Need advice for building a rig for playing BF4 , €1300 budget.

yimrsg

1. What is your budget? Ideally under €1300, though I could stretch it to 1400

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? I'd like to play BF4 on ultra and I'd also like to use it for listening to music on headphones too so maybe I'd need to budget in a good soundcard?

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Yes

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? [Hard drive/DVD Drive/Case/PSU/etc.] (If possible state brand and model of the parts to ensure compatibility) No

5. Do you need a monitor? No

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [1920x1080/1440x900/etc.] [Yes/No] 1680x1050 Samsung 226BW which I'm very happy with still. I'd like to move up to 1200 or 1440 at some point after Xmas but I'm not 100% when.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Keyboard/Mouse/Wireless Card/Card Reader/Speakers/etc.] Yes to all, except speakers as I'd prefer to use headphones.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [Yes/No] Yes, but I'm not really that bothered.

8. How can you pay? [Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser] All methods

9. When are you purchasing? [In x days] Looking to order within 2/3 weeks.

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [South Dublin City/Cork City/Kerry/etc.] Dublin

Additional info:

• Case: I've done a bit of research and like the look of the Nanoxia Deep Silence One and Corsair Carbide 330R cases and they seem to be well thought of and I like their more understated minimalist looks.
  
  
• GPU: The 7970 from the bargain alerts thread from OCUK looks like the best option for me as it's got the 3gb of vram for playing BF4 on recommended settings and Nvidia cards don't seem to be matching AMD in the BF4 beta. I know it's overkill for my current monitor but I'll eventually get a new monitor. Will there be any issues If I was to crossfire this in the future would I need another exact same 7970 or would any 7970 do?
  
  
• SSD only? I think I could do without a HD (initially) in this build, instead relying on SSDs for the OS/BF4 as I've a good laptop for other tasks and I'd like to build a NAS eventually. The Samsung 840 250gb seem to be looking like a front runner to me.
  
  
• Finally, is it smart to order parts from various retailers? Amazon seem to be the best place for deals and availability on SSDs, case and peripherals, OCUK for the GPU, or am I better off getting everything from a single retailer such as HWVD which mightn't have some of the parts immediately?

I'm not sure what PSUs, fans, motherboards and CPUs to look at so any additional information there would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading and any advice and recommendations welcome.

creep

Item|Price
8GB-Kit Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 MHz CL9|€79.79
be quiet! SYSTEM POWER 7 700W - bulk -|€76.03
HIS HD 7950 IceQ Boost Clock GDDR5 3072MB DVI/HDMI/2xMiniDP|€230.93
Samsung SSD 840 120GB SATA 6Gb/s|€94.99
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO - Intel/AMD|€29.22
Intel Core i5-4670K Box, LGA1150|€205.95
ASRock Z87 Extreme4, Sockel 1150, ATX|€122.56
Nanoxia Deep Silence One Dark Anthracite, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€94.19
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit (SB-Version)|€82.78
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1035.43

How does this look. It has SLI support if you want to add a second graphics card.

Gumbi

Nice build, I'd stick in a Macho HR02 (better, queiter cooler for only a little more money, Haswell is hotter than Ivy). I'd also grab a 7970 Platinum from Overclockers UK for 222 pounds while they're there.

GigabyteD3Hs are the best z87 boards in their price range, IMO.

Morf

I'd go external DAC/headphone amp rather than a dedicated soundcard.

Certainly my own plan.

Either Schiit Magni and Modi or 02 ODAC combo.

EoinHef

http://www.hardwareversand.de/Solid-State-Disk/85974/Samsung+SSD+840+EVO+Basic+250GB+SATA+6Gb+s.article

The slightly larger 256gb ssd, bout the same price on amazon so could get it from either there or hwvs.

http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=GX-293-AS

Thats the gpu suggested by gumbi, ive been watching prices of it and availability all day today and they had 35 at that price when i first checked this morning and they've 28 left last I checked so id decide over the next day or two if you wanted one. Bargain at that price!

