My sub-$2k BF3 build

**[CoFR]SirMoo** · 10-01-11, 08:41 PM

I'm pissed I was specing this out last night and of course I forget today is a new month so all the prices on Newegg have changed. Most of them have gone up and all the combos I specced out last night no longer apply today. So now I'm spending probably > $100 more than yesterday's spec. I leave the finding of various review sites on the components as an exercise to the reader.

Since we're going to be building an Intel-Nvidia setup based around a core i5-2500K and GTX 580, let's start with the mobo:

Newegg.com - ASRock Z68 PROFESSIONAL GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
This comes with an PATA port so I can use my cannibalized DVD drive from my old machine in it. Also I like the ability of more than 2 SATA3/6GB hardware RAID0/1 support. This mobo also supports a single 16x PCIe 2.0 (with ivy bridge pci-e 3.0 support) or 8x/8x SLI/Xfire or 8x/8x/4x triple SLI/Xfire. $270 (was $219 last night!!!)

Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) 4 x 256KB L2 Cache 6MB L3 Cache LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor BX80623I52500K
'Nuff said. I don't really care enough about HT to pay the $100 premium for 2600K, although I would be interested to see what the role of the increased L3 plays if you turn off HT in the 2600K and only run 4 physical cores on it compared to 2500K. $220

Newegg.com - MSI N580GTX Lightning Xtreme Edition GeForce GTX 580 (Fermi) 3072MB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
Here is the baby that will help drive BF3 at 1080p Ultra settings. While this is over $100 more than the cheapest GTX 580, Note that it has 2x the VRAM. DICE notes that BF3 ultra recommends at least 1.5GB of texture memory and I have run into vram limitations in the past with SLI (SLI uses shared memory addressing so the card with the lowest amount of ram is your bottleneck). Also this is already factory overclocked and tested at those speeds. $599 although there is a special for $579. In a couple years maybe add a 2nd of these for Arma3 (and Crysis3).

Newegg.com - G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7D-8GBXH
I am not planning to OC significantly so I am going with a DDR3 1600 but tight CAS latency support (7-7-7-21) 8GB for $120. It is slightly higher than your typical CAS 9 DDR3 1600 but it should perform like a DDR3 1800 or 2133 at CAS 9 or 10, without requiring OCing the memory.

Newegg.com - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
This is reviewed on Tom's Hardware as a good SSD in the 128GB range. Because it's difficult to split an entire Steam library between disks (you'll need to use symlinks), 128GB is a good spec for $/GB. It is cheaper to RAID 0 2x128GB if you actually want to go up to 260GB. It's a marvell and not a Sandforce 2 controller either which means: slightly worse performance during writes BUT we don't have any of the firmware/z68/bsod/missing drive problems that is plaguing OCZ. $170. I remember paying $100 for 80gb for ATA-66 drives.

2x Newegg.com - SAMSUNG Spinpoint F3R HE103SJ 1TB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive in RAID 1 (I don't trust rusty platters very much). 1TB for all that porn. Spinpoint F3R drives differ from their slightly cheaper F3 counterparts in that they have ERC/TLER enabled. $80 each -> $160

Newegg.com - High Current Pro HCP-850 850W TX12V v2.3 / EPS12V v2.92 SLI Certified CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Modular Active PFC Power Supply
As reviewed by Tom's Hardware and other sites. $150.

Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, LED LCD TV, Digital Cameras and more!
Windows 7 64-bit Pro and a Newegg.com - Rosewill CHALLENGER Black Gaming ATX Mid Tower Computer Case, comes with Three Fans-1x Front Blue LED 120mm Fan, 1x Top 140mm Fan, 1x Rear 120mm Fan, option Fans-2x Side 120mm Fan . Tom's Hardware Recommened buy 2010 $50 case. For where my computer is supposed to sit, I need to have the mobo mounted vertically (as usual), ruling out the ability to forgo the case and just use plywood. Oh well. Combo with win7 is $185.

Newegg.com - Logitech G500 10 Buttons Dual-mode Scroll Wheel USB Wired Laser 5700 dpi Gaming Mouse might as well upgrade the mouse. I am still using an old logitech dual-optical mouseman from 2001... $60

Total price at newegg.com as of Oct. 1, 2011 is $1,941 and $10 S/H.

I am thinking of also getting the $150 Psycho Audio Krypton, my headphones are pretty trashed and $150 looks really good for all the features compared to some of the other high perf headphones out there (sennheiser, etc.) plus you get a dedicated amp. The ability to flip the plastic cups open to convert from closed cup (preferred) to open cup is also intriguing. I do hope they are portable, however, as I tend to take them on trips (airplanes) and such - can the Kryptons still be driven without the external amp?

**Viktor_Olin** · 10-02-11, 05:19 PM

Do what I do, Moo: order the parts as Newegg puts them on sale. With the daily deals and Email Blast specials, you can almost always save a good bit buying parts as the sales occur. You might have to get slightly different RAM or a different MB, but the savings can be substantial. The risk is getting parts and not being able to assemble and test them as they arrive, but Newegg gives you 30 days to return almost everything, so the risk is small.

I can sympathize with you as far as the "didn't order in time" goes. My last build I had everything picked out and was ordering G.Skill RAM for a good bit off, on sale (with a number of other components). As I started to check out, the RAM sold out! I took a chance and waited 2 days, and they got more in while the 3 day sale was still in effect.

On a different note, I wonder about the ASRock MB only because I've heard they don't directly support their products; i.e., you're expected to deal with the retailer rather than with them if you have a problem. I've also read that they can be contacted directly for support, but they don't make it easy. Do you (or others) have any personal experience with their support? I actually went with a Gigabyte MB for my last build because of my concerns. At least Gigabyte responds to poor reviews on Newegg; I do not see that ASRock does so.

**[CoFR]SirMoo** · 10-02-11, 08:02 PM

Dunno about the ASRock either. The only mobos I have RMAed in recent history have been Dell/Foxconn POSes back to Dell. A quick google search seems to suggest that people are RMAing their ASRock mobos directly to ASRock just fine. I get the impression that ASRock is still operating more as an OEM rather than having a direct-to-retail side...and their only real retail presence is working with Fatal1ty

**Viktor_Olin** · 10-02-11, 08:19 PM

Glad to hear it; competition is always good. Some of the Newegg reviews stated rather bluntly that ASRock's support was non-existent, but some of those reviews were a bit dated. Maybe they've improved in that regard. If you go with that MB, let us know down the road what your impressions are.