Hello everyone. I've just started a new build, essentially just to play BF3 on ultra. I have a few things already (thank you Santa), but I've got a lot left to buy still and I don't fully understand certain aspects of new tech so would really appriechate your advice/recommendations! Kit: Black font means I already have (the speakers are not priced as they are from previous rig) Red font means I need to get still - my proposed kit Red BUT blank means I have no idea what to get. So could you please let me know what I can inset where the blanks are and if the red items are crap, could you offer an alternative. Also, with the SSD. I'm going to only have W7, internet browser, origin and bf3. Everything else can go on a HDD. However, I'm not sure if I should go ahead with the above, or I should get a 60gb and use that a cache SSD and get a better HDD. Any know what would be better? Please note that the reason for getting some components is because they are on offer. Namely the i52500K and RAM are on offer: http://www.scan.co.uk/todayonly/index.aspx I'd ideally like to order this tonight to get the offer from Scan, I don't mind spending a little more and getting retail i5 (even though it will be changed to a 3rd party HSF as the OEM is out of stock). Your thoughts/recommendations will be very helpful! Thank you!!!!!
Refer to my sig, not sure about the cost but defo no where near 1600 but it spanks BF3 on ultra, honestly you dont need a hyper system to run that game, I was appauled by the amount of press the game was getting for "UNREAL" gfx, it is graphically the best game so far however it doesnt require a great deal more than other games such as GTA or COD etc.
I'd say drop down to a lower-level 580, The Matrix is some nice performance, but the closer to £300 pricetag of the others will shave a little off. Forget the H60, it might be easy to fit, but unless you're overclocking; The default cooler is fine. Quiet too, according to reviews. You can happily fit Windows into 30GB of space, so you could run around on only a 60GB SSD. The only thing that concerns me is your PSU; I'm not sure if only 750Watts can handle a full blown 580. Might be pushing your luck a touch there. Are you honestly considering running Headphones off Onboard sound? I'd suggest something like a low-end Xonar, use up some of the money you've saved by getting a DS, or spend a little more for the PCI-E DX. Just a dedicated soundcard that isn't Creative. (Their drivers seem to really, really suck under Windows 7.) If only to get rid of the annoying hiss, pops and crackles you'll get if you run Onboard sound.
Thanks, but this a comeplete new build for a friend. So it includes the monitor and all that stuff. The only thing that I don't need are speakers. Half of it is already bought anyway, and I think £1600 is a good amount to have everything I could need and for it to last a good few years. Does your system in your sig play on Ultra with AA full and all other settings on max on 1080? I understand what you mean with the game, i'm currently playing on high with AA turned off on 1050 but was looking to get a 560ti for that setup so I can wack that on ultra too.
Plays maxed out on 1440x900 and also on my bros 22" 1080p, zero lag about 40-60fps on 1440x900 and 30-45 on 1080p, so all in all my sig is about 650-700quid and analises the game.
Thanks Tundra. I couldn't agree more with you about the graphics card however that has already been bought before xmas so probally isn't in the return time now. :/ But the person it's for would happily spend a little more money for convience/no stress to returning. I too thought 750 was a little to low... I would have felt a lot safer with a 850w. But I checked on http://www.thermaltake.outervision.com/index.jsp and it seems okay. I've heard the Crucial M4 SSDs are epic and the 128 is really cheap on amazon though at the moment (but out of stock) :/ Would you suggest getting one of those instead? With the Soundcard...My friend is looking to get a mixer and some CDJs and stuff anyway so that's why I left that stuff out for now but I should have mentioned that. Thanks for the help so far everyone.
It probably does spank it on a low res 19" monitor yes but on larger monitors with the bigger resolutions you need more power to play on ultra settings.. Try playing BF3 at 2560x1600 and then you will be WOWed by the graphics..
Okay, i'm def ordering a 560ti when i get home for that rig. I don't want to sidetrack the thread but can someone also link me to a comparisson of the 2 verisons or recommend the best one for 'bang per buck'. But one other thing is that as well as it playing on 1080 on ultra with everything on max and AA on full, I'd want it to load fast and be somewhat future proof (i know that's never really possible ).
This is a good point, and before I get pwned. I'd like to point out I did not choose/buy the 27" in 1080 myself. I would have either got a 24" 1080, or if I needed a 27"+ then gone all out and got a 2560x1600.
