The following tables include the stock and overclocked settings for this quarter's enthusiast build. You'll also find the PC we built for Q4 of last year, which is used as a comparison point.
Under that are our benchmarks and settings, for reference. At long last we updated our gaming suite to include Arma 3, Grid 2, and Battlefield 4.
| Q1 2014 Enthusiast PC Test Settings: $1459 of Performance Hardware | ||
|---|---|---|
| Default Configuration | Overclocked | |
| Motherboard | ASRock Z87 Pro3 LGA 1150, Intel Z87 Express | Unchanged |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-4770K: 3.5 GHz Base Clock Rate, 3.9 GHz Maximum Turbo Boost, 8 MB Shared L3 Cache | 4.40 GHz @ 1.2 V |
| Memory | 8 GB Corsair Vengeance LP (2 x 4 GB) DDR3-1866, Model CML8GX3M2A1866C9B, 1333 MT/s, CAS 9-9-9-24-1T | 1866 MT/s 9-10-9-27 2T @ 1.5 V |
| Graphics | Galaxy GeForce GTX 780 Ti 3 GB 256-bit GDDR5, 875/928 MHz Base/GPU Boost, GDDR5-7000 | +150 MHz GPU, GDDR5-7400 |
| System Drive | Samsung 840 EVO MZ-7TE120BW 2.5" 128 GB SATA 6Gb/s SSD | Unchanged |
| Storage Drive | WD Black 500 GB, 7200 RPM, 64 MB Cache, SATA 6Gb/s | Unchanged |
| Optical | LG Black WH14NS40, 4 MB Cache SATA BDXL Blu-ray Burner, OEM | Unchanged |
| Case | NZXT Phantom 410 Computer Case | Unchanged |
| Power | Corsair 650TX 650 W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Bronze Modular PSU | Unchanged |
| Q4 2013 $1600 Enthusiast PC Test Settings: $1528 of Performance Hardware | ||
|---|---|---|
| Default Configuration | Overclocked | |
| Motherboard | Asus Z87-Plus, LGA 1150, Intel Z87 Express | Unchanged |
| Processor | Intel Core i5-4670K: 3.4 GHz Base Clock Rate, 3.8 GHz Turbo Boost, 6 MB Shared L3 Cache | 4.3 GHz @ 1.285 V |
| Memory | 8 GB Patriot Viper 3 (2 x 4 GB), DDR3-1600, CAS 9-9-9-24-1T | 1866 MT/s 9-10-9-27-2T @ 1.5 V |
| Graphics | 2 x MSI Gaming N770 GeForce GTX 770, 2 GB 256-bit GDDR5, 1085/1137 MHz Base/GPU Boost, GDDR5-7012 | 1150/1202 MHz Base/GPU Boost, GDDR5-7460 |
| System Drive | Samsung 840 Pro MZ-7PD128PW 128 GB SATA 6Gb/s SSD | Unchanged |
| Storage Drive | Seagate Barracuda 2 TB, 7200 RPM, 64 MB Cache, SATA 6Gb/s | Unchanged |
| Optical | Lite-On iHAS124-04: DVD Burner | Unchanged |
| Case | NZXT Gamma Black ATX Mid-Tower Computer Case | Unchanged |
| Power | Corsair TX750 V2 750 W ATX12V v2.3 80 PLUS Bronze-Certified PSU | Unchanged |
And here are the benchmark details:
| Benchmark Configuration | |
|---|---|
| 3D Games | |
| Battlefield 4 | Version 1.0.0.0, DirectX 11, 100-Second Fraps "Tashgar" Test Set 1: Medium Quality Preset, No AA, 4X AF, SSAO Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Preset, 4X MSAA, 16X AF, HBAO |
| Arma 3 | Version 1.6.89.06, Version 1.5.26.05 (June), 25-Second Fraps Test Set 1: High Preset, FSAA Enabled Test Set 2: Ultra Preset, 8x FSAA Enabled |
| Far Cry 3 | Version 1.04, 50-Second Fraps "Ananaki Village" Test Set 1: High Quality Preset, No AA, Standard Alpha, SSAO Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Preset, 4X MSAA, Enhanced Alpha, HDAO |
| Grid 2 | Version 1.2, Direct X 11, Built-in Benchmark Test Set 1: High Quality, No AA Test Set 2: Ultra Quality, 8x MSAA |
| Audio/Video Encoding | |
| HandBrake CLI | Version: 0.98, Video: Video from Canon EOS 7D (1920x1080, 25 frames) 1 Minutes 22 Seconds, Audio: PCM-S16, 48,000 Hz, Two-Channel, to Video: AVC1 Audio: AAC (High Profile) |
| iTunes | Version 10.4.1.10 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) |
