System Builder Marathon, September 2009: 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. After some delay (sorry folks), the contest is ready to be entered. Please visit the entry page, here.
Day 1: The $650 Gaming PC
Day 2: The $1,250 Enthusiast PC
Day 3: The $2,500 Performance PC
Day 4: Performance and Value Dissected
Introduction
As you may recall, the previous System Builder Marathon (SBM) from May 2009 entailed assembling PCs around a portable theme. The $600 Gaming PC was built within a $90 cube-style case, leaving roughly $500 for the remaining system components. Sporting an Intel Pentium E5200 and BFG GeForce GTX 260 Core 216 graphics card, this system was impressive once overclocked, but the processor’s stock performance still left much to be desired. Having the size limitations now lifted, the goal for this September 2009 system was to kick things up a notch and build the best budget gaming machine our SBM series has seen to date.
We overclock our SBM PCs to squeeze more performance from each budget, but also realize not all of our readers put the same value into overclocked performance. Our two higher-budget systems still usually deliver solid performance before overclocking, but typically the cheapest system has been built from the ground up for its overclocking potential. This time, we not only aim to increase the gaming performance from our overclocked system, but also want a far more capable stock-clocked machine. To accomplish our goal, we’ll increase our CPU budget and turn towards AMD’s Phenom II line of processors.
We also desired more graphics muscle, so in another first for our budget PC, we managed to squeeze a pair of AMD Radeon HD 4850 graphics cards into the mix. Rounding out this Dragon platform is an AMD 790X/SB750 motherboard with CrossFire support.
Once again we needed to make some sacrifices while increasing our typical $625 budget just a bit, but the end result should be well worth the effort. Before we highlight each choice, let’s take a look at the complete component list for this month’s $650 Gaming PC.
$650 Gaming PC System Components
| Component | Model | Price (USD) |
|---|---|---|
| CPU | AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition | $103 |
| CPU Cooler | AMD Boxed Heatsink/Fan | 0 |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P | $110 |
| RAM | OCZ 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Model OCZ2G10664GK | $50 |
| Graphics | 2 x Sapphire 100245HDMI Radeon HD 4850 512MB | $190 |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS 500GB | $57 |
| Sound | Integrated | 0 |
| Network | Integrated | 0 |
| Case | Rosewill Wind Ryder RZLS142A-P BK | $30 |
| Power | Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W | $80 |
| Optical Drive | Samsung Black 22X DVD Burner SATA Model SH-S223B | $27 |
| Total Price | $647 |
- Enter The Dragon
- CPU And Cooler
- Motherboard And Memory
- Graphics Cards And Hard Drive
- Case, Power Supply, And Optical Drive
- System Assembly
- Overclocking
- Test System Configuration And Benchmarks
- 3D Games: Crysis And Far Cry 2
- 3D Games: World in Conflict, Fallout 3, And Tom Clancy’s H.A.W.X.
- Benchmark Results: Audio/Video Encoding
- Benchmark Results: Productivity
- Benchmark Results: Synthetics
- Power Consumption
- Conclusion

What about the new $100 quad core athlon with no L3?
I know I like extra cores. Wonderful choice regardless.
I wonder what the quad core athlon with a 512MB 5850 (which would increase the budget though) will be like. Both cheap yet highend parts. =D
Nice to see what only a pocketful of cash can get you.
What about the new $100 quad core athlon with no L3?
I know I like extra cores. Wonderful choice regardless.
I wonder what the quad core athlon with a 512MB 5850 (which would increase the budget though) will be like. Both cheap yet highend parts. =D
Nice to see what only a pocketful of cash can get you.
An article which explores the performance and value of a complete Lynnfield build is something I (and many others, i'd dare to guess) would like to see but haven't yet, and this month's SBM is a missed opportunity in that regard.
I think that your choices were better than mine (more powerful).
But not sure about their o/c potential though...
It's a budget build... I doubt that you could do any better with intel for this price, and seriously doubt that nvidia would be better.
Face it nvidia is not the best right now. I own a 8800GT 512, it was/is an excelent card but just because nvidia did something awesome doesn't mean that presently it's the best choice.
I really can't understand people who bias their choices based on the brand.
My advice: don't buy a brand buy quality/performance/cost, it will save you some money and you'll be better served...
Yeah that was the one in the combo deal with the Phenom II X2 550 BE.
I was considering one Radeon 5850 card for it.I wonder how one Radeon 5850 compares to 2 Radeon 4850's CF'd.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5870,2422-16.html
The new big brother of the new card's shown here. Given the minor differences in speed and a few shaders missing I'm guessing this chart's difference between 2x4870 and 5870 account more or less to the difference between a 5850 and 2x4850 (assuming 1gb memory, 512 just isn't enough for 2500, and at 1600 u only need one 4850 512mb in most games).
In any event - consider the savings in power consumption when calculating cost. The new cards are so much cheaper to idle - and my 4870 idles most of the time.
Samsung F3 500GB
$49.99 with Free Shipping
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822152181
If a user is geared towards that, something with an i7 is a better choice. Just drop the graphics altogether (or get a 4650 or something).