560ti go for MSI Hawk or Evga, only real options that said the Asus one is half decent but the evga and MSI Hawk can be overclocked forever I am currentlly sitting on 980 core and no voltage increases.
I run 2 gtx 580s in sli on a corsair 850w so how can you need more then 750w for a single card ? Someone's compensating for something lol 750w gives you decent overhead.
Some vendors put stupid wattages on their units, 750w should be plenty for a 580, plus anymore your electric bill aint gona be happy.
I'll throw in another option - dell u2412m - about the same price - crucial m4 - also about the same price
Thanks for the feedback everyone. I've ordered as above but with a few changes (mainly due to offers on Scan). Swapped the mobo to a gigabyte z68- 3dp and got a 2TB sata 3 baracudax until the m4 120 SSD arrives from Amazon. (the m4 on amazon is cheaper than scan by around £25 when I ordered but amazon didn't have them in stock). Going to get the keyboards listsed above. Does anyone have any recommendations? At the moment i'm using a saitek 2 (something like that) and my trusty mx518. And one last point - joystick...perhaps this needs a new thread or there's already one in this forum i've missed, but BF3 support/compatability for them seems terrible. Having said this a guy on my server yesterday who was amazing said he had an 8 euro Trust joystick that had no fancy features but worked amazingly. He used WASD in combo with it. Anyone know what that could be? My google search didn't bring back anything that cheap from trust.
Ignoring the usual Mechanical Love: I found the Microsoft Sidewinder series to be very good, The X4 is a good choice for a budget keyboard with good features. Only thing to watch out for is the macro bank. You have to rest your left hand a smidge further to the right than most are usually used to. Else you wind up an entire key to the left. Which never ends well for WASD. As far as Joysticks go; Anything that floats your boat. So long as it works in Windows; you can probably bind all the needed stuff to it in BF3.
First of all, DO NOT buy OEM. It might be a few quid cheaper but it is not worth it! Most people dont realise that the cooler is not the only thing that you loose, you also loose the 3 year warranty on your CPU. OEMs are only 1 year. Go retail Mousemat - If you need one then grab one of the Razer ones, really good quality, had mine for years. Headset - I just brought a new one myself, the Creative Tactic Alpha. I play BF3 ALOT and have not had any issues with this at all Scan link - http://www.scan.co.uk/products/crea...ce=google+shopping&utm_medium=google+shopping Memory - Good choice CPU - Good choice Mobo - Good choice CPU Cooler - Good choice, should allow for a 4.5Ghz+ OC on your CPU. Depending on price you could look at the H70. SSD - Good but might be worth comparing it to the new OCZ drives. HDD - largest size you can get for your money with a decent warranty. All vendors are pretty decent. Fan Controller - Just brought the Lamptron FC6, the best controller i have ever owned. its 20w per channel. Currently the first fan header controls 4 fans at the base of my case, second controls my 3 radiator fans, third controls my memory cooler.
I run slied 580s on a 850 watt psu, overclocked i7950 to 4ghz as well. its the quality of the psu that matters From the wall that takes around 600 watt under full load which is well within the recommended rating. Should always buy retail products for cpus you lose the warranty if you dont. Moniter is alot of money and if it was mine id be buying something a bit cheaper, Yes a quality display is a good thing but you can get a decent moniter for under £200 Samsung-SyncMaster-LD220HD---22in amazon had this on sale before christmas at around £150 and its a cracking first rate 22inch moniter. benq 24inch is around £160 and is a nice picture for the money spent for the price of the asus you can get similar quality elsewhere. Rest of the build is fine
Thanks for the suggestions. It's all built now. I got retail in the end and the 27" asus monitor, the rest is the same spec as above. Only thing that I thought was odd was the sheer size/weight of the Graphics card. It takes 3 PCI blanking slots and is screwed in tight but still seemed like it was bending down with it's own weight so I used the "VGA Bracket" included with the case. Word of advice for anyone getting that 580 - it still flexes despite it having a sheet of metal on the back of the PCB and 3 slots to secure it, I would get a VGA bracket for your case (just for added piece of mind). Will post benchmarks when BF3 has finished downloading *edit* I've also just ordered the lamptron FC 6 as suggested by Shadow...and an optical drive, because I'm an epic n00b and overlooked it only to realise I couldn't install windows (..easily) *edit*
