System Builder Marathon, December 2010: $2000 PC
Table of contents
- 1. Luxurious Performance?
- 2. Storage
- 3. Motherboard And Graphics
- 4. CPU And Memory
- 5. CPU Cooling and Case
- 6. Power And Optical Drive
- 7. Hardware Installation
- 8. Overclocking
- 9. Test Settings
- 10. Benchmark Results: 3DMark And PCMark
- 11. Bechmark Results: SiSoftware Sandra
- 12. Benchmark Results: Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2
- 13. Benchmark Results: Crysis
- 14. Benchmark Results: DiRT 2
- 15. Benchmark Results: S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call Of Pripyat
- 16. Benchmark Results: Audio And Video Encoding
- 17. Benchmark Results: Productivity
- 18. Energy, Efficiency, And Heat
- 19. Value Conclusion
With all of your feedback from last quarter's System Builder Marathon under our belts, this time around, we attempt to fit a no-sacrifice, luxury and performance build into our moderately-high $2000 budget. Will this new build succeed on all fronts?
System Builder Marathon, December 2010: 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 check out this Google form, and be sure to read the complete rules before entering!
Day 1: The $2,000 Performance PC
Day 2: The $1,000 Enthusiast PC
Day 3: The $500 Gaming PC
Day 4: Performance And Value, Dissected
Introduction
Wouldn’t it be great if someone could invent a sports car that combined all the luxury of a Bentley with all the performance of a Bugatti? And wouldn’t it be great if that sports car was priced only as high as a fully-loaded Buick? This combination of performance, luxury, and price actually is possible, but only in the world of PCs.
This month’s $2000 build packs a full range of killer performance components (even a pair of top-end SSD drives), without sacrificing luxury features. SilverStone’s gorgeous unibody case promises to improve cooling and reduce noise at the same time, while a Blu-ray burner adds compatibility with the latest optical media. Could this be our most perfect build yet?
| $2000 Performance PC Component Prices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Motherboard | Gigabyte X58A-UD3R LGA-1366 Intel X58 Express, ICH10R | $210 |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-950 3.06 GHz Quad-Core | $295 |
| Memory | Mushkin 998586 6 GB, DDR3-1333 Triple-Channel Kit | $80 |
| Graphics | 2 x EVGA 012-P3-1470-AR, 1.25 GB GeForce GTX 470 | $520 |
| System Drive | 2 x A-Data S599 64 GB, SATA 3Gb/s SSD | $220 |
| Storage Drive | Samsung F3 HD103SJ 1 TB, 7200 RPM HDD | $70 |
| Optical | Lite-On iHBS112 Blu-ray Drive: 12x BD-R, 16x DVD±R | $120 |
| Case | SilverStone Fortress FT02B | $250 |
| Power | SilverStone ST85F-P 850 W Modular | $150 |
| Heat Sink | Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.B | $62 |
| CPU Fan | Delta AFC1212D-PWM 3400 RPM, 120 mm | $23 |
| Total Cost | $2,000 | |
Someone probably noticed by now that we did not pick the fastest parts of each type. But overclocking just might be the secret to getting all that luxury performance into a mid-budget build. All that’s left for us to do is build it, tune it up, and test it!
Related Stories :
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- OWC Has First Fully Mac & PC Supported Bootable PCIe SSD
- Transcend Has a PATA SSD For Your Aging PC
- Silent, But Deadly: Build Your Own Gaming-Ready 0 dB PC
- Could An SSD Be The Best Upgrade For Your Old PC?
- Build the Best PC With Us in Tom's Hardware Best Configs
- Super Talent's New SSD Upgrade for Asus Eee PC
- Take That, iMac?: Build Your Own All-In-One PC
- QOTD: Do You Overclock Your PC?
- HP Announces SSD Business Desktop PC
The link to enter the giveaway doesn't work!
I would love to be first to enter
i think im gona get a revo 2 drive ssd to upgrade my current build.... all thanks to santa !!
Its good to know that choosing the wrong memory can affect performance in such a way.
I'm pretty surprised we didn't see Geforce GTX 570s in this build, I guess they got released too late to make it here.
>> First time in recent memory
"Cough Cough" Lame Pun
Wow that Mushkin memory really jacked up this benchmark.
Most perfect build ever ? Just read the configs yet, and I think that's a possibility.
Now don't skin me if the config proves to be a flop in the coming pages. Just read the first page and couldn't resist a comment.
Why not replace the two ssd's with a single intel 120gb... same price and now on 35nm
I think this one can be trimmed to a very good $1500 build as well. Change the CPU to i5 760, remove one of the cards, one of the SSDs, and you'll need lower capacity PSU for that, let's slash $30-$50 there, you get a very good PC for $1500.
And oh, cheapen the case as well. There's no free lunch. You gotta sacrifice some silence to gains some frame rates.
Get rid of MW2 in benchmarks for Battlefield Bad Company 2 and add in Starcraft 2 in my opinion. Nice computer, that's too bad about the memory.
Having $2000, I would take i5 760 + 2 x gtx580
I agree with the people above who mentioned i5 760 and GTX 570. I was thinking the same thing when I saw the config. IMO, $2000 would give you far better performance in games, especially with high resolution and quality:
GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3 LGA 1156 - $125
Intel i5 760 - $205
Scythe Mugen 2 - 47
Cooler Master HAF 932 - $140
GTX 570 2x SLI $700
Samsung F3 1TB - $70
Crucial 128GB C300 - $275
CORSAIR XMS 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 - $125
Antec TruePower Quattro TPQ-1000 1000W - $170
Lite-On iHBS112 Blu-ray Drive: 12x BD-R, 16x DVD±R - $120
Total: $1977
All prices without rebates included. The $23 left over can be used to pay for the shipping where applicable. Also, an SSD can be replaced for a cheaper one to save a little money, if that's your thing.
But isn't this worse than the previous $2000 PC?
@barmaley
Everything is fine except the motherboard and here's why:
http://www.hardware-revolution.com [...] e-problem/
why is single intel 120GB better than 2x 64GB RAID 0? I thought the later twice the speed than a single SSD?
$2000 config with TWO gtx 580:
ASUS Maximus III Formula LGA 1156 - $179
Core i5-760 - $205
Noctua NH-U12P - $75
Kingston DDR3 4gb - $56
ENERMAX REVOLUTION85+ 920W - $200
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4 2Tb - $100
COOLER MASTER CM690 II Advanced Black Steel - $80
GTX580 x2 (SLI) - $1100
Total price: $2005
This build with 2 GTX 580 is nice. The only thing is that a lot people would have a problem paying $2000 and not getting blue ray and SSD. Not that it affects gaming in a big way as much as a good graphics card does, but it still counts.
$2000 config with TWO gtx 580:ASUS Maximus III Formula LGA 1156 - $179Core i5-760 - $205Noctua NH-U12P - $75Kingston DDR3 4gb - $56ENERMAX REVOLUTION85+ 920W - $200SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4 2Tb - $100COOLER MASTER CM690 II Advanced Black Steel - $80GTX580 x2 (SLI) - $1100Total price: $2005
Good for gaming and nothing else.