Gamescom 2011: DICE Says You'll "Need a Really Good PC" for Battlefield

GeForce.com writes, "Our own Leslie Pirritano had the opportunity to sit down and speak with Battlefield 3 developer Karl Magnus at Gamescom 2011. In the video interview posted below, Magnus explains how the PC version will be the best SKU and says gamers will "need a really good PC" to run it."

[gravemaker]

i already have, so bring it on!

[Yi-Long]

... just bought a new one 2 months orso ago, but I don't really use it for games...

It's an i7 2600, 3,40 ghz system with 8GB DDR3 RAM and GTX 460 graphics card...

I mostly use it for graphic design (Photoshop and such...)

[lucifon]

Easy :) unless it's an unoptimized mess

[Army_of_Darkness]

Better start saving and upgrading that tower so you can be proud that your pc out performed the ps3/ 360 version of this game;)

[Yi-Long]

... it only gets a 5,9 windows index rating though, but that's because the HDD is supposedly only a 5,9. The other scores are 7,5/7,6.

[gamingdroid]

I wonder if my poor C2D E8500, 8GB RAM and GTS 240 will run it better than my Xbox 360/PS3?

[Karum]

Get yourself a SSD at some point my friend, you'll never look back.

And yeah don't pay much attention to that index rating Windows gives, your score is only as high as your worst performing area, your PC will run the game absolutely fine.

[rogalik]

@gamingdroid
You might need to upgrade your CPU to a quadcore, as for GPU it depends on a resolution your playing on.

[qwertyz]

@Army_of_Darkness

my old 2006 gaming pc with a core 2 extreme qx6700 4gb ddr2 and 8800gtx is 5-7 times more powerful than your ps3 and will run battlefield 3 better than your ps3/360 EVER will

@InNomeDiDio(below)
you LIE. ps3 is as good as a 2005 high end single gpu pc. a 2006 high end pc even with a core 2 duo and an 8800gt/gts(not even as powerful as my 2006 rig) would destroy ps3 and 360 put together. get your facts right would you and stop making the ps3 look more powerful than it actually is.

[stevenhiggster]

There were people in the alpha with what would be considered fairly poor gaming PC's and it ran fine, I'm talking people still using 8800gt's.

I could run the alpha fine on my old system which was a E6850 dual core 3.2ghz with 4gb ddr2 and a gtx460. It wasn't a buttery smooth 60fps but it ran fine and was more than playable.
So yes you might need an uber PC to fully enjoy it at max but you can play it perfectly well on a pretty modest PC.

And the alpha was still a work in progress so it'll be better optimized by release and probably run even better.

[Bonobo12345]

@qwertyz

Here we go again, another rehash of the same message you so love to convey.

[KillerPwned]

Yi-Long

Get yourself a GTX 560 they are like $160-$250

You will be set completely.

[stevenhiggster]

Don't bother up grading from a gtx460 to a 560. Absolutely no point you'll get like an extra 5fps if that.
Much better off spending less money on another 460 and sli them, a far better option than a 560.
Imho though there is currently no need to up grade from a 460 unless your trying to play at super high resolutions.

[FanboyPunisher]

Sorry; <720p 30 fps; could do that with 6 year old gpus on games today.

Consoles are 6+ year old tech remember that; you cant wish or pray for it to magically use new hardware.

Its using old gimmied design; thats why Xcross game chat isnt possible on PS3; its gimmiped.

[hazeblaze]

You'll probably be fine. I know you can max out Witcher 2 with the GTX 460, around 45 fps. The newer cards art the GTX 5xx though.

[Dee_91]

my 1998 dell powerhouse says hello

180i 14fps sexiness :D

[BISHOP-BRASIL]

I have assembled my last gaming rig on the end of 2007, but even at the time it wasn't top quality, it has a good mobo (it's currently on 4GB of RAM, but it accepts 8) but the CPU and, even more, the GPU wasn't in anyway prime at the time (E6600 and 8600GT). I got myself a notebook in the end of 2009 as I was tired of dealing with the rig and needed a mobile PC at college, but it's a low-mid end Vaio, no gaming machine.

