BF4 @1080p and later 1440p for <$600?

[TreVader]

System build, objective is to have something I can play BF4 and Day Z on as soon as I buy it for $600, but will also be upgradable later with an R9 290X. The build I have so far is an AMD APU and a decent FM2+ motherboard, 128GB SSD, 4GB DDR3, cheap NSXT case and pretty decent power supply. The power supply has to be good in order to accept a 290X.



All the builds I tried with intel i3 would end up over and required a dedicated card to play BF4 at 1080p.

here is the link to the build:http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3ckoy

AMD A10-7850K 3.7GHz Quad-Core Processor 189.99
Gigabyte GA-G1.Sniper A88X ATX FM2+ Motherboard 109.99
Crucial Ballistix Sport 4GB (1 x 4GB) DDR3-1333 Memory $40 or so
San Disk SSD
NSXT case
and corsair 600W psu
optical drive


any better ideas?

 

[mfenn]

A 7850K can theoretically play BF4 at 1080p, but only at lowered settings. You'll get more mileage out of a $100 GPU and a $90 CPU than you will out of a $190 APU. Even better if you spend less on the mobo.

However, don't expect any CPU that you can afford on a $600 budget to keep up with an R9 290X or any similar GPU.

Here's what I would recommend:

i3 4130 $125
Gigabyte GA-B85M-D3H $76
Team DDR3 1600 8GB $63
MSI R9 270 $179 AP
Crucial M500 120GB $75
No ODD $0 - install Windows from USB stick
Corsair CX600 $38 AR AP
NZXT Gamma $36 AP
Total: $592 AR AP

The R9 270 pretty much stomps the Kaveri APU into the ground. The difference is so great that it's hard to show them on the same charts. Here's the Kaveri being beaten by a 6750. And here's the R9 270X compared to a 6850, which is faster than a 6750 by a large margin. The R9 270 is slower than the R9 270X, so you can use the second link as a lower bound to how much faster the R9 is than the Kaveri.

 

[TreVader]

A 7850K can theoretically play BF4 at 1080p, but only at lowered settings. You'll get more mileage out of a $100 GPU and a $90 CPU than you will out of a $190 APU. Even better if you spend less on the mobo.

However, don't expect any CPU that you can afford on a $600 budget to keep up with an R9 290X or any similar GPU.

Here's what I would recommend:

i3 4130 $125
Gigabyte GA-B85M-D3H $76
Team DDR3 1600 8GB $63
MSI R9 270 $179 AP
Crucial M500 120GB $75
No ODD $0 - install Windows from USB stick
Corsair CX600 $38 AR AP
NZXT Gamma $36 AP
Total: $592 AR AP

The R9 270 pretty much stomps the Kaveri APU into the ground. The difference is so great that it's hard to show them on the same charts. Here's the Kaveri being beaten by a 6750. And here's the R9 270X compared to a 6850, which is faster than a 6750 by a large margin. The R9 270 is slower than the R9 270X, so you can use the second link as a lower bound to how much faster the R9 is than the Kaveri.

The 4130 vs A10 is interesting but I'm including the APU in order to get a system that will play the game (not ideally) and then upgrade within a month to an R9 290X.


If there is going to be an alternative to the APU it's going to have to be a 280X or 770 or better. I don't think the HD4600 will run BF4 playable at all.

I also think an SSD is necessary for a modern comp. 8GB ram is great but it ends up being unnecessary. I can always drop in another 4GB stick

 

[TreVader]

I also wonder about has well celerons vs quad core AMD. I've heard good things. If a celeron is dual core though, and an i3 is a dual core with hyper threading, then wtf is a Pentium?

 

[Ken g6]

BF4 is strongly CPU-limited if you're playing large multiplayer maps. If you want to buy cheap now and upgrade later, I would get:

- a z87 mobo
- a cheap Celeron or Pentium. (What's the difference? Mainly cache size, I think.)
- a 750ti. (Why nVidia? Because at least the Arma3 version of DayZ seems to use PhysX.)

Then you can upgrade the CPU to a 4670k or 4770k, upgrade the GPU to a to a 290x, and use the 750ti as a dedicated PhysX card.

If you don't intend to overclock, ever, go back to Mfenn's B75 mobo and i3 CPU. Then upgrade to a Xeon E3-1230 V3 CPU later.

If I'm wrong about PhysX in DayZ, get the R9 270.

 

[escrow4]

Buying a dual core in 2014 is just a bad idea. I'd wait till you have a better budget and buy some decent parts straight away.

 

[TreVader]

Buying a dual core in 2014 is just a bad idea. I'd wait till you have a better budget and buy some decent parts straight away.

I disagree. I have a quad core haswell i7 laptop, a macbook pro with a 4960HQ, and the extra cores help but I'm not doing video or audio encoding i'm playing games.

 

[TreVader]

BF4 is strongly CPU-limited if you're playing large multiplayer maps. If you want to buy cheap now and upgrade later, I would get:

- a z87 mobo
- a cheap Celeron or Pentium. (What's the difference? Mainly cache size, I think.)
- a 750ti. (Why nVidia? Because at least the Arma3 version of DayZ seems to use PhysX.)

