# buying: G840 & 6850 for BF3. links & prices posted: please advise!



## Hops n Barley (Oct 28, 2007)

i am going as low as possible to run BF3 and this is what i have come up with, i am going to buy them in several hours. all money in £


g840 £50

Intel Pentium G840 2.80Ghz (Sandy Bridge) Socket LGA1155 - Retail. | BX80623G840

h61 motherboard 40
Gigabyte GA-H61M-S2PV Intel H61 (Socket 1155) Motherboard | GA-H61M-S2PV

msi cyclone hd6850 110
MSI AMD Radeon HD 6850 Cyclone PE/OC 1024MB GDDR5 | R6850 CYCLONE 1GD5 PE/OC

ddr3 ram 9

Novatech 2GB (1x2GB) DDR3 PC3-10666C9 1333MHz Single Channel Kit | RAM-313332

hard drive 50

Seagate Momentus 7200.4 320GB 16MB Cache Hard Drive SATA II 7200RPM - OEM | ST9320423AS

samsung led monitor 70

Samsung S19A100NS 19" Widescreen LED monitor | LS19A100NS/EN

cheap novatech case 15
Novatech Cougar ATX Case | NOV-COUGAR

what is the difference between the different monitors? like led lit and lcd? which is better?

i am going to use my psu 500W peak FSP

do you think i am going down the right path?


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## emosun (Oct 4, 2006)

Not at all really , the 6850 alone should have a GOOD quality 650w+ on it , if you use a cheap junker power supply you'll burn it out along with the card itself.

The monitor is lower res then some old crt's from the 90's so I wouldn't even bother.

If your trying to save money stick with AMD cpu's , you'll get much more for your money. Also , your wasting money on a 6850 and ignoring the ram , which battlefield 3 uses almost 3gb by itself.

Have a look at our suggested builds in the first sticky in this section.


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

You're much better off holding back and saving up to build a better quality machine. You need a good quality 650w or better PSU for the 6850.

2gb of RAM and a single-core CPU will really suck.

If your goal is minimum playable, I think you'll get much more out of your money if you build off this CPU/GPU:
AMD APU A6 - 3500 Triple Core Processor - AD3500OJGXBOX - Scan.co.uk

Get 4gb of RAM, preferably ddr3-1600 if you can afford it (it will speed up graphics), and you should get very smooth BF3 performance on low-medium graphics.

Rough suggested list:

A6-3500
A55 ASUS/GIGABYTE Motherboard
4gb DDR3-1600
550w PSU
w/e HDD
w/e Case
w/e DVD-Burner


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

Better yet, look over our suggested build list: http://www.techsupportforum.com/for...evised-2012-and-updated-regularly-448272.html


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## Alvarion (Jun 30, 2011)

emosun said:


> Not at all really , the 6850 alone should have a GOOD quality 650w+ on it , if you use a cheap junker power supply you'll burn it out along with the card itself.


Ohgod I'm using a 550w Xilence PSU with a 6850


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## A1tecice (Jun 1, 2010)

Alvarion said:


> Ohgod I'm using a 550w Xilence PSU with a 6850


Chances are that PSU will only be able to put out 550W in "Perfect Conditions" or for a very short period of time. Stick to our guide .

Thanks,
Altie


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## Alvarion (Jun 30, 2011)

I'm building a new system in fall, I hope that it lasts that long  (won't be reusing any components)


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## A1tecice (Jun 1, 2010)

Alvarion said:


> I'm building a new system in fall, I hope that it lasts that long  (won't be reusing any components)


Good choice . its best to save now to buy better later. Or just an xbox to play BF3 on


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## Hops n Barley (Oct 28, 2007)

toothman said:


> You're much better off holding back and saving up to build a better quality machine. You need a good quality 650w or better PSU for the 6850.
> 
> 2gb of RAM and a single-core CPU will really suck.
> 
> ...


the a6 3500 is in the same tier as the g840 Gaming CPU Hierarchy Chart : Best Gaming CPUs For The Money: March 2012



emosun said:


> Not at all really , the 6850 alone should have a GOOD quality 650w+ on it , if you use a cheap junker power supply you'll burn it out along with the card itself.
> 
> The monitor is lower res then some old crt's from the 90's so I wouldn't even bother.
> 
> ...


