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System Builder Marathon, Sept. '09: $2,500 Performance PC
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Table of contents
- 1 – AMD Still Has Game
- 2 – CPU, Motherboard, And RAM
- 3 – Graphics And Power
- 4 – Storage
- 5 – Case And CPU Cooling
- 6 – Accessories
- 7 – Water Block Installation
- 8 – Final Assembly
- 9 – Overclocking
- 10 – Test Settings And Benchmarks
- 11 – Benchmark Results: Crysis And Fallout 3
- 12 – Benchmark Results: Far Cry 2 And H.A.W.X.
- 13 – Benchmark Results: World In Conflict
- 14 – Benchmark Results: A/V Encoding
- 15 – Benchmark Results: Productivity
- 16 – Benchmark Results: Synthetic
- 17 – Power, Heat, And Efficiency
- 18 – It’s Ready To Fight
- 19 – More on this topic
System Builder Marathon, September 2009: 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. After some delay (sorry folks), the contest is ready to be entered. Please visit the entry page, here.
Day 1: The $650 Gaming PC
Day 2: The $1,250 Enthusiast PC
Day 3: The $2,500 Performance PC
Day 4: Performance and Value Dissected
Introduction
One thing sorely lacking from our System Builder Marathon (SBM) articles has been AMD, and that's not because we don’t like the green team. Putting most of our focus into overall system performance caused us to overlook some of the excellent value AMD offers almost exclusively in the gaming market. Thus, we’ve added a couple of titles for our game benchmark tests where AMD really shines.
But AMD’s competitive prices don’t extend only to gaming processors and graphics, as the company also has a thriving chipset business. You certainly won’t find a northbridge with 42 PCI Express (PCIe) lanes from Intel, and otherwise similarly-equipped X58 motherboards come with an approximate $100 price premium.
| $2,500 Portable Performance PC Component Prices | ||
|---|---|---|
| Motherboard | MSI 790FX-GD70 Socket AM3 Chipset: AMD 790FX/SB750 | $168 |
| Processor | AMD Phenom II X4 955 Four Cores, 3.2 GHz, 8MB Cache | $200 |
| Graphics | 3 x MSI R4890-T2D1G OC (CrossFireX) 1GB GDDR5-3996 Per Card Radeon HD 4890 GPU at 880 MHz | $600 |
| DRAM | 8GB Crucial DDR3-1333 CAS 9 2 x P/N CT2KIT25664BA1339 Kit | $142 |
| OS/Program Drives | 2 x Intel X25-M SSDSA2MH080G1 (RAID 0) 80GB per drive, MLC, 160GB total | $460 |
| Storage Hard Drives | 2 x WD Caviar Black WD1001FALS (RAID 1) 1TB, 7,200 RPM, 32MB Cache SATA 3.0 Gb/s | $190 |
| Optical | LG GGW-H20L BD-RE / HD-DVD ROM 6x BD-R, 2x BD-RE, 16x DVD±R | $180 |
| Case | NZXT Panzerbox ATX Mid-Tower | $120 |
| Power | Corsair CMPSU-1000HX Modular 1,000W ATX12V 2.2, EPS12V 2.91, 80-Plus Certified | $240 |
| CPU Cooler | Swiftech H20-220 2 x 120mm Liquid-Cooling Kit | $140 |
| Component Cooling | Antec 0761345-75018-9 "SpotCool" LED Fan | $15 |
| SSD Tray | SNT SNT-SATA2221B Hot-Swappable Backplane | $22 |
| Bay Adapter | Vantec MRK-250FD 3.5" to 5.25" adapter | $13 |
| Total Cost | $2,490 | |
We were even able to put the money saved on the motherboard (as well as a few other areas) into storage, adding two 80GB Intel X25-M solid-state disk (SSD) drives for super-fast load times and upgrading the optical unit from a Blu-ray reader to a BD-RE writer, all in an effort to satisfy a multitude of reader requests. Let’s take a closer look at how it all went together.
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Just thinking about winning this system in the giveaway gets me excited.
Me too this is an awesome build.
... do the video compression using ATi Streem...
The Quality of video on ATI streem is shit on sticks and doesn't even support high profile.
