Battlefield 3/Skyrim Gaming Rig

[azeem40]

Hello all. I have been researching for months on the best PC to game on, and here it is. Tell me what you all think.

Intel Core i5-2500k Processor $195 after taxes
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0354589

ASUS P8Z68-V/Gen3 Motherboard $130 after $50 microcenter deal
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0378096

Total for both: $336 after taxes.

EVGA Superclock CPU Cooler $47
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...A3C319DQH1QUHS
I plan to OC the CPU to 4.5 GHz.

Seagate Barracuda Green 1.5TB $100
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER
I will only store pictures, school work, and music on the Hard Drive, so I chose the Caviar Green. I don't care for optimal performance here.

Corsair Carbide 500R Case $120
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER

Crucial M4 128GB SATA III SSD $169
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...=ATVPDKIKX0DER
I will store all my applications, programs, and games on the SSD. This includes some emulator games, the basic programs like word, excel, foxit reader, java, etc.

MASSCOOL Thermal Paste $3
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...A2DB716U20XPP4
I won't be changing this.

100 ft Cat5e Ethernet Cable $8
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...A397FHERGRZQ2E
I need the 100ft cuz my computer will be in my room upstairs.

Corsair TX850 PSU $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139022

RAM: Crucial Ballistix 2x4GB DDR3 1600 MHz Dual Channel Memory $47
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16820148544

Video Card: Don't know yet. Any suggestions? I plan to run all games on high settings with AA on and Antisteroptic Filtering. I want constant 60fps and no lag; smooth gameplay.

Monitor: Recommendations? I probably won't play competitively.

Total so far: $916. That leaves $884 for the Video Card and Monitor.

Any suggestions? How does my build look?

 

[azeem40]

Since I am new to gaming, Idk what GPU to buy or monitor.

 

[DaveSimmons]

nvidia is supposed to be announcing the first 6xx cards this week. You won't be able to buy the cards yet, but this could change the price of other cards.

 

[lehtv]

CPU Good.
Mobo Does the $50 off deal apply to Gigabyte Z68XP-UD3 ($140 AR)? It's not too different from Asus P8Z68-V feature wise.
Cooler OK.
HDD Seagate Barracuda 2TB 7200RPM for $118
Case Not worth $30 over the 400R, the only notable difference is the side fan which you don't need. If you decide to run sli/crossfire some day, just add a 140mm fan on the 400R
SSD Good.
PSU Not good. First off you could buy 850W modular 80+silver for the $10 less. But unless you buy two >200W graphics cards (meaning GTX570, GTX580, HD7970), you won't need this much power. A 7870 uses about 130 watts at stock, you could run two of those in crossfire on a $60 AR XFX 650W with plenty of room for OC and expansion. Presumably (or hopefully) the 600 series will use less power than the 500 series, but more power than HD7000. For something like GTX670 SLI I'd say you'd need 750W, but you're unlikely to ever go SLI/crossfire anyway so the XFX 650W is your best bet.
RAM Good.

Video card: See how the NVIDIA 600 series performs (their ~$300 price point offerings). Then decide between that and 7870. You shouldn't need more GPU power than that to run BF3 and Skyrim comfortably on 1080p

Monitor: I'd get a 27" tn panel. Here's what amazon has in the $250-$500 price range: http://www.amazon.com/gp/search/ref=sr_nr_p_36_2?bbn=1292115011&keywords=monitor&qid=1331544164&rh=n%3A172282%2Ck%3Amonitor%2Cn%3A!493964%2Cn%3A541966%2Cn%3A1292115011%2Cp_n_size_browse-bin%3A3547807011&rnid=386442011&low-price=250&high-price=500&x=9&y=2. I like to have height adjustment on my monitor stand, even on 27". I find use for it nearly every day, depending on how I'm sitting (upright or leaning back) and how my chair is adjusted. This would obviously narrow down your choices alot

 

[aaksheytalwar]

As long as you are fine with removing AA/AF/MSAA/completely, you will get fine with your CPU overclocked and an overclocked 7950 at 1080p Ultra with no AA (mentioned above) with minimum mostly around 60 or higher

A stock 7870 will probably get an average of 60 fps, but not minimum 60 fps. An overclocked 7870 might do a decent job though, however the 7950 will ensure perfection, at least once overclocked.