Edit: Just a thought, I dont know the dimensions of the deep silence case. It might be worth checking the size of the largest graphics card that will fit. Ive only a 7950 and its big, the Asus Matrix card above is even bigger!

Edit 2:That gpu seems to have gone back up to £289:(

yimrsg

Item|Price
Intel Core i7 4770k |€296.83

ASRock H87 Pro4|€76.64

8gb Corsair Vengence DDR3 1600|€79.79

Nanoxia Deep Silence one|€94.19

be quiet! System Power 7 700w|€80.60

Seagate Barracuda 7200 2000gb|€77.69

Samsung SSD EVO 250gb|€149.99

Thermalright HR-02 Macho Rev|€39.97

LG DH18NS dvd drive|€11.96

MS Windows 7 64 Bit SB|€83.82
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1035.43

I've come up with the above list from HWV, but I'm still looking for advice and input. I've not added in the gpu 7970 platinum from ocuk to the price but since it's dropped in price again it looks the best value.

The i7 is probably overkill but since bf4 (i think) uses hyperthreading I'm wondering if it's a worthwhile investment or am I better off going for an i5 4670k and saving ~ €100?

Is there much difference between windows 8 and 7? Do I need to buy extra cables, fans, anything obvious, etc with this before I order as I'm hoping to order either tomorrow or Saturday?

Thanks for reading.

Morf

At least one extra Sata cable.

TerrorFirmer

I'd stick with the 4670 to be honest. Won't make much of a difference. I would also get a new monitor now, while you have the money - believe me it's worth every single cent. You can always sell your current one as well, but the money you'd save from sticking with the 4670k is a good chunk of a 1080P monitor already.

yimrsg

Morf wrote: »

At least one extra Sata cable.

Cheers, knew I'd forget something.

TerrorFirmer wrote: »

I'd stick with the 4670 to be honest. Won't make much of a difference. I would also get a new monitor now, while you have the money - believe me it's worth every single cent. You can always sell your current one as well, but the money you'd save from sticking with the 4670k is a good chunk of a 1080P monitor already.

Yeah, I'm looking at getting a 1440p monitor so any savings would go towards that.

EoinHef

I would do a little research if you do plan to buy the 7970 matrix from ocuk simply because of its size.

Its a 3 slot card so may not be the best option if you were sure you are going to look to add a second gpu at a later date.

A few of the lads here have 7970's in crossfire so they maybe able to give you more specifics about best brands/coolers to get to do it.

Second card doesnt need to be the same as the first, aslong as there both 7970's you can xfire, its called xfire if the cards are different brands/models

Unless your gonna get a higher res monitor ie 1440p,1600p you wouldnt need a second card for 1080p

yimrsg

EoinHef wrote: »

I would do a little research if you do plan to buy the 7970 matrix from ocuk simply because of its size.

Its a 3 slot card so may not be the best option if you were sure you are going to look to add a second gpu at a later date.

A few of the lads here have 7970's in crossfire so they maybe able to give you more specifics about best brands/coolers to get to do it.

Second card doesnt need to be the same as the first, aslong as there both 7970's you can xfire, its called xfire if the cards are different brands/models

Unless your gonna get a higher res monitor ie 1440p,1600p you wouldnt need a second card for 1080p

Checked the size of the card it's big but not too big for the case, it's got 8 slots and has enough room to accommodate it. The card is under 300mm and the case can take 315mm.

It's the only bad point with the card but in terms of performance, it's the best option as it's very similar to some of the better 280x's and beats some of the lesser models in framerate tests with a much more competitive price.

EoinHef

yimrsg wrote: »

Checked the size of the card it's big but not too big for the case, it's got 8 slots and has enough room to accommodate it. The card is under 300mm and the case can take 315mm.

It's the only bad point with the card but in terms of performance, it's the best option as it's very similar to some of the better 280x's and beats some of the lesser models in framerate tests with a much more competitive price.

