$500 BF3 Rig

[dpodblood]

Hey guys;

One of my co-workers are looking at putting together a gaming machine for ~$500. My co-worker is specifically looking at playing BF3. He was talking about buying it for 360, so I am trying to convince him what a travesty that would be and that he should put together a low cost gaming machine instead. Even on medium settings I figure BF3 will be superior on the PC when compared to consoles.

PLEASE when you POST threads asking for input on system builds tell us...

1. What YOUR PC will be used for. That means what types of tasks you'll be performing.
Gaming; specifically BF3.

2. What YOUR budget is. A price range is acceptable as long as it's not more than a 20% spread
~$500

3. What country YOU will be buying YOUR parts from.
-Canada (either NCIX or Newegg.ca is preferrable)

4. IF YOU have a brand preference. That means, are you an Intel-Fanboy, AMD-Fanboy, ATI-Fanboy, nVidia-Fanboy, Seagate-Fanboy, WD-Fanboy, etc.
Nope.

5. If YOU intend on using any of YOUR current parts, and if so, what those parts are.
Yes; hard drives, and DVD-RW will be reused.

6. IF YOU have searched and/or read similar threads.
Lots of other threads, but most focus on the ~$1000 price point.

7. IF YOU plan on overclocking or run the system at default speeds.
Likely he will run at stock settings.

8. What resolution YOU plan on gaming with.
1680x1050

9. WHEN do you plan to build it?
Maybe within the next few months.

10. Don't ask for a build configuration critique or rating if you are thin skinned.
Bring it on!

Here's what I've got so far:

Case - Coolermaster Elite 335 - $49.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16811119161
Reason: It's cheap, and coolermaster is a reputible brand. We don't need anything fancy for this build. Likely it will be put together and never taken apart again.

PSU - Antec NEO ECO 520w - $59.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16817371030
Reason: Antec is a reputable brand, and 520w I believe should be enough for this build.

CPU - AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black - $117.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16819103808
Reason: A cheap quad core that still seems to do well in gaming benchmarks. Would like to go SB, but the budget is too restricted. I'm also not including a 3rd party HSF and OCing is not in the plans.

Motherboard - Biostar A780L3L - $49.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16813138290
Reason: I'm not particularly a fan of Biostar, but this build is cheap so we can't afford to be picky. Not looking for an exhaustive feeature set, just something to plug the components into.


RAM - G.Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333 - $25.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16820231253
Reason: G.Skill is reputable, and 4GB is enough for gaming.

Video Card - Powercolor HD 6850 1GB - $149.99
http://www.newegg.ca/Product/Product...82E16814131374
Reason: Seems to be the best bang for the buck in mid range gaming cards. 1GB VRAM should be enough for 1680x1050.

Total - $453.94 before tax and shipping.

Thanks in advance for all you advice!

 

[Ken g6]

I wish we could get some good reviews of BF3 performance on low-end CPUs. Tom's Hardware suggests BF3 is not CPU limited, but I wonder how far that goes. $57 G530 perhaps? It's no slouch in benches, especially if you don't want to overclock.

 

[lehtv]

Could probably get by better in games with G530 or Pentium G620, coupled with a better video card. If not, then i3-2100 instead of the X4 955. The LGA1155 platform would also be better as you could upgrade to a quad Ivy Bridge later.

 

[DominionSeraph]

Is he a PC gamer? If he's just a console gamer I don't see the point in him learning an entirely new skillset (mouse+keyboard) just for one generic shooter.

 

[endlessmike133]

Replace the 6850 with a 460 and the Phenom with a i3 2100.

 

[brownstone]

I'd recommend the FS/FT forum unless you are set on new items. Some good deals to be had there are.

 

[mfenn]

Could probably get by better in games with G530 or Pentium G620, coupled with a better video card. If not, then i3-2100 instead of the X4 955. The LGA1155 platform would also be better as you could upgrade to a quad Ivy Bridge later.

