Hello everyone,
Recently two of my friends asked me to build computers for them. The goal was simple. Play Battlefield 4 on Ultra at 1920x1080 (1080p.)
One friend went with an Intel-Nvidia Build and the other got an all AMD Build.
KDevil's AMD Battlefield 4 Build:
CASE:
CM Storm Stryker (www.coolermaster.com)
Supported Motherboards: Micro ATX/ATX/XL ATX
5.25" Drive Bays: 9
Expansion Slots: 9+1
Dimensions : 9.8" x 23.8" x 22.8"
Price : US$ 159.99
We used the case my friend previously had after servicing it and replacing fans. It has been a great case that has served him well over the year.
CPU:
AMD FX-9370 (www.amd.com)
Core Clock: 4.4 GHz
Turbo Clock: 4.7GHZ
8-Core
L3 Cache: 8MB
Price: US$ 289.99
AMDs newest offerings, the 9370 is the cheaper of the two (The other being 9590.) Performance wise its pretty spectacular although tends to run a bit hot and sits at 220W TDP (Gulp!) Comes bundled with a Liquid Cooler (Re-badged Antec Kuhler H2O 620)
MOTHERBOARD:
ASRock 990FX Extreme9 (www.asrock.com)
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Max Memory: 64GB
PCI-E 2.0 x16: 4
PCI-E 2.0 x1: 1
SATA Connectors: 8 x SATAIII
Price: US$ 179.99
One of only 3 motherboards that can support the 9 Series CPUs, it is a very rock solid motherboard.
VIDEO CARD:
ASUS R9290 (www.asus.com)
Interface: PCI-E 3.0 x16
Core Clock : 947 MHz
Stream Processors: 2560
Memory: 4GB 512-bit GDDR5
Ports: 1 HDMI, 2 DVI, 1 DisplayPort
Power Connector: 6 +8 Pin
Dimensions: 10.9" x 4.3" x 1.4"
Price: US$ 399.99
AMDs newest offerings have beaten current Nvidia cards handily in both power and price. As is with AMD though, runs hot. They can output to 4K monitors so maybe in the future I can help them get one ^_^
SOUND CARD:
CREATIVE Sound Blaster ZX (www.creative.com)
Channels: 5.1
Sample Rate: Front Out: 192kHz, Headphones: 96kHz
SNR: Front Out: 116 dB, Headphones: >105dB
Interface: PCI Express x1
Price: US$ 99.99
The new line of Sound Blaster cards from Creative, Flashy looking red ^_^
RAM:
AMD Radeon RG2133 Gamer Series (www.amd.com)
Capacity: 4 x 4GB
Speed: 2133
Price: US$ 179.99
AMD has also started their own gaming RAM series and we were very excited to test it out. So far so good and just a head's up, RAM speeds in BF4 really matter so go above 1600 if you can. You will not be disappointed. You can get away with 8GB of Ram as well.
POWER SUPPLY:
Corsair AX860 (www.corsair.com)
Max Power: 860W
Active PFC
PCI-E Connectors: 6 x 6+2-Pin
SATA Connectors: 12
Fully Modular
80+ Platinum Certified
Price; US$ 189.99
A very good power supply for a power hungry system. Fully modular helps in keeping it nice and tidy inside the system.
LIQUID COOLING:
We went with the provided liquid cooler. In the event it does not work as well as we would like, I will be switching it out with potentially a Corsair H100i
HARD DRIVE:
Samsung 840 Pro Series (www.samsung.com)
Capacity: 128GB
Interface: SATA III
Max Sequential Read: 530 MB/s
Max Sequential Write: 390MB/s
Price: US$127.99
A great SSD from Samsungs Pro series. You can never go wrong with samsung when it comes to SSD!
Seagate Barracuda (www.seagate.com)
Capacity: 1TB
Interface: SATA III
Speed: 7200RPM
Cache: 64MB
Price: US$69.99
A great dependable drive for every day use. Price is nice as well.
