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System Builder Marathon, Dec. 2011: $1200 Enthusiast PC
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1. AMD's FX-6100 Gets Its Big Chance

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

We've already seen that Intel's Core i5-2500K is a great processor at this price point, and we've been using that model in our mid-range System Builder Marathon configuration since it was introduced. Needless to say, it hasn't disappointed us yet.

But we already know what Intel's Core i5-2500K is capable of achieving, and we know there are plenty of readers who want to see another option, if we're only cautiously hopeful about its potential.

With this round’s mid-range hardware budget increased by $200, we have an opportunity to see if AMD’s FX can exploit a powerful CrossFire-enabled graphics card configuration. Without further ado, here’s the parts list for the last middle-of-the-road SBM build of 2011:

$1200 Enthusiast System Components
MotherboardBiostar TA990FXE
Socket AM3+, AMD 990FX Northbridge
$130
ProcessorAMD FX-6100
3.3 GHz (3.9 GHz Max Turbo Core), Hexa-Core, 8 MB Shared L3 Cache
$160
CPU Cooler
Xigmatek Gaia SD1283$30
MemoryMushkin Enhanced Redline 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) 240-Pin DDR3-1600 Kit
Dual-Channel Desktop Memory Kit
$40
Graphics2 x Gigabyte Radeon HD 6950 1 GB
  1 GB GDDR5
$480
Hard DriveOCZ Vertex Plus 60 GB SATA II SSD
60 GB, SATA 3Gb/s
$80
Hard DriveWestern Digital Caviar Black 750 GB
750 GB, 7200 RPM, 32 MB Cache SATA 3Gb/s
$180
OpticalLite-On iHAS124-04
24x DVD Burner
$22
CaseRosewill Challenger-U3$50
PowerCorsair TX650 V2 650 W
ATX12V, EPS12V, 80 PLUS-Certified
$95
 Total Cost$1267


As you can see, current pricing forces our total about $67 above the original $1200 budget. We have to thank skyrocketing hard drive prices for that, as the 750 GB Western Digital Black was closer to $60 when we placed our orders last month.

2. CPU, Motherboard, And Cooler

CPU: AMD FX-6100

By now it’s no surprise that AMD’s new FX family doesn't shine particularly brightly against similarly-priced Intel parts. However, we held out hope. We wanted to exploit the fact that all of the FX chips boast unlocked multipliers, whereas Intel doesn't give you that flexibility. Our first choice for a threading-heavy benchmark suite was the eight-core FX-8120, but that model wasn't available yet when we placed our order. As a result, we had to settle on the FX-6100.

Read Customer Reviews of AMD's FX-6100


With a relatively low $160 asking price, this processor's six integer execution cores should be ample for gaming. From what we've seen so far, though, the Bulldozer architecture isn't as lithe there as we'd expected. It will be interesting to see how far it can go with a powerful CrossFire graphics setup.

Motherboard: Biostar TA990FXE

Read Customer Reviews of Biostar's TA990FXE


Biostar’s TA990FXE AM3+ board already has a great reputation for overclocking well, and it supports two graphics cards with full PCIe x16 bandwidth for each. The relatively low $130 asking price makes this fully-featured premium model an easy choice for this system build.

CPU Cooler: Xigmatek Gaia SD1283

Read Customer Reviews of Xigmatek's Gaia SD1283


We’re fans of Xigmatek’s relatively low-cost, powerful CPU cooling solutions. We decided to give the Gaia a try. With a 120 mm fan and three 8 mm heat pipes for a reasonable $30, this large cooler doesn’t disappoint.

3. Video Cards, Power Supply, And Case

Video Cards: 2 x Gigabyte Radeon HD 6950 1 GB in CrossFire

We’re giving this system tremendous graphics muscle by arming it with a pair of Gigabyte Radeon HD 6950 1 GB cards in CrossFire. Our biggest concern is that the FX-based platform will bottleneck this very potent combination of boards. For $480, there’s aren't too many options out there able to surge past these cards.

Read Customer Reviews of Gigabyte's Radeon HD 6950 1 GB

Power Supply: Corsair TX650 V2

Read Customer Reviews of Corsair's TX650 V2


We tried to skimp a little on the power supply in our last build, and we learned a lesson when it didn’t include as many PCIe power connectors as we would have liked.

Consequently, we’re falling back to our safe standby selection, Corsair's TX650, recently updated to version V2. At $95, it offers a very stable, reliable source of power for the system.

PC Case: Rosewill Challenger-U3

Read Customer Reviews of Rosewill's Challenger-U3


We decided to try a Rosewill case this time around, and we were pleasantly surprised with the Challenger-U3. The low $50 purchase price includes two 120 mm fans, plus a single 140 mm blower.

This well-built enclosure is as attractive as it is functional, reminiscent of more expensive models from other case manufacturers.