FSP are good quality. according to this i need 450 min? Power requirements for graphics cards | MSI HQ User-to-User FAQ

ok everyone here has said that this system is not good enough, so here is my evidence against you, let me know what you think. I can afford a much better computer if i wanted to, but i don't want to spend more than i need to because it's a waste.

G840 is very nearly as good as the i3 when combined with a decent Gfx card,
AMD Or Intel: Which Offers Better Gaming Performance? : Picking A Sub-$200 Gaming CPU: FX, An APU, Or A Pentium?
(Okay that's the G860 in that test, but you get the idea )

here the similar i3 gets more than 30 fps in bf3 with 6850 Benchmark Results: Battlefield 3 : AMD FX Vs. Intel Core i3: Exploring Game Performance With Cheap GPUs 

so i am confused now guys!

this is a quote from a different forum 

"pentium G840 in my works pc plays the game bf3 great with a GTX 285 @ 1080p

admittedly not at highest settings but its more than acceptable "

if i am going to get a better cpu i am thinking a i3 2100?


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

First off FSP are not good quality power supplies and even Amd recommeneds 500 watt or greater for the 6850. Add 30% to that and that's where you get 650w. Power supplies degrade over time and power output decreases so that's where the add 30% comes from. It's your money and your choice, but I always leave my self headroom in the power department.


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## Hops n Barley (Oct 28, 2007)

Amd_Man said:


> First off FSP are not good quality power supplies and even Amd recommeneds 500 watt or greater for the 6850. Add 30% to that and that's where you get 650w. Power supplies degrade over time and power output decreases so that's where the add 30% comes from. It's your money and your choice, but I always leave my self headroom in the power department.


cooler master? i don't know which one to choose on the site

Coolermaster GX 650W 80PLUS® Power Supply | RS650-ACAAD3-UK

2nd Generation Intel® Core

so the 2120?


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## Hops n Barley (Oct 28, 2007)

I'm going with the OCZ ZS 650 W psu

and the 2120 as above

sound good?


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

xfx, seasonic and corsair (not gs or cx models) are good.

I am not sure who told you FSP were good quality but they were lying. I used to test power supplies for a living and FSP were always in Tier 4 with 1 being great, 2 being ok 3, being crap and 4 being worst of the worst.

OCz are at the bottom of Tier 2 and coolermaster are at the top of Tier 2 you should always aim for a Tier 1 power supply.


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## tanveerahmed2k (Jan 25, 2011)

This guy knows how to roll with low budgets


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## A1tecice (Jun 1, 2010)

Well building computers for demanding games such as BF3 isisnt cheap and if a jobs worth doing, its worth doing right.

I am the same with AMD_MAN i have two 480gtx's in sli + overclocked I7 + cathoes + fans i COULD get away with an 1kW power supply but I opted for the 1250W just to make sure the PSU isn't running full pelt all the time + the degrading factor.

Enermax ERV1250EGT Revolution 85+ 1250W Modular Power Supply (PSU) - Scan.co.uk

Thanks,
Altie


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## Hops n Barley (Oct 28, 2007)

tanveerahmed2k said:


> This guy knows how to roll with low budgets


hehe I'm like my dad, only buy what i need. I can afford more but don't want to. 

I have bought everything now, and I'm installing bf3 (4GB patch download!).

got the i3 2120 even though i didn't want to, and the 650 W psu


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

Did you go with 4gb of RAM or did you stick with 2gb?

with enough RAM the i3 and 6850 should handle BF3 very well


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## Hops n Barley (Oct 28, 2007)

toothman said:


> Did you go with 4gb of RAM or did you stick with 2gb?
> 
> with enough RAM the i3 and 6850 should handle BF3 very well


i got the 1600 cosair 4 gb! you play bf3?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

What 650W PSU?
Is the 4GB of RAM a 2x2GB matched pair or a single stick?