Chances are neither will run it halfly good. I'll give it a try anyway, the old tower is still running on Vista, maybe I update it for what I can, but if neither run it properly I'll just go with PS3 version if it's really a good game... I don't really care that much for BF3 anyway, I like the multiplayer but I get quickly bored, not something I'll put 100 hours in. I can wait for Doom 4 or the next HL to build a decent gaming rig.

[Hellsvacancy]

So do i, my PS3 is JUST as good

Edit: lol, i knew you tech heads would get all overwrought

[RedDead]

No it isn't

Bigger maps...more players...remember? Not even gonna get into the graphics

[InNomeDiDio]

PS3 is JUST as good as a decent PC from 2005/2006. Nothing against you, but that's fact!

[MidnytRain]

@above

Well, the benefit of getting the 360 or PS3 version is knowing it'll run no matter what, lest there are some hardware defects.

[narked]

PS3

24 players on a 1280*720 resolution with washed out textures. (PS - You can play on this setting on a 5 year old pc)

PC

64 players at over 1920*1080p resolutions with hd grade graphics.

sureeee the ps3 is JUST as good. you simply can't say that. finally we have a developer working towards improving technology, benefiting both pcs and consoles

[kingdoms]

Just got a HP Pavilion Elite H8-1050 from QVC

3.4Ghz 2nd gen Intel core i7 2600

Radeon HD 6850

10 gigs of RAM

I never owned a PC like this is this good enough?

I heard the 2600k was better for gaming. Does over clocking mean I have to change the stock cooling system? If I swap the 2600 for the 2600k or will the difference not even be worth the trouble?

You can get this PC at QVC for 6 easy pays of 270 a month in total. Have it hooked up to my 46" Samsung lcd

[ApexHell]

you will do fine lol

my pc is only intel core 2 duo at 3.6Ghz
gtx 460 1GB
and 2 GBs of ram
all my stuff is overclocked.

and mine runs alpha fine 57-65fps

and your pc is clearly way better than mine with or without overclocking lol that shit will run like cutting a knife into slightly melted butter lol

overclocking is easer with the k because it has unlocked clock multiplier, stock cooling should support your setup even up to 4.0GHz, as my cpu is still running on stock cooling.

[stevenhiggster]

lol, I should think you'll be able to run pretty much anything for the next couple of years at max settings with that pc, have fun.
And personally I wouldn't bother with overclocking that, your CPU has auto turbo mode where it'll go up to 3.7ghz if it needs to. In your position overclocking will be more hassle than its worth.

[hazeblaze]

He will still need to overclock the gpu if he wants to max out settings for the next few years... that card is already pushing the limit for games coming out this year w/o overclocking. Meaning he can still max most of them out but will probably be w/in 30-40 fps @ 720p... possibly lower at 1080p. Newer cards can max out today's games with a butter smooth 60+ fps @ 1440p!

[superrey19]

the only difference between the the 2600 and 2600k is that the latter is unlocked. This means that you would be able to overclock the hell out of it. You can't overclock your cpu well, but its still a beast of a cpu and is more than enough. I would say dont go through the trouble of swapping them.

[Ascalon94]

what about these specs, 3GB of RAM, 2.0GHZ Dual Core, and ATI Radeon 5700?

[hazeblaze]

You will not be able to see the type of graphics in the videos... you'll probably have to play it on low, if it will play at all.

[superrey19]

I dont think you will be able to run it... maybe on low settings?

[1PC2PS33360]

if thats a laptop and not a typo about the 5700, do you mean mobility 5700 or 5700 family>>

if its a laptop, it aint gonna happen dude, maybe in 800x600 like the console will run it with no anti aliasing....it might work

[MostJadedGamer]

So in reality the console version will be the best for 95% of gamers.

[1PC2PS33360]

way more people in the world have gaming capable pc's than ALL 3 current consoles combined dude!!

11.5 million people alone play wow, 35 million on steam, thats already more than ALL OF the xbox360's in the entire world in those 2 things i just named!

I know you may say, dude xbox360 sold like 50 million consoles, yeah...but dude....half of them are broken for real....so maybe, being generous, there are 35 million actual xbox360's in peoples homes....maybe...probably not....well there are more people just on steam dude, then think about xfire, gamespy arcade, comrade, impulse, direct2drive, gog, greenmangaming, amazon downloads, origin, ubistore, battle.net

dude...consoles are so over brahh...

