# BF3 Capable rig



## I Am That Is (Aug 3, 2012)

Hey all,

I am trying to build my first PC, and my goal is to be around $500 (I already have windows, the display, and keyboard/mouse).  Going on newegg and other places, I sorta got this list of the parts I am going to use. Here it is:


 *CPU**Intel Celeron G530* (Sandy Bridge): 2.4 GHz, 2 MB Shared L3 Cache
$50*CPU Cooler*Intel boxed heat sink/fan0*Motherboard**Gigabyte GA-H61MA-D3V*: LGA 1155, Intel H61 Express
$60*RAM**Pareema 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) DDR3-1333 MD313C80809L2*$20*Graphics**ECS NGT560TI-1GPI-F1 GeForce GTX 560 Ti*$210*Hard Drive**Western Digital WD3200AAKX:* 320 GB 7200 RPM Hard Drive 
$75*Case**Rosewill R101-P-BK MicroATX Mid Tower*$30*Power**Antec VP-450 450 W*$38*Optical*LG 22x DVD Burner SATA Model *GH22NS90B-OEM

* 
before I start buying, can anyone tell me how well this would perform? Let's say I'm aiming for 40 fps on medium graphics at 1024 x 768 or a bit higher. And any incompatible hardware?


Thanks guys.


----------



## AshleyAshes (Aug 3, 2012)

That is a terrible computer for $500...  Especially using a low end dualy Sandy Bridge.

The graphics isn't bad but you need to spend more money on the CPU andless money on that hard drive.  $75 for 320GB?  Really?  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148702  Look, 750GB for $59 and that's without even shopping around.

You will quickly regret that dualy celeron sandy bridge if you're trying to build something for gaming.  Look into an i5 2500 (Or beter,the 2500K model) instead, it's about $200 or so, but offers great value for the power it gives you.


----------



## greg-the-fox (Aug 3, 2012)

Here, I made you a much better build for around $500, this is about as good of a build as I can come up with for the price, without compromising on quality. You may want to raise your budget for a better CPU and video card, but this should be just fine for a budget system. You may want to raise your budget a bit for a better CPU, motherboard, and video card if you want higher performance, but this will get the job done. (I have no idea how well it will play BF3)

Mobo - $70
CPU- $110
Video card - $125
PSU - $60
RAM - $40
HDD - $70
Case - $40



AshleyAshes said:


> The graphics isn't bad but you need to spend more money on the CPU andless money on that hard drive.  $75 for 320GB?  Really?  http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148702  Look, 750GB for $59 and that's without even shopping around.



Yeah, but look at how bad the ratings are on that 
Personally, I wouldn't buy anything from Seagate, WD is a bit more but way more reliable.


----------



## I Am That Is (Aug 3, 2012)

Thanks! This rig is from the newegg/toms hardware summer challenge where they built a computer able to run games like BF3 and Starcraft 2 on medium-high graphics at over 40 fps. The benchmark showed it had great performance and never dropped below 50 fps. I will do some more research on that rig Greg. Thanks.


----------



## I Am That Is (Aug 3, 2012)

Would it be smart to upgrade to a 6850 instead of a 7770? The menchmkark results are shockingly different for a ten dollar difference.


----------



## AshleyAshes (Aug 3, 2012)

The Radeon 6XXX series and 7XXX series arn't that much different.  Feature wise, they're basically the same, but the 6XXX's consumes more power and generates more heat.  The 6850 well outclasses the 7770, go with the 6850, since it's cheaper and offers more horse power.  You won't lose out on any features by going with the last generation.

And seriously, DON'T get a dual core CPU.  You're looking at an Sandy/Ivy Bridge compatible system, it's unlikely we'll see any other socket 1155 CPUs after the current Ivy Bridge series.  For a little over $200 the Sandy Bridge i5 2500 will give you TWICE the CPU horse power of that dual core that Greg suggested for $125.  If you get that dual core CPU, that CPU will quickly become a bottleneck in future games.  Then you'll need to replace that CPU, so you'll either have to bite the bullet not long into the machine's life and buy ANOTHER CPU to replace the dual core, or you'll drag your feet and find yourself buying an entirely new mobo, CPU and RAM only two years down the line just to catch up.  If you buy the quad core, it should do you for 3-4 years easily, you'll just need to toss more RAM and maybe a new graphics card into it later.  But the CPU and mobo will give you good long term value.

