews when it comes to U2410 for gaming.
There seems to be no consensus at all. However Jack's input on that is interesting.

I agree with you Sailor Moon. I am really not convinced that you need anything more than an overclocked i5-2500K to run BF3 maxed out. I'd rather spend more money on GPUs than getting unnecessary additional CPU power.

I have no problem waiting a few more weeks to see the HD 7970 reviews.
If I can't wait any longer, according to the 30+ graphics card BF3 benchmark article from tomshardware, I'd much rather follow Sailor's advice and go with SLId GTS 570.

I appreciate Jack's complete response. I'll check out all the links tonight. I might just find a few things I like.

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to PeDRo_O

Best answer

PeDRo_O wrote :

I've heard a lot of different reviews when it comes to U2410 for gaming.
There seems to be no consensus at all. However Jack's input on that is interesting.

I agree with you Sailor Moon. I am really not convinced that you need anything more than an overclocked i5-2500K to run BF3 maxed out. I'd rather spend more money on GPUs than getting unnecessary additional CPU power.

I have no problem waiting a few more weeks to see the HD 7970 reviews.
If I can't wait any longer, according to the 30+ graphics card BF3 benchmark article from tomshardware, I'd much rather follow Sailor's advice and go with SLId GTS 570.

I appreciate Jack's complete response. I'll check out all the links tonight. I might just find a few things I like.

I was being a bit extreme, but yeah some of Jack's suggestions were questionable. The unlocked 2GB HD 6950s will perform better than the SLI'd GTX 570s (even locked I believe) at a cheaper price so please do consider them. They also have more VRAM which will definitely help at high frame-rates. Regardless, you're definitely going to need two GPUs to get a good frame-rate running new releases maxed out @ 1200p, but thankfully the next generation of GPUs can change all of that. BTW another great case to consider is the NZXT Phantom (absolutely love it).

Quite honestly, you really need to look at another monitor. This ASUS PA246Q is what I'd consider "cost-inefficient", yet it is an infinitely better choice than the monitor you chose. The U2410 has mediocre reviews all across the board and basically performs like a $200 monitor. Any half-decent $150-200 monitor will do you fine with gaming, there really is no need to spend more than $350.

If everything's been answered, please select a "Best Answer".

Message edited by Sailor Moon on 12-20-2011 at 04:54:38 AM

Reply to Sailor Moon

Sailor Moon wrote :

Ahhh...whatever

CASE: Corsair 600T $150
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6811139005
MOBO: ASUS P8Z68-V PRO $214
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] c6ltw3dmn7
CPU: Intel i5-2500k $219
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819115072
COOLER: Noctua DH-14 $84
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835608018
RAM: Ripjaws 8GB DDR3 1600 (2x4GB) $43
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820231314
OS: Win 7-64 Home Premium OEM $99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6832116986
GPU: Evga GTX 580 Superclocked $529
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814130590
PSU: Cooling Silencer Mk II 950W $149
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817703028
MONITOR: U2410 monitor $549
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6824260020
OPTIC DRIVE: ASUS Black BluRay $57
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] lxf55v52xh
THERMAL PASTE: Arctic Silver 5 $12
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6835100007

GRAND TOTAL: $2,105

HOWEVER...if you were to get a cheaper monitor (let's say $350?), the cost would easily be under $2,000. Counting rebates, the price goes down by about $30-50 (not sure about what they'll charge you for shipping). You could also shave $25 by getting a cheaper case and save an additional $40 by getting a cheaper PSU.

Please don't get that P.O.S monitor. I have absolutely no idea what possesses you to even consider buying it in the first place. Another thing to consider is getting two Sapphire Dirt 3 Edition 2GB HD 6950s for $538 ($498 with rebates). You can unlock them to HD 6970 speeds at the flick of a switch. That setup would definitely destroy Battlefield 3 at 1200p, but you might have to deal with a few driver issues.

So in other words, you could easily get this to around $1,850.

This is by far the best proposal I got from any forum today.
That case is really sweet. The more corsair cases I see lately, the more I love them.
I want to give my Antec 900 away to my little brother.

Yeah, unfortunately it seems that IPS despite the awesome colors still isn't really ideal for gaming.
Do you have any monitors to recommend?

