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System Builder Marathon, Dec. 2011: $600 Gaming PC
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1. Profiting From A Pricier Processor

System Builder Marathon, December 2011: The Articles

Here are links to each of the four articles in this month’s System Builder Marathon (we’ll update them as each story is published). And remember, these systems are all being given away at the end of the marathon.

To enter the giveaway, please fill out this SurveyGizmo form, and be sure to read the complete rules before entering!

Day 1: The $2400 Performance PC
Day 2: The $1200 Enthusiast PC
Day 3: The $600 Gaming PC
Day 4: Performance And Value, Dissected

Introduction

Our past two System Builder Marathon gaming rigs weighed in a few percentage points over our intended budget. Generally, about one-quarter of the build price was spent on a capable CPU. The angle we took two quarters ago centered on the stock performance, efficiency, and gaming alacrity of Intel’s locked-down Core i3-2100. Although it was quite a successful gaming solution, the machine’s overall value was deflated by the 3.1 GHz dual-core processor’s lackluster performance in our benchmark suite's threaded tests.

September's return to an emphasis on overclocking squeezed 3.8 GHz out of AMD’s Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition and bundled cooler. Performance in threaded applications increased substantially thanks to a quartet of physical processing cores. Furthermore, we capitalized on the plummeting prices of system memory to buy a more powerful graphics card, enabling better native resolution gaming at higher quality settings. While that system also served its purpose well, application performance still paled in comparison to the more expensive rigs, and its overclocked AMD processor was a clear limiting factor through a number of our gaming tests.

So, my goal for this quarter was to seek out a processor capable of overcoming the weaknesses encountered as we pieced together past $500 gaming systems. With an additional $100 approved, the decision was an easy one. Nothing less than a Sandy Bridge-based processor with four physical cores would suffice.

There are those of you who probably hoped for a Socket AM3+ platform in our cheapest rig, considering the Bulldozer architecture's entry-level manifestation as FX-4100 and the previous-generation's competitiveness at value-oriented prices. But AMD was pretty much out of the question for this build. The Phenom II failed to compete at 3.8 GHz, so there was little use dumping extra funds into that architecture. And while the FX-4100 sounded promising, it was simply unavailable during our window for placing orders. The FX-6100 was available, but inflated to the same exact $190 as Intel's Core i5-2400. No, if I was going to blow nearly one-third of the budget on a processor, it was most definitely going to be on a second-generation Intel Core i5.

The rest of the parts should look pretty familiar, as there simply wasn't much room to deviate from our past formula of necessities. Despite falling prices on the Radeon HD 6850, it was more important that we maintain this machine's gaming performance, compelling us to stick with the higher-end Radeon HD 6870.

$600 Gaming PC System Components
Component Model Price
CPUIntel Core i5-2400$190
CPU CoolerIntel Boxed Heat Sink and Fan$0
MotherboardMSI PH61A-P35$70
RAMWintec AMPO 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) DDR3-1333 3AMD31333-4G2K-NHR$25
GraphicsSapphire 100314-3L Radeon HD 6870 1 GB$180
Hard DriveSeagate Barracuda ST3500413AS 500 GB SATA 6Gb/s $50
CaseXigmatek Asgard II B/B CPC-T45UC-U01$30
PowerAntec EarthWatts Green EA430D 430 W$45
OpticalSamsung 22x DVD Burner SATA Model SH-222AB$17
Total Price
$607


The table above doesn't reflect a $10 promo code on the graphics card, bringing the actual system just under our budget at $597, although shipping charges would add nine of those dollars back onto the cost. A $20 mail-in rebate from Sapphire was (and still is) available for those disciplined enough to pursue such offers. We don't count it here, though.

Unfortunately, we can not predict future pricing when components are ordered a month ahead of time; all we can do is shop as you would for the best prices on that given day. Some fluctuation is inevitable by the time the systems are built, tested, and written about. Usually, the discrepancies are quite small and can be overcome by a parallel substitution or two in hardware. This month was an exaggeration of the norm though, as disastrous flooding in Thailand kicked off the spike we’ve seen in hard drive prices. This same drive recently peaked at $115, dropping over a few days to $90. The other components are also bouncing around on a daily basis, leaving the total system between $645-700, depending on when you look. This is worth mentioning, because the increase is significant.