This is about spending a little more now to prevent spending a lot more later.

Technology comes in two kinds of over-expendatures.  You can buy the super duper big thing that costs more than it's worth or you can buy the super low end thing that costs more than it's worth.  You need to build that thing that fits into the delicious middle point, that will give you good long term value on your money.


----------



## I Am That Is (Aug 3, 2012)

Interesting. I have heard that the 6850 is really loud and power hungry, but I can't seem to find where I can get one cheaper than 130 (that's the 7770 cost). As far as the processor, the link Greg gave me is linking me to the GPU not the CPU, so I don't know what he has listed. I saw some bf3 gameplay ultra graphics on a 7770 with an i3 and it hit 60 fps with fraps and 75-80 without it. Although I do understand buying the better stuff now, I will have to wait a while of I want to get an i5.

Newegg sells refurbished i3's for as low as 70 bucks.


----------



## greg-the-fox (Aug 3, 2012)

AshleyAshes said:


> Technology comes in two kinds of over-expendatures.  You can buy the super duper big thing that costs more than it's worth or you can buy the super low end thing that costs more than it's worth.  You need to build that thing that fits into the delicious middle point, that will give you good long term value on your money.



Yeah, I totally agree. But OP, you'll have to raise your budget quite a bit to future proof your computer. And it's just a matter of how long before the hardware will go out of date, because it always will eventually.



I Am That Is said:


> Interesting. I have heard that the 6850 is really loud and power hungry, but I can't seem to find where I can get one cheaper than 130 (that's the 7770 cost).



Not that power hungry, still less than a GTX 560 and a lot less than a GTX 560ti. AMD cards are known for being a lot more power efficient than Nvidia cards. It uses just about the same amount of power as a 7850 though, but the 7850 is a jump in performance. (maybe not worth the $100 increase) 7000 series are more efficient anyway, newer hardware usually is.
I'm using this site
How loud it is would depend on the individual card's cooling solution



I Am That Is said:


> As far as the processor, the link Greg gave me is linking me to the GPU not the CPU, so I don't know what he has listed. I saw some bf3 gameplay ultra graphics on a 7770 with an i3 and it hit 60 fps with fraps and 75-80 without it. Although I do understand buying the better stuff now, I will have to wait a while of I want to get an i5.
> 
> Newegg sells refurbished i3's for as low as 70 bucks.



I linked to the core-i3 2120. In Battlefield in particular, the CPU almost doesn't matter at all, because all the load is going to be on the video card.

I wouldn't buy a refurbished CPU though, I dunno, that seems kind of risky to me.

And I don't think something like the core-i5 2500(K) is really necessary, for example I bought the i5-3570K and my build is budgeted to at least $1300
But it is a good value if you can justify the cost. It will definitely be by far the nicest thing in your machine though, if you want to upgrade other components later you won't have to change it out.

If you get that though, I would go with this motherboard or something similar (z77 chipset)

Also another thing you could add to your build is a CPU cooler, the stock one that comes with the CPU isn't great, and it's fine if you're not going to overclock, but the Hyper 212 Plus is only $20 and will have a big effect.

But yeah, see how much that drives the price up?


----------



## I Am That Is (Aug 3, 2012)

Ok, this is what I have so far:

CPU		Core i3 2125 LGA 1155 Boxed Processor        						http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=			0376494




GPU		HIS iCooler H777F1G2M Radeon HD 7770 GHz Edition 1GB         			http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161402




HHD		Deskstar 7K1000.D 500GB     
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0375256




PSU		TR2 Series 500 Watt ATX     
http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0365237


Mobo		ASRock H77M LGA 1155 Intel    
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157303			&nm_mc=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r&cm_mmc=OTC-pr1c3grabb3r-_-Motherboards+-		+Intel-_-ASRock-_-13157303




Ram		Crucial Ballistix sport 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148541


Case:      	Antec Nine Hundred
http://store.antec.com/Product/benclosure/nine-hundred/0-761345-45001-0.aspx


120
130
60
40
70
25
45


Total: $490


----------



## greg-the-fox (Aug 3, 2012)

Oh, if you're buying from Micro Center you should get both the Motherboard and CPU from them, they have bundle deals on a lot of them and really great discounts in general, so you can probably afford better ones.