4. Memory, Hard Drive, And Optical Drive

Memory: Mushkin Enhanced Redline 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) DDR3-1600 Memory Kit 

Mushkin's Enhanced Redline dual-channel kit boasts 7-8-7-24 1T timings at a 1600 MT/s data rate, and it’s an excellent value at the $40 price point. This product was recently deactivated from Newegg, but you can get the Mushkin Blackline kit 996782 with the same specifications and price.

Read Customer Reviews of Mushkin's Enhanced Redline 4 GB DDR3-1600 Kit


SSD: OCZ Vertex Plus OCZSSD2-1VTXPL60G 2.5" 60 GB

Read Customer Reviews of OCZ's Vertex Plus 60 GB


Flash-based storage weren't affected by the same flooding catastrophe in Thailand that is impacting conventional hard drives, and OCZ’s Vertex Plus 60 GB SSD is an affordable product (even if its user reviews scare us a little) with enough space to serve as a boot drive.

Hard Drive: Western Digital Caviar Black 750 GB

Read Customer Reviews of Western Digital's Caviar Black 750 GB


At $180, the price of this hard disk has tripled since we last used it in our System Builder Marathon, and this component is solely responsible for the cost overage on our $1200 budget. Nevertheless, it’s one of the best-performing hard drives available, so we're sticking with it.

Optical Drive: Lite-On iHAS124-04 DVD Burner

Read Customer Reviews of Lite-On's iHAS124-04 DVD Burner


For $22, Lite-On’s iHAS124-04 has a 2 MB buffer and a 24x DVD write speed. You might not get any frills with this OEM product, but you aren't asked to pay for any, either.

5. Assembly And Overclocking

Everything fits very nicely in Rosewill's Challenger-U3, and we’re impressed with the enclosure’s build quality, airflow, and case management features. We were concerned that the colossal Xigmatek Gaia CPU cooler would interfere with the side of the case, but this isn’t a problem.

Even the large, dual-Radeon HD 6950 setup encounters no fitment issues, although we would have preferred more space between the 16x PCIe slots on the Biostar motherboard to facilitate better airflow.

The only problem we encountered was a product of our own negligence, as the dual-channel memory needs to be inserted in specific slots. The memory operates in any of the slots when you use an Phenom II processor, but the FX-6100 is much more picky about DIMM slot installation for dual-channel operation.

Overclocking

Despite the disappointments encountered on AMD’s FX family, we can at least say that the FX-6100 overclocks reasonably well. I was able to POST at 5.0 GHz using a perhaps-uncomfortable 1.50 V and boot to windows at 4.8 GHz.

Thermals are within a reasonable range, and if this was a regular test sample, I might have poured more voltage just to see what happened. But we send our System Builder Marathon configurations to contest winners when we’re through, and I didn’t have the heart to run experiments on hardware destined for a lucky reader. Because of this, our final overclock is 4.45 GHz with a 21.5x multiplier and a 207 MHz reference clock, using 1.476 V to drive the CPU. This isn't a poor result by any stretch. Memory topped out at 690 MHz (1380 MT/s) with 7-8-8-8-24-31 1T timings.

The factory-overclocked graphics cards aren’t willing to accept a meaningful increase, but we bump the memory and core clocks by 10 MHz just to say we did. The final graphics clocks are 880 MHz on the core and 1260 MHz for the GDDR5 memory.

6. Test System And Benchmarks

The new system has a respectable graphics hardware advantage, featuring two Radeon HD 6950 1 GB boards in CrossFire. However, we’ll have to see how bottlenecked they are by the FX-6100 CPU. The previous system has a fast Core i5-2500K CPU, but a less-capable GeForce GTX 460 1 GB SLI configuration.