Agree. A Sandy Bridge core is worth a hell of a lot more FLOPS than a K10 one. An i3 2100 plus cheap H61 mobo like the Biostar H61MGC won't increase your total cost by terribly much.

Also, if you don't mind USD rebates you can shave $30 off the build by going with a 430CX.

 

[dpodblood]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Looks like the SB i3 is the way to go. Any more thoughts on the GTX 460 vs HD 6850? It seems like a toss up performance wise, and both are the exact same price.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Looks like the SB i3 is the way to go. Any more thoughts on the GTX 460 vs HD 6850? It seems like a toss up performance wise, and both are the exact same price.

The HD 6850. It consumes a lot less power; requires only a single PCIe connector. They're the same price, and the same speed. Overclocking headroom is similar. Like others, I would also advise you go with an Intel CPU to further help with power savings/headroom, plus you get higher gaming performance out of a Core i3-2100 than a Phenom II X4 955. Another alternative I'd look at is the Pentium. Going with something like it would allow you to get a faster GPU like the HD 6870.

 

[PowerYoga]

Thanks for the feedback guys. Looks like the SB i3 is the way to go. Any more thoughts on the GTX 460 vs HD 6850? It seems like a toss up performance wise, and both are the exact same price.

I like the 6850. Quiet, runs fairly cool, and like the other guy says only 1 PCIE connector.

 

[dpodblood]

I just looked at the Anand review of the HD 6950 at at 1680x1050 it seems to match or pull ahead of GTX 460 1GB in most games. That combined with lower power consumption makes it seem like the clear winner.

LOL_WUT, which particular Pentium were you thinking of?

 

[ElFenix]

I just looked at the Anand review of the HD 6950 at at 1680x1050 it seems to match or pull ahead of GTX 460 1GB in most games. That combined with lower power consumption makes it seem like the clear winner.

LOL_WUT, which particular Pentium were you thinking of?

G8x0 series.

what they lack in comparison to the i3 is hyperthreading. iirc BF3 likes more cores, but i'm not sure if hyperthreading is a passable substitute for that.

 

[niggles]

I just looked at the Anand review of the HD 6950 at at 1680x1050 it seems to match or pull ahead of GTX 460 1GB in most games. That combined with lower power consumption makes it seem like the clear winner.

LOL_WUT, which particular Pentium were you thinking of?

just my two cents, but AMD drivers make me mental, if the AMD is only slightly ahead or the Nvidia was only slightly more I'd go Nvidia. Now having said that I just purchased a 6950 because it's vastly superior to the Nvidia on price and about the same on performance. I'm still not clear on how ATI has had the same driver issues for more than 10 years and has never really addressed them.

 

[dpodblood]

OK; so here's what my build sheet looks like now:

Thermaltake V3 Black Edition $44.99
CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 430W $49.99
BIOSTAR H61MGC $54.99
Intel Core i3-2100 $129.99
G.Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333 $25.99
Powercolor HD 6850 1GB $149.99
Total $455.94

I'm not sure, but maybe I am better off changing the i3 for a Pentium G840, and changing the video card to the HD 6870 instead. It's hard to say because there aren't very many benchmarks out there now that show the benefits of hyperthreading in BF3.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

I just looked at the Anand review of the HD 6950 at at 1680x1050 it seems to match or pull ahead of GTX 460 1GB in most games. That combined with lower power consumption makes it seem like the clear winner.

LOL_WUT, which particular Pentium were you thinking of?

The Pentium G850. It's the second most expensive one, but it also comes with a high clock speed of 2.9GHz and is faster than the Athlon II X3 455/460 in most everything, including gaming, while consuming a lot less power. It should be about 22% faster than the Celeron G530, and it can definitely drive an HD 6870 with very little, if any, bottlenecking.

There's very little difference between it and the i3 in gaming, as the vast mayority of games cannot make use of HyperThreading (the exception here being F1 2010). That's why the i5-2500K and i7-2600K are the same speed in gaming.