| TotalCode Studio 2.5 | Version: 2.5.0.10677, MPEG-2 to H.264, MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG-2), Audio: MPEG-2 (44.1 kHz, Two-Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kb/s) Codec: H.264 Pro, Mode: PAL 50i (25 FPS), Profile: H.264 BD HDMV |
| Productivity | |
| ABBYY FineReader | Version 10.0.102.82: Read PDF save to Doc, Source: Political Economy (J. Broadhurst 1842) 111 Pages |
| Adobe Photoshop CS6 | Version 13 x64: Filter 15.7 MB TIF Image: Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates |
| Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 | Version 14.0 x64: Space Flyby Mentalray, 248 Frames, 1440x1080 |
| 7-Zip | Version 9.28, LZMA2, Syntax "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5" Benchmark: THG-Workload-2012 |
| WinRAR | Version 4.2, RAR, Syntax "winrar a -r -m3" Benchmark: THG-Workload-2012 |
| WinZip | Version 17.0 Pro, Best Method, ZIPX Benchmark: THG-Workload-2012 |
| Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings | |
| 3DMark 11 | Version: 1.0.1, Entry, Performance, Extreme Suite |
| PCMark 7 | Version: 1.0.4, System, Productivity, Hard Disk Drive benchmarks |
| SiSoftware Sandra 2013 | Version: 2013 SP5c-1872, CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / MultiMedia, Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark |
Previous
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Summary
- Taking The SBM Down A Different Road
- CPU, Motherboard, And Cooler
- Video Card, Power Supply, And Case
- Memory, Hard Drives, And Optical Storage
- System Assembly And Overclocking
- Test System And Benchmarks
- Results: Synthetics
- Results: Media Transcoding
- Results: Rendering And Productivity
- Results: Adobe Creative Suite
- Results: Compression Tools
- Results: Battlefield 4 And Arma 3
- Results: Grid 2 And Far Cry 3
- Power And Temperature
- A Core i7 And Flagship GPU Impress, Naturally
Ask a Category Expert

(1) You could include temperatures and acoustics performance in the overall assessment, given I think that is a big part of the case buying decision, and
(2) A way to factor in the intangibles (i.e. blu ray vs dvd, choice of SSD/HDD, etc), you could include a separate vote between this quarter's and last quarter's to see what the readers would choose for the best build given all the performance factors, aesthetics, and other components that do not contribute directly to performance. The reader's vote of this quarter vs. last quarter and/or an overall value winner for this quarter could be included in the final write-up.
I would also 2nd the vote for starting 4K testing. And also, why not 1440p? It seems those two resolutions are more relevant now in 2014 at the level of this competition than 1600x900 and 4800x900 resolutions.
Hmm.... What percentage of the performance measures in this article are for gaming?
I'm thinking a selection of CPUs as a fixed starting point, and GPU decisions based on remaining budget. Maybe an i7, i5, FX-8, and an APU.
Would be really interesting to see the performance differences across workloads by allocating budget between CPU and other components.
Already done for ITX. See here:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/build-your-own-haswell-overclocking,3608.html
I'd second the uATX. In fact, I'd really like to see Crash attempt a uATX dual-gpu setup.
Frankly, it was the cheapest available card when the systems were ordered.
Nope.
The purpose is to have a resolution that the low-budget PC can operate at for the comparison article at the end of the week.