Current $1200 Enthusiast PC Test Settings
 Standard SpeedOverclocked
MotherboardBiostar TA990FXE
Socket AM3+, AMD 990FX Northbridge
Unchanged
ProcessorAMD FX-6100
3.3 GHz (3.9 GHz Max Turbo Core), Hexa-Core, 8 MB L3 Cache
4450 MHz at 1.476 V,
207 MHz bus
MemoryMushkin Enhanced Redline 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) 240-Pin DDR3-1600 Kit
Dual-Channel Desktop Memory Kit, CAS 9-9-9-24-1T @ 666 MHz
7-8-8-24 1T
@ 690 MHz
Graphics2 x Gigabyte Radeon HD 6950 1 GB
  1 GB GDDR5 @ 5000 MT/s
GPU @ 870 MHz
GDDR5 @ 5040 MT/s
GPU @ 880 MHz
Hard DriveOCZ Vertex Plus 60 GB SATA II SSD
60 GB, SATA 3Gb/s
Unchanged
Hard DriveWestern Digital Caviar Black 750 GB
750 GB, 7200 RPM, 32 MB cache SATA 3Gb/s
Unchanged
OpticalSony Optiarc DVD Burner
24x DVD Burner
Unchanged
CaseRosewill Challenger-U3Unchanged
PowerCorsair TX650 V2 650 W
ATX12V, EPS12V, 80 PLUS-Certified
Unchanged
September $1000 Enthusiast PC Test Settings
 Standard SpeedOverclocked
MotherboardEVGA P67 Micro SLI
LGA 1155, Intel P67 chipset
Unchanged
ProcessorIntel Core i5-2500K
3.3 GHz (3.7 GHz Turbo Boost), Quad-Core, 6 MB L3 Cache
4490 MHz at 1.4 V
MemoryMushkin Enhanced Redline 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) 240-Pin DDR3-1600 Kit
Dual-Channel Desktop Memory Kit, CAS 9-9-9-24-1T @ 666 MHz
7-8-7-24 1T
@ 800 MHz
Graphics2 x EVGA GeForce GTX 460 1 GB
  1 GB GDDR5 @ 3600 MT/s
GPU @ 720 MHz
GDDR5 @ 3700 MT/s
GPU @ 850 MHz
Fan @ 100%
Hard DriveOCZ Vertex Series 30 GB SATA II SSD
30 GB, SATA 3Gb/s
Unchanged
Hard DriveWestern Digital Caviar Black 750 GB
750 GB, 7200 RPM, 32 MB cache SATA 3Gb/s
Unchanged
OpticalSony Optiarc DVD Burner
24x DVD Burner
Unchanged
CaseRaidmax Atlas-295WBUnchanged
PowerCorsair CX600 V2 600 W
ATX12V, EPS12V, 80 PLUS-Certified
Unchanged


And here's the list of benchmarks:

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
Metro 2033
Full Game, Built-In Benchmark, "Frontline" Scene
Test Set 1: DX11, High, AAA, 4x AF, No PhysX, No DoF
Test Set 2: DX11, Very High, 4x AA, 16x AF, No PhysX, DoF On
Just Cause 2
In-game benchmark: Concrete Jungle
Test Set 1: Medium Details, No AA, 8x AF
Test Set 2: Highest Details, 8x AA, 16x AF
F1 2010
V1.01, Run with -benchmark example_benchmark.xml
Test Set 1: High Quality Preset, No AA
Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Preset, 8x AA
Audio/Video Encoding
iTunes
Version 9.0.3.15 x64: Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 minutes, default AAC format 
Lame MP3
Version 3.98.3: Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min, convert WAV to MP3 audio format, Command: -b 160 --nores (160 Kb/s)
HandBrake CLI
Version 0.94: "Big Buck Bunny" (720x480, 23.972 FPS) 5 Minutes, Audio: Dolby Digital, 48 000 Hz, Six-Channel, English, to Video: AVC Audio: AC3 Audio2: AAC (High Profile)
MainConcept Reference
Version: 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
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
WinZIPVersion 14.0 Pro: THG-Workload (464 MB) to ZIP, command line switches "-a -ez -p -r"
WinRARVersion 4.0 Beta 4: THG-Workload (464 MB) to RAR, command line switches "winrar a -r -m3"
7-ZipVersion 9.2: THG-Workload (464 MB) to .7z, command line switches "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5"
ABBYY FineReader
Version 10.0.102.82: Read PDF save to Doc, Source: Political Economy (J. Broadhurst 1842) 111 Pages
Synthetic Benchmarks
3DMark 11Version: 1.0.1.0, Benchmark Only
PCMark VantageVersion: 1.0.1.0 x64, System, Productivity, Hard Disk Drive benchmarks
SiSoftware Sandra 2011Version 2011.1.17.15, CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / MultiMedia, Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark
7. Benchmark Results: Synthetics

Let’s start with 3DMark 11. This is where we're most likely to see two Radeon HD 6950s in CrossFire distinguish themselves from the GeForce combination.

The new FX-based PC shows an advantage at higher resolutions and graphics loads thanks to its beefy GPUs. But, at entry-level settings, the bottleneck shifts to the CPU. Intel's Core i5-2500K and Nvidia's GeForce GTX 460 SLI configuration take a slight win.

PCMark clearly favors the Intel-based system, and even the overclocked 4.5 GHz FX-6100 cannot match the stock Core i5-2500K's results.

The Intel box has a clear advantage, but the new FX-6100 has one win in the Double x4 iSSE2 Multimedia CPU benchmark.

Note: AMD’s memory bandwidth is clear here, but this is more of an issue with the older version of Sandra we're using for this comparison. We're currently upgrading our benchmark suite, and will update these results in the next system builder marathon.

