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Battlefield 3 Build

E

{EB}NuTSymPToM{EB}

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Aug 1, 2003
Messages
1,037
1) What will you be doing with this PC? Gaming? Photoshop? Web browsing? etc
The primary purpose of this machine will be gaming, specifically, an upgrade for BF3. Other uses will include internet, word processing, listening to music, watching movies, etc.

2) What's your budget? Are tax and shipping included?
I don't really have a defined budget since I'm re-using some parts in the meantime, but I'm a bang-for-the-buck builder. I don't go super-high end but I need to be able to run the games I play and run them well. If I had to guess, a full rig budget excluding peripherals would be ~$1000 USD.

3) Which country do you live in? If the U.S, please tell us the state and city if possible.
US, Northern VA

4) What exact parts do you need for that budget? CPU, RAM, case, etc. The word "Everything" is not a valid answer. Please list out all the parts you'll need.
CPU+HSF, Motherboard, RAM, HDD, PSU, Case

5) If reusing any parts, what parts will you be reusing? Please be especially specific about the power supply. List make and model.
Crucial M4 128gb SSD (already purchased)
XFX 5850 1gb (from current build)
Monitors/Speakers/KB+M

6) Will you be overclocking?
Absolutely. I would like no less than 4.5ghz on air.

7) What is the max resolution of your monitor? What size is it?
28" @ 1920x1200 + 22" @ 1680x1050 (note I only game on the 28")

8) When do you plan on building/buying the PC?
Buying now. Building is TBD (next few weeks with a friend).

9) What features do you need in a motherboard? RAID? Firewire? Crossfire or SLI support? USB 3.0? SATA 6Gb/s? eSATA? Onboard video? etc.
I definitely need SATA 6GB/s for the SSD and would like USB 3.0 for future-proofing. I don't currently have any Firewire or eSATA devices but having the ports would be a nice-to-have, especially eSATA since I may pick up an external HDD at some point. Onboard video is unnecessary as I have an 8800gt on hand as a backup.

10) Do you already have a legit and reusable/transferable OS key/license? If yes, what OS? Is it 32bit or 64bit?
Windows 7 64 bit Professional

These are the parts I'm considering:
CPU - i5-2500k - $220
HSF - CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Plus - $30
Motherboard - MSI P67A-G45 - $135
RAM - Corsair Vengeance 2x4gb DDR3 1600 - $55
PSU - Corsair HX650 Professional Series - $110
Case - Corsair 600T or 500R - $130
HDD - Samsung Spinpoint F3 1TB - $60
Optical - Whatever DVD-RW is cheapest when I order.

A few quick notes. I realize the RAM is more than I need to pay, but for a few more bucks I'd rather buy stuff that color matches the motherboard, although I will change it if those long heat spreaders interfere with mounting the HSF. Speaking of the motherboard, I had a really hard time deciding on which board to pick and just kinda linked the P67-G45 to put something that made sense down. I don't want to cheap out since I've had a few bad mobo experiences in my day and at the end of the day I'd like the stablest, most reliable, easiest over-clocker out there. I've read around that Z68 is in general more stable than P67, but I don't know if that's just some FUD holdover nonsense from P67's initial release. Also, I'm leaning away from Gigabyte because UEFI looks interesting. Also, I feel like I've read more negatives about Asus boards lately and I'm not sure if it's because they're popular enough to have enough boards out there to generate enough talk about issues to get noticed. ASRock seems highly rated but I've read about the shorter warranties and I have no experience with them in general.

I'm also torn on the case. I absolutely love the features on the Corsair cases, but I hate to pay more than $100 for a case. I need decent air cooling and I like the removable HDD cage, so I don't want to go for the 400R. Right now the 600T has a MIR that makes it the same as the 500R, but I believe the 500R is newer and has more front-side USB 3.0 ports (not that it matters atm), but also the 600T appears...fat. That also doesn't really matter, but it might look a bit odd in person.

I've already picked up a Crucial M4 128gb SSD as mentioned above for $150 on sale a few weeks back which I'll use as my boot drive, and I've decided to stick it out with the 5850 until the 7XXX or nVidia equivalent is out. I don't think the performance per dollar will be worth it to get a 6950 at this point, but let me know if you think I'm being stupid to wait.
 
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Looks good. Pretty much the same as my build.

The only thing I would have changed for my build was getting one of those Corsair or Antec water cooler units instead of the 212+.
 
I've been tempted to research it, but I have absolutely 0 prior experience with water cooling. It seems much easier now then even a few years back, but for whatever reason I just never even consider it.

Something about water near my electronics doesn't sit well :D

edit: Are you OC'd? If so, whats your clock/voltage?
 
These units are closed systems and looks like they should be able to hold up.

I'm pretty handy around the house with electrical and plumbing. Water in the PC was something I didn't want to consider. But after looking at them, they look solid.
 
The 212+ is a prefectly good cooler for the 2500K overclocked - it has performance on par with much more expensive all-in-one water cooling setups. The advantage of those coolers (like the H70, etc) is that they free up space in the center of the motherboard, which is nice if you are space limited. They also exhaust the hot air out the back, which again can be beneficial depending on the case you are using. Performance-wise, they aren't significantly better than the tower coolers.
 
The 212+ probably cools good because it has a super loud fan. It drove me nuts and I had to swap it out for 2 quiet fans. They don't cool as good though but then again I don't overclock.
 
At the end of the day I won't be water cooling. It's a nice thought, but I don't want to spend the money and airflow should be acceptable given that I'm not going CF/SLI and don't have lots of HDD's going into what I believe are two of the roomier mid-towers available.