2. CPU And Cooler

Processor: Intel Core i5-2400

The success or failure of this rig falls upon one component: Intel's Core i5-2400.

This 32 nm, LGA 1155, Sandy Bridge-based chip, has four physical cores clocked at 3.1 GHz, one 256 KB L2 cache per core, and 6 MB of shared L3 cache. The second-generation Core i5 features Turbo Boost technology able to boost a single active core up to 3.4 GHz, but it lacks the Hyper-Threading capability available on the dual-core Core i3 and quad-core Core i7 models.

 

Read Customer Reviews of Intel's Core i5-2400


CPU Cooler: Intel Retail Boxed Heat Sink And Fan

The boxed cooler consists of a familiar orb-style aluminum heatsink fitted with a copper insert, a low 2000 RPM PWM-controlled fan, and a push-pin mounting bracket.

3. Motherboard And Memory

Motherboard: MSI PH61A-P35

One of the perceived weaknesses suffered by our June 2011 Sandy Bridge-based gaming rig was its stripped-down microATX motherboard. That was a deal-breaker for many readers, though necessary to meet our budget requirements. Though our system was stable, and it performed well, features and scalability just weren't there.

Thankfully, for just a little bit extra, we are now able to grab a far more appealing PH61A-P35. MSI packs a number of features onto this H61-based ATX motherboard, including three PCI slots, SATA 6Gb/s, USB 3.0, UEFI, and solid capacitors throughout the design.

Also notable (particularly on a budget motherboard) is a wealth of on-board system fan headers totaling four in all. This was an extra $10 well-spent!

Read Customer Reviews of MSI's PH61A-P35


Memory: 4 GB Wintec AMPO DDR3-1333 3AMD31333-4G2K-NHR

Avid readers of the series may notice that I jump around amongst the very cheapest 4 GB memory kits, rarely using the same one twice. I do this hoping to find bargain-priced RAM that will stand out in an otherwise fairly boring crowd.

This basic 4 GB dual-channel kit of DDR3-1333 modules goes back to a double-sided design and is rated at CL9 timings at 1.5 V.

 Read Customer Reviews of Wintec 4 GB DDR3-1333 Memory Kit

4. Graphics Card And Hard Drive

Graphics Card: Sapphire 100314-3L Radeon HD 6870 1 GB

Radeon HD 6870 prices hadn’t budged in three months. Meanwhile, Radeon HD 6850 models were getting cheaper by the day. So, I was a bit torn when it came time to choose a video card for this quarter. In the end, I squelched my bargain-hunting tendencies and decided we needed to maintain the level of graphics performance seen last time around. The same Sapphire card we used back then offers reference core and memory clocks, along with familiar output connectivity.

Read Customer Reviews of Sapphire's Radeon HD 6870 1 GB


The bundle includes a DVI-to-VGA adapter, two PCIe Molex power adapters (one of which we need to use), and a DiRT 3 game coupon. Unfortunately, there's no bundled Crossfire bridge.

Hard Drive: Seagate Barracuda ST3500413AS 500 GB

The Seagate Barracuda ST3500413AS was used back in June 2011’s system, and it's basically identical to the drive used in September's gaming PC. It offers 500 GB of capacity, a 7200 RPM spindle, a SATA 6Gb/s interface, and 16 MB of cache. As mentioned earlier, we've seen this drive's price skyrocket somewhere between $90 and $115 recently!

Read Customer Reviews of Seagate's Barracuda ST3500413AS 500 GB

5. Case, Power Supply, And Optical Drive

Case: Xigmatek Asgard II B/B CPC-T45UC-U01

The Asgard II features 0.8 mm SECC steel construction with an aluminum front bezel and the black coated interior many builders prefer. A single 120 mm PWM exhaust fan is preinstalled, with room to add up to three additional fans. Xigmatek addresses varying personal tastes by providing a choice of three bezel highlight colors. We’ve already visited orange and silver; this is the first time we've been able to nab the all-black version for $30.