Without a doubt it looks a very good card,especially at that price,i only mention the size in relation to crossfire really as you said you were thinking of it at a later date

You would need to make sure you have good airflow in the case for temps if you did decide crossfire

BloodBath

I'd go with something like this. You're not going to need dual cards unless you go 1440p or higher. The newer 1080p ips panels would offer a far better picture quality than your current monitor and you have the budget to get one.

You could still use your old monitor as a secondary one for a dual desktop display. You could game on the new ips panel while having your desktop open on the other.

A good 280x at €265 is surely a better choice than a 7970. How much was that?

A 120gb ssd is plenty big for your os and non gaming programs while you can run your games from the fast 1tb wd blue. Loading times are really not an issue with this drive. I just got one myself recently.

All your peripherals are there as well except for the keyboard which you will have to get elsewhere as the German layout is different.

You could probably get a discount to reduce the price on that by over €100. There is a post on the forum somewhere about it.

Item|Price
Intel Core i5-4670K Box, LGA1150|€204.61
Thermalright HR-02 Macho Rev.A (BW)|€39.97
Gigabyte Radeon R9 280X, 3GB DDR5, PCI-Express|€264.48
8GB-Kit G-Skill RipJaws PC3-12800U CL9|€70.23
Samsung SSD 840 EVO Basic 120GB SATA 6Gb/s|€89.99
WD Caviar Blue 1TB 6Gb's|€54.42
Nanoxia Deep Silence One Dark Black, ATX, ohne Netzteil|€94.13
Samsung SH-224DB schwarz|€16.65
Sharkoon Drakonia Gaming Laser Mouse|€24.26
LogiLink USB 2.0 all-in-one Card Reader, für 3,5" Einbauchschacht|€3.32
ASUS PCE-N15|€14.90
MS Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit SB-Version Englisch|€86.63
Plantronics Headset GameCom 780|€52.28
be quiet! SYSTEM POWER 7 700W - bulk -|€79.93
2 x LogiLink SATA 0.9m Kabel mit Sicherungslasche,|€2.44
ASRock Z87 Extreme4, Sockel 1150, ATX|€121.68
LG Flatron 24EA53VQ|€151.83
SHARKOON Mat Fireground|€15.99
Shipping|€18.99
Total|€1406.73

Dcully

Just to add, W8 is giving 20%-30% fps boost over W7 in BF4.

killanena

Dcully wrote: »

Just to add, W8 is giving 20%-30% fps boost over W7 in BF4.

Win 8.1 is have issues launching a lot of different games at the moment as well though, There is work around however but win 7 seems to be the main gaming platform for now.

Hoping that the Steam OS can replace win 7 though because Microsoft don't care about PC gamers.

Dcully

killanena wrote: »

Win 8.1 is have issues launching a lot of different games at the moment as well though, There is work around however but win 7 seems to be the main gaming platform for now.

Hoping that the Steam OS can replace win 7 though because Microsoft don't care about PC gamers.

Yeah im still on W7 for gaming, but W8 is the best for BF4, since the OP is building for BF4 i thought it worth a mention.

yimrsg

Thanks for the replies and advice here, it really helped me to make my build. Ordered it on Saturday and made the bank transfer. Have to wait till the 29th as a few things aren't due in till then. Won't be playing BF4 at launch but it's no biggie.

It's very similar to Bloodbath's post except for a couple of things:

• 250gb Samsung instead of the 120gb as I wanted to install BF4 on an ssd along with the OS.
• Went with windows 8 as I wanted to see what it's like. Possibly silly but I wanted to try it out.
• Asus 280x Top instead of the Gigabyte as it's quieter under load and I feel is a better brand.
• Didn't get a 1080 monitor as I'm looking at going straight to 1440p. Money saved here went on the larger ssd and the gpu
• Didn't get a headset as I've a senn 598 and beyer dt770, so I'm more than covered already.

http://geizhals.de/ is brilliant; saved me ~ €28 on the graphics card alone and was great at knocking down prices even on sata cables.