Then you can upgrade the CPU to a 4670k or 4770k, upgrade the GPU to a to a 290x, and use the 750ti as a dedicated PhysX card.

If you don't intend to overclock, ever, go back to Mfenn's B75 mobo and i3 CPU. Then upgrade to a Xeon E3-1230 V3 CPU later.

If I'm wrong about PhysX in DayZ, get the R9 270.

The Z87/ Celeron idea is good. If I go nvidia ill prob go with a 660/670/760 to avoid the crippling memory bandwidth issues on the 750.

 

[giantpandaman2]

Dual core will choke a bit on multiplayer BF4. The R290X will be hobbled.

I'd wait and save the money on the "wasted" APU/GPU for a better CPU. 1 month of pain versus several years of being hobbled by a crappy CPU/APU.

 

[mvbighead]

The 4130 vs A10 is interesting but I'm including the APU in order to get a system that will play the game (not ideally) and then upgrade within a month to an R9 290X.


If there is going to be an alternative to the APU it's going to have to be a 280X or 770 or better. I don't think the HD4600 will run BF4 playable at all.

I also think an SSD is necessary for a modern comp. 8GB ram is great but it ends up being unnecessary. I can always drop in another 4GB stick

If it were me, I would not settle for a lesser CPU just for a better APU to then upgrade the card a month later. As far as I am concerned, your best approach with least amount of money spent is to buy the platform you want now, and throw the graphics card in later.

IE - Spend $600 on a platform, and don't worry about gaming until you throw the card in a month later.

For what you are wanting to do, going the APU route is not your best bet, IMO. You'd basically be wasting $60 or so to have a better APU that then goes unused after you get a discrete GPU in a month. You'd be better off buying a $60 graphics card and selling it when you have the money to invest in a better discrete card. Even then, I would just skip that and save your money and wait for the right GPU deal to come about and jump on it.

You can still use an i5/h87 or whatever for many tasks and get a much better CPU to pair with the GPU.

 

[Ken g6]

The Z87/ Celeron idea is good.

Not really, but if you insist on buying something disposable to start with, it's better than buying an AMD CPU.

If I go nvidia ill prob go with a 660/670/760 to avoid the crippling memory bandwidth issues on the 750.

The reason to get a 750ti is so you don't need extra PSU power to use it as a dedicated PhysX card.

 

[monkeydelmagico]

Wait a month, get the paycheck, and build an i5 system that can handle a 290x

 

[mvbighead]

Wait a month, get the paycheck, and build an i5 system that can handle a 290x

Eh, he could simply pick up the platform when the right deal strikes. Use the integrated GPU for regular use until the funds are available and the right deal strikes on the GPU end.

That way, he can still not buy it all at once, but not try to accomodate the gaming aspect up front and simply cure that with a new card when the funds are available and not waste anything in the process. Pretty much all boards have integrated GPUs these days, so buying the platform should at least get him moving in the right direction.

 

[moonbogg]

Dual core, even with HT, could be a let down for BF4. You are likely to get seriously bogged.

 

[TreVader]

If you guys can configure a comp with an i5 that will cost <$600 and play battlefield 4 please show me.




I think the Z87/Celeron/R9 270 route is really the only way to build a machine that will run BF4 at high settings at 1080p for that money. It's that or an APU.

 

[mvbighead]

If you guys can configure a comp with an i5 that will cost <$600 and play battlefield 4 please show me.




I think the Z87/Celeron/R9 270 route is really the only way to build a machine that will run BF4 at high settings at 1080p for that money. It's that or an APU.

You're talking about throwing a better GPU in in a month. If you're doing that, why waste money to play BF4 minimally when you can simply wait it out and spend money on a platform and throw your card in in a month.

Point being, you're wasting money on an APU based system to play BF4 for a month, when you intend to upgrade the GPU shortly thereafter. Doesn't seem wise.

 

[frozentundra123456]

I agree that kaveri is a bad idea if you are going to add a discrete gpu soon. Just wait till you have the money for the gpu and use the 190.00 to get an i5. Or even go cheaper and get an FX 6300 or 6350.

Any of those would offer better gaming performance with a powerful gpu than kaveri. Amd is competitive in BF4, but I believe day z based on arma heavily favors single thread performance, and thus Intel. So I would recommend the i5.

 

[mvbighead]

If you guys can configure a comp with an i5 that will cost <$600 and play battlefield 4 please show me.




I think the Z87/Celeron/R9 270 route is really the only way to build a machine that will run BF4 at high settings at 1080p for that money. It's that or an APU.

