
| Current $500 PC System Test Configuration | ||
|---|---|---|
| Component | Base Settings | Overclock Setting |
| CPU | Intel Celeron G530 (Sandy Bridge), 2.4 GHz, LGA 1155, 2 MB Shared L3, power savings enabled | Unchanged |
| CPU Cooler | Intel retail boxed heat sink and fan | Unchanged |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-H61MA-D3V Intel H61 Express, BIOS F3 (02-16-2012) | Unchanged |
| RAM | 4 GB Pareema PC3-10600 kit 2 x 2 GB @ DDR3-1066, CL 7-7-7-19 1T at 1.5 V | DDR3-1066, CL 6-6-6-14 1T at 1.6 V |
| Graphics | ECS NGT560TI-1GPI-F1 GeForce GTX 560 Ti 823 MHz GPU, 1002 MHz (4008 MT/s) Memory | 891 MHz GPU, 1102.5 MHz (4410 MT/s) GDDR5 Memory |
| Hard Drive | Western Digital WD3200AAKX 320 GB 320 GB, 7200 RPM, 16 MB Cache | Unchanged |
| Sound | Integrated Eight-Channel HD Audio | Unchanged |
| Network | Integrated Gigabit Networking | Unchanged |
| Power | Antec VP-450 450W | Unchanged |
| Optical | LG 22x DVD Burner SATA Model GH22NS90B-OEM | Unchanged |
| Software and Drivers | ||
| Operating System | Windows 7 Ultimate Edition x64 | Unchanged |
| Graphics Driver | GeForce R295 Drive v.296.10 | Unchanged |
| Platform Driver | Intel 6-series Inf v.9.2.0.1030 | Unchanged |
| March $650 Gaming PC System Test Configuration | ||
|---|---|---|
| Component | Base Settings | Overclock Setting |
| CPU | Intel Core i3-2120 (Sandy Bridge), 3.3 GHz, LGA 1155, 3 MB Shared L3, Hyper-Threading enabled, Power-savings enabled | Unchanged |
| CPU Cooler | Intel retail boxed heat sink and fan | Unchanged |
| Motherboard | Gigabyte GA-H61MA-D3V Intel H61 Express, BIOS F3 (02-16-2012) | Unchanged |
| RAM | 4 GB Team Elite PC3-10600 kit 2 x 2 GB, DDR3-1333, CL 9-9-9-24 1T at 1.5 V | DDR3-1333, CL 7-8-7-22 1T at 1.6 V |
| Graphics | XFX HD-695X-ZNFC Radeon HD 6950 1 GB 800 MHz GPU, 1250 MHz (5000 MT/s) Memory | 840 MHz GPU, 1300 MHz (5200 MT/s) GDDR5 Memory |
| Hard Drive | Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500 GB, 7200 RPM, 16 MB Cache | Unchanged |
| Sound | Integrated Eight-Channel HD Audio | Unchanged |
| Network | Integrated Gigabit Networking | Unchanged |
| Power | Rosewill Green Series RG630-S12 630 W | Unchanged |
| Optical | LG 22x DVD Burner SATA Model GH22NS90B-OEM | Unchanged |
| Software and Drivers | ||
| Operating System | Windows 7 Ultimate Edition x64 | Unchanged |
| Graphics Driver | AMD Catalyst 12.1 | Unchanged |
| Platform Driver | Intel 6-series Inf v. 9.2.0.1030 | Unchanged |
| Benchmark Configuration | |
|---|---|
| 3D Games | |
| Battlefield 3 | Version 1.0.0.0, DirectX 11, 90-sec. FRAPS "Going Hunting" Test Set 1: Medium Quality Preset, No AA, 4X AF, SSAO Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Preset, 4X MSAA, 16X AF, HBAO |
| DiRT 3 | Version 1.2, Direct X 11, Built-in Benchmark Test Set 1: High Quality, No AA Test Set 2: Ultra Quality, 8x AA |
| Elders Scroll V: Skyrim | Version 1.5.26.05, 25-Sec. FRAPS Test Set 1: High Preset, No AA, 8x AF, FXAA Enabled Test Set 2: Ultra Preset, 8x AA, 16x AF, FXAA Enabled |
| StarCraft II | Version 1.4.3.21029, Toms Hardware Map, 60-sec. FRAPS Test Set 1: High, DX11, AAA, 4x AF, No DoF, No PhysX Test Set 2: Very High, DX11, 4x MSAA, 16x AF, DoF, No PhysX |
| Audio/Video Encoding | |
| HandBrake CLI | Version 0.95: "Big Buck Bunny" (720x480, 23.972 FPS) 5 Min., Audio: Dolby Digital, 48 000 Hz, Six-Channel, English, to Video: AVC Audio: AC3 Audio2: 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) |
| MainConcept Reference | Version: 2.2.0.5440: 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 CS5.1 | Version 12.1 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 9.22: THG-Workload (650 MB) to .7z, command line switches "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5" |
| WinRAR | Version 4.01: THG-Workload (650 MB) to RAR, command line switches "winrar a -r -m3" |
| WinZip | Version 15.5 Pro: THG-Workload (650 MB) to ZIP, command line switches "-a -ez -p -r" |