The order from HWV came to just under €1200 so I've €100 to get a mouse and keyboard which is nice. Anything I don't spend will go towards BF4 and the monitor.

Thanks again for the help, really appreciate it.

yimrsg

So I got the parts from HWV last Wednesday and assembled it over the weekend.

But before that a bit of a rant about Hardwareversande. I'd a nightmare waiting for the delivery as 8 items went out of stock, some with no delivery dates and one that was removed from the website and had zero correspondence from them. It got so bad that I actually requested a refund as HWV didn't bother replying to any of my emails apart from automated ticket responses. In the end they disregarded my refund request and sent the parts but I'd be reluctant to use them again after my shoddy experience.

On to the build, I did an external build first and although it added on a good few hours on to the total time it was a reassuring to know that the motherboard, psu, cpu and gpu worked. The CPU cooler gave me the most trouble as I though it was the wrong size (1155) rather than the CPU's 1150 and I put it the wrong way around and had to reapply the thermal paste. But she went on and is working fine.

Having a motherboard with reset and power switches as well as a LED display and clear CMOS button is great as having to fiddle with shorting out switches to power on isn't exactly a relaxing experience for a first time builder. I thought I'd fcuked up once or twice only for a press of a button to restart my heart and the machine.

If I was doing it again I'd go with a modular PSU as the Deep Silence case hasn't much space behind the motherboard and would make life easier for arranging the cables. Also check your packaging as I bought a sata cable in currys only to return to home to find 2, I took out and forgotten about buried under a mountain of manuals. Finally taking off the big power cables from the motherboard after the external build was a nightmare, so if you're going to do an external build get some plastic spatulas or coated tweezers as they're a pox to get off.

I didn't get a good chance to try out BF4 for long but it's putting out over 100 frames per second on ultra and high is usually between 120 and 150 for the training level using my 1050 monitor and I haven't had a chance to test what temps are like under load. I'm still not 100% finished yet as the wifi card isn't working and I don't have the all the cabling right so I'll be tinkering again this weekend. I'll post pictures to the picture thread when it's all sorted.

Shazer01

Bf4 is nowhere near the quality of bf3. The creators of bf3 are working on a new star wars game. The crowd that made medal of honour made bf3. So is not as good. In fact it is not even in the ball park.

yimrsg wrote: »

1. What is your budget? Ideally under €1300, though I could stretch it to 1400

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? I'd like to play BF4 on ultra and I'd also like to use it for listening to music on headphones too so maybe I'd need to budget in a good soundcard?

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Yes

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? [Hard drive/DVD Drive/Case/PSU/etc.] (If possible state brand and model of the parts to ensure compatibility) No

5. Do you need a monitor? No

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [1920x1080/1440x900/etc.] [Yes/No] 1680x1050 Samsung 226BW which I'm very happy with still. I'd like to move up to 1200 or 1440 at some point after Xmas but I'm not 100% when.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Keyboard/Mouse/Wireless Card/Card Reader/Speakers/etc.] Yes to all, except speakers as I'd prefer to use headphones.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [Yes/No] Yes, but I'm not really that bothered.

8. How can you pay? [Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser] All methods

9. When are you purchasing? [In x days] Looking to order within 2/3 weeks.

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [South Dublin City/Cork City/Kerry/etc.] Dublin

Additional info:

• Case: I've done a bit of research and like the look of the Nanoxia Deep Silence One and Corsair Carbide 330R cases and they seem to be well thought of and I like their more understated minimalist looks.
  
  
• GPU: The 7970 from the bargain alerts thread from OCUK looks like the best option for me as it's got the 3gb of vram for playing BF4 on recommended settings and Nvidia cards don't seem to be matching AMD in the BF4 beta. I know it's overkill for my current monitor but I'll eventually get a new monitor. Will there be any issues If I was to crossfire this in the future would I need another exact same 7970 or would any 7970 do?
  
