Hello,

Three weeks ago, I built my new configuration for Battlefield 3.

I am a huge gaming hardware enthusiast, and I carefully studied the market before buying.

Before going any further, it is important to know some more about your needs.

1- Make an approximation of your budget

2- Do you have any components that you want to keep from your previous configuration (cd driver, hard disque drive, power supply, computer case, RAM etc...).

3- Obviously, your computer need is "gaming", but what "smoothly" means for you ? In my opinion, a good framerate is 60 frames per second - constant. Constant means that when there is smoke, people and explosions around you, it doesn't go below 60. This is the adapted condition for high level competition gaming. Some will say that 30 is ok, and some will disagree with everything I said previously. So what do YOU think ?

To start, I'll give you an exellent quality price CPU/MB/GPU configuration:

Intel I5 2500K + Fan Cooler master Hyper 212 Plus
Mothership Asus P8P67 Revision B3
Radeon 6870 HD

Justification:
The chipset P67 coupled with the 2500k offers you an extreme overclocking capability WITHOUT raising the CPU voltage. This is simple and there is no risk. I overclocked my 3.3Ghz to 4.4Ghz in 5 minutes...My computer is stable, and the 2500K doesn't go higher than 50° in game.

The Radeon 6870 HD is not the best GPU available, but this the best bang for your buck. Its performance are very closed from the Geforce 560 ti, but 25% cheaper. This is a middlle range GPU (About 150 euros).

I could keep going for a while but I'll wait to have more information.