[MostJadedGamer]

"way more people in the world have gaming capable pc's than ALL 3 current consoles combined dude!!"

We are not talking about people having gaming capable PC's. We are talking about gamers who are interested in Battlefield 3(and those gamers need a lot better then just a gaming capable PC for BF3), and for probably about 85% of those gamers Battlefield 3 will be superior on their console NOT on there PC.

So while 95% might have been a little exaggeration its not far from the truth.

[AKS]

I've got a pretty strong combo with the 2600K and 2 6950s in CF, but the main thing that worries me is that I'm constantly seeing "Nvidia" everywhere. I'm hoping I don't have driver issues. Given that it's DICE, I think I'll be OK. I just don't want to have another Crysis 2 DX11 type of problem again in which Crytek basically coded DX11 for Nvidia cards and forgot about everyone else. I don't think DICE would do that to me, and the Alpha seemed to run at a nice frame rate, which I'm sure wasn't well optimized.

[hqgamez]

Phenom II X6 1100T
12GB DDR3 RAM
HD Radeon 6990
RAW RAW!!

[Orpheus]

Kudos to DICE for really utilising the power of PC !!!

[NBT91]

Yeah, even as a PS3 gamer it is really good to see a developer utilising that extra power that a good modern PC can deliver when it comes to multiplatform.
I mean if there are extra features available on a platform, why not use them?

Having said that, does not every modern game look better on a top end PC than the consoles?

[Workshyskiver]

Yeah even games that were not so hot on consoles get turned into beast on High end PC's. I mean Just cause 2 looks better than The best looking PS3 exclusives when maxed out.

[pody]

Nope

[AKS]

Many advances in technology over the last few years are going to eventually show up in the next generation of consoles. Even those not into PC gaming should be happy to hear technical and programming advances have been made because some of that may eventually end up in your next console.

[Wizziokid]

well who would of guessed.

[OpiZA]

Cool, where do I post my delivery details?

[jozzah]

Recommended specs would be nice please DICE

[Skate-AK]

Like this wasn't known.

[Boody-Bandit]

My PC will play BF3 at max settings and run as smooth as silk so I'm good to go on all fronts since I'm getting BF3 for all 3 (PC, PS3 n 360). Can't wait.

[pody]

Why would you need them all?

[Boody-Bandit]

Because some of my friends have a 360, some the PS3 and a couple are PC gamers. This way I can play with them all.

[evrfighter]

im gettin two pc versions for my home lan

works out well for me considering Im getting the gamestop and best buy pre-order bonuses now.

[SephirothX21]

Say hello to my GTX 580, i7 2600k, 8gig ddr3 corsair ram and 3t hdd baby! And just in case this game uses huge cpu usage, I've the Noctua dh-14 cooler to sort that out and 6 case fans to boot. So bring it on bitches. BRING IT ON!!

[Boody-Bandit]

Sexy rig!
I just built a similar rig but I went with the GTX 590 because I wanted triple monitor support one card solution but I ended up adding a 2nd anyway. Our rigs wont break a sweat with this game regardless of the settings we choose.

[Orpheus]

Try some downsampling if that is possible with BF3 ......

[digger18]

SephirothX21, how do you run 8gigs of ddr3 ram with a i7? I have the first gen i7 (950) and it needs ram to be triple channel (3 sticks or 6 sticks) to run.

Have they downgraded the new gen i7's and only need duel channel ram?

[iamgoatman]

Yep, Sandybridge requires dual channel RAM.

[SephirothX21]

Yeah I've dual channel 4gig on each. I wanted to reserve the other two slots for the future. Though with the large cooler, two slots are covered and ram will only fit in with the heatsinks at the top chopped off. Oh and ram is 1600mhz. Though my motherboard isn't great. It is the Asus P8P67 LE and the vrms overheat when I overclock over 4.2ghz. I hope to get a second 580 in 6 months to a year to add more juice. I just built this rig a few weeks ago because I hadn't bought a pc since 2004 and that was a crappy Dell one. I used to play on consoles mostly but now I play all multis on pc.