G8x0 series.

what they lack in comparison to the i3 is hyperthreading. iirc BF3 likes more cores, but i'm not sure if hyperthreading is a passable substitute for that.

No, and no to both. Battlefield 3 is a very GPU dependent game. It doesn't care about what CPU you have as long it's a dual-core with good single-threaded performance.

In the same review the FX-8150 falls when only two cores are enabled, but the two cores on the Pentium are much faster and closer to those of the 2600K. It also doesn't have a CMT architecture, which contributes to losing performance with only one module enabled on Bulldozer.

just my two cents, but AMD drivers make me mental, if the AMD is only slightly ahead or the Nvidia was only slightly more I'd go Nvidia. Now having said that I just purchased a 6950 because it's vastly superior to the Nvidia on price and about the same on performance. I'm still not clear on how ATI has had the same driver issues for more than 10 years and has never really addressed them.

That would've been a good argument in 2006... maybe 2007. AMD and NVIDIA both have good drivers, and as I've found through only some years the vast majority of driver issues are PEBKAC, probably including you. AMD drivers are just as good as NVIDIAs; I personally have a laptop with a GeForce GTX 260M, a current desktop with a GeForce GTX 460, my mom has an ultraportable with a Radeon HD 6310M, and an older common desktop with a Radeon HD 4850. They all work as they should with no issues.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

OK; so here's what my build sheet looks like now:

Thermaltake V3 Black Edition $44.99
CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 430W $49.99
BIOSTAR H61MGC $54.99
Intel Core i3-2100 $129.99
G.Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333 $25.99
Powercolor HD 6850 1GB $149.99
Total $455.94

I'm not sure, but maybe I am better off changing the i3 for a Pentium G840, and changing the video card to the HD 6870 instead. It's hard to say because there aren't very many benchmarks out there now that show the benefits of hyperthreading in BF3.

I currently can't access newegg.ca for some reason. What's the price difference between the Pentium G840 and G850? The G850 is very close to the performance of the 2100 in the vast majority of games because it has almost the same clock rate (2.9GHz vs 3.1GHz), and most games don't care about HyperThreading. In BF3 the HT won't bring you any performance benefit at all; it's an extremely GPU dependent game.

For BF3, at least, the Pentium looks like a much better choice.

 

[lehtv]

@ LOL_Wut_Axel

Those BF3 benches don't take into account online scenarios with 32-64 players. It may be much more CPU-dependent then, than in a time-demo run in the SP campaign.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

@ LOL_Wut_Axel

Those BF3 benches don't take into account online scenarios with 32-64 players. It may be much more CPU-dependent then, than in a time-demo run in the SP campaign.

I guess the only problem then is having consistency in framerates to be able to directly compare, but in that scenario there's more physics and calculations involved. If during SP campaign they were able to notice 0% difference, though, that percentage won't change by more than an insignificant amount. BF3 doesn't utilize HyperThreading, either, so the changes from the 2100 and 850 would be limited only to the 7% higher clock speed of the 2100.

If it DID matter and made a bigger difference then you'd have to go for something like an i5-2400 because the Phenom II has much lower IPC than Sandy Bridge.

 

[dpodblood]

I currently can't access newegg.ca for some reason. What's the price difference between the Pentium G840 and G850? The G850 is very close to the performance of the 2100 in the vast majority of games because it has almost the same clock rate (2.9GHz vs 3.1GHz), and most games don't care about HyperThreading. In BF3 the HT won't bring you any performance benefit at all; it's an extremely GPU dependent game.

For BF3, at least, the Pentium looks like a much better choice.

Currently the G850 is out of stock at newegg.ca, but at NCIX the price is $109.84. So if I go with the G850/6870 or the i3-2100/6850 the price will basically be the same. I just want whichever will provide the best avg/min framerates.

