System Builder Marathon, March 2012: The Articles
Here are links to each of the five 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, including the Bonus Customer Choice PC, which we picked out using the highest-rated components in Newegg's feedback system.
To enter the giveaway, please fill out this SurveyGizmo form, and be sure to read the complete rules before entering!
Day 1: The $650 Gaming PC
Day 2: The $1250 Enthusiast PC
Day 3: The $2600 Performance PC
Day 4: Performance And Value, Dissected
Day 5: Bonus Newegg Customer Choice PC
Introduction
Tom’s Hardware editors often look to you guys, our audience, for suggestions. We've even been known to poll you for your own suggestions when it comes to picking System Builder Marathon parts. And then we receive comments out of the blue that also strike us as genius. One such note that received particular editorial attention came from reader Bill Martens:
"…(Tom’s) should build a system just based on “customer rankings” and compare it to the other systems you are building. By choosing only the top-rated component in each sub-area from Newegg, I was able to assemble a very high-performing $1000 rig…”
Now, that sounds like a plan! Even though we get our fair share of complaints about components that we know darn well are good pieces of hardware, in general, the audience consensus is usually right on the money.
Of course, this concept requires a few concessions. For instance, if the best-rated motherboard is a Socket AM3+ platform and the most popular processor comes from Intel, well, that's a problem. So, we end up choosing either the first or second item from each of Newegg’s “Best Rating” menus, based on its compatibility with other parts in the system.

We determined that the number-two rated graphics card, EVGA’s GeForce GTX 560 Ti, was a great match for the top-rated Core i5-2500K CPU and DZ68BC motherboard. The top-rated graphics option was a GeForce GTX 550, and we know well enough to go heavier on graphics performance for such a capable processor.
| Newegg Customer Choice $1600 PC Components | ||
|---|---|---|
| Processor | Intel Core i5-2500K: 3.3GHz-3.7GHz, 6 MB Cache | $220 |
| Graphics | 2 x EVGA 01G-P3-1561-AR: GTX 560 Ti 1 GB, SLI | $460 |
| Motherboard | Intel DZ68BC: LGA 1155, Intel Z68 Express | $200 |
| Memory | G.Skill F3-12800CL9D-8GBRL: DDR3-1600 C9, 4 GB x 2 (8 GB) | $47 |
| System Drive | Crucial m4 CT128M4SSD2: 128 GB, SATA 6Gb/s SSD | $165 |
| Storage Drive | Seagate Barracuda ST500DM005: 0.5 TB, 7200 RPM HDD | $85 |
| Optical | Asus DRW-24B1ST: 24x DVD±R, 48x CD-R | $20 |
| Case | Antec Nine Hundred | $100 |
| Power | Corsair CMPSU-750HX: 750 W, ATX/EPS12V Semi-Modular, 80 PLUS Silver | $150 |
| CPU Cooler | Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G1 | $30 |
| Total Cost | $1477 | |
Crucial’s number 2 rated 128 GB M4 SSD was also chosen over its top rated 64 GB model, since the larger capacity more closely matches the market level of this build’s CPU, Graphics and Motherboard. G.Skills 4 GB kit also topped the list, but the next-best-rating brought us similar modules in the mid-market-preferred 8 GB capacity. And all of these #1’s and #2’s are a perfect match for Newegg’s customer-choice Corsair CMPSU-750HX and Hyper 212 Plus cooler.
With all this money spent on customer-favorite parts, we caught a little performance hunger and decided to double up on graphics cards. The power supply supported it, and 30% of our comparative performance score comes from games.
- The Ultimate Honor: A Top Reader Ranking
- The Honored List: Your Picks, Picked By Tom's
- Building Your Beast
- Tuning The Components By Overclocking
- Test Settings And Benchmarks
- Benchmark Results: 3DMark And PCMark
- Benchmark Results: SiSoftware Sandra
- Benchmark Results: Battlefield 3 And DiRT 3
- Benchmark Results: Skyrim And StarCraft II
- Benchmark Results: Audio And Video Encoding
- Benchmark Results: Productivity
- Paying The Price In Power And Efficiency
- So, Is The Customer Always Right?