[TheShow01]

no problem here .... running 2 x gtx 580's in sli

i7 2600k overclocked to 4.6Ghz
H80 CPU Cooling
16 GB 2000Mhz Ram
1200W Power Supply

all on my 2 x 46 inchers samsung LCD TV's !

[SephirothX21]

Nice. I didn't think the h70 was good enough to cool the i7 at 4.6ghz. What temps you get at full load.

[RedDeadLB]

Setting the requirements abnormally high is counter-productive.

I have a good GPU, but I still have a dual-core CPU, which I don't think will quite cut it. To be quite honest, I don't have the money to upgrade, but I don't want to be left in the dust when it comes to playing Battlefield 3.
I only hope it's more optimized than BC2 was. I can handle 30fps, but only if it feels smooth and controls smooth. (unlike BC2)

[SLEDGE]

Orderd a 580 just now, to upgrade from my 480 :P
With that, 8gig of ram, and a I7 3ghz cpu.... i think i'm okay.

[iamgoatman]

Should have gone with 480 SLI and completely smoked that 580! I've seen 480GTX's go for as little as £200 in the UK, and if I already had 1 then another for that price would be awfully tempting.

[MerkinMax]

My one GTX 560 ti played the alpha at 40+ FPS on the highest settings. Can't wait for my second to come. I was thinking about a single GTX 580 but 2 560s made a little more sense to me.

[Netic]

Alpha was at low settings even if you activated high in graphics tab. You couldn't change the graphics that much. In full game expect high settings to have eye candy stuff like Tesselation, Ambiant occlusion, SSAO, depth of field, high res texture that requires a lot of ram etc

[DigitalxPiracy]

I really want a 580 but I have a 6970 now and I should be able to max everything with it. I might wait for 600 series cards. Congrats on the purchase though.

[Theonetheonly]

KUDOS FOR THE SAME CARD

*High Fives you*

the 6970 is currently the highest
price/performance you can get in the high end spectrum.

but dont worry It'll max everything just fine, and Atis drivers just gave me 20% more Fps in C2DX11. which means they are still being optimised. C2DX11 is the only game i have played that actually was able to slow this card down to mid40-s now after the 11.8 drivers its mid 50s I wouldn't worry at all

If mine can handle it so can yours, Oh and I game at 1920x1200 slightly higher than 1080p so you're more than good

[shreeveera]

Why BATTLEFIELD 3 on PS3 is better port than on Xbox 360 - GDC'11 ??
Check out this superb video to know why

http://www.youtube.com/watc...

[Series_IIa]

This is PC talk son

[latinalover]

and PS3 talk son

[Ace_Pheonix]

Time to start tearing apart your epic tower to drop another $500 - $600 bucks into it!

[Si-Fly]

You say that like it's a bad thing, upgrading a pc is part of the fun! I'm good for BF3 now but I look forward to the day I need to throw some more cash at my gaming rig, very satisfying seeing your games improve dramatically, console only players have to endure 5+ years of staring at the same level of graphics, doesn't appeal to me.

[TitanUp]

if you have noticed the people posting specs will mostly be able to run battlefield 3 fine maybe 160-250 gpu upgrade but other than that people that are posting seem to have really good rigs.

i have got

amd 1090t overclocked to 4ghz
16gb 1600 mhz
2 amd 6970

[fossilfern]

My friend was running the alpha on a 6870 max at 1920x1200 with everything full and it was smooth, and thats just alpha. You can get a 6870 for about £140 great performance for the price.

[Gran Touring]

Well I think I'm covered...

EVGA GTX560 ti SC
Intel Core2Quad Q9550 @2.83 ghz (OC later on)
6gb DDR3 RAM @1333mhz

[fossilfern]

lol the disagreeing ghost is about. I dont think alot of people need to worry. a 560/6870 will run this game fine. I cant wait until this is out!

[3GenGames]

Guys building computers: Use AMD x64 quad core chips, at 3.2Ghz is the same performance running an i7 at 4.0Ghz, so it'll help your gaming to drop the overpriced i7's. :)

And in other news, You need about a $700 PC to run this game. Not $1500-$3000. I wish I had a gaming PC for this, but I'm okay with having it on 360. Can't wait at all.

