For gaming, i7 or i5? 1155 or 1366 socket?

[braz]

I had terrible experiences with ASUS in the past (current motherboard), not sure if I really want to go down that route again. I also do not plan on overclocking much if at all, used to water cool... been there done that lol. I just want to game on max settings. I appreciate all the recommendations, are the EVGA motherboards really not worth it?

 

[Roark]

Nothing wrong with EVGA. Just be sure your case can fit it, since the FTW is an Extended ATX board.
If you want a standard ATX I'd take a look at the P67/Z68 SLI, they have generally the same features.

As to maxing out BF3, going to go out on a limb here and say the GTX 470 won't max all settings.

 

[Prophet]

I think a lot of it will come down to what resolution you game at. I'm going with a super expensive enthusiast's build next and I think even my new rig will have a hard time maxing out BF3. I think at this point you would almost be better off waiting until the game comes out and seeing what it benches at. Then you can make a better informed decision.

 

[braz]

Only running the game at 1440x900. They just released a new HUGE map on the battlefield 3 beta, I only get about 20-25fps on it out in the huge open areas Do you guys think the new cpu and everything would help this? I really don't think its my video card... GTX470 is till pretty high end