 

[chimaxi83]

EVGA Superclock CPU Cooler $47
http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00...A3C319DQH1QUHS
I plan to OC the CPU to 4.5 GHz.

Cooler is fine, but you'd do well with a Hyper 212+, you'll see 60-65C temps at 4.5GHz.

Corsair TX850 PSU $130
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16817139022

You can comfortably drop this down to a TX550 or 650, unless you're going to use more than one GPU.

Video Card: Don't know yet. Any suggestions? I plan to run all games on high settings with AA on and Antisteroptic Filtering. I want constant 60fps and no lag; smooth gameplay.

Your choice of monitor and resolution you will play at will dictate your GPU need. If you want a "constant 60fps and no lag" with AA at 1080p, you will need top of the line, which is currently a 7970.

Even then you might not get a constant 60 in a BF3 multiplayer situation, depending on AA. I use FXAA and with my overclocked 7950 I'm averaging about 75fps with everything else at ultra settings. MSAA, which looks better than FXAA, will drop that average down to 45-50. Again, this is at 1080p.

Have you decided on a resolution you'll be playing at? Also, Nvidia's new line is coming soon, so it might be a good idea to wait and see.

 

[lehtv]

As long as you are fine with removing AA/AF/MSAA/completely, you will get fine with your CPU overclocked and an overclocked 7950 at 1080p Ultra with no AA (mentioned above) with minimum mostly around 60 or higher

Should be able to use 4x MSAA in Skyrim, no problem. I use 4xAA in Skyrim on High settings with a 560 Ti, 60fps constant. But BF3 doesn't like MSAA with AMD cards, and it looks decent with just the post processing AA.

If you're gonna go big though, paying $600 for a 7970 is a bad idea. 7850 crossfire will completely obliterate a 7970, cost less, and use only a few watts more power (the XFX 650W is easily big enough). In the above link - BF3 ultra 1080p noAA: 87 fps minimum. Skyrim Ultra 1080p: 100 fps minimum. Microstuttering won't be a problem, as constant 60fps won't show any microstutter.

At this point I should also mention that since you're looking to play at high FPS and you value picture smoothness, you should also consider a 120hz monitor.

 

[azeem40]

I plan to run eyefinity in the future, so I need a good gpu that I can cf later. I will change the psu to the silver rated one.

 

[azeem40]

Now that I have seen the CF scenario of the 7850, I might just go with that. But, will it run 3 monitor eyefinity well?

 

[lehtv]

I'd say 7850 crossfire on 1080*3 would be like two thirds of a 7850 on 1080p. So FPS and image quality should be comparable to 6850 on 1080p. If you want 7850 1080p-level performance but in eyefinity, you'd need 7850 tri-fire or 7970 crossfire.

 

[azeem40]

Even at high settings with no AA for the eyefinity setup?

 

[lehtv]

If you think about 1080p with a 6850, BF3 and Skyrim don't run all that smoothly on High settings, even without AA. Both games tax a 6850 to the low 20's on Ultra, so High would be playable at best. Not your desired 60fps smooth. As I alluded to in the last post, 7850 Crossfire on Eyefinity should be comparable to a 6850 on 1080p. You'd probably play on medium settings with 7850 crossfire.

 

[twcracing]

Should be able to use 4x MSAA in Skyrim, no problem. I use 4xAA in Skyrim on High settings with a 560 Ti, 60fps constant. But BF3 doesn't like MSAA with AMD cards, and it looks decent with just the post processing AA.

If you're gonna go big though, paying $600 for a 7970 is a bad idea. 7850 crossfire will completely obliterate a 7970, cost less, and use only a few watts more power (the XFX 650W is easily big enough). In the above link - BF3 ultra 1080p noAA: 87 fps minimum. Skyrim Ultra 1080p: 100 fps minimum. Microstuttering won't be a problem, as constant 60fps won't show any microstutter.