[Theonetheonly]

Dude i just had a quadcore Black Edition amd chip and while they are good for the price my recent upgrade to an I5 2500k (not even an I7)has Shown me the Absolute TOTAL SHEER DOMINANCE intel has over AMD right now.

these chips are literally twice as fast.

I love AMD but intels really got something here.

[3GenGames]

If AMD is so good, why did M$ dump them for AMD's x64 chips?

Intel < AMD chips in performance. You're results aren't right.

[Theonetheonly]

What? i was disagreeing with you about amd and then you disagree with yourself then re-agree?
What?

My comp is Killer fast On Intel

It was just fast with AMD.

And i love amd.

[arjman]

3GenGames, you don't even know how hard you're failing right now...

[slyrunner]

Stats from overclock.net
I'm gonna kill this game!!

CPU maker:
CPU: i7 930 @ 3.8
Motherboard: Evga x58 CLASSIFIED 4-Way SLI/XFIRE Rev 2
GPU maker:
Graphics Card: SLI ASUS 580 GTX Matrix Platinum
Memory: 24 gigs of G-Skill Ripjaws (1600)
Hard Drive: 3x500 WD Black, 1TD WD Green,1.5 TB Black, Intel SDD 40
Optical Drive: Sony DVD Drive
Power Supply: Antec 1200 High Current Pro
Display: 23 Inch ASUS
Case: Thermaltake xaser vi (Red and black)
Sound Card: On board
Headphones: logitech G35
Mouse: logitech G9
Keyboard: logitech G110
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate
Cooling
CPU: Thermaltake Frio
Graphics Card (GPU): ASUS Matrix Platinum (Default)
Memory: Corsiar Fan Cooler
Case: Thermaltake xaser vi (Red and black)

[MerkinMax]

2 580s and only one monitor -_-

[CaptCalvin]

LOL noob article. What does he mean "increased playercount?" It's more like a restored player count.

[consolez_FTW]

I think my Xfire 6870's and phenomx4 965 should do just fine...Mwuhahaha. no really I'm set for this and skyrim!

[death2smoochie]

Bring it.
My two 5970's in crossfire should run this game just fine.

[ATi_Elite]

May i ask why do you have two 5970's?

cause seriously

1. that's overkill
2. most games run 5970 CFX like crap and that's if they run at all
3. Horrible micro stutter!

I know AMD updates drivers all the time but HD5970 is just not wise and overly expensive!

[death2smoochie]

AMD drivers for crossfire have improved greatly over the past year and especially for the 5970.
I got both of the for almost half the price when I got them.
I currently run every single game out now at above 1080p with 8xAA or better in Eyefinity.
I have no issues with them.

[capcock]

GTX 560 TI

2 TB HDD

8GB 1600 mhz RAM

i7 2600 3,4 Ghz (with h70 cooler)

700w 80+ Gold PSU

Fractal define r3 case

I think I can play some BF3 :)

[chak_]

I hope we won't need SLI/Dual GPU, I'd like my 580 to max it with slight AA (2x)

[Netic]

EVGA GTX 480 SSC

32gb SSD for Windows 7 64bit

1Tb HDD black

8gb corsair dominator ram

core i5 750(1rst gen) at 3.7ghz with CM hyper 212+ to cool it

Silverstone Raven 2E case to cool it all perfectly

Razer deathadder mouse

Logitech g110 keyboard

Corsair HS1 gaming headphones

Hope I can run BF3 on max settings with 2x AA and 16x AF

[Ascalon94]

what about these specs, 3GB of RAM, 2.0GHZ Dual Core, and ATI Radeon 5700

[capcock]

lol...

[Ascalon94]

will I be able to run the game at all?

[capcock]

yeah you can play it, u meet the minimum requirements but it won't be smooth and pretty.

[Ascalon94]

what about low settings will that be smooth or no?

[arjman]

Good news! You can run Battlelog...

[likewhoaaa]

hopefully my new comp can run it fine. I don't need all the bells and whistles. I have a gtx560 w 1gig on board ram 4gigs of ram a 1tbhd w 6gig xfer sata core i5 2600k

[SteveSmith]

I have a Phenom 2 1055T 6 cores and a 5770HD video card. I am pretty sure I can run the game at 60fps.

[ATi_Elite]

60 FPS....Maybe?

BUT depends on resolution and how much eye candy you turn OFF!