TOTAL:
US$ 1697.91 (If you include the case. Since he already had it, the SSD, HDD and the Motherboard, his price was a little lower : US$ 1159.95)
This build will give great performance at 1080p and I believe give good performance at resolutions above it as well since FX-9 Series are more than capable of fighting it out with Core i7. We also bought peripherals over the course of the two months so I will be listing that separately at the end as well.
KDevil's Intel-Nvidia Battlefield 4 Build:
CASE:
Corsair Graphite Series 600T Arctic White (www.corsair.com)
Supported Motherboards: Micro ATX/ATX
5.25" Drive Bays: 4
Expansion Slots: 8
Dimensions: 23.30" x 10.40" x 20.00"
Price: US$ 169.99
We reused his old case which is working great still. Replaced the fans (something I always like to do.)
CPU:
Intel Core i7-4770K (www.intel.com)
Core Clock : 3.5GHz
4-Core, 8-Threads
L3 Cache : 8MB
Price : US$ 339.99
The newest generation of Intel Processors with lower power usage in mind. Clocks in at 84W (Comparing it to the AMD one..... yeah...) Hyper Threading helps in every task and also in Battlefield 4.
MOTHERBOARD:
GIGABYTE GA-Z87X-UD3H (www.gigabyte.com)
Memory Supported :Max 32GB
PCI E 3.0 x16 : 2 ,PCI E x1 : 3 ,PCI : 1
SATA Connectors : 6+2 SATA III (2 diff. controllers)
Dimensions : 12in x 8.6in
Price : US$ 159.99
A great little motherboard. Not too many components, not too little.
VIDEO CARD:
GIGABYTE GTX 770 GV-N770WF3-4GD (www.gigabyte.com)
Interface : PCI E 3.0 x16
Core Clock : 1046 MHz
Boost Clock : 1085 MHz
CUDA Cores : 1536
Memory : 4GB 256-bit GDDR5
Ports : 1 HDMI, 1 DisplayPort, 2 DVI
Power Connectors : 2 x 8 Pin
Dimensions : 11.5" x 5.08" x 1.69"
Price : US$ 379.99
A solid card. Re-used from his old build
RAM:
G.Skill Ripjaws Series (www.gskill.com)
Capacity: 4 x 4GB
Speed: 1600
Price: US$ 139.99
Great set of RAMs which are very reliable. Used from older system.
POWER SUPPLY:
XFX P1-850X-XXB9 (www.xfxforce.com)
Max Power: 850W
Active PFC
PCI-E Connectors: 4 x 6+2-Pin
SATA Connectors: 10
Modular
80+ Bronze Certified
Price; US$ 139.99
A great PSU which is also Haswell Certified.
LIQUID COOLING:
Cooler Master Seidon 120 XL (www.coolermaster.com)
Radiator Dimensions : 150 x 120 x 38 mm
Fan Dimensions : 120 x 120 x 25 mm x2 fans
RPMs : 600-2400 RPM (PWM)
Air Flow : 19.17-86.15 CFM
Fan Noise : 19-40 dB
Price : US$ 89.99
Cooler Master's line of liquid coolers. Good build and good reviews.
HARD DRIVE:
Kingston HyperX 3K (www.kingston.com)
Capacity: 120GB
Interface: SATA III
Max Sequential Read: 555 MB/s
Max Sequential Write: 510MB/s
Price: US$99.99
One of the strongest enthusiast grade SSDs out there, with Kingston reliability!
Recently two of my friends asked me to build computers for them. The goal was simple. Play Battlefield 4 on Ultra at 1920x1080 (1080p.)
One friend went with an Intel-Nvidia Build and the other got an all AMD Build.
KDevil's AMD Battlefield 4 Build:
CASE:
CM Storm Stryker (www.coolermaster.com)
5.25" Drive Bays: 9
Expansion Slots: 9+1
Dimensions : 9.8" x 23.8" x 22.8"
Price : US$ 159.99
We used the case my friend previously had after servicing it and replacing fans. It has been a great case that has served him well over the year.