8. Benchmark Results: Media Encoding

You can tell which benchmarks are more heavily optimized to take advantage of parallelism. The overclocked FX-6100 and its six integer cores perform better in HandBrake and MainConcept. In those disciplines, the overclocked AMD CPU manages to just barely surpass the performance of a stock Core i5-2500K.

When it comes to iTunes and Lame, though, the FX's poor per-clock performance winds up getting it left in the dust.

9. Benchmark Results: Productivity

The story is similar when we delve into our compression-oriented tests and ABBYY's OCR application. The overclocked AMD FX-6100 can only challenge the stock Core i5-2500K in half of these tasks.

Our graphics-oriented benchmarks utilize multiple threads. However, the FX-6100 can only meet or beat the performance of a Core i5-2500K running at its stock settings when it's running at 4.5 GHz. Once overclocked, the Intel-based platform simply walks away with the wins.

10. Benchmark Results: Crysis And Just Cause 2

This is the last time we’ll be benchmarking the original Crysis in a System Builder Marathon; it’s time to put that old benchmark out to pasture. But we’ll compare it anyway, seeing as how we have data from the previous system.

The FX-6100 causes a major bottleneck, and we can’t help but wonder why this old (but demanding) game runs so poorly on AMD’s FX chip. The dual-Radeon HD 6950 configuration can only manage a meaningless 1.1 frame per second win at 2560x1600 when it's overclocked using very high settings, suggesting that this test isn't as constrained by graphics performance as most enthusiasts assume. 

Just Cause 2 is also extremely platform-bottlenecked. The FX-6100 doesn’t perform nearly as well as Intel's CPU, although frame rates still manage to land above 40 across the board.

11. Benchmark Results: F1 2010 And Metro 2033

Due to an issue with F1 2010's configuration file, scripting this test yields better performance with two of the FX-6100's integer cores disabled. This isn't something you see during actual game play, fortunately.

Once again, the Intel system is obviously superior, except at the highest settings and 2560x1600, where the Radeon HD 6950s facilitate higher frame rates.

Metro 2033 is extremely graphics-intensive, and this is the only game that shows a quantifiable (albeit slim) win in favor of the FX-6100/Radeon HD 6950 CrossFire system at very high detail settings.

12. Power And Temperature Benchmarks

The new AMD-based system uses more power across the board, especially when it's overclocked. This is largely attributable to the high voltage levels required to hit the settings we're using. Of course

You can also thank the power-hungry dual Radeon HD 6950 configuration for that.

Despite its high power usage, the new system’s CPU and GPUs stay relatively cool. We're glad to see that AMD made a transition to 32 nm manufacturing, which seems to help facilitate a more complex processor at lower thermal output. However, Xigmatek’s Gaia cooler should probably receive most of the credit for keeping temperatures low. 

13. FX-6100: A Surprising Processor Bottleneck

We weren't hoping for a miracle in picking AMD's FX-6100 for this quarter's mid-range System Builder Marathon machine. It was almost assured that the Core i5-2500K would beat it (after all, the flagship FX-8150 had a hard enough time with Sandy Bridge at launch).

The real question was whether or not the FX-6100 has what it takes to shift the bottleneck to the dual Radeon HD 6950 CrossFire setup in gaming environments.

The answer, unfortunately, is no. In all but one of the 1920x1080 tests with high detail settings, the stock Core i5-2500K and GeForce GTX 460 SLI combination beats the overclocked FX-6100 with its dual Radeon HD 6950s. In Metro 2033, the one title able to demonstrate an AMD advantage, the result is within 11 FPS.

Perhaps you don't consider our comparison fair because the Core i5 is more expensive. Remember, though, that this configuration costs $200 more than last quarter's, and much of that extra budget went to vastly superior Radeon HD 6950 graphics cards. Even overclocked, the AMD CPU isn't able to match Intel’s stock performance. So, if you want to argue that the $184 Core i5-2300 would make a better comparison, consider that the FX-6100 would still need to be overclocked to 4.5 GHz to match that processor's out-of-box performance. And don’t forget that the Core i5-2300 can be overclocked from its stock 2.8 GHz to 3.5 GHz by forcing the highest single-core Turbo Boost multiplier (it's one of Intel's partially-unlocked chips). Also, think about the FX-6100’s considerable power consumption when it's pushed with all of that voltage.

The landscape isn't entirely bleak for AMD’s mid-range mainstream processor. Load temperatures are quite low, and its overclocking headroom is notable. All of the games we tested were playable, and average frame rates at 1920x1080 never dropped below 36. Really, though, it's hard to come with any reason to recommend AMD's FX over a Core i5 in an affordable build. Certainly, pairing a couple of AMD's very recommendable Radeon HD 6950s with its less-impressive FX-6100 creates platform imbalance.

Still, we’re quite curious to see how this system fares against the rest of the group in our final comparison article at the end of this week. Stay tuned, and remember to enter to win one of our three SBM machines!