I've read several placed that most GTX 580 slightly struggle on the biggest 64 player maps.
Do you know of any newer benchmarks for GTX 580's w/ BF3?

What's the difference between the P8Z68 DELUXE and the P8Z68-V PRO besides a marketing message?

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to PeDRo_O

You can quickly glance at the comparison charts from these reviews to decide which card to get for BF3 max out AA Ultra graphics settings:

http://www.guru3d.com/article/batt [...] ark-test/6

http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 063-7.html

http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] 63-12.html

http://www.techspot.com/review/458 [...] page3.html

You are correct that a single GTX 580 will struggle occasionally in BF3 at Ultra settings when there are lots of actions going on. A SLI/CF is better to handle this game at that level of graphics.

Personally, if you must get a video card now for xmas gaming madness, you can pick a card based on those charts for your BF3 Max out graphics settings. In case you wonder where GTX 570 SLI performance would be in those chart, it would be slightly faster than a GTX 590 and slightly slower than GTX 580 in SLI. If you can wait, HD 7970 is around the corner, many sources suggested a release date of Jan 9 2012, pricing to be around 550 bucks.

Message edited by jacknhut on 12-20-2011 at 05:17:30 AM

Reply to jacknhut

Best answer selected by PeDRo_O.

Reply to PeDRo_O

PeDRo_O wrote :

This is by far the best proposal I got from any forum today.
That case is really sweet. The more corsair cases I see lately, the more I love them.
I want to give my Antec 900 away to my little brother.

Yeah, unfortunately it seems that IPS despite the awesome colors still isn't really ideal for gaming.
Do you have any monitors to recommend?

I've read several placed that most GTX 580 slightly struggle on the biggest 64 player maps.
Do you know of any newer benchmarks for GTX 580's w/ BF3?

What's the difference between the P8Z68 DELUXE and the P8Z68-V PRO besides a marketing message?

Alright, I've actually got three places for you to check out.

Nvidia's website claims that Battlefield 3 can be run optimally with everything maxed out at 54.17 FPS, 1080p (this would translate to about 50fps at 1200p with 2x MSAA). Their test PC was running on an i7-920 and only had 2GB of RAM.

Tom's Hardware's very own 30+ benchmark article shows the game running at about 55fps at the same resolution, which is pretty consistent with what Nvidia is saying. I recommend that you sift through the article because you can also see how the other 29 cards perform at the same settings (pretty damn useful!).

And finally, HARDOCP actually did an article with optimal MULTIPLAYER settings, which is definitely what you're looking for. Again, they said that with the GTX 580 they were averaging 59.9 frames without motion blur enabled, but when it was enabled, it fell down to 55fps.

So yes, I definitely think that a single GTX 580 can handle Battlefield 3's MP with everything maxed out. If things get too hectic, you could turn down MSAA to 2x and disable motion blur which would definitely improve your performance. You wouldn't really notice the difference between 2x and 4x MSAA at high resolutions.

As for the motherboards, the difference in my opinion doesn't justify the extra cost according to wccftceh. If you scroll aaaaall the way down to the bottom, you'll see a little chart that shows you the difference between the two boards. This thread and that thread might also help you decide.

Finally, the monitor. Quite honestly, the majority of current generation if LCD monitors will do you just fine for gaming. Keeping this in mind, I would have to know how big you want your monitor to be and whether or not you still want a 1200p monitor. This Asus VK278Q 27'' 1080p monitor looks pretty damn good, but it is kinda pricey ($350). Then this is the slightly older version without a webcam ($289). There's a $30 promotional code on its page so that knocks the price down to $259. Then there's this $209 24 inch, 1080p ASUS VS248H monitor (more information here). The ASUS ML248H looks pretty cool, but unfortunately the colors and gamma levels might be uneven at the edges of the screen. You might also want to look into the 23" ASUS ML239H, which boasts an IPS panel (not really sure about this technology myself). They all have response times under 2ms and are all 1080p.

Hope that helps! Good luck with your build!

Message quoted 1 times
Message edited by Sailor Moon on 12-20-2011 at 05:53:50 AM

Reply to Sailor Moon

Sailor Moon wrote :

Alright, I've actually got three places for you to check out.

