System Builder Marathon, Dec. 2011: $2400 Performance PC
Table of contents
- 1. A Bigger Budget For A Better PC
- 2. Motherboard, CPU, And RAM
- 3. Graphics, Case, And Power
- 4. SSD, Hard Drive, And Optical Drive
- 5. The Build
- 6. Overclocking
- 7. Test Settings
- 8. Benchmark Results: 3DMark And PCMark
- 9. Benchmark Results: SiSoftware Sandra
- 10. Benchmark Results: Crysis And F1 2010
- 11. Benchmark Results: Just Cause 2 And Metro 2033
- 12. Benchmark Results: Audio And Video Encoding
- 13. Benchmark Results: Productivity
- 14. Power, Heat, And Efficiency
- 15. Are Liquid-Cooled Graphics Cards Worth The Extra Expense?
System Builder Marathon, December 2011: The Articles
Here are links to each of the four articles in this month’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 $2400 Performance PC
Day 2: The $1200 Enthusiast PC
Day 3: The $600 Gaming PC
Day 4: Performance And Value, Dissected
Introduction
Although prices are up on just about everything (except memory), the real reason we increased the budget this quarter was that we grew weary of making sacrifices. Surely the most expensive PC had the most room for compromise, but in reality, nobody is going to give up big performance potential on a $2000 machine when an extra couple hundred bucks could help even more. For $300, we were able to fix some of the problems that plagued past builds.
The other $100 covered the recent hard drive price increase attributable to the horrible flooding in Thailand.
But what were those problems, specifically? And why did they cost so much to fix? Why the heck would we worry about hard drive prices in a machine powered by SSDs?
| December 2011 $2400 PC Components | ||
|---|---|---|
| Motherboard | MSI Z68A-GD55 (G3): LGA 1155, Intel Z68 Express | $170 |
| Graphics | PNY XLR8 VCGGTX580XPB-LC-CPU GeForce GTX 580 PNY XLR8 VCGGTX580XPB-LC GeForce GTX 580 (for SLI) | $1030 |
| Processor | Intel Core i7-2600K: 3.4-3.8 GHz, 8 MB Shared L3 Cache | $320 |
| Memory | Corsair CMZ8GX3M2A1600C8R: DDR3-1600 C8, 4 GB x2 (8 GB) | $75 |
| System Drive | Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2: 128 GB, SATA 6Gb/s SSD | $210 |
| Storage Drive | WD Caviar Green WD15EARS: 1.5 TB, 7200 RPM Hard Drive | $180 |
| Optical | LG WH12LS38 BD-RE: 12x BD-R, 16x DVD±R | $70 |
| Case | Fractal Design Arc Midi FD-CA-ARC-BL | $110 |
| Power | Mushkin Joule MKNPSJL1000: 1000 W, ATX12V v2.31, 80 PLUS Gold | $160 |
| Heat Sink | PNY XLR8 / Asetek Integrated Liquid Cooling | |
| Total Cost: | $2325 | |
The first problem suffered by our previous build, an overheated voltage regulator that severely limited overclocking, gets addressed by swapping out the motherboard. The second problem, a pair of graphics cards with built-in overclocking limits, get exchanged for a pair known to overclock more readily. And the third issue (one we didn’t worry all that much about), a lack of TRIM support in our RAID 0 SSD array, is eliminated by picking a single drive with the combined capacity of the previous pair. A real-world user still needs more space for movies, music, and other user files, but hard drive shortages force us to pay $100 more for 500 GB less compared to the last time around. It's a bad time to have to buy a hard drive, for sure.
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when i first saw "System Builder Marathon, Dec. 2011: $2400 Performance PC" first thing i thought was a x79 build, $2400 just for performance PC using a 2600k CPU i kinda cringe , i cant imagine how much more expensive it would be if u did it with a 3930k, yes i know it not a big different in performance between the two but was just wonder
Retire Crysis? Blasphemy!
When I saw how much power this thing sucks down, I was glad to see that it pretty well shows the law of diminishing returns. This does nothing to change my opinion that only where time is money, i.e. for professional use, is this kind of cost justified. Spending this amount of money just to play games is a waste of resources all around, from the money to buy the parts, to the expense of running it. For future high-end builds, please specify the professional and/or his/her software that this machine is being designed to run. Justify the GPU choice by throwing in a GPGPU application that can take advantage whatever was selected. BTW, it does LOOK great; nice case choice.
Also, as much as I understand the frustration with sacrifices, IMHO that's where the best lessons are.