Also I don't know why you want only 4GB of memory, that's barely enough imo. I have that much on my laptop and it's really limiting... That motherboard has only 2 slots so you'll be unable to add more. Memory is cheap so why not just get two sticks of 4GB?


----------



## I Am That Is (Aug 3, 2012)

I am getting the CPU from them, but the motherboard I was looking for they didn't have. I will look for the one you linked. As for memory, I have a laptop and I know how much of a difference it makes, but on a desktop it's not that crucial. I will look at 8gb but I have 32bit windows so anything I run can only use 2 gb of it at any time. 

Besides that, any other suggestions?

Also, i know nothing about overclocking, but if I do, what are the dangers and advantages?


----------



## Draconas (Aug 3, 2012)

I Am That Is said:


> I am getting the CPU from them, but the motherboard I was looking for they didn't have. I will look for the one you linked. As for memory, I have a laptop and I know how much of a difference it makes, but on a desktop it's not that crucial. I will look at 8gb but I have 32bit windows so anything I run can only use 2 gb of it at any time.
> 
> Besides that, any other suggestions?
> 
> Also, i know nothing about overclocking, but if I do, what are the dangers and advantages?



Overclocking benefits are better speed, the disadvantages that i can name off the top of my head are more heat (especially on a stock cooler), more power required (not entirely a bad thing), adding too much power could fry it, and what I was met with when I tried doing it: instability for a really high OC.


----------



## I Am That Is (Aug 3, 2012)

Interesting. That is definatly will consider later. As far as my current build goes, how do you think it will do? Any compatibility issues/better parts for the same price?


----------



## Lobar (Aug 4, 2012)

I don't trust ASRock.  For motherboards I'd stick strictly to Asus, Gigabyte or MSI.  My picks:

Intel Core i3-2120 = $125 (go ahead and get the 2125 from MicroCenter for cheaper if you can)
MSI H61M-P31 LGA 1155 Intel H61 $55 (-$10 MIR)
Sapphire Radeon HD 7770 1GB Video Card = $130 (-$15 MIR)
Corsair DDR3 1333 8GB RAM kit = $39
Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB SATA3 Hard Drive= $70
ASUS 24x CD/DVD Burner = $20
Antec NEO ECO 400C 400W Power Supply = $50 (beef this up a bit if you plan to upgrade to a 6870/7850/GTX560 or better in the future)
Fractal Design Core 1000 mATX Case = $40

Total: $504 after rebates


----------



## I Am That Is (Aug 4, 2012)

A good sir from toms hardware helped me come up with this:

Intel i5 2500k - $160http://www.microcenter.com/single_ [...] id=0354589 
ASRock Z77 - $45http://www.microcenter.com/single_ [...] id=0387627 
8Gb RAM - $43http://www.microcenter.com/single_ [...] id=0382101 
500 GB HDD - $60http://www.microcenter.com/single_ [...] id=0375256 
NZXT 210 - $ 38http://www.microcenter.com/single_ [...] id=0378074 
TR2 500w - $40http://www.microcenter.com/single_ [...] id=0365237 
HIS 7770 - $130http://www.microcenter.com/single_ [...] id=0387845 

That comes out around 500 and looks way better than my previous build. If I buy them all at once it's major discounts.


----------



## I Am That Is (Aug 4, 2012)

I have been asking around on Toms hardware and someone helped me come up with this list:

AMD Ph2 965 - $90 http://www.microcenter.com/single_ [...] id=0325874
ASUS 970 - $45 http://www.microcenter.com/single_ [...] id=0382961
8Gb RAM - $43 http://www.microcenter.com/single_ [...] id=0382101
500 GB HDD - $60 http://www.microcenter.com/single_ [...] id=0375256
NZXT 210 - $ 38 http://www.microcenter.com/single_ [...] id=0378074 
TR2 500w - $40 http://www.microcenter.com/single_ [...] id=0365237
 7850 - $230 http://www.microcenter.com/single_ [...] id=0390289



There are some good combo discounts which bring it down to 550 bucks. I upgraded to a 7850 instead of the 7770, which is much better according to the benchmarks. Looks good, now to buy the parts. Any last advice?