At this point I should also mention that since you're looking to play at high FPS and you value picture smoothness, you should also consider a 120hz monitor.

Listen to this guy, He knows what he is talking about. He helped me with my PC build!

 

[T_Yamamoto]

Listen to this guy, He knows what he is talking about. He helped me with my PC build!

LehTV has been around on the forums and is very active, he knows what he is talking about so i think you should listen and not doubt it

 

[mfenn]

Even at high settings with no AA for the eyefinity setup?

Think about it, a three monitor Eyefinity setup is three times the pixels as a single 1080P display. Something that is sufficient at 1080P is going to really struggle at 5760x1080.

Anyway, I agree with lehtv's critique of the rest of your parts. Upgrading to CF doesn't make any sense. If you need it in the first place, get it, otherwise you'll be better off just upgrading to a faster single card on down the line.

 

[lehtv]

LehTV has been around on the forums and is very active, he knows what he is talking about so i think you should listen and not doubt it

Yamamoto please, I'm not a TV channel... it's just lehtv. No capitals in sight.

 

[theprodigalrebel]

OMG you're back.

Whatever did happen to your issues with your X1900XT? :biggrin:

 

[azeem40]

Ok, then I should get the 7950 right?

 

[lehtv]

For 1080p you have the requirement of 60fps and high settings. Even 7950 will not achieve constant 60fps without some compromises and tweaking. But if you upgrade to eyefinity later, it'd make sense to have that for crossfiring, since eyefinity wouldn't run very well with anything less.

But how likely would you say it is that you will do eyefinity? And when do you plan to do it? Because this is in my opinion what the decision comes down to. If it's unlikely, then you'll get a lot better 1080p performance with 7850 crossfire for only a bit more cash as a 7950. >50% higher average frames for $50 more. It would pretty much guarantee 60fps constant apart from games lacking driver support.

 

[azeem40]

It will probably not be until early 2013.

 

[lehtv]

I'd get the 7850 crossfire now. If I still thought Eyefinity is a good idea a year from now, I'd sell the 7850's and buy something that will run Eyefinity smoothly. The obvious upside here is easily better performance for one year, and I'm not sure if there is a downside. You may think you'll end up paying more if you have to replace the cards, but perhaps you can strike a good deal, and then find a better price/performance solution for Eyefinity than what is available now.

 

[azeem40]

Ok, 7850 CF it is then. Thanks everyone!

 

[azeem40]

Also, @ tv, yes, it applies to all P67 and Z68 MOBOs.

 

[T_Yamamoto]

lehtv. whenever your name comes up, i want to type it like LehTV,

also cfing 7850 willl last a while and will be a good investment right now because people will be upgrading video cards soon, when the rest of the 7xxx series comes out and keplat

 

[aaksheytalwar]

I have a 7970 at 1125 1575 and I get minimum 60s and 70s FPS in BF3 (Campaign) at 19x10 Ultra 8x(not sure if it is 4x or 8x) AA but definitely with 4x MSAA, average is like late 70s or even 80s/90s, during fights it rarely drops below 70s, but a lot of 80s as well. Mid to late 60s is pretty much the min I get and that too very rarely.

Without MSAA I get like 15-30 FPS more on an average but after 60 FPS it anyways doesn't make much of a difference.

And yeah I do have the latest patch, running CAT 12.2 with 16x AF as well.

And a 2600k at 4.3 with 16GB RAM DDR3 1866 CAS9

A highly overclocked 7970 (to a level which almost every one reaches on air with stock cooling) is almost as fast as 7850 CF at stock without the microstuttering and 7850 hassles. But of course 7850 can be overclocked to 30-40% as well making them even faster, but that doesn't reduce hassles of CF, microstuttering etc.

Also, for eyefinity and future games, 2GB won't cut it for long, 3GB will be better and make a difference in the future, in terms of real smoothness especially. This is relevant if you want to game at 1440p or higher or for eyefinity.