Fun to read, yes, but just not practical. Hmmm, I guess that means the downvoting is about to begin...
So, I wait until tomorrow to enter?
So, I wait until tomorrow to enter?
No, you're good today. It should start with today's story. I'll see if I can get that changed.
$2400 and no i7 3930K?
$2400 and no i7 3930K?
What, and ditch one of the graphics cards for a reduced average-performance score? 3930K didn't show up until after the system was ordered, but I stand with the first argument, there's just not enough performance to be gained using these specific apps.
For future high-end builds, please specify the professional and/or his/her software that this machine is being designed to run. Justify the GPU choice by throwing in a GPGPU application that can take advantage whatever was selected.
We try to add professional apps that at least a few thousand of our readers have access to, but I'll ping Chris for more. Basically we try to spend our money boosting our own apps and adding a few more is probably justified. Suggestions?
BTW, it does LOOK great; nice case choice.
I was a little disappointed in my examination of the Arc Midi, that it's nowhere near as solid as the Arc Mini. I think it's because it's larger (so the bracing bends are further appart). As nice as the Arc Midi looks, the Antec Three Hundred is far sturdier at a similar size.
Also, as much as I understand the frustration with sacrifices, IMHO that's where the best lessons are.Fun to read, yes, but just not practical. Hmmm, I guess that means the downvoting is about to begin...
I almost voted you down for saying that...
love the fractal case!!
I can't find the storage benchmarks. Am I just overlooking them? I am thinking about getting the Crucial M4 for Christmas. It seems like a good overall value.
I can't find the storage benchmarks. Am I just overlooking them? I am thinking about getting the Crucial M4 for Christmas. It seems like a good overall value.
They're on the PCMark benchmark page. Tom's Hardware uses those four application-based results to calculate the storage score.
add battlefield 3 into the benchmarks please! i wanna see how the computer performs!
add battlefield 3 into the benchmarks please! i wanna see how the computer performs!
Great! Now, any suggestion for benchmarks that might be somewhat common among readers that could highlight the value of a six-core CPU?
"I was a little disappointed in my examination of the Arc Midi, that it's nowhere near as solid as the Arc Mini. I think it's because it's larger (so the bracing bends are further appart). As nice as the Arc Midi looks, the Antec Three Hundred is far sturdier at a similar size."
Its also half the price.
Toms needs more current benchmarks, some of these games were talking are ages old. And need i say we need a RTS game in this mixture. I am a bit disappointed that the 3930k wasn't in this build along with a nice X79 board. Not that a 2600k processor isn't fast enough but you never know. I would rather pick up my six core but thats just me, and most likely it could be a waste. But like i said you never know, i remember SupCom came out and that required some CPU multi core power. Not sure how many cores were needed but a Quad was definitely better then a Dual core.
replace crysis with battlefield 3!
The love affair with nVidia continues. 3x 6950 can be had for substantial savings even while factoring a nf200 motherboard while providing increased performance and eliminating microstuttering. The inclusion of watercooled gpu/cpu setup while novel, is little more. The loss of a cpu HSF and no addition of spotcooler means your VRMs and memory are relying on just a single exhaust fan being pushed through a radiator for circulation. I know this was a 'no-sacrifice' build, in the end it just felt like an ill-planned money sink.
I would also like to see a comparison using three 6950s. Also, microstutter is gone with a triple card configuration.
Considering the price of the 2 gtx580s, 3 hd6950s might offer better value - as long as the game allows multi-gpus.
I would also like to see a comparison using three 6950s. Also, microstutter is gone with a triple card configuration.Considering the price of the 2 gtx580s, 3 hd6950s might offer better value - as long as the game allows multi-gpus.
You can compare the two by using another article by Thomas Soderstrom that also utilizes the i7-2600k but is looking at SLI/Crossfire scaling.
http://www.tomshardware.com/review [...] ,2865.html
In the 3 games that the two systems both had shared benchmarks, the 3x 6950 was the clear winner.
I guess it would have been nice to see what this 'gaming system' can do on a few more games we are actually playing not just games we use to bench.
nice build, but it looks like somewhere in the $2000-2400 range there is a definite loss in !/$, though it does still help with the ultra high end graphics on games like metro.
Toms, can we get some reviews on how the computers from each bracket compare year over year as a general summary to end the year out? I would love to see what $2000 gets you in 2010 vs 2011, and even 2009. My bet is that there would be some decent changes over the last 2 years as everything has droped in price with the exception of those peskey hard drives.