$1000-$1500 new rig

Check my sig out, my rig is blasting through Battlefield 3 64 Multiplayer Matches with an overclocked HD 6670 from ASUS. Dust proof fan too! =D

But anyway, Intel is the way to go for gaming because of the nice boost you get. Are you planning on overclocking? If you are, SB, if not or don't want to go past 4.5 GHz, then IB should do the trick. I had someone put it together and it was around $600 for me, but I would go with a HD 7850 or higher if you want to max Battlefield 3 out and 700 watt PSU should do the trick. Amazon might have everything cheaper, but do you AMD or NVIDA GPU?

Also, do you need a keyboard and/or mouse? And if school work consists of video encoding, check out the i7. If not, i5. I went with i5 and video encoding is still good enough for me. =)

not sure about overclocking i mean maybe in the future but as of now nah.

and my friends have recommended the evga gtx 670 ftw so i guess Nvidia but whatever runs it at like 120 frames consistently i'll be happy.

And i'll be buying a mouse/other stuff outside of this budget. I'll probably bet getting a deathadder and a zowie mouse.

Max settings, a GTX 690 (1K though) but if you want it somewhere high then maybe a GTX 670 FTW from EVGA could do the trick, or just SLI if it comes to do that. But a duel GPU might be what your looking for but that goes over your budget as well. Not sure if any single GPU can get 120 FPS but I could be wrong. Check the GTX 670 FTW, I think it's like $400, around that range. But it should be able to do 60+, max settings. Check this out as well if you got time. =)

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/geforce-gtx-670-review,3200-5.html

well i should have been more specific. i don't really care for high graphics usually in scrims most people play on low, so i will mainly be playing on low haha but thanks i will check those out.

BF3 was coded to take advantage of dual vid cards so I would leave that option open. 750w psu is ideal for two of any of those cards down below seeing how it gives you plenty of headroom for extra drives, fans, over clocking, etc... and it's not that much more to leave the SLI option open for later on along with the option to over clock.


http://www.amazon.com/Corsair-ATX12V-CrossFire-Certifie... $75.99 & this item ships for FREE with Super Saver Shipping
Corsair CX Series CX750 750W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80PLUS BRONZE Certified Power Supply CP-9020015-NA

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Intel Core i5-3570K Ivy Bridge 3.4GHz (3.8GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 77W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 4000 BX80637I53570K
ASRock Z77 Extreme3 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

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Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO CPU Cooler with 120mm PWM Fan (RR-212E-20PK-R2)

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G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-1600C9D-8GAO

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Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE 22X SATA DVDRW Internal Drive (Black), Bulk without Software

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SanDisk SDSSDP-128G-G25 2.5" 128GB SATA III Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

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GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 670 WINDFORCE 2X OC Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express 3.0 2x DVI/HDMI/DP SLI Ready Graphics Card GV-N670WF2-2GD

Total: $980.66 *not including shipping & rebates



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Seagate Barracuda 7200 1 TB 7200RPM SATA 6 Gb/s NCQ 64MB Cache 3.5-Inch Internal Bare Drive ST1000DM003

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Western Digital Caviar Blue 500 GB SATA III 7200 RPM 16 MB Cache Bulk/OEM Desktop Hard Drive - WD5000AAKX



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Corsair Carbide Series 400R Mid Tower Gaming Computer Case - CC-9011011-WW

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Cooler Master HAF 922 Mid Tower Computer Case with USB 3.0 Ports (RC-922M-KKN3-GP)



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SanDisk Extreme SSD 240 GB SATA 6.0 Gb-s 2.5-Inch Solid State Drive SDSSDX-240G-G25

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SAMSUNG 830 Series 2.5-Inch 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-7PC256B/WW



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XFX PRO750W XXX Edition Semi-Modular 80Plus 750 Watt Power Supply (Silver)



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Gigabyte GeForce GTX 660 OC 2GB GDDR5 PCI-Express 3.0 DVI-I/DVI-D/HDMI/Displayport SLI Ready Graphics Card GV-N660OC-2GD
Core Clock 1032MHz
Boost Clock 1344

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GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 660 Ti WINDFORCE 2X OC Edition 2048MB GDDR5 PCI-Express 3.0 2x DVI / HDMI / DP SLI Ready Graphics Card Graphics Cards GV-N66TOC-2GD
Core Clock 1032MHz
Boost Clock 1344

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MSI NVIDIA GeForce GTX 670 OC 2GB GDDR5 2DVI/HDMI/DisplayPort PCI-Express Video Card N670 PE 2GD5/OC



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Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64bit (Full) System Builder DVD 1 Pack

=====Without overclocking ========

CPU: Intel Core i5-3450 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-V PRO ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($217.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($89.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($407.86 @ Newegg)
Case: Antec Three Hundred Two ATX Mid Tower Case ($67.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($100.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1124.77
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks



========With overclocking = =======


CPU: Intel Core i5-3570K 3.4GHz Quad-Core Processor ($214.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($29.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD3H ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($154.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($39.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($88.98 @ Newegg)
Video Card: MSI GeForce GTX 670 2GB Video Card ($407.86 @ Newegg)
Case: Cooler Master Storm Enforcer ATX Mid Tower Case ($79.99 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: XFX 650W 80 PLUS Bronze Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($100.98 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS DVD/CD Writer ($19.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $1137.76
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.) The MSI PE 670 is a beast! MSI Power Edition Architecture Boosts Overclocking Potential by 22.5%
The MSI GTX 670 Power Edition graphics card is based on the MSI Power Edition architecture: Afterburner's Triple Overvoltage allows the GPU, Memory and PLL(Aux) voltages to be adjusted . The Enhanced PWM design provides 25% more current than the reference design to ensure high stability during overclocking.


Twin Frozr IV: 20°C Cooler and 11.7dB Quieter than Reference Board
The MSI GTX 670 Power Edition is equipped with MSI's latest Twin Frozr IV Thermal Design. MSI's exclusive Dust Removal technology automatically reverses the fans at startup to prevent dust build-up dust and optimize the cooling module's ability to dissipate heat.


Patented Propeller Blade technology provides 20% more air flow over conventional fans and increases the effective cooling area. When combined with dual 8 cm temperature-controlled fans, SuperPipe technology, and a nickel-plated copper base, temperatures are effectively reduced by up to 20°C and noise by 11.7dB!


MSI's GTX 670 Power Edition uses the famous Twin Frozr IV cooler from the MSI Lightning and comes with a large clock speed boost out of the box, making its default clock speed even higher than GTX 680 stock clocks. MSI is asking a $30 price premium for their card, which doesn't look unreasonable, given the improved cooling and higher clocks.When you consider the free game and current rebate i think it's the best buy right now. Check this monster out (670 PE OC) = better overclocking http://www.hardwarecanucks.com/forum/hardware-canucks-r...