CPU:
AMD FX-9370 (www.amd.com)
Core Clock: 4.4 GHz
Turbo Clock: 4.7GHZ
8-Core
L3 Cache: 8MB
Price: US$ 289.99
AMDs newest offerings, the 9370 is the cheaper of the two (The other being 9590.) Performance wise its pretty spectacular although tends to run a bit hot and sits at 220W TDP (Gulp!) Comes bundled with a Liquid Cooler (Re-badged Antec Kuhler H2O 620)
MOTHERBOARD:
ASRock 990FX Extreme9 (www.asrock.com)
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PCI-E 2.0 x16: 4
PCI-E 2.0 x1: 1
SATA Connectors: 8 x SATAIII
Price: US$ 179.99
One of only 3 motherboards that can support the 9 Series CPUs, it is a very rock solid motherboard.
VIDEO CARD:
ASUS R9290 (www.asus.com)
Interface: PCI-E 3.0 x16
Core Clock : 947 MHz
Stream Processors: 2560
Memory: 4GB 512-bit GDDR5
Ports: 1 HDMI, 2 DVI, 1 DisplayPort
Power Connector: 6 +8 Pin
Dimensions: 10.9" x 4.3" x 1.4"
Price: US$ 399.99
AMDs newest offerings have beaten current Nvidia cards handily in both power and price. As is with AMD though, runs hot. They can output to 4K monitors so maybe in the future I can help them get one ^_^
SOUND CARD:
CREATIVE Sound Blaster ZX (www.creative.com)
Sample Rate: Front Out: 192kHz, Headphones: 96kHz
SNR: Front Out: 116 dB, Headphones: >105dB
Interface: PCI Express x1
Price: US$ 99.99
The new line of Sound Blaster cards from Creative, Flashy looking red ^_^
RAM:
AMD Radeon RG2133 Gamer Series (www.amd.com)
Capacity: 4 x 4GB
Speed: 2133
Price: US$ 179.99
AMD has also started their own gaming RAM series and we were very excited to test it out. So far so good and just a head's up, RAM speeds in BF4 really matter so go above 1600 if you can. You will not be disappointed. You can get away with 8GB of Ram as well.
POWER SUPPLY:
Corsair AX860 (www.corsair.com)
Active PFC
PCI-E Connectors: 6 x 6+2-Pin
SATA Connectors: 12
Fully Modular
80+ Platinum Certified
Price; US$ 189.99
A very good power supply for a power hungry system. Fully modular helps in keeping it nice and tidy inside the system.
LIQUID COOLING:
We went with the provided liquid cooler. In the event it does not work as well as we would like, I will be switching it out with potentially a Corsair H100i
HARD DRIVE:
Samsung 840 Pro Series (www.samsung.com)
Interface: SATA III
Max Sequential Read: 530 MB/s
Max Sequential Write: 390MB/s
Price: US$127.99
A great SSD from Samsungs Pro series. You can never go wrong with samsung when it comes to SSD!
Seagate Barracuda (www.seagate.com)
Interface: SATA III
Speed: 7200RPM
Cache: 64MB
Price: US$69.99
A great dependable drive for every day use. Price is nice as well.
TOTAL:
US$ 1697.91 (If you include the case. Since he already had it, the SSD, HDD and the Motherboard, his price was a little lower : US$ 1159.95)
This build will give great performance at 1080p and I believe give good performance at resolutions above it as well since FX-9 Series are more than capable of fighting it out with Core i7. We also bought peripherals over the course of the two months so I will be listing that separately at the end as well.
KDevil's Intel-Nvidia Battlefield 4 Build:
CASE:
Corsair Graphite Series 600T Arctic White (www.corsair.com)
5.25" Drive Bays: 4
Expansion Slots: 8
Dimensions: 23.30" x 10.40" x 20.00"
Price: US$ 169.99
We reused his old case which is working great still. Replaced the fans (something I always like to do.)
