
When you take into account the similarities between these two platforms, the biggest difference in 3DMark 11 performance is going to come down to the graphics cards in each machine.
The more modern build boasts a Radeon HD 7850, while last quarter's configuration has a GeForce GTX 560. Even overclocked, Nvidia's board can't keep up to AMD's stock settings. That we're able to fit the Radeon HD 7850 in our same budget is going to be great for value.

We didn't expect to see any large deltas in PCMark 7, since both rigs employ Intel 7-series chipset, Pentium G800-series processors, DDR3-1333 memory, and Western Digital Blue hard drives. This quarter's Windows 8-based build takes a narrow victory in the overall PCMark score, but is edged out in the Productivity and Storage sub-tests.



The current build suffers a 100 MHz CPU frequency deficit, which is why it trails in Sandra's processor tests. It does enjoy slightly more memory bandwidth, though.

- Squeezing More Bang From The Same Buck
- CPU And Cooler
- Motherboard And Memory
- Graphics Card And Hard Drive
- Case, Power Supply, And Optical Drive
- Assembling Our Budget-Oriented Box
- Limited Overclocking Strikes Again
- Test System Configuration And Benchmarks
- Benchmark Results: Synthetics
- Benchmark Results: Battlefield 3
- Benchmark Results: The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim
- Benchmark Results: F1 2012
- Benchmark Results: Audio And Video
- Benchmark Results: Productivity
- Power Consumption And Temperatures
- Is This Our Best $500 Gamer Ever?
Exactly. Couldn't've said it better.
Linux for a gaming desktop I dont think so.
What about the Phenom II 965? It's only $75 at TigerDirect.
I think they'd be better off with a B75 motherboard, 4GB RAM and an i3-3220.
Exactly. Couldn't've said it better.
It's too expensive.
This was a hardware test. You're OS complaints are irrelevant and there's no practical difference between Home and Pro versions when it comes to simple performance tests. such as these.
Several Linux distros works pretty well with most modern popular games, just FYI. Also, getting Windows for free legally is easy if you care to do it. Dreamspark has many free versions available to college students and most people know at least one, even if by proxy. Even in the unlikelihood of not knowing any, there's still the eval copies that MS gives away for free on their own website.
I disagree. The current drivers for Windows 8 are pretty much on-par with the Windows 7 drivers. Heck, they're better than AMD's pre-Catalyst 12.6 drivers.
Meh, I would've preferred seeing at least an A8-5600K with a cheaper motherboard and memory kit or keep the same memory kit and get a cheaper case. It could have fit, IDK why Tom's didn't do it. Maybe there weren't good prices on other components at the time
Windows home still costs $100 which is still some how not part of the budget.