Read Customer Reviews of Xigmatek's Asgard II B/B CPC-T45UC-U01


Power Supply: Antec EarthWatts EA-430D Green

We’ve often relied on Antec’s quiet and efficient EarthWatts Green units to supply power to our budget gaming system. This month we were again able to grab the 430W version for just $45. While a single six-pin PCIe power lead means we’ll need to utilize one of the graphics card’s bundled power adapters, a 32A combined +12V rating is far higher than you’ll find on most entry-level 500 Watt units.

Read Customer Reviews of Antec's EarthWatts EA-430D Green


Optical Drive: Samsung 22x DVD Burner Model SH-222AB

At this budget, we look to spend as little as possible on a reliable SATA DVD burner, choosing to reuse the same well-rated 22x Samsung SH-222AB.

Read Customer Reviews of Antec's EarthWatts EA-430D Green

6. Assembly And Overclocking

Assembly

All three SBM builds housed within the Asgard II enclosure have gone just the way we like: smooth and without issue. This one was no exception. The assembly was easy and the finished product was impressively stable.

Snapping the front bezel off by pulling from the lower edge makes 5.25" drive installation easier. There are not enough tool-less drive clips to populate all drive bays, but the ones provided are adequate for retaining the system’s drives. If you really need them, screws work too.

Once again, the only real difficulty is threading the black standoffs into the painted motherboard tray. Not really a big deal, but it's worth noting that your fingers won't suffice. A 5 mm nut driver is the perfect tool for this job.

Overclocking

Though this should probably be pretty obvious, we weren't able to fit a P67- or Z68-based board into our budget. Both of those platforms would have allowed us to exploit the Core i5-2400's "limited overclocking" capability, which would have facilitated a certain number of 100 MHz bins over the chip's maximum Turbo Boost ratio. Intel’s multiplier cap of 38x would have been good for 3.8 GHz without the need for base clock tampering, which is already very limited.

MSI's firmware teased us with CPU multipliers up to 34x (the highest used by Turbo Boost). But on this H61 platform, the ratio is locked, and there was no way to set four-core frequencies in excess of 3.2 GHz. It's better to just let Turbo Boost do its thing, which by our observation means switching between 3.2 and 3.3 GHz, depending how many cores are active.

With no base clock adjustment, a locked ratio, and a maximum memory frequency of 1333 MT/s, our tweaking was limited to setting lower RAM timings. MSI only gave us four settings for memory voltage: 1.35 V, Auto (1.5 V), 1.65 V, and 1.8 V, but they all fell under those numbers somewhat. I’m not crazy about pushing above 1.6 V, but the 1.65 V setting yielded 1.632 V and allowed for stability at CAS 7.

This Sapphire Radeon HD 6870 had even more headroom than the last one. The GPU core was stable at AMD OverDrive’s maximum 1000 MHz setting, and the memory was stable though our maximum tested 1200 MHz (4800 MT/s). We backed these down a bit and ran our second set of data with the core at 990 MHz and 1180 MHz (4720 MT/s) memory. As you pore over the benchmark results, remember that this system benefits from a 30 MHz-faster GPU clock and newer Catalyst drivers, while the prior AMD Phenom II X4 enjoyed a 3.8 GHz overclock.