CPU:
Intel Core i7-4770K (www.intel.com)
4-Core, 8-Threads
L3 Cache : 8MB
Price : US$ 339.99
The newest generation of Intel Processors with lower power usage in mind. Clocks in at 84W (Comparing it to the AMD one..... yeah...) Hyper Threading helps in every task and also in Battlefield 4.
MOTHERBOARD:
GIGABYTE GA-Z87X-UD3H (www.gigabyte.com)
PCI E 3.0 x16 : 2 ,PCI E x1 : 3 ,PCI : 1
SATA Connectors : 6+2 SATA III (2 diff. controllers)
Dimensions : 12in x 8.6in
Price : US$ 159.99
A great little motherboard. Not too many components, not too little.
VIDEO CARD:
GIGABYTE GTX 770 GV-N770WF3-4GD (www.gigabyte.com)
Core Clock : 1046 MHz
Boost Clock : 1085 MHz
CUDA Cores : 1536
Memory : 4GB 256-bit GDDR5
Ports : 1 HDMI, 1 DisplayPort, 2 DVI
Power Connectors : 2 x 8 Pin
Dimensions : 11.5" x 5.08" x 1.69"
Price : US$ 379.99
A solid card. Re-used from his old build
RAM:
G.Skill Ripjaws Series (www.gskill.com)
Speed: 1600
Price: US$ 139.99
Great set of RAMs which are very reliable. Used from older system.
POWER SUPPLY:
XFX P1-850X-XXB9 (www.xfxforce.com)
Active PFC
PCI-E Connectors: 4 x 6+2-Pin
SATA Connectors: 10
Modular
80+ Bronze Certified
Price; US$ 139.99
A great PSU which is also Haswell Certified.
LIQUID COOLING:
Cooler Master Seidon 120 XL (www.coolermaster.com)
Fan Dimensions : 120 x 120 x 25 mm x2 fans
RPMs : 600-2400 RPM (PWM)
Air Flow : 19.17-86.15 CFM
Fan Noise : 19-40 dB
Price : US$ 89.99
Cooler Master's line of liquid coolers. Good build and good reviews.
HARD DRIVE:
Kingston HyperX 3K (www.kingston.com)
Interface: SATA III
Max Sequential Read: 555 MB/s
Max Sequential Write: 510MB/s
Price: US$99.99
One of the strongest enthusiast grade SSDs out there, with Kingston reliability!
Seagate Barracuda (www.seagate.com)
Capacity: 1TB
Interface: SATA III
Speed: 7200RPM
Cache: 64MB
Price: US$69.99
A great dependable drive for every day use. Price is nice as well. Used from older system
TOTAL:
US$ 1589.91 (Price for him : US$ 829.95)
A great system that will give great performance in BF4 and the Power draw is low enough that your electricity bill won't go through the roof.
PERIPHERALS:
We bought two keyboards and two mice
AMD Build got
CM Storm Quick Fire TK (www.cmstorm.com)
Type: Wired
Mechanical Keys: Cherry MX Red Keys
Price: US$ 99.99
A great little keyboard with a good tactile experience and rapid response keys. Perfect for quick key strokes and also typing.
Corsair Vengeance M65 (www.corsair.com)
Type: Wired
Interface: USB
Tracking Method: Laser
Buttons: 8
Maximum DPI: 8200
Price: US$ 59.99
Great if you like FPS games! Rock solid build as well.
Nvidia Build got
CM Storm QuickFire Rapid (www.cmstorm.com)
Type: Wired
Mechanical Keys: Cherry MX Black
US$ 69.99
Mx Black Keys for the ultimate FPS experience. Easy to double tap. Might be less typing friendly though.
Razer DeathAdder (www.razerzone.com)
Type: Wired
Interface: USB
Tracking Method: Optical
Buttons: 5
Maximum DPI: 6400
Price: US$ 59.99
A great Razer mouse which is also very comfortable to use.
