When it comes to running real-world benchmarks, SSDs don't make a big impact, which is why they're generally given a lower priority in our System Builder Marathon series. But we know they have a much bigger experiential impact than the numbers give them credit for. So, with no budget cap on this PC, we decided to go with the parts list that'd yield top-end usability, and that includes an SSD.

Storage guru Andrew Ku’s tests have shown that we can’t go wrong with Crucial’s 256 GB m4.
Of course we couldn’t get by with just 256 GB, as this machine was made for more than just games. Video and large image files would require at least one conventional hard drive.

A pair of Momentus 750 GB drives give us the option of super-fast 1.5 TB RAID 0 or redundant 750 GB RAID 1 arrays. This 2.5” drives would increase airflow and reduce weight compared to their 3.5” siblings, and we still have a BD-R upon which to dump any accumulation of old files.

We were extremely pleased with the performance of LG’s external drive, but disappointed by its selection of interfaces. The interface problem goes away when you install a drive internally, so we were even more pleased to find the internal version for $80. BD-R performance isn’t among today’s benchmarks however, so we substituted the new drive for a used part we had laying around.
- Maximum Performance From MicroATX
- The Impetus: PNY’s Liquid-Cooled GeForce GTX 580 Graphics In SLI
- The Smaller Footprint: Fractal Design’s Arc Mini
- Overcoming Overclocking Ordeals: Asus’ Maximus IV Gene-Z
- Lightening The Load With Crucial And Seagate
- Busting The Remaining Barriers
- Hardware Installation
- Overclocking
- Test Settings
- Benchmark Results: 3DMark And PCMark
- Benchmark Results: SiSoftware Sandra
- Benchmark Results: Crysis And F1 2010
- Benchmark Results: Just Cause 2 And Metro 2033
- Benchmark Results: Audio And Video Encoding
- Benchmark Results: Productivity
- Power, Heat, And Efficiency
- Getting More Performance From A Smaller PC
I didn't find any mention about it.
At least, at what speed fans are running while the gaming test is being done?
I was a huge proponent of uATX cases until I needed space for an Asus Essence STX and a Killer Networks 2100 NIC. I found a compromise with the Lian Li PC A05NB -- it's one of the smallest ATX cases around, not much larger than the uATX enclosure I was using prevously. The diminutive Gene-Z is perfection for uATX boards, and wouldn't be out of place in larger cases -- but it's nice that you were able to cram so much into such a modest enclosure.
I was a huge proponent of uATX cases until I needed space for an Asus Essence STX and a Killer Networks 2100 NIC. I found a compromise with the Lian Li PC A05NB -- it's one of the smallest ATX cases around, not much larger than the uATX enclosure I was using prevously. The diminutive Gene-Z is perfection for uATX boards, and wouldn't be out of place in larger cases -- but it's nice that you were able to cram so much into such a modest enclosure.
Anyways. Love these kind of articles. Helps other users get more of what they assume. Keep it up Tom's.
it doesnt have a BAD voltage regulator, it just doesn't deliver enough stable power for overclocking much, nor do the VRM's have good cooling on them in that gigabtyte board. This was the assumption for the poor overclcking perfromance in the SBM.
How does one avoid this?
Eight threads Prime95 small FFTs for max CPU.
On the Gigabyte board you could probably see that half of the voltage regulator had no heat sink, but some crap boards have sinks so it's only a little helpful. Otherwise you have to pick a board you like, then use your search engine to find out what other people are getting from their overclocks.
In the case of that board, it was stable at 1.35V, fluctuated quite a bit at 1.36V, and dropped all the way down to 1.36V when it was set to 1.38V.
sry, i retract what i was saying
loved the whole build despite the micro atx form factor
really love the heatsinks being built and used from the board to the memory to the water coolers.
if some one could come up with a sli/crossfire dual card set up that flipped one cards gpu's so both cards could share 1 gpu pump and sink mount sandwiched between them i do not think there could be any improvement in this build at all.
(it could be argued that a dual burner drive could add some small benefit depending on how many back up movie discs you make every week.)
BTW, I was eyeing the exact same Fractal Design case for my home server, because it was small, cheap and well-ventilated. Besides, I really dig its sober design; I had enough with frills, bells & whistles. If it copes with this setup, then I guess it must be safe with my required ~35 W server power footprint XD
I didn't find any mention about it.
At least, at what speed fans are running while the gaming test is being done?
Btw, I'm with gti88, I would really like to know about noise.