Here's the best I got at under $600 to start:
PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3cHy5
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3cHy5/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3cHy5/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-3470 3.2GHz Quad-Core Processor ($189.29 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ASRock H77 Pro4-M Micro ATX LGA1155 Motherboard ($87.99 @ Amazon)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: Sapphire Radeon R7 240 2GB Video Card ($60.38 @ Newegg)
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ Micro Center)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($97.26 @ OutletPC)
Total: $591.89
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-19 14:21 EDT-0400)

Obviously the card ain't great, but it can't be sold later to get you something better in a month. Also, Tomshardware gave it some notice with direct reference to BF4:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-r7-240-and-250,3717-7.html

EDIT: Probably advisable to up the PSU given what you'll be buying in the future, but this build was based on the idea of getting a usable system for a month while waiting to the buy the new card.

 

[Ken g6]

Wow! I thought it couldn't be done. But now that you've shown me it can be done, I think I can improve it a little:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: Gigabyte GA-B85M-DS3H Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($67.98 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R7 250X 1GB Video Card ($97.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($19.99 @ Micro Center)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($97.26 @ OutletPC)
Total: $600.18
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-19 14:52 EDT-0400)

Ok, I went over by 18 cents. If you don't want to, get a cheaper video card.

Also, when did Windows become one of the things that need to be bought for $600?

 

[mvbighead]

Ah crap, I did that wrong. 1150 is the new socket, 1155 is the old. Anyhow, yes, it can be done.

Oh, one thing that would both improve and lower budget is if op lives by a Microcenter:
http://www.microcenter.com/store/add_product.aspx?productIDs=0414820,0413251

4670K and Z87 for 229.98.

 

[nwo]

BF4 is not playable on HD4600, believe me I've tried it. Even at lowest settings the quality and fps will make your eyes bleed.

With that said I would still recommend going with an i3 or an i5 over an AMD APU. You can grab a very decent used GPU for ~$100 that will let you play BF4 at least on medium settings at 1080p. Even a $50-70 used GPU is likely to outperform any AMD APU, especially if you are going to be using 1333 RAM.

Ken g6, I don't think the OP ever mentioned the need for an OS. Also, the OP mentioned upgrading to a 290X in a few weeks, and a CX 430 will not be capable of that.

 

[mvbighead]

BF4 is not playable on HD4600, believe me I've tried it. Even at lowest settings the quality and fps will make your eyes bleed.

With that said I would still recommend going with an i3 or an i5 over an AMD APU. You can grab a very decent used GPU for ~$100 that will let you play BF4 at least on medium settings at 1080p. Even a $50-70 used GPU is likely to outperform any AMD APU, especially if you are going to be using 1333 RAM.

Ken g6, I don't think the OP ever mentioned the need for an OS. Also, the OP mentioned upgrading to a 290X in a few weeks, and a CX 430 will not be capable of that.

Assuming the OP is willing to scrap the APU in favor of discrete graphics, I would think it equally plausible he'd be willing to do similar for the PSU. Of course, it'd make MUCH more sense to buy some of the right parts out of the gate. Problem is, it seems his heart is set on an APU based system. And as many have tried to tell him, that is not a good path given where he intends to go (high powered discrete graphics with an underpowered APU/GPU build).

 

[mvbighead]

Wow, right on budget:

PCPartPicker part list: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3cKJH
Price breakdown by merchant: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3cKJH/by_merchant/
Benchmarks: http://pcpartpicker.com/p/3cKJH/benchmarks/

CPU: Intel Core i5-4440 3.1GHz Quad-Core Processor ($179.99 @ Amazon)
Motherboard: ECS B85H3-M3(1.0) Micro ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($49.79 @ Newegg)
Memory: A-Data XPG V1.0 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($63.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Hitachi Ultrastar 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($48.00 @ Amazon)
Video Card: PowerColor Radeon R7 250X 1GB Video Card ($97.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Thermaltake VL80001W2Z ATX Mid Tower Case ($24.99 @ Micro Center)
Power Supply: Corsair Builder 600W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply ($37.99 @ Newegg)
Operating System: Microsoft Windows 8.1 - 64-bit (OEM) (64-bit) ($97.26 @ OutletPC)
Total: $599.99
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-03-19 15:57 EDT-0400)

 

[nwo]

The Z87/ Celeron idea is good. If I go nvidia ill prob go with a 660/670/760 to avoid the crippling memory bandwidth issues on the 750.

I would not recommend nvidia for BF4, especially not when paired up with a very low end CPU. Z87/Celeron could be a nice start, as long as you can pair it up with an AMD GPU that supports mantle.

I also wonder about has well celerons vs quad core AMD. I've heard good things. If a celeron is dual core though, and an i3 is a dual core with hyper threading, then wtf is a Pentium?

Pentium is just a slightly improved Celeron. Better onboard graphics, slightly higher clock speed, and some additional/insignificant features.

Haswell celerons are still celerons. I don't think they are a big jump from the previous celeron generations. Haswell i3s have made a fairly significant progress (compared to older i3s) in terms of gaming performance according to the benchmarks I have seen.

 

[mvbighead]

Ken g6, I don't think the OP ever mentioned the need for an OS. Also, the OP mentioned upgrading to a 290X in a few weeks, and a CX 430 will not be capable of that.

Crap, you're right. Pretty easy fix. Swap the OS for a 120GB SSD and it's complete.