Nvidia's website claims that Battlefield 3 can be run optimally with everything maxed out at 54.17 FPS, 1080p (this would translate to about 50fps at 1200p with 2x MSAA). Their test PC was running on an i7-920 and only had 2GB of RAM.

Tom's Hardware's very own 30+ benchmark article shows the game running at about 55fps at the same resolution, which is pretty consistent with what Nvidia is saying. I recommend that you sift through the article because you can also see how the other 29 cards perform at the same settings (pretty damn useful!).

And finally, HARDOCP actually did an article with optimal MULTIPLAYER settings, which is definitely what you're looking for. Again, they said that with the GTX 580 they were averaging 59.9 frames without motion blur enabled, but when it was enabled, it fell down to 55fps.

So yes, I definitely think that a single GTX 580 can handle Battlefield 3's MP with everything maxed out. If things get too hectic, you could turn down MSAA to 2x and disable motion blur which would definitely improve your performance. You wouldn't really notice the difference between 2x and 4x MSAA at high resolutions.

As for the motherboards, the difference in my opinion doesn't justify the extra cost according to wccftceh. If you scroll aaaaall the way down to the bottom, you'll see a little chart that shows you the difference between the two boards. This thread and that thread might also help you decide.

Finally, the monitor. Quite honestly, the majority of current generation if LCD monitors will do you just fine for gaming. Keeping this in mind, I would have to know how big you want your monitor to be and whether or not you still want a 1200p monitor. This Asus VK278Q 27'' 1080p monitor looks pretty damn good, but it is kinda pricey ($350). Then this is the slightly older version without a webcam ($289). There's a $30 promotional code on its page so that knocks the price down to $259. Then there's this $209 24 inch, 1080p ASUS VS248H monitor (more information here). The ASUS ML248H looks pretty cool, but unfortunately the colors and gamma levels might be uneven at the edges of the screen. You might also want to look into the 23" ASUS ML239H, which boasts an IPS panel (not really sure about this technology myself). They all have response times under 2ms and are all 1080p.

Hope that helps! Good luck with your build!

Thanks for all the great help!
I'm still looking for a monitor. However this is what I'm leaning towards so far.

CASE: Silverstone FT02
MOBO: ASUS P8Z68 DELUXE/GEN3
CPU: Intel i5-2500k
COOLER: Noctua DH-14
RAM: Ripjaws 8GB DDR3 1600 (2x4GB)
GPU: Evga GTX 580 Superclocked $529
PSU: Corsair HX750

Constructive criticism is welcome.

Questions:

1) Is buying seperate thermal paste like Arctic Silver 5 really worth it?
I've seen good reviews from Noctua's included thermal paste.

2) What power rating do I need for the PSU if I don't intend to go for SLI setups in the near future due to micro-stuttering and solely want to overclock the PSU and GPU?

3) Is there any CPU cooler with the same performance & noise level as the Noctua DH-14 but with better looks?

Thanks & regards,

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to PeDRo_O

PeDRo_O wrote :

Thanks for all the great help!
I'm still looking for a monitor. However this is what I'm leaning towards so far.

CASE: Silverstone FT02
MOBO: ASUS P8Z68 DELUXE/GEN3
CPU: Intel i5-2500k
COOLER: Noctua DH-14
RAM: Ripjaws 8GB DDR3 1600 (2x4GB)
GPU: Evga GTX 580 Superclocked $529
PSU: Corsair HX750

Constructive criticism is welcome.

Questions:

1) Is buying seperate thermal paste like Arctic Silver 5 really worth it?
I've seen good reviews from Noctua's included thermal paste.

2) What power rating do I need for the PSU if I don't intend to go for SLI setups in the near future due to micro-stuttering and solely want to overclock the PSU and GPU?

3) Is there any CPU cooler with the same performance & noise level as the Noctua DH-14 but with better looks?

Thanks & regards,

Can't you wait till Jan 9 to get the HD 7970 for 550 bucks? Its a lot faster than a single GTX 580 (anywhere from 10-35% faster)

Message quoted 1 times

Reply to jacknhut

jacknhut wrote :

Can't you wait till Jan 9 to get the HD 7970 for 550 bucks? Its a lot faster than a single GTX 580 (anywhere from 10-35% faster)

Yeah, I'll probably wait, but I might get the rest earlier and run my old 8800GTS in the meantime.

Reply to PeDRo_O

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