Battlefield 3 64 player

[TheEscapist]

Hi guys

So im going to build pc for general use and gaming. But i want to play battlefield 3 on large maps with 64 players. So 4 cores is a requirement for 64 players. But intels 4 cores are more expensive than amds, but the i3 2120 has hyper threading so it perforems like a quad core. But all around the web, it says that the i3 cant handle a high player count even with hyper threading. So ive been sytuck between choosing an i3 2120 or a phenom ii x4 965 be. I will list the 2 different builds below and can someone tell me which one would be better for bf3 mp. This is on a 1280x720 res screen

Intel build:
Zalman z9
Seagate 250 gb hdd
Sapphire Hd 7770
Cx 430
4 gigs ddr3 1333 ram
Asrock h77m mobo
I3 2120
Sony dvd rw drive


Amd build:
Zalman z9
Seagate 250 gb hdd
Sapphire Hd 7770
Cx 430
4 gigs ddr3 1333 ram
Asus m4a88t-v evo
Phenom ii x4 965 BE (Will overclock to prbly 4-4.3 ghz)
CM Hyper 212+
Dvd rw and dvd rom using the pata connector. (ihad these two drives)

The amd build is 35 bucks more though.

 

[skitz9417]

i would go for the amd system

 

[TheEscapist]

Ok that gives me a bit more confidence. Anyone else have suggestions?

 

[nekulturny]

I would go Phenom II 965 as well. There is debate about whether the i3-2120 is as good as a quad core for BF3 multiplayer or not, and most of the debate comes in because multiplayer benches are inconsistent due to the fact that performance can vary depending on what server your on.

Two things are for "certain" though. BF3 will use as many cores as your CPU has to give for multiplayer. And, Phenom IIs overclocked game just as good as i3s for any other game. Yes some people will argue til they're blue in the face about benchmarks that show a 1 or 2 FPS difference, thing is, thats not a real difference.

About the HyperThreading, BF3 does recognize HyperThreads and treats them like cores, this is the only game that does this. However, a HyperThread is not the same as a real core. And Phenom IIs do indeed have substantially better multi-threading performance than i3s.

http://www.legitreviews.com/article/1650/9/

i3-2120 4 thread cinnebench score- 3.23

Phenom II @ 4.0 4 thread cinebench- 4.72
http://img844.imageshack.us/img844/3521/qcinnebench.png

Phenom II @ 4.3- 5.06
http://www.bit-tech.net/hardware/cpus/2011/07/01/intel-core-i3-2100-review/3

Now I will suggest you save up a little bit more money, because honestly a 7770 is not a great card to play BF3 with, but at your resolution, it will do I suppose.

 

[TheEscapist]

Thank you for that load of info. Very helpful!
And thia is a budget build but yes i think i will save up for a better gfx card.
Oh yeah, and can the mobo i picked for the amd overclock? What is its phase design?

 

[nekulturny]

I do have another suggestion, a different motherboard...

The board you're looking at is AM3, I would suggest an AM3+ motherboard, as AM3 is a dead socket AM3+ has at least one more generation of CPU coming to it.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157280

I would not go any cheaper on the motherboard than the one above^

Also, don't use a PATA adapter for your main hard drive, those things are unreliable and PATA drives are terribly slow. Save up and get a proper SATA drive.

 

[nekulturny]

Thank you for that load of info. Very helpful!
And thia is a budget build but yes i think i will save up for a better gfx card.
Oh yeah, and can the mobo i picked for the amd overclock? What is its phase design?

The board you were looking at is an 8+1, but my "problem" with it is the fact that is AM3. Yes it will work, and yes the board I recommended in its place is only 4+1. Both boards have their weaknesses, how much are you paying for the Asus 880Gmobo?

 

[TheEscapist]

No the hdd is sata, the cd drives im reusing from an old comp
Yes ive been seeing that mobo around a lot. I will consider it
But is the asus mobo fit for overclocking at all?

 

[TheEscapist]

Edit: the dvd cd drivws are the only pata ones. Dont want to spend 20 bucks on something i can reuse.

 

[TheEscapist]

The mobo is also the evo bersion if that makes a difference at all.

 

[nekulturny]

No the hdd is sata, the cd drives im reusing from an old comp
Yes ive been seeing that mobo around a lot. I will consider it
But is the asus mobo fit for overclocking at all?

Oh okay, I was gonna say, I have a couple of those PATA adapters, they're trash, good enough to port your data off the old drives most of the time, but thats about it.

It is a decent board, yea the Asus board would be fine for overclocking, but just so you know that Phenom II is probably the best CPU it can ever have, although it may be that way anyway, because it remains to be seen whether or not PileDriver will be an "upgrade". Bulldozers/PileDrivers are on the AM3+ socket, Phenom II works on AM3+ but the BD/PD do not work on AM3.

As far as the video card, I would suggest at minimum a 560 TI. BF3 tends to like Nvidia cards better, there are stronger video cards on AMD's side of the video card isle, but if this is mostly for BF3, you might want to keep that in mind.

Zotac 560 TI -$180 with mail in rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814500196

Sapphire 6950 $190 with mail in rebate
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102987&Tpk=sapphire%206950

Borrow some money from a friend or something lol. Both of these are very decent cards, but as mentioned, the Zotac 560 will favor BF3 a little more.

 

[TheEscapist]

The asus is 90 and the fact is im not planning to upgrade, ill keep it for 2-3 years and then by that time i can build a better one with newer things.

 

[TheEscapist]

Well yes the am3 is a downside but if im going to upgrade later, its just going to be a build of a while new system.
Yes rhe 560 ispowerful, ill scrape up a cpl more bucks.

Thanks for all the help

 

[nekulturny]

Fair enough, and you're right. I frequently knock people for buying Intel for the "upgrade path", since in the long run it costs you more money vs saving more money to buy something that meets your need in the first place. But I felt I would be remiss in my duties unless I at least mentioned it because despite my best efforts, not everyone has my view on what makes sound investment practices in regards to computer building. And you're welcome.

 

[Yoyoman2000]

Funnily enough, I have just built a machine with a 965 and a hd 7770 especially for bf3 64.

And I can say it is very smooth at a mixed bag of settings (mostly medium yet most high). I haven't ran loads of tests on it yet but whenever I am playing the game it never seems to drop below 40 fps (mostly 50+) on the standard set of maps. I have also applied a light overclock to the 7770 to 1100mhz. I have not touched the pII yet. But I agree with the other people that if you can save up to get a 7850, do.

Having said that, I don't play 64 man very often, I find that you get the best gameplay on 48 man.