My biggest concerns are my motherboard selection, case selection and decision to stick with my 5850.
 
plunger said:
The 212+ probably cools good because it has a super loud fan. It drove me nuts and I had to swap it out for 2 quiet fans. They don't cool as good though but then again I don't overclock.
Click to expand...

The thought of a loud machine bothers me, but at the end of the day I won't notice it while gaming (speakers up or headphones) and the machine is in the office so it won't bother me or the wife while reading/sleeping, or be annoying watching TV in the living room.
 
You do know BF3 isn't out yet. We don't know what kind of system it will require to play it.
 
Specs were posted today; both recommended and minimum. My current rig more than meets the minimum, but recommended is quad core + 4gb ram + 6950 or GTX560. A twitter post from the dev said SLI 580's will be required for absolute maxed out settings, but I can live without 16X AA.
 
Yeah my 5850 chugged in the BF3 alpha more than I felt comfortable with. This was at 1080p.

I agree with you on the fact that at your price point you really wouldn't be upgrading to anything much better. Wait it out for next gen or some some of the sick current gen cards to drop.
 
The Newegg specs page for the 600T is wrong: there is a newer revision of the 600T case, the 600TM, that now comes with a front panel USB 3.0. However as for what case you should go for, you really can't go wrong with either of those cases. So now its down to those tiny tiny details.

Mobo, wise, that mobo is solid. Though if possible I'd spend the extra cash for this mobo for a higher chance of overclocking stability:
$158 - MSI P67A-GD55 Intel P67 ATX Motherboard

GPU wise, honestly can't say if the HD 5850 is a bad choice to stick with considering that we don't know with 100% certainty how well the HD 5850 will do.
 
Danny Bui said:
The Newegg specs page for the 600T is wrong: there is a newer revision of the 600T case, the 600TM, that now comes with a front panel USB 3.0. However as for what case you should go for, you really can't go wrong with either of those cases. So now its down to those tiny tiny details.
Click to expand...

So you're saying if I order the 600T I'll receive the TM? The faux front-side USB 3.0 was the only fault I have with the case so maybe I'll jump on it if that's the case. Do you think the whopper side 200mm fan makes the 500R better? The 500R comes with more fans pre-installed from the get-go, so it's still pretty desirable.

Danny Bui said:
Mobo, wise, that mobo is solid. Though if possible I'd spend the extra cash for this mobo for a higher chance of overclocking stability:
$158 - MSI P67A-GD55 Intel P67 ATX Motherboard
Click to expand...

I trust your word, but for my own edification would you mind explaining what about the GD55 makes for a more stable OC than the one I listed? Better components or just word on the street?

Danny Bui said:
GPU wise, honestly can't say if the HD 5850 is a bad choice to stick with considering that we don't know with 100% certainty how well the HD 5850 will do.
Click to expand...

I just confirmed with my friend that we're building on Oct 9th, so if the beta is still running I'll be sure to give it a whirl and see how the 5850 holds up. I can live with running BF3 without every bell and whistle for a few months and I know it will run everything in my backlog and foreseeable want list. I really don't think I'll feel like I'm getting my money's worth spending $200 on a card that's almost already out of date.
 
{EB}NuTSymPToM{EB} said:
So you're saying if I order the 600T I'll receive the TM? The faux front-side USB 3.0 was the only fault I have with the case so maybe I'll jump on it if that's the case. Do you think the whopper side 200mm fan makes the 500R better? The 500R comes with more fans pre-installed from the get-go, so it's still pretty desirable.
Click to expand...
Yes. Not necessarily.

{EB}NuTSymPToM{EB} said:
I trust your word, but for my own edification would you mind explaining what about the GD55 makes for a more stable OC than the one I listed? Better components or just word on the street?
Click to expand...
Better components.
 
Alright then, 600TM and GD55 it is.

Sorry to press you, but how besides having the boards in front of you can you tell that the components are of higher quality? I've done lots of reading and haven't come across that until now. The NewEgg pages make it look like the only difference is the number/type of inputs.
 
{EB}NuTSymPToM{EB} said:
Alright then, 600TM and GD55 it is.

Sorry to press you, but how besides having the boards in front of you can you tell that the components are of higher quality? I've done lots of reading and haven't come across that until now. The NewEgg pages make it look like the only difference is the number/type of inputs.
Click to expand...
Number of phases and mosfets on the motherboard.
 
Gotcha.

Sorry, I was just looking at the 600TM vs. 500R and noticed that the 600TM has a front 200mm, top 200mm and rear 120mm. Don't you typically want positive pressure and try to avoid negative pressure? I assume this has the top and rear exhausting with the front as the intake.

Also, reviews from this week on Newegg show that the front USB 3.0 has the reach-around cable instead of hooking up to the internal header. I thought you mentioned above that this was fixed in the 600TM version?

I also just read more reviews and discovered that the LED's on the fans can't be turned off...could have sworn they were toggleable. I'd prefer a lightless casein general so now I may need to rethink this.

Ordering the PSU and ram together right now with an extra $25 off bundle discount for now!
 
Everything is ordered but the 2500K and the case. I opted for the GD65 since with MIR it's actually less than the GD55 at the moment.

I'm going to try and get a 2500K from the MicroCenter 20 minutes away to save $40, but I need to check if they have it in stock first.

As for the case, I'm going to go with the 500R since the fan LED's can be disabled and the USB 3.0 ports on the front have headers to connect to the mobo. I'm just trying to confirm that *all* fan LED's are disabled by the front panel switch since the wording in their marketing material makes it almost sound like it's only the front fan lights that can be switched off.
 
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