7. Test System Configuration And Benchmarks

Current $600 PC System Test Configuration
Component Base Settings Overclock Setting
CPUIntel Core i5-2400 (Sandy Bridge), 3.1 GHz, 3.4 GHz Turbo Boost, LGA 1155, 6 MB Shared L3, power savings enabledUnchanged
CPU CoolerIntel Boxed Heat Sink and FanUnchanged
MotherboardMSI PH61A-P35
Intel H61, BIOS E7732IMS V1.3 (05-27-11)
Unchanged
RAM4 GB Wintec PC3-10600 Kit
2 x 2 GB, DDR3-1333, CL 9-9-9-24 1T at 1.5 V
DDR3-1333, CL 7-7-7-20 1T at 1.65 V
GraphicsSapphire 100314-3L Radeon HD 6870 1 GB
900 MHz GPU, 1050 MHz (4200 MT/s) Memory
990 MHz GPU, 1180 MHz (4720 MT/s) GDDR5 Memory
Hard DriveSeagate Barracuda ST3500413AS
500 GB, 7200 RPM, 16 MB Cache
Unchanged
SoundIntegrated Eight-Channel HD AudioUnchanged
NetworkIntegrated Gigabit NetworkingUnchanged
PowerAntec Earthwatts Green 430 W Unchanged
OpticalSamsung 22x DVD Burner SATA Model SH-222ABUnchanged
 Software and Drivers
Operating SystemWindows 7 Ultimate Edition x64Unchanged
Graphics DriverAMD Catalyst 11.11Unchanged
Platform DriverIntel 6-series Inf v. 9.2.0.1030Unchanged
September $500 Gaming PC System Test Configuration
Component Base Settings Overclock Setting
CPUAMD Phenom II X4 955 BE (Deneb), 3.2 GHz, 1.40 V
2000 MT/s HyperTransport Link, 2000 MT/s CPU-NB,
6 MB L3 Cache
3.8 GHz (19 x 200 MHz), 1.3375 V
2000 MT/s HT Link, 2200 MT/s CPU-NB
CPU CoolerAMD Boxed Heat Sink and Fan, 60-100% target  RPM70-100% target RPM
MotherboardASRock M3A770DE
AMD 770 / SB710, BIOS P1.70 (09/17/10)
Unchanged
RAM4 GB Crucial Ballistix PC3-10600 Kit
2 x 2 GB, DDR3-1333, CL 9-9-9-24 1T at 1.53 V
DDR3-1333, CL 8-8-8-22 1T at 1.65 V
GraphicsSapphire 100314-3L Radeon HD 6870 1 GB
900 MHz GPU, 1050 MHz (4200 MT/s) Memory
960 MHz GPU, 1180 MHz (4720 MT/s) GDDR5 Memory
Hard DriveSeagate Barracuda ST500DM002
500 GB, 7200 RPM, 16 MB Cache
Unchanged
SoundIntegrated 7.1-Channel HD AudioUnchanged
NetworkIntegrated Gigabit NetworkingUnchanged
PowerAntec Earthwatts Green 430 W Unchanged
OpticalSamsung 22x DVD Burner SATA Model SH-222ABUnchanged
 Software and Drivers
Operating SystemWindows 7 Ultimate Edition x64Unchanged
Graphics DriverAMD Catalyst 11.8Unchanged
Platform DriverAMD All-in-1 Ver. 8.631_W7_logoUnchanged
Benchmark Configuration
3D Games
CrysisPatch 1.2.1, DirectX 10, 64-bit executable, benchmark tool
Test Set 1: High Quality, No AA
Test Set 2: Very High Quality, No AA
F1 2010V.1.01, Direct X 11, -benchmark example_benchmark.xml
Test Set 1: High Quality, No AA
Test Set 2: Ultra Quality, 8x AA
Just Cause 2Steam Version, Built-in Benchmark "Concrete Jungle"
Test Set 1: Custom Medium Details, No AA, 8x AF
Test Set 2: Highest Settings, 8x AA, 16x AF
Metro 2033Steam Version, Built-In Benchmark
Test Set 1: High, DX11, AAA, 4x AF, No DoF, No PhysX
Test Set 2: Very High, DX11, 4x MSAA, 16x AF, DoF, No PhysX
Audio/Video Encoding
HandBrake CLIVersion 0.94: "Big Buck Bunny" (720x480, 23.972 FPS) 5 Min., Audio: Dolby Digital, 48000 Hz, Six-Channel, English, to Video: AVC Audio: AC3 Audio2: AAC (High Profile)
iTunesVersion 9.0.3.15 x64: Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 minutes, default AAC format 
Lame MP3Version 3.98.3: Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min, convert WAV to MP3 audio format, Command: -b 160 --nores (160 Kb/s)
MainConcept ReferenceVersion: 2.0.0.1555: MPEG-2 to H.264, MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG-2), Audio: MPEG-2 (44.1 kHz, 2 Channel, 16-Bit, 224 kb/s), Codec: H.264 Pro, Mode: PAL 50i (25 FPS), Profile: H.264 BD HDMV
Productivity
ABBYY FineReaderVersion 10.0.102.82: Read PDF save to Doc, Source: Political Economy (J. Broadhurst 1842) 111 Pages
Adobe Photoshop CS5Version 12.0 x64: Filter 15.7 MB TIF Image: Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates
Autodesk 3ds Max 2010Version 12.0 x64: Space Flyby Mentalray, 248 Frames, 1440x1080
7-ZipVersion 9.2: THG-Workload (464 MB) to .7z, command line switches "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5"
WinRARVersion 4.0 Beta 4: THG-Workload (464 MB) to RAR, command line switches "winrar a -r -m3"
WinZipVersion 14.0 Pro: THG-Workload (464 MB) to ZIP, command line switches "-a -ez -p -r"
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings
3DMark 11Version: 1.0.1, Entry, Performance, Extreme Suite
PCMark 7Version: 1.0.4, System, Productivity, Hard Disk Drive benchmarks
SiSoftware Sandra 2011Version 2011.2.17.36, CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / MultiMedia, Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark
8. Benchmark Results: Crysis And Just Cause 2