The last build was a bit too odd for me but this one seems like a very nice chose of parts and on a larger screen set up makes a lot of sense the loss of i7 for AMD only build was a bit sad but the addition of those great SSD kind of makes up for me along with the nice chose of case and cooling. That case looks like it is very nice to work on.
The Corsair CMPSU-850HX is rated Silver, not Gold. Nice build, good results, great work.
@Dirtman
http://www.80plus.org/manu/psu/psu [...] =25&type=2
Check your sources because you have it wrong
CMPSU-850HX ATX12V 850 90.38% Gold
Please don't call RAID 1 a backup solution.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139011
Newegg says differently. I did check sources.
So does Jonnyguru
http://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.p [...] 2&reid=153
I guess you just can't believe everything you find on a brands site.
now that is one slick gaming machine! could'nt imagine them frames rates on a big monitor. love the insides water cooling 3 radeon 4890's with room for a 4th. great pictures by the way lots of eye candy. you can tell alot of work went into tis kmonster. great article.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817139011Newegg says differently. I did check sources.
You going to believe newegg a site that is known to make mistakes in labeling products over the actual official site of the group that freaking does the testing and certification
http://www.80plus.org/manu/psu/psu [...] =25&type=2
http://www.80plus.org/manu/psu/psu [...] Report.pdf
It's gold...
The overclock was disappointing, but it seems to be one capable system!
Anyone who wins this has an awesome rig on their hands!
I'm sure anyone that wins any of the rigs will be quite happy and hopefully happy enough to post pictures and other things on the forums.
Your PSU calculations do not include transient loads, which happen too quickly to measure on a Kill-a-watt. 1000HX was the better choice.
Either water cool the GPUs or use a case with better air flow. Perhaps 90C is within spec (although I'm not aware of any published official max temps for 4890s)but it doesn't seem like a good idea to me.
What's with the limited choice for a case anyway? You seem to want to experiment? CM Storm Scout has handles, or Lian Li Lancool has great air cooling and radiator hose grommets.
I did like the inclusion of the Swiftech kit.
Corsair says it's Silver
http://www.corsair.com/products/hx850/default.aspx
So...I guess it's really Gold?
(sarcasm)
I only fear what a QuadFire 5870 would bring if a tri 4890s does this much damage. Thanks for doing AMD it may not be the best CPU but its always nice to see a change.
So does Jonnyguruhttp://www.jonnyguru.com/modules.p [...] 2&reid=153I guess you just can't believe everything you find on a brands site.
80 plus is an independant rating site, the 850HX was upgraded to Gold status so unless you're using an old unit you should be fine.
What's with the limited choice for a case anyway? You seem to want to experiment? CM Storm Scout has handles, or Lian Li Lancool has great air cooling and radiator hose grommets.I did like the inclusion of the Swiftech kit.
This editor never uses external radiators because they're too easily damaged, ugly, and make transportation difficult. The only choice not mentioned was the HAF932: There's one in the lab, it's enormous and cheaply built.
Also, there's absolutely nothing wrong with the ventilation of the case used. It's remarkable. It's darned near perfect. The GPU's run hot for two reasons: HD 4890's are horribly inefficient and there's not much space between them.
The other option would have been to face the PSU fan towards the cards so it could draw warm air away from them.
this thing is truely alswome anyway you slice it. eye candy galore, and im sure anyone who won this thing would be more then happy. and what makes this beast realy shine is how much performance it gets not only in gaming but alswome productivity/ap[plication scores as well. all the way around it is alswome. also very interesting to see AMD parts stacking up like this in a high end gaming. very interesting.
"Happy birthday", "Happy Halloween", "Merry Christmas", and "Happy New Year" to the lucky one who would get his hands on this one.
Wow...
I would take this over your last $2,500 Intel system no doubt!
This thing is a work of art.
Excellent work.
Wait wait wait... why would I want a phenom when i have a i7? I don't know, but this system is that cool.
I love the case used on it too. Tri-4890, 2x80GB SSD etc. even on a 2.5k budget is admirable.
Making me wonder were all the money on my build went...
Also nice to see a cheap motherboard being promoted. I paid over $300 for my mobo, and I regret it (good overclocking mobo... crappy overclocker cpu). >_<
Keep up the good work.