MONITORS:
Both have the same monitor which is phenomenal for gaming. Both had previously purchased it
ASUS VE247H (www.asus.com)
Screen Size: 23.6"
Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Response Time: 2ms
Connectors: D-Sub, DVI, HDMI
Price: US$ 169.99
An awesome gaming monitor. 'Nuff said.
HEADSETS:
I would recommend two headsets. One I have tried and love, the other I have not but looks promising
ROCCAT Kave (www.roccat.org)
True 5.1 Surround Sound headset with 4 3.5mm connectors and USB connector. A great headset that is very comfortable for me and provides great sound.
Price: US$ 109.99
Corsair Raptor HS40 (www.corsair.com)
A USB gaming headset that provides 7.1 Surround Sound. I have not tried it yet however judging by past Corsair products, this should be good. If any of you have, let me know how it turned out for you and I just may use your experience in a review ^_^
Price: US$59.99
Closing Thoughts:
Well that is it for this rather lengthy post. Both builds are working absolutely great. The AMD system is a bigger power drain and rather noise so beware. The Intel-Nvidia is pretty quiet by comparison and of course lower power drain.
Kiyoshi Out!
Psst... Hey... Spread the word! +1, Subscribe,Tweet ^_^ Thank you for reading.
Interface: SATA III
Speed: 7200RPM
Cache: 64MB
Price: US$69.99
A great dependable drive for every day use. Price is nice as well. Used from older system
TOTAL:
US$ 1589.91 (Price for him : US$ 829.95)
A great system that will give great performance in BF4 and the Power draw is low enough that your electricity bill won't go through the roof.
PERIPHERALS:
We bought two keyboards and two mice
AMD Build got
CM Storm Quick Fire TK (www.cmstorm.com)
Mechanical Keys: Cherry MX Red Keys
Price: US$ 99.99
A great little keyboard with a good tactile experience and rapid response keys. Perfect for quick key strokes and also typing.
Corsair Vengeance M65 (www.corsair.com)
Type: Wired
Interface: USB
Tracking Method: Laser
Buttons: 8
Maximum DPI: 8200
Price: US$ 59.99
Great if you like FPS games! Rock solid build as well.
Nvidia Build got
CM Storm QuickFire Rapid (www.cmstorm.com)
Mechanical Keys: Cherry MX Black
US$ 69.99
Mx Black Keys for the ultimate FPS experience. Easy to double tap. Might be less typing friendly though.
Razer DeathAdder (www.razerzone.com)
Type: Wired
Interface: USB
Tracking Method: Optical
Buttons: 5
Maximum DPI: 6400
Price: US$ 59.99
A great Razer mouse which is also very comfortable to use.
MONITORS:
Both have the same monitor which is phenomenal for gaming. Both had previously purchased it
ASUS VE247H (www.asus.com)
Resolution: 1920 x 1080
Response Time: 2ms
Connectors: D-Sub, DVI, HDMI
Price: US$ 169.99
An awesome gaming monitor. 'Nuff said.
HEADSETS:
I would recommend two headsets. One I have tried and love, the other I have not but looks promising
ROCCAT Kave (www.roccat.org)
True 5.1 Surround Sound headset with 4 3.5mm connectors and USB connector. A great headset that is very comfortable for me and provides great sound.
Price: US$ 109.99
Corsair Raptor HS40 (www.corsair.com)
A USB gaming headset that provides 7.1 Surround Sound. I have not tried it yet however judging by past Corsair products, this should be good. If any of you have, let me know how it turned out for you and I just may use your experience in a review ^_^
Price: US$59.99
Closing Thoughts:
Well that is it for this rather lengthy post. Both builds are working absolutely great. The AMD system is a bigger power drain and rather noise so beware. The Intel-Nvidia is pretty quiet by comparison and of course lower power drain.
Kiyoshi Out!
Psst... Hey... Spread the word! +1, Subscribe,Tweet ^_^ Thank you for reading.