Understood that this is best on best rated components, just saying it would've been nice to see the ones I mentioned for a value build.
Yeah that was what I was thinking, if you have a 2560x1600 monitor then the 2 6950s wont see that performance hit at that res like the 560ti's do. And would outperform the 7970 as a result while still costing enough less to move up to that 2500k.
When I can drop $1300 for a Dell U3011 or HP ZR30w I doubt I would be pairing it with a $1300 PC, so I wonder if its even necessary for a mid range build as how often are you really going to find that pairing. Though hopefully soon Apple is going to push the LCD makers kicking and screaming into the 4k and 8k display era!
Drunk Min's t'ink alac, and all that.
Last page. Should be "Don's" but "Don't" works good enough
Definitely would have loved to see a pair of 2GB cards duke it out though. The base system called for it (nearly). Take the price from the hide of the mobo.
Stupid TomsHardware, Y U NO PICK MY PARTS!
Edit: Obvious sarcasm is obvious. Ah well, Ill take this as all the non article reading 680 noobs being offended. I dont care.
To me, multi-gpu setups are just a cheaper alternative to get better performance but introduce many issues that Tom's Hardware always states(micro-stuttering, heat, power and scaling), it's definitely better to get a more powerful single card. Not to mention the 560ti in this build only has a 1GB of framebuffer, which is only enough for max details at 1920x1080/1920x1200 but once your target is 2560x1600 or triple monitor gaming, it fails just as shown in the article.
For most gamers out there, a 64GB ssd is probably enough for windows and programs, and let's face it, loading time doesn't dramatically decrease when you install your games on an ssd. Yes, they do loads faster but definitely not enough to justify paying more just for games. If you want it to load faster, caching using intel SRT on the Z68 platform is the better choice.
Overall, I agree with the last statement on the article, "the customers are mostly right".
That's one thing I haven't really stumbled across yet is a good test for how a pair of GTX 560 Ti 1GB cards compare to the 2GB cards. Has anyone done a test like that?
Load times half with using my SSD , how about 1 minute waiting in Dragon Age halved to 30 seconds ? , how about instant loading of application , how about INSTANT alt tabbing though the games .. come on man , don't speak if you don't have a SSD ( or have money for it ) . 64G SSD are CHEAP , and anyone who has a salary can afford them.
Load times half with using my SSD , how about 1 minute waiting in Dragon Age halved to 30 seconds ? , how about instant loading of application , how about INSTANT alt tabbing though the games .. come on man , don't speak if you don't have a SSD ( or have money for it ) . 64G SSD are CHEAP , and anyone who has a salary can afford them.
No need to be rude, but seriously, it depends on the game. Some loads faster quite significantly, but other don't and for a gaming oriented system, SSDs are very optional. Maybe you don't fully understand what I posted before, but I did say 64GB is enough for gamers, not games. What I meant is the required capacity for the OS and other programs but with only 64GB, it's probably only enough to install 1-2 modern games depending on the size. Games can still be installed on the hard drive and on the Z68 platform, you can use Intel SRT to use the ssd as a cache for the hard drive. That way, your most commonly used programs or games still has the quick responsiveness as when you used an ssd.
I stand by on what I said before and I apologize if I offend you in any way
It looks to me like overall, Don's PC wins. At lower resolutions and/or settings, the CC PC has higher FPS, but both have FPS sufficiently high as to not matter. Now look at where the CC PC fails, such as BF3 on Ultra. FPS in the teens is not playable, but Don's PC is merrily fragging along, over 40FPS even at stock. And, Don's PC uses a lot less power doing it.
Where Don's PC fails though is that miserable Apevia case; I don't want "that" under my desk. My 12-yr old nephew would probably love it, but it just isn't for me.