First time builder looking for ideas on where to start.

[Nacnud]

I'm looking into building a PC for gaming and I really have no idea on where to start. After reading through some of the other threads on here everyone seems friendly and knowledgeable so I figured here is as good a place as any to ask. I would really like to be able to play Battlefield 3, but I've heard you have to have a pretty powerful computer to run it. As of this point in time I have nothing for a pc other than the mouse I use for my laptop. I'm looking to spend anywhere in between 1000 - 1200 dollars (the cheaper the better!). Anyone else have any builds they've done for around this price range? Should I buy parts when I can, or get a list for my build and buy all at once? Any information would be greatly appreciated, as I've wanted to get into PC gaming for a while now.

 

[lt_dan_zsu]

BF3 is not that hard to run, it is very optimized and many PC's can run it, now the settings and frame rate. I would get a 3570k, it is the best i5 on the market with a price tag at $230. Then I would go with a 7850 or 7870 for your GPU. The 7850 runs it on ultra on 1080p at 40 fps. The 7870 will run it at about 50fps. Unless you are gonna run at higher than 1200p then the 7950 will trade blows with the 7870. So I would go with that it has a price of about $260 usually but there is a sale on one for $220 although it is currently out of stock. Those are the two biggest components. If you want to overclock look for a mobo with z77 chipset. also make sure it is CFX ready if you plan on overclocking. Those are the most expensive components, get 8gb ram, and a 600 or 700w PSU 80+ rated. This is a pretty good guide, the rest is up to you and if you want to you could go with a nVidia card but some stuff has happened with me and nVidia and I am currently looking to switch brands, but in all honesty they are about the same.