Max graphics at 1080p.....No way unless Frostbite 2.0 is the most efficient and resource light engine every made.

[KillerPwned]

I know i cant run this pretty well i just hope i could max it out.

My system Specs...

Win7 64bit Sp1
AMD Athlon II X4 635 2.91Ghz (Quad Core)
4GB DDR3 SDRAM G.Skill
MSI GTX 560-Ti Hawk Edition 1GB
Western Digital Caviar Black 640GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache

With this set up i can run Witcher 2 at ultra with Uber Sampling. Not sure how many FPS but it plays extremely smoothly. I ran the BF3 Alpha on highest at around 60FPS.

[Toman85]

My rig are this, I got this april 2011 :)

Gainward GTX 580 @ 1536mb
Intel Core i7 950 @ 3.06GHZ
12GB Ram @ 1600mhz

All games Ive played have no trouble at all, and even with Nvidia 3D vision on and still no framerate mockups :P

[Ascalon94]

will 3GB of RAM, 2.0GHZ Dual Core, and ATI Radeon 5700 be able to run this game at all?

[KingZFlipper]

I don't know about my computer if it will run but what do you guys think

Intel i5-2300k 2.8ghZ quad core
8GB ram
ATI Radeon HD 6850 1GB
1TB HDD

[trenso1]

batlle log is for all platforms right?

[TheRag]

really, i don't care if i can run the game on high settings.. as long as im able to play it! it's just fun :)

[JudahWarrior]

Bring it on Dice i got an i7 [email protected] CPU 3 Nvidia GeForce GTX 570 GPU's in SLI,12gigs of RAM and 2TB HardDrive!!!

[Gazondaily]

I have:

GPU: AMD (ATI) Radeon HD 6850 3D Graphics Card 1GB - NEW

CPU: AMD Phenom II X2 560BE Dual Core CPU Black Edition

RAM: Corsair 4GB (2x2GB) DDR3 1600MHz/PC3-12800 XMS3 i5 Memory Kit CL9(9-9-9-24) 1.65V

The only thing I think will hold me back is the CPU I think. Do you think this will be okay to run BF3?

[ATi_Elite]

No!
According to some people you need to spend $5000 to run BF3! loL :)

Your PC will be fine!! My 2nd PC has a Phenom X2 550 B.E. overclocked to 4GHZ! So i know for sure your good!

[Gazondaily]

Oh really? Phew. Some people on the battlefield forums were saying different. I might need to have a chat with you at some point about overclocking my PC.

[arjman]

Why do all these people with $1000+ rigs feel the need to tell us that they can run the game, we don't need you to tell us so keep it to yourself...
Also Ascalon94 you've posted the same comment three times, that joke is old now -_-

[thespaz]

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA HAHAHA!

...Or you only need a PS3 (any kind).

[1PC2PS33360]

yeah...ps3 is for for sub-hd, jaggies, 20-28 frames per second and 12v12 maps and matches, nahhhh....I'll take the pc version, thanks though mate.....

[thespaz]

Hmm... Weird. Uncharted 2 runs at 720p (HD), and has a constant 30fps framerate and looks better than Battlefield 3.

[DwightOwen]

Does Uncharted have 64 players running around shooting each other, flying helicopters and jets?

No, it doesn't, because it CAN'T. The PS3 can't handle all that while maintaining the amount of polish we've all come to expect from Naughty Dog.

I love the Uncharted series, but you really shouldn't compare games that have nothing in common.

[ATi_Elite]

Well DICE i got two really good ones so October 25th i'll be running BF3 in all it's glory!

[1PC2PS33360]

i know of 4 people who played in the alpha and all had mid range cards

(i believe 2 people had 560ti's , one dude had a 460 and someone had a 5850)

All were able to run 1080p, dx11 and very playable frames rates.....I wouldn't bet on anything myself until i let my 2 570's have at it with the i7-2600

[Vip3r]

I'm gonna get a GTX 680 when they are out for BF3.

[DwightOwen]

It's about damn time developers started trying to push the boundaries again instead of neutering the PC versions to the level of consoles. I love my PS3, but I built the Atlas One (my rig) to play more than just Crysis (a FOUR YEAR-OLD GAME!) maxed out.