Crysis

We know that we're using the same graphics hardware, so the first thing we notice is that these two machines are in different leagues in terms of their processing performance.

Each configuration is playable at these settings, but it is obvious that Intel's Core i5-2400 eliminates much of the CPU bottleneck evident on the stock and overclocked Phenom II-based setup.

Crysis at Very High quality settings is somewhat of a measuring stick in terms of our little budget system's seriousness. The Radeon HD 6870 is probably the least-powerful card you'd want in order to run these settings at 1920x1080.

Though this quarter's rig carves out a lead at lower resolutions, we see a shift towards GPU limitation as resolutions expand. In the end, either CPU delivers acceptable performance.

Just Cause 2

Results from Just Cause 2 start to mimic those seen in Crysis. The 3.8 GHz Phenom II X4 is holding back the Radeon HD 6870 far more than the Core i5-2400 does.

Enabling 8xAA at the highest detail levels pushes our graphics hardware, and this quarter's machine is unable to beat the former rig running at 3.8 GHz, even at our lowest resolution.

Despite borderline benchmark results, we logged some time playing in the game’s lush foliage and Panau City financial district, confirming that the overclocked Radeon HD 6870 is capable of delivering a good experience at 1920x1080 with 8x AA. Frame rates rarely dip below the average seen here in the Concrete Jungle benchmark.

9. Benchmark Results: F1 2010 And Metro 2033

F1 2010

While it establishes a pronounced lead over AMD's Phenom II, even the Core i5-2400 becomes a bottleneck when we start looking at games that tend to rely on CPU horsepower.

Ultra details and 8x MSAA introduce a demanding-enough graphical load to bring the systems closer together as resolution goes up. But it's important to note that all of these configurations are still capable of a maxed-out 1920x1080 experience.

Metro 2033

Clear scaling by resolution indicates a graphics limitation, even at the High quality preset (our low test setting). The current PC leads the former at all resolutions, indicating that our change of CPU (or maybe the graphics driver) is coming into play, too.

We turn on all of the eye candy, aside from Advanced PhysX, for this second test set, including the highest detail levels, 4x MSAA, and the frame rate-zapping Depth of Field (DoF) filter.

At our lowest tested resolution, these settings are a bit overwhelming for an overclocked Radeon HD 6870. While playing through the game's prologue, frame rates dipped into the mid 20s, which is low for a shooter.

10. Benchmark Results: Audio And Video

The AMD Phenom II simply cannot compete with the per-clock performance of Intel’s Sandy Bridge-based offerings.

Both processors come equipped with four cores. So, no matter how well-threaded the individual applications are, Intel's most recent mainstream architecture proves to be more effective than the highest frequencies achievable by AMD's last-generation design.

11. Benchmark Results: Productivity

Overclocking the Phenom II helps decrease the time it takes to complete our workloads by 8-24%. But stepping up to the more expensive Core i5-2400 provides a 28-70% boost in performance.

