System Builder Marathon, Dec. 2011: System Value Compared

Deals
By Thomas Soderstrom
published

Test Settings

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Test Hardware Configurations
Row 0 - Cell 0  $2400 Perfomance PC  $1200 Enthusiast PC  $600 Gaming PC 
Motherboard (Overclock)MSI Z68A-GD55 (G3) LGA 1155, Intel Z68 ExpressO/C at 102 MHz BCLKBiostar TA990FXE Socket AM3+, AMD 990FXO/C at 207 MHz RCLKMSI PH61A-P35 LGA-1155, Intel H61 ExpressNo O/C
Processor (Overclock)Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40 GHz, Four Physical CoresO/C to 4.60 GHz, 1.37 VAMD FX-6100 3.3 - 3.9 GHz, Six CoresO/C to 4.45 GHz at 1.476 VIntel Core i5-2400 3.1 GHz, Four CoresNo O/C
Memory (Overclock)8 GB Corsair DDR3-1600 CAS 8-8-8-24, O/C at 1.60 V to DDR3-1636 CL 7-8-7-124 GB Mushkin DDR3-1600 CAS 7-8-7-24, O/C at 1.50 V to DDR3-1380 CL 7-8-8-244 GB Wintec DDR3-1333 CAS 9-9-9-24, O/C at 1.65 V to DDR3-1333 CL 7-7-7-20
Graphics (Overclock)2 x PNY GeForce GTX 580: 857 MHz GPU, GDDR5-4212 O/C to 951 MHz GDDR5-43122 x Gigabyte Radeon HD 6950: 870 MHz GPU, GDDR5-5000 O/C to 880 MHz GDDR5-5040Sapphire Radeon HD 6870: 900MHz GPU, GDDR5-4200 O/C to 990 MHz, GDDR5-4720
OpticalLG WH12LS38 BD-RE 12x BD-R, 16x DVD±RLite-On iHAS124-04 DVD±R/W 24x DVD±R, 48x CD-RSamsung SH-222AB DVD±R/W 22x DVD±R, 48x CD-R
CaseFractal Design Arc MidiRosewill Challenger-U3Xigmatek Asgard II
CPU CoolerPNY XLR8 Integrated Liquid CoolingXigmatek Gaia SD1283Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
Hard DriveCrucial M4 128 GB, SATA 6Gb/s SSDOCZ OCZSSD2-1VTXPL60G 60 GB, SATA 6Gb/s SSDSeagate ST3500413AS 500 GB, 7200 RPM HDD
PowerMushkin Joule MKNPSJL10001000 W, 80 PLUS GoldCorsair CMPSU-650TXV2 650 W, 80 PLUS BronzeAntec EarthWatts EA430D 430 W, 80 PLUS Bronze
Software
OSMicrosoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64
GraphicsNvidia GeForce 285.62AMD Catalyst Graphics 11.11
ChipsetIntel INF 9.2.0.1030AMD Catalyst Platform 8.71Intel INF 9.2.0.1030
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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, 8x AA
F1 2010V1.01, Run with -benchmark example_benchmark.xml Test Set 1: High Quality Preset, No AA Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Preset, 8x AA
Just Cause 2Version 1.0.0.2, Built-In Benchmark "Concrete Jungle" Test Set 1: Medium Details, No AA, 8x AF Test Set 2: Highest Details, 8x AA, 16x AF
Metro 2033Full 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
Audio/Video Encoding
iTunesVersion 9.0.3.15 x64: Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 minutes, default AAC format
Lame MP3Version 3.98.3: Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min, convert WAV to MP3 audio format, Command: -b 160 --nores (160 Kb/s)
HandBrake CLIVersion 0.94: "Big Buck Bunny" (720x480, 23.972 FPS) 5 Minutes, Audio: Dolby Digital, 48000 Hz, Six-Channel, English, to Video: AVC Audio: AC3 Audio2: AAC (High Profile)
MainConcept ReferenceVersion: 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, Two-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 FineReaderVersion 10.0.102.82: Read PDF save to Doc, Source: Political Economy (J. Broadhurst 1842) 111 Pages
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings
3DMark 11Version: 1.0.1.0, Benchmark Only
PCMark 7Version: 1.0.4 x64, System, Productivity, Hard Disk Drive benchmarks
SiSoftware Sandra 2011Version 2011.1.17.15, CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / MultiMedia, Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
56 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Darkerson
    I dont even know what to say about how screwed up the Bulldozer build is. The fact that a build that cost half as much can spank it in most regards is just sad. I hope AMD is able to save some face when the revised Bulldozers come out, but sadly, it will be too late for me.

    Edit: Fixed typo. Oops :p
    Reply
  • theuniquegamer
    The 1200$ pc doesn't perform well in comparison to the 600$ pc
    Reply
  • Dacatak
    DarkersonI dont even know what to say about how screwed up the Bulldozer build is. The fact that a build that cost half as much cant spank it in most regards is just sad. I hope AMD is able to save some face when the revised Bulldozers come out, but sadly, it will be too late for me.
    I'm guessing you meant "can" spank.

    And spank it does.
    Reply
  • hmp_goose
    So the "oopsie" build this quarter with be replacing the $1200 with a i5-2500k?
    Reply
  • Darkerson
    9524931 said:
    I'm guessing you meant "can" spank.

    And spank it does.
    Yeah, thats what i meant.
    Reply
  • zloginet
    Just curious how 2x 6950s loose to a 580.... My AMD 1100t @ 4.2 with a MSI R6970 Twin FrozrIII isn't much behind a 580... This is a joke.
    Reply
  • zloginet
    zloginetJust curious how 2x 6950s loose to a 580.... My AMD 1100t @ 4.2 with a MSI R6970 Twin FrozrIII isn't much behind a 580... This is a joke.
    NM, the original part of the thread I thought I read 1x 580, now I see 2x...
    Reply
  • zloginet
    zloginetNM, the original part of the thread I thought I read 1x 580, now I see 2x...
    I need to reply once more... 2x 6950s and a extremely overclocking BD 6100 with only a 650watt ps? These fuggen builds suck
    Reply
  • slicedtoad
    9524937 said:
    I need to reply once more... 2x 6950s and a extremely overclocking BD 6100 with only a 650watt ps? These fuggen builds suck
    whats the matter with 650W?

    gaming tdp of 6950s = max 160 * 2 = 320
    bd 6100 95W officially.

    320 + 160 = 480
    overclocking won't need more than an extra 100W max.

    nothing else uses much power. These are budget builds, they're not made for upgradeability.

    EDIT: LOL, I just looked at your profile. Your system has a 1200W PSU for one 6970.
    I'm laughing, yet cringing at the waste of money.
    Reply
  • silverblue
    There is something horribly wrong with putting multiple GPUs on Bulldozer. I've seen time and time again that a single GPU is generally the faster option. Probably would've made more sense to have the FX6100 build as the $600 one and elevated the $600 build to a dual-GPU config as the CPU can actually cope.

    I think we need a single/multiple GPU article to find out if there's anything that can be rescued from this. Throw in a couple of different motherboards, that sort of thing. Does memory speed make a big difference? Would Windows 8 Beta help in any way?
    Reply