| 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 2011 | Version 2011 17.80, CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / MultiMedia, Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark |
Previous
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Summary
- Paying The Price For Ambition
- CPU And Cooler
- Motherboard And Memory
- Graphics Card And Hard Drive
- Case, Power Supply, And Optical Drive
- Assembling Our Budget Box And Limited Overclocking
- Test System Configuration And Benchmarks
- Benchmark Results: Synthetics
- Benchmark Results: Battlefield 3 And DiRT 3
- Benchmark Results: The Elders Scroll V: Skyrim And StarCraft II
- Benchmark Results: Audio And Video
- Benchmark Results: Productivity
- Power Consumption And Temperatures
- Performance Summary And Efficiency
- Did Our Gamble Pay Off?
Ask a Category Expert
To think, for $500, one can experience most of what PC gaming has to offer.
In this day and age, an Xbox 360/PS3 is absolutely inexcusable.
any enthusiast with limited budget would want to maximize his core clocks with higher voltages.. the card can keep cool by increasing the fan speed.
More noise for a gaming session is acceptable.
pun intended ?
I can't give you exact fps rates, but my machine is very similar to this one (only difference is the GPU: 6950+Z68) and I get similar frame rates in all the tested games. So I'll infer to you what this rig would probably get close to.
Diablo 3 maxes out at 60fps with occasional dips down to ~30fps when getting mobbed on hell. As for SC2, frame rates for me tended to be around 35fps on average with everything maxed out at 1920x1080 for both games.
Ah, but think way back.... slot 1, 440BX, and the Celeron 300A? I had a 266@412MHz, a 300A@464MHz, a 300A@450MHz, and a 333(that topped out down at an 83 MHz FSB).
While not the first chips I had overclocked, those slot 1 Celeron's gave me the incurable OC bug! *dreams of G530K*
I did notice one thing when I compared this build with my system - mine idles at 48-52 watts, too, and I use a 500W S12II. I think right-sizing the PSU will add to the efficiency. A 350w PSU is my bet for bringing the idle power draw closer to the 20% mark of the PSU rating where efficiency starts to pick up (as per 80plus requirements). I say 350w because whoever gets this will likely want to upgrade the CPU to something beefier sooner or later. Nah, sooner!
Thanks, Paul! for tackling love and system-building with reckless abandon.
As mentioned, it was maiinly a matter of consistency with the past few builds. Dealing with fixed CPU clocks and memory frequency, I just haven't been too aggresive with previous efforts with Radeons, and thus didn't want to boost voltage here with the GTX. Trying to play it fair, that's all. Maybe once we revisit overclockable platforms, and are already dealing with increaded noise, I'll get itchy to max-out the GPU.
Thanks for the feedback though. I'm actually surprised given the balance of the system, that people would desire to see aggressive GPU overclocking.
PC gaming FTW!!
If you read the gaming CPUs hieracy chart, PhIIX4 965 roughly equals Core i3 2100t (power saving) http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-cpu-review-overclock,3106-5.html and is better than a Celeron. Simply put, Core i3 2100 (not power saving) is better. PhII 965 can only match it with a ~almost 4GHz OC.
It's nice to know that my Ph II X3 isn't going to need to b replaced anytime soon
To think, for $500, one can experience most of what PC gaming has to offer.
In this day and age, an Xbox 360/PS3 is absolutely inexcusable.
So we're left with 3 systems. One just short of high-end, one just short of enthusiast, and one just short of budget gamer.
Once you've seen the market, you should have put more reason into the price limits.
pentium g530 can't handle a 560Ti, its too weak.
it is almost equal to or less than phenom 2 x3