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## Hops n Barley (Oct 28, 2007)

Tyree said:


> What 650W PSU?
> Is the 4GB of RAM a 2x2GB matched pair or a single stick?


i got the ocz zs

i got a single stick, matched pair better or the same?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

OCZ PSU's (the model you selected is made by Sirtec) are not the best option for good quality. 
A matched pair of RAM is preferred so you get Dual Channel Mode and it's considerable performance advantages.


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## Hops n Barley (Oct 28, 2007)

Tyree said:


> OCZ PSU's (the model you selected is made by Sirtec) are not the best option for good quality.
> A matched pair of RAM is preferred so you get Dual Channel Mode and it's considerable performance advantages.


bummer. i googled them and one page said they were okay and another page with a rigorous testing review said they were great. i shall see if my computer burns out then.

the computer is a little too good for me, i should have stuck with the g840. i can play bf3 on ultra  would of saved £40


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## Amd_Man (Jan 27, 2009)

We recomended against OCZ from the start!


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

Hops n Barley said:


> i got the 1600 cosair 4 gb! you play bf3?


Nice choice on the RAM. No, I haven't played BF3 yet, but I've looked at a lot of information and the 6850's BF3 performance specifically for a friend recently. As you know now, it's got quite some bang for buck!

I wouldn't worry too much about having overspent. Going cheap only feels good when you first build it - down the road you feeling like you'd rather have the better computer computer than an extra £40. And spending £40 on building it good right now is much better than figuring out how to upgrade it later.


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## Hops n Barley (Oct 28, 2007)

greenbrucelee said:


> xfx, seasonic and corsair (not gs or cx models) are good.
> 
> I am not sure who told you FSP were good quality but they were lying. I used to test power supplies for a living and FSP were always in Tier 4 with 1 being great, 2 being ok 3, being crap and 4 being worst of the worst.
> 
> OCz are at the bottom of Tier 2 and coolermaster are at the top of Tier 2 you should always aim for a Tier 1 power supply.


unfortunately, due to my impatience and stupidity, I bought an OCZ power supply. I now regret it. The reason i thought i could get away with this is because i quickly googled the model and saw good reviews just before i bought it.

My question to you is, do these reviews mean anything? can I trust what they say and do their testing methods show anything of worth?

OCZ ZS Series 650 W Power Supply Review | Hardware Secrets

OCZ ZS series 650W power supply review


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

OCZ isn't horrible. None of the techs here recommend them because SeaSonic, XFX, and Corsair are much better and are priced similarly. If you can get a refund for the OCZ and purchase something more reliable, I would recommend that. Maybe sell it to a friend haha. But I wouldn't feel too worried about it blowing up on you. I would just replace it whenever you get a decent chance.

The reviews and testing do not represent realistic conditions of a gaming computer after several months of use. So take reviews with a grain of salt. The most experienced techs here has sold and replaced many PSUs and have compiled their suggestions based on experience.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

what he said ^

When I used to test power supplies in my job, I tested them in ideal conditions just like the majority of reviews on the internet do and also tested them in a proper home environment and the differences could be quite dramatic.


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## tanveerahmed2k (Jan 25, 2011)

My frieng has ordered i5 processor and parts to build his pc with a ocz psu and plans to get a gpu month later what should i tell him?


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## toothman (Jul 13, 2008)

Depends on the wattage of the PSU. A good-quality 650w is recommended for most video cards.


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

tanveerahmed2k said:


> My frieng has ordered i5 processor and parts to build his pc with a ocz psu and plans to get a gpu month later what should i tell him?


Tell him he is outing his components at risk using a lower quality PSU.
The power needed is dependent on the GPU.
That could be from 550W to 850W.


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