  
• SSD only? I think I could do without a HD (initially) in this build, instead relying on SSDs for the OS/BF4 as I've a good laptop for other tasks and I'd like to build a NAS eventually. The Samsung 840 250gb seem to be looking like a front runner to me.
  
  
• Finally, is it smart to order parts from various retailers? Amazon seem to be the best place for deals and availability on SSDs, case and peripherals, OCUK for the GPU, or am I better off getting everything from a single retailer such as HWVD which mightn't have some of the parts immediately?

I'm not sure what PSUs, fans, motherboards and CPUs to look at so any additional information there would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading and any advice and recommendations welcome.

Shazer01

Bf4 is nowhere near the quality of bf3. The creators of bf3 are working on a new star wars game. The crowd that made medal of honour made bf3. So is not as good. In fact it is not even in the ball park.

yimrsg wrote: »

1. What is your budget? Ideally under €1300, though I could stretch it to 1400

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? I'd like to play BF4 on ultra and I'd also like to use it for listening to music on headphones too so maybe I'd need to budget in a good soundcard?

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Yes

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? [Hard drive/DVD Drive/Case/PSU/etc.] (If possible state brand and model of the parts to ensure compatibility) No

5. Do you need a monitor? No

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [1920x1080/1440x900/etc.] [Yes/No] 1680x1050 Samsung 226BW which I'm very happy with still. I'd like to move up to 1200 or 1440 at some point after Xmas but I'm not 100% when.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Keyboard/Mouse/Wireless Card/Card Reader/Speakers/etc.] Yes to all, except speakers as I'd prefer to use headphones.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [Yes/No] Yes, but I'm not really that bothered.

8. How can you pay? [Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser] All methods

9. When are you purchasing? [In x days] Looking to order within 2/3 weeks.

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [South Dublin City/Cork City/Kerry/etc.] Dublin

Additional info:

• Case: I've done a bit of research and like the look of the Nanoxia Deep Silence One and Corsair Carbide 330R cases and they seem to be well thought of and I like their more understated minimalist looks.
  
  
• GPU: The 7970 from the bargain alerts thread from OCUK looks like the best option for me as it's got the 3gb of vram for playing BF4 on recommended settings and Nvidia cards don't seem to be matching AMD in the BF4 beta. I know it's overkill for my current monitor but I'll eventually get a new monitor. Will there be any issues If I was to crossfire this in the future would I need another exact same 7970 or would any 7970 do?
  
  
• SSD only? I think I could do without a HD (initially) in this build, instead relying on SSDs for the OS/BF4 as I've a good laptop for other tasks and I'd like to build a NAS eventually. The Samsung 840 250gb seem to be looking like a front runner to me.
  
  
• Finally, is it smart to order parts from various retailers? Amazon seem to be the best place for deals and availability on SSDs, case and peripherals, OCUK for the GPU, or am I better off getting everything from a single retailer such as HWVD which mightn't have some of the parts immediately?

I'm not sure what PSUs, fans, motherboards and CPUs to look at so any additional information there would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading and any advice and recommendations welcome.

Shazer01

Bf4 is nowhere near the quality of bf3. The creators of bf3 are working on a new star wars game. The crowd that made medal of honour made bf3. So is not as good. In fact it is not even in the ball park.

yimrsg wrote: »

1. What is your budget? Ideally under €1300, though I could stretch it to 1400

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? I'd like to play BF4 on ultra and I'd also like to use it for listening to music on headphones too so maybe I'd need to budget in a good soundcard?

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Yes

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? [Hard drive/DVD Drive/Case/PSU/etc.] (If possible state brand and model of the parts to ensure compatibility) No

5. Do you need a monitor? No

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [1920x1080/1440x900/etc.] [Yes/No] 1680x1050 Samsung 226BW which I'm very happy with still. I'd like to move up to 1200 or 1440 at some point after Xmas but I'm not 100% when.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Keyboard/Mouse/Wireless Card/Card Reader/Speakers/etc.] Yes to all, except speakers as I'd prefer to use headphones.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [Yes/No] Yes, but I'm not really that bothered.

