Earlier this month we checked out the beta version of Battlefield 3 to see how it played on a range of DirectX 11 graphics cards. The results were concerning as even the latest and greatest graphics cards struggled, especially those who planned to enjoy the game in all of its visual glory.

Powerful single-GPU cards like the GeForce GTX 580 and Radeon HD 6970 failed to average 60fps using the high quality settings with MSAA disabled at 1920x1200. The 'Ultra' quality settings reduced frame rates to around 40fps.

Even more troubling, the final and complete 'Ultra' graphics settings were not fully enabled on the beta, with many DX11 features still to come. On the upside, however, even on 'high' Battlefield 3 looked spectacular, with loads of jaw dropping visuals to keep you enthralled.

But as enjoyable as the beta experience turned out to be, there were quite a number of bugs that still needed to be sorted out. The good news is that only one month later reviewers in general are finding the final game to be quite enjoyable and considerably more polished than the beta. Our Product Finder has listed 11 reviews of the game so far, with a wide majority giving positive impressions and a very optimistic 92/100 metascore.

Battlefield 3 is the latest in a long line of Battlefield titles and one of the most anticipated games of 2011. EA disclosed this week that the shooter represented the company's largest day-one ship with 12 million copies distributed worldwide.

As before, BF3's developer DICE recommends a quad-core CPU be used along with 4GB of system memory. Suggested graphics cards start with the GeForce GTX 560 or Radeon HD 6950, meaning that gamers will want to spend $200+ on a modern GPU to appreciate Battlefield 3. Today we'll take a peak at what's required to play Battlefield 3 as we test a number of GPU and CPU configurations.