It's also worth mentioning that the quad-core Core i5 cuts June system's Photoshop result in half, indicating that the application was seeing no benefit from the Core i3-2100’s two logical cores.

12. Benchmark Results: Synthetics

Synthetics

A more powerful CPU translates into a larger lead at 3DMark 11’s Entry preset. But leaning on the same graphics card results in much closer scores as we step through to the Extreme preset.

After sweeping the gaming, encoding, and application tests, it’s no surprise the $600 rig also dominates throughout PCMark 7.

The current machine takes a lead in the storage metrics, despite the fact that weren't using a nearly identical mechanical drive. We can’t really say how much of this (if any) is a result of the H61's 6 Gb/s storage controller, since ASRock board's AMD 770 chipset consistently ran a little slow in storage performance measurements.

Intel dominates the Dhrystone and Integer Multimedia results, while AMD is far more competitive in the Whetstone and Float Multimedia portions of Sandra’s processor tests.

Memory data rates weren't overclocked on either machine, but we were able to increase bandwidth slightly by specifying CAS 7 and CAS 8 timings. The tighter latency settings enable the 2 GB/s gains seen from the current Intel system.

13. Power Consumption And Temperatures

Power Consumption

Both of these systems are powered by Antec EarthWatts 430 W units with 80 PLUS Bronze efficiency ratings, and we test them with their respective power saving features enabled.

In order to reach our overclocking ambitions, however, we had to disable Cool’n’Quiet on the September PC.

September’s overclocking efforts yielded a considerable amount of extra performance from the Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition at the cost of very little added power consumption. Even still, the Core i5's power use is miserly in comparison.

The performance of Intel’s bundled cooler does not look nearly as impressive as AMD’s heat pipe-equipped solution, even though it dissipates a lot less heat from the 32 nm Sandy Bridge processor.

Intel's advantage is that its processor fan is practically inaudible outside the enclosure, rotating at less than one-third the speed of AMD’s 6000+ RPM screamer (which is decidedly audible).

14. Can Core i5-2400 Justify Its Higher Cost?

We’ll summarize performance and efficiency using September’s stock $500 system as a base.

Performance Summary

Upgrading to a Core i5-2400 paid off with a clean sweep in performance. That’s right: the current PC won in every single gaming, encoding, and productivity test from our System Builder Marathon suite.

Efficiency

Of course, the current PC dominates in efficiency by delivering greater performance throughout the entire test suite as it draws far less power at both idle and load.

Value

We would hope that the extra money spent on a higher-end CPU would justify itself with performance to match. However, an extra $70 expense is significant enough to warrant a comparison based on bang for the buck. We’ll handicap the current rig by using overall system cost, meaning that, in order to win, the December PC needs to make up for mark-ups on the hard drive and video card, as well as the additional cost of a more feature-rich motherboard.

Based on average performance, our best overclocking efforts back in September are only able to match the value of this quarter's $600 machine at its stock settings. Once we factor in the added performance attributable to overclocking its graphics card and lower memory latency, the current PC has a clear value lead.

Conclusion

Intel's Core-i5 2400 really is that good. Despite our H61 motherboard pairing, which completely neuters overclocking, the December $600 Gaming PC is able to address the major compromises we were forced to make with the past two $500 machines. Beating the prior system in every single performance test, offering outstanding efficiency, and even delivering more overall value at a higher cost is a pretty impressive list of accomplishments we credit to the pricier processor.

Conversely, the December rig isn't the right choice for everyone. After all, it costs quite a bit more than our previous effort. When it comes to cranking up the eye candy at the highest quality settings, a single mid-range graphics card is the biggest performance inhibitor, not the CPU. For many folks, the best native 1920x1080 gaming experience may be all that matters. Stepping down to a more affordable Sandy Bridge-based Pentium or Core i3-2100 would  facilitate a GeForce GTX 560 Ti or Radeon HD 6950 at the same budget level. And once we step back down to sub-$125 processors, the AMD FX-4100 and older Athlon/Phenom II offerings are also viable options.