EDIT:

So 2 possible builds:

#1
Thermaltake V3 Black Edition $44.99
CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 430W $49.99
BIOSTAR H61MGC $54.99
Intel Core i3-2100 $129.99
G.Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333 $25.99
Powercolor HD 6850 1GB $149.99
Total $455.94

#2
Thermaltake V3 Black Edition $44.99
CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 430W $49.99
BIOSTAR H61MGC $54.99
Intel Pentium G850 $109.84
G.Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333 $25.99
Powercolor HD 6870 1GB $174.99
Total $460.79

 

[M0RPH]

Your friend doesn't own any computer at all right now? In that case he'll be buying an OS, monitor, mouse+kb... this thing will probably be more around $700. Do your friend a favor and just let him buy the 360 version for $50.

 

[dpodblood]

Yes he has a computer now, and plays PC games as well. Right now he has an older Dell system with an Athlon X2, and x1600. The case cannot carry forward because it's BTX form factor, but the keyboard, mouse, and drives can be carried forward. We also have access to free legitimate copies of Windows 7 through our employer. Primarily this system is being built for BF3, but will be used for other games as well.

 

[LOL_Wut_Axel]

Currently the G850 is out of stock at newegg.ca, but at NCIX the price is $109.84. So if I go with the G850/6870 or the i3-2100/6850 the price will basically be the same. I just want whichever will provide the best avg/min framerates.

EDIT:

So 2 possible builds:

#1
Thermaltake V3 Black Edition $44.99
CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 430W $49.99
BIOSTAR H61MGC $54.99
Intel Core i3-2100 $129.99
G.Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333 $25.99
Powercolor HD 6850 1GB $149.99
Total $455.94

#2
Thermaltake V3 Black Edition $44.99
CORSAIR Builder Series CX430 V2 430W $49.99
BIOSTAR H61MGC $54.99
Intel Pentium G850 $109.84
G.Skill 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1333 $25.99
Powercolor HD 6870 1GB $174.99
Total $460.79

Looks like NCIX just stocked the Pentium G860. It's $10 less than the G850 so I'd jump on it. By then you're looking at a completely negligible difference in gaming between it and the 2100. Going this route inc. the HD 6870 will definitely be better in avg/min framerate than with the HD 6850 and 2100. I can tell you that with 99% certainty.

http://ncix.com/products/?sku=111133146&vpn=BX80623G860&manufacture=Intel

 

[nubki11a]

I am also buying a new computer, and if I were you, I would go with a different brand HD 6850 (if not a 6870). I would go with the Sapphire or XFX. Those seem to be the best, personally I would go with the Sapphire as it overclocks well (the Toxic edition is already overclocked, the Vapor-X is the same, except that it isnt factory overclocked ), it also has good cooling. Ofcouse, you should take into account the prices. The Sapphire or XFX wont be worth $20 more.

 

[lehtv]

Here's what I'd build for ~$500

i3-2100 $125
Biostar H61ML $58
4GB DDR3 $23 (or 2x2GB)
Powercolor 6950 2GB $250 ($240 AR) + OC (+ unlock)
CX500 V2 $55 ($35 AR) (430 V2 has only one PCIe power connector, 6870 needs two while 6850 needs one)
Antec 300 $45

$556 or $526 AR, incl. shipping

HDD and ODD carry forward, assuming they are SATA. Swap the 6950 to 6870 if you want. Or get a Pentium G830 so you can afford the 6950 while staying in budget.

 

[mfenn]

Here's what I'd build for ~$500

i3-2100 $125
Biostar H61ML $58
4GB DDR3 $23 (or 2x2GB)
Powercolor 6950 2GB $250 ($240 AR) + OC (+ unlock)
CX500 V2 $55 ($35 AR) (430 V2 has only one PCIe power connector, 6870 needs two while 6850 needs one)
Antec 300 $45

$556 or $526 AR, incl. shipping

HDD and ODD carry forward, assuming they are SATA. Swap the 6950 to 6870 if you want. Or get a Pentium G830 so you can afford the 6950 while staying in budget.

Canada