System Builder Marathon, Q2 2013: The Articles
Here are links to each of the four articles in this quarter’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 fill out this SurveyGizmo form, and be sure to read the complete rules before entering!
Day 1: The $650 Mini-ITX Gaming PC
Day 2: The $1300 Mini-ITX Enthusiast PC
Day 3: The $2500 Mini-Performance PC
Day 4: Performance And Value, Dissected
Day 5: The $400 "True Spirit of Mini-ITX" PC
Introduction
Your feedback plays an important role in determining the direction our System Builder Marathons take. When we've exhausted every other way to spend our budgets trying to build conventional-looking boxes, we turn to the comments section for inspiration. Compact gaming systems seem to come up regularly, particularly at a time when more efficient computing architectures and lower-power graphics cards inspire creativity. So, when Don and Paul put their support behind a mini-ITX-themed Marathon, I hopped on-board as well.
Knowing that mini-ITX is particularly popular right now, I suppressed the cynicism that you know and love. My only complaint was that I'd pay $50 more for a motherboard with $50 less worth of features. Then again, I’m the guy who reviews all of our motherboards. I'm really picky about this stuff. Rather than argue the technical superiority of micro-ATX, I embraced the convenience of DTX.
In spite of what my colleagues might believe, this isn’t a mini-ITX system round-up. VIA's single-slot mini-ITX form factor limits its motherboard, but a system's form factor is that of its enclosure. AMD’s DTX form factor adds the second slot needed to support a majority of high-performance graphics cards, and that explains why the majority of ITX gaming cases are actually DTX-compliant. Though motherboard makers aren't taking advantage of the added depth available to true DTX motherboards—supporting larger voltage regulators and more DIMM slots—the empty motherboard space is still available in DTX-based “ITX gaming cases”.

This $2500 "mini-ITX" system is big, even by the larger DTX standard. Yet, its internal components dictated case selection. The combination is as close as a home builder can get to a custom-engineered assembly using retail parts.
| Q2 2013 $2500 Performance PC Components | ||
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core i7-3770K (Ivy Bridge): 3.5 GHz Base Clock Rate, 3.9 GHz Max. Turbo Boost, Quad-Core, 8 MB Shared L3 Cache | $330 |
| Graphics | Asus GTX690-4GD5 GeForce GTX 690 4 GB (2 GB per GPU) | $1000 |
| Motherboard | Asus P8Z77-I Deluxe: LGA 1155, Intel Z77 Express | $185 |
| Memory | Crucial Ballistix Tactical BLT2K8G3D1608ET3LX0: DDR3-1600 C8, 16 GB (8 GB x 2) | $115 |
| System Drive | Mushkin MKNSSDCR240GB-DX: 240 GB, SATA 6Gb/s SSD | $185 |
| Storage Drive | Western Digital WD2002FAEX: 2 TB, SATA 6Gb/s Hard Drive | $160 |
| Optical | Asus DRW-24B1ST: 14x BD-R, 16x DVD±R | $99 |
| Case | BitFenix Prodigy BFC-PRO-300-RRXKR-RP | $90 |
| Prodigy Mesh Front Panel C-PRO-300-KRFXA-RP | $25 | |
| BitFenix 140 mm Fan BFF-SCF-14025WW-RP | $12 | |
| SilverStone FF143B 140 mm Dust Filter | $10 | |
| Power | Seasonic SS-660XP2: 660 W Modular, ATX12V v2.3, 80 PLUS Platinum | $140 |
| CPU Cooler | NZXT Kraken X40 RL-KRX40-01 | $100 |
| Total Cost | $2451 | |
Originally I was given $2600 to spend (that's four times Paul's budget and two times Don's). But I wasn't able to come up with a performance justification for spending any more than I did. I gave up at $2450 and made the unilateral decision to call this a $2500 build.
- ITX And DTX: When Less (Space) Costs More (Money)
- Motherboard, Graphics, And CPU
- Case And Its Accessories
- CPU Cooling, Optical Drive, And Power
- DRAM, SSD, And Mass Storage
- Assembly Part 1: Finding The Right...Saw?
- Assembly Part 2: Now, For All Of The Parts That Fit...
- Assembly Part 3: The Finishing Touches
- Overclocking
- Test Systems And Benchmarks
- Results: 3DMark And PCMark
- Results: SiSoftware Sandra
- Results: Battlefield 3 And F1 2012
- Results: Skyrim And Far Cry 3
- Results: Audio And Video Encoding
- Results: Adobe Creative Suite
- Results: Productivity
- Results: File Compression
- Power, Heat, And Efficiency
- I Fought The Law!
PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks
CPU: Intel Core i7-3770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($319.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Corsair H110 94.0 CFM Liquid CPU Cooler ($119.99 @ Newegg)
Motherboard: Asus P8Z77-I DELUXE/WD Mini ITX LGA1155 Motherboard ($207.55 @ Newegg)
Memory: Corsair Dominator Platinum 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($149.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Samsung 840 Series 500GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($353.98 @ Newegg)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($159.99 @ Newegg)
Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 690 4GB Video Card ($999.99 @ Newegg)
Case: BitFenix Prodigy (Black) Mini ITX Tower Case ($95.98 @ Newegg)
Power Supply: SeaSonic 660W 80 PLUS Platinum Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($148.54 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: LG WH14NS40 Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($59.99 @ Newegg)
Total: $2597.99
The main point of the article is that diminishing returns are high at that price point, only a overclocked system (again not a fan of in the confineds of a ITX system) give it value.
The main point of the article is that diminishing returns are high at that price point, only a overclocked system (again not a fan of in the confineds of a ITX system) give it value.
For future reference: you should read an article before posting so that you don't make a fool of yourself.
i think this build wins in terms of performance per heat or temperature per volume(size of the pc). i know the metric sounds weird but that is a Lot of performance crammed into that small case. a titan would possibly improve temperature and still be a lot faster than 7870xt(comparing past q's enthusiast pc) even though it was unavailable during ordering the parts). for example, you can't squeeze an fx8350 (no mini itx mobo) in that case, and trinity only goes up to 2module/4threads.
edit: just realized how unfortunate gtx780's launch timing is... it coulda been a good candidate for the high end performance pc. may be next quarter....
I'd love to win this one. My own games (especially at 1920x1080) don't need a GTX690 so I might swap in a lesser card in order to use the drive cage, but this would be one sweet system to sit on my desk.
How loud were the fans?
I am assuming its because its for M-ITX only albeit that the HAF XB could take ITX and is as big as a Prodigy.
I was expecting a Titan or a 780, though. CPU choice was pretty much a given.
And no one's hating your PSU choice, so far too
Um... no? There is no justification for this. 2560x1600 almost twice as demanding as 1920x1080, and you are just seeing the expected performance drop from the resolution increase. There is no evidence of VRAM limitation.
Yeah i was thinking the same thing...had it been due to VRAM i'd expect the FPS to be closer together for both builds.
mini cases (Y) epic win
Um... no? There is no justification for this. 2560x1600 almost twice as demanding as 1920x1080, and you are just seeing the expected performance drop from the resolution increase. There is no evidence of VRAM limitation.
Crysis 2 uses 1800MB+(normally) of VRAM at 1920x1080 on my GTX 680 4GB. It peaks at 3GB usage at times. I have no doubt that modern games at high resolution are limited by 2GB of VRAM.