8. How can you pay? [Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser] All methods

9. When are you purchasing? [In x days] Looking to order within 2/3 weeks.

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [South Dublin City/Cork City/Kerry/etc.] Dublin

Additional info:

• Case: I've done a bit of research and like the look of the Nanoxia Deep Silence One and Corsair Carbide 330R cases and they seem to be well thought of and I like their more understated minimalist looks.
  
  
• GPU: The 7970 from the bargain alerts thread from OCUK looks like the best option for me as it's got the 3gb of vram for playing BF4 on recommended settings and Nvidia cards don't seem to be matching AMD in the BF4 beta. I know it's overkill for my current monitor but I'll eventually get a new monitor. Will there be any issues If I was to crossfire this in the future would I need another exact same 7970 or would any 7970 do?
  
  
• SSD only? I think I could do without a HD (initially) in this build, instead relying on SSDs for the OS/BF4 as I've a good laptop for other tasks and I'd like to build a NAS eventually. The Samsung 840 250gb seem to be looking like a front runner to me.
  
  
• Finally, is it smart to order parts from various retailers? Amazon seem to be the best place for deals and availability on SSDs, case and peripherals, OCUK for the GPU, or am I better off getting everything from a single retailer such as HWVD which mightn't have some of the parts immediately?

I'm not sure what PSUs, fans, motherboards and CPUs to look at so any additional information there would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading and any advice and recommendations welcome.

Shazer01

Bf4 is nowhere near the quality of bf3. The creators of bf3 are working on a new star wars game. The crowd that made medal of honour made bf3. So is not as good. In fact it is not even in the ball park.

yimrsg wrote: »

1. What is your budget? Ideally under €1300, though I could stretch it to 1400

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? I'd like to play BF4 on ultra and I'd also like to use it for listening to music on headphones too so maybe I'd need to budget in a good soundcard?

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Yes

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? [Hard drive/DVD Drive/Case/PSU/etc.] (If possible state brand and model of the parts to ensure compatibility) No

5. Do you need a monitor? No

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [1920x1080/1440x900/etc.] [Yes/No] 1680x1050 Samsung 226BW which I'm very happy with still. I'd like to move up to 1200 or 1440 at some point after Xmas but I'm not 100% when.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Keyboard/Mouse/Wireless Card/Card Reader/Speakers/etc.] Yes to all, except speakers as I'd prefer to use headphones.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [Yes/No] Yes, but I'm not really that bothered.

8. How can you pay? [Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser] All methods

9. When are you purchasing? [In x days] Looking to order within 2/3 weeks.

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [South Dublin City/Cork City/Kerry/etc.] Dublin

Additional info:

• Case: I've done a bit of research and like the look of the Nanoxia Deep Silence One and Corsair Carbide 330R cases and they seem to be well thought of and I like their more understated minimalist looks.
  
  
• GPU: The 7970 from the bargain alerts thread from OCUK looks like the best option for me as it's got the 3gb of vram for playing BF4 on recommended settings and Nvidia cards don't seem to be matching AMD in the BF4 beta. I know it's overkill for my current monitor but I'll eventually get a new monitor. Will there be any issues If I was to crossfire this in the future would I need another exact same 7970 or would any 7970 do?
  
  
• SSD only? I think I could do without a HD (initially) in this build, instead relying on SSDs for the OS/BF4 as I've a good laptop for other tasks and I'd like to build a NAS eventually. The Samsung 840 250gb seem to be looking like a front runner to me.
  
  
• Finally, is it smart to order parts from various retailers? Amazon seem to be the best place for deals and availability on SSDs, case and peripherals, OCUK for the GPU, or am I better off getting everything from a single retailer such as HWVD which mightn't have some of the parts immediately?