----------



## darkflame4 (Aug 5, 2012)

I Am That Is said:


> I have been asking around on Toms hardware and someone helped me come up with this list:
> 
> AMD Ph2 965 - $90 http://www.microcenter.com/single_ [...] id=0325874
> ASUS 970 - $45 http://www.microcenter.com/single_ [...] id=0382961
> ...



Pretty good build there. Are you going to use the stock CPU cooler? Because i wouldn't recommend it for BF3, It'd still work decent but it might get a little hot in the case. Just my opinion.


----------



## I Am That Is (Aug 5, 2012)

darkflame4 said:


> Pretty good build there. Are you going to use the stock CPU cooler? Because i wouldn't recommend it for BF3, It'd still work decent but it might get a little hot in the case. Just my opinion.


Thanks. For now I will use the stock cooler. I still have yet to purchase BF3, so I won't be playing anything other than TF2 and CoD.


----------



## Lobar (Aug 6, 2012)

Really suggest switching back to an Intel 1155 board and getting an i3-2120.  Comparable performance now and you can always jump it up to a 2500K or Ivy Bridge later, while the AM3 socket is a dead-end.

I don't know that I trust that TR2 power supply either.  Cheaping out on the power supply puts all your expensive hardware at risk.  I'd get [urlhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371030&Tpk=neo%20eco%20520c]this[/url] instead.

This is pushing more into a $550-$600 budget but I don't think it's worth cheapening out to get a 7850 while staying on the $500 target.


----------



## Brazen (Aug 6, 2012)

Buy Alienware.


----------



## I Am That Is (Aug 6, 2012)

Brazen said:


> Buy Alienware.



I would say something about alienwares and how they are overpriced, but I know who I'm dealing with here.


----------



## darkflame4 (Aug 6, 2012)

Lobar said:


> Really suggest switching back to an Intel 1155 board and getting an i3-2120.  Comparable performance now and you can always jump it up to a 2500K or Ivy Bridge later, while the AM3 socket is a dead-end.
> 
> I don't know that I trust that TR2 power supply either.  Cheaping out on the power supply puts all your expensive hardware at risk.  I'd get [urlhttp://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817371030&Tpk=neo%20eco%20520c]this[/url] instead.
> 
> This is pushing more into a $550-$600 budget but I don't think it's worth cheapening out to get a 7850 while staying on the $500 target.


Yes, I agree. If you have the money switch to the i3 CPU. I didn't realize the kind of power supply either. I usually use corsair. They are the best, last long, and save you some money on your electric bill with the bronze cert. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027 , 500w. But they cost a little extra more.


----------



## Lobar (Aug 6, 2012)

darkflame4 said:


> Yes, I agree. If you have the money switch to the i3 CPU. I didn't realize the kind of power supply either. I usually use corsair. They are the best, last long, and save you some money on your electric bill with the bronze cert. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139027 , 500w. But they cost a little extra more.



Corsair's Builder series actually isn't very good.  Power supplies are tricky, a lot of the big brands aren't the actual manufacturers of them, so you have to research who the OEM was to get a real idea of its quality.  Different product lines from the same brand can be from different OEMs, for instance, the rest of Corsair's power supplies are absolutely great and are why they're so well-reputed.

SeaSonic and PC Power & Cooling are two of the best OEMs for power supplies.


----------



## AshleyAshes (Aug 6, 2012)

Lobar said:


> Corsair's Builder series actually isn't very good.



I have three Builder SEries CX600's going, I'm actually fairly pleased with them and they're nice and quiet for their price too.


----------



## Lobar (Aug 7, 2012)

AshleyAshes said:


> I have three Builder SEries CX600's going, I'm actually fairly pleased with them and they're nice and quiet for their price too.



And my dad has an old Maxtor hard drive that's still kicking.  I'm glad your power supplies are working fine, but they're still built by CWT, which is a cheaper manufacturer than SeaSonic, who makes most of Corsair's other PSUs.


----------