I'm not sure what PSUs, fans, motherboards and CPUs to look at so any additional information there would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading and any advice and recommendations welcome.

Shazer01

Bf4 is nowhere near the quality of bf3. The creators of bf3 are working on a new star wars game. The crowd that made medal of honour made bf3. So is not as good. In fact it is not even in the ball park.

yimrsg wrote: »

1. What is your budget? Ideally under €1300, though I could stretch it to 1400

2. What will be the main purpose of the computer? I'd like to play BF4 on ultra and I'd also like to use it for listening to music on headphones too so maybe I'd need to budget in a good soundcard?

3. Do you need a copy of Windows? Yes

4. Can you use any parts from an old computer? [Hard drive/DVD Drive/Case/PSU/etc.] (If possible state brand and model of the parts to ensure compatibility) No

5. Do you need a monitor? No

5b. If no, what resolution is your current monitor and do you plan to upgrade in the near future? [1920x1080/1440x900/etc.] [Yes/No] 1680x1050 Samsung 226BW which I'm very happy with still. I'd like to move up to 1200 or 1440 at some point after Xmas but I'm not 100% when.

6. Do you need any of these peripherals? [Keyboard/Mouse/Wireless Card/Card Reader/Speakers/etc.] Yes to all, except speakers as I'd prefer to use headphones.

7. Are you willing to try overclocking? [Yes/No] Yes, but I'm not really that bothered.

8. How can you pay? [Bank Transfer/Credit Card/Laser] All methods

9. When are you purchasing? [In x days] Looking to order within 2/3 weeks.

10. If you need help building it, where are you based? [South Dublin City/Cork City/Kerry/etc.] Dublin

Additional info:

• Case: I've done a bit of research and like the look of the Nanoxia Deep Silence One and Corsair Carbide 330R cases and they seem to be well thought of and I like their more understated minimalist looks.
  
  
• GPU: The 7970 from the bargain alerts thread from OCUK looks like the best option for me as it's got the 3gb of vram for playing BF4 on recommended settings and Nvidia cards don't seem to be matching AMD in the BF4 beta. I know it's overkill for my current monitor but I'll eventually get a new monitor. Will there be any issues If I was to crossfire this in the future would I need another exact same 7970 or would any 7970 do?
  
  
• SSD only? I think I could do without a HD (initially) in this build, instead relying on SSDs for the OS/BF4 as I've a good laptop for other tasks and I'd like to build a NAS eventually. The Samsung 840 250gb seem to be looking like a front runner to me.
  
  
• Finally, is it smart to order parts from various retailers? Amazon seem to be the best place for deals and availability on SSDs, case and peripherals, OCUK for the GPU, or am I better off getting everything from a single retailer such as HWVD which mightn't have some of the parts immediately?

I'm not sure what PSUs, fans, motherboards and CPUs to look at so any additional information there would be greatly appreciated. Thanks for reading and any advice and recommendations welcome.

BloodBath

Wtf Shazer? Did you have a stroke or something?

Yimrsg, that's the risk you take with HWVS. Prices are great but if anything goes tits up communication with them is a pain. Sounds like you got through it ok though. Post up some pics.

Shazer01

Sorry dude. I was using my phone app for this and whatever happened it just went bananas and started reposting like crazy. Had to switch off my phone.

BloodBath wrote: »

Wtf Shazer? Did you have a stroke or something?

Yimrsg, that's the risk you take with HWVS. Prices are great but if anything goes tits up communication with them is a pain. Sounds like you got through it ok though. Post up some pics.

SterlingArcher

BloodBath wrote: »

Wtf Shazer? Did you have a stroke or something?

Yimrsg, that's the risk you take with HWVS. Prices are great but if anything goes tits up communication with them is a pain. Sounds like you got through it ok though. Post up some pics.

Bahahha might have had an epileptic fit playing battlefield 4. Another reason for him to hate it.