| Test Hardware Configurations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Steiger Dynamics Maven Pure Custom | System Builder Marathon $1600 Performance PC | System Builder Marathon $1200 Enthusiast PC | |
| Processor (Overclock) | Intel Core i7-4690K: 3.5-3.9 GHz, Four Physical Cores O/C to 4.30 GHz, 1.17 V | Intel Core i7-4770K: 3.5 GHz-3.90 GHz, Four Physical Cores O/C to 4.20 GHz, 1.29 V | Intel Core i5-4670K: 3.4-3.8 GHz, Four Physical Cores O/C to 4.3 GHz, 1.285 V |
| Graphics (Overclock) | EVGA GTX 770: 1085 MHz GPU, GDDR5-7000, no additional O/C | PowerColor R9 290X: 1050 MHz GPU, GDDR5-5400 O/C to 1100 MHz, GDDR5-6200 | Powercolor R9 290: 975 MHz GPU, GDDR5-5000 O/C to 1100 MHz, GDDR5-5600 |
| Memory (Overclock) | 16 GB Corsair DDR3-1866 CAS 9-10-9-27, 1.50 V, no O/C | 8 GB G.Skill DDR3-1866 CAS 8-9-9-24, O/C to DDR3-2133 CL 9-10-10-27, 1.60 V | 8 GB Team DDR3-1600 CAS 9-9-9-24, no O/C |
| Motherboard (Overclock) | Asus Z97-A: LGA 1150, Intel Z97 Express Stock 100 MHz BCLK | Asus Z97-A: LGA 1150, Intel Z97 Express Stock 100 MHz BCLK | ASRock Z97 Pro3: LGA 1150, Intel Z87 Express Stock 100 MHz BCLK |
| Case | Steiger Dynamics Maven | CM Storm Scout 2 Advanced | Apevia X-Hermes |
| CPU Cooler | Corsair H60 Closed-Liquid | Thermaltake NiC L32 | Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus |
| Hard Drive | 2x Kingston HyperX 3K SH103S3/120G in RAID 0 | Samsung MZ-7TE250BW 250 GB SATA 6Gb/s SSD | Western Digital Blue WD10EZEX 1 TB, 7200 RPM, 64 MB Cache |
| Power | Seasonic SS-660XP2: 660 W Modular, 80 PLUS Platinum | Rosewill HIVE-750: 750 W Semi-Modular, 80 PLUS Bronze | Corsair CX750: 750 W, 80 PLUS Bronze |
| Software | |||
| OS | Microsoft Windows 8 Pro x64 | Microsoft Windows 8 Pro x64 | Microsoft Windows 8 Pro x64 |
| Graphics | Nvidia Forceware 340.52 | AMD Catalyst 14.4 | AMD Catalyst 14.4 |
| Chipset | Intel INF 9.4.0.1026 | Intel INF 9.4.0.1026 | Intel INF 9.4.0.1026 |
Building for reduced noise does have a few drawbacks; the Maven Pure Custom’s GeForce GTX 770 has to face off against the Radeon R9 290X and 290 from our previous System Builder Marathon. It’s at least 20 decibels quieter than my $1600 machine though, and for those who don’t remember the significance, decibels are on a logarithmic scale.
| Benchmark Configuration | |
|---|---|
| 3D Games | |
| Battlefield 4 | Version 1.0.0.1, DirectX 11, 100-Sec. Fraps "Tashgar" Test Set 1: High Quality Preset, No AA, 4x AF, SSAO Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Preset, 4x MSAA, 16x AF, HBAO |
| Grid 2 | Steam Version, In-Game Test Test Set 1: High Quality Preset, No AA Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Preset, 8x AA |
| Metro: Last Light | Steam version, Built-In Benchmark, "Frontline" Scene Test Set 1: DX11, Med Quality, 4x AF, Low Blur, No SSAA, No Tesselation, No PhysX Test Set 2: DX11, High Quality, 16x AF, Normal Blur, SSAA, Tesselation Normal, No PhysX |
| Far Cry 3 | V. 1.04, DirectX 11, 50-sec. Fraps "Amanaki Outpost" Test Set 1: High Quality, No AA, Standard ATC, SSAO Test Set 2: Ultra Quality, 4x MSAA, Enhanced ATC, HDAO |
| Adobe Creative Suite | |
| Adobe After Effects CC | Version 12.0.0.404: Create Video which includes three streams, 210 Frames, Render Multiple Frames Simultaneously |
| Adobe Photoshop CC | Version 14.0 x64: Filter 15.7 MB TIF Image: Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates |
| Adobe Premiere Pro CC | Version 7.0.0 (342), 6.61 GB MXF Project to H.264 to H.264 Blu-ray, Output 1920x1080, Maximum Quality |
| Audio/Video Encoding | |
| iTunes | Version 11.0.4.4 x64: Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 minutes, default AAC format |
| LAME MP3 | Version 3.98.3: Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min, convert WAV to MP3 audio format, Command: -b 160 --nores (160 Kb/s) |
| HandBrake CLI | Version: 0.99: Video from Canon EOS 7D (1920x1080, 25 FPS) 1 Minutes 22 Seconds Audio: PCM-S16, 48,000 Hz, two-channel, to Video: AVC1 Audio: AAC (High Profile) |
| TotalCode Studio 2.5 | Version: 2.5.0.10677: MPEG-2 to H.264, MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG-2), Audio: MPEG-2 (44.1 kHz, two-channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kb/s), Codec: H.264 Pro, Mode: PAL 50i (25 FPS), Profile: H.264 BD HDMV |
| Productivity | |
| ABBYY FineReader | Version 10.0.102.95: Read PDF save to Doc, Source: Political Economy (J. Broadhurst 1842) 111 Pages |
| Adobe Acrobat 11 | Version 11.0.0.379: Print PDF from 115 Page PowerPoint, 128-bit RC4 Encryption |
| Autodesk 3ds Max 2013 | Version 15.0 x64: Space Flyby Mentalray, 248 Frames, 1440x1080 |
| Blender | Version: 2.68A, Cycles Engine, Syntax blender -b thg.blend -f 1, 1920x1080, 8x Anti-Aliasing, Render THG.blend frame 1 |
| Visual Studio 2010 | Version 10.0, Compile Google Chrome, Scripted |
| File Compression | |
| WinZip | Version 18.0 Pro: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to ZIP, command line switches "-a -ez -p -r" |
| WinRAR | Version 5.0: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to RAR, command line switches "winrar a -r -m3" |
| 7-Zip | Version 9.30 alpha (64-bit): THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to .7z, command line switches "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5" |
| Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings | |
| 3DMark Professional | Version: 1.2.250.0 (64-bit), Fire Strike Benchmark |
| PCMark 8 | Version: 1.0.0 x64, Full Test |
| SiSoftware Sandra | Version 2014.02.20.10, CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / Multimedia / Cryptography, Memory Bandwidth Benchmarks |
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Summary
- A Spark Of Brilliance
- Getting To Know The Maven Pure
- Maven Pure Customizations
- How We Tested Steiger Dynamics' Maven Pure Custom
- Results: Synthetic Benchmarks
- Results: 3D Games
- Results: Media Encoding And Creativity
- Results: Productivity And File Compression
- Power, Heat And Noise
- High-End Gaming Meets Silence
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"The price for this machine is only $330 over the self-built option, with us using the closest-matching $400 OrigenAE case. If you subtract the $49 overclock fee and $99 cable service, Steiger only has about $189 in mark-up."
Quiet PCs are great, and most of the early ones were completely quiet. But, for gaming? It's not as clear. For the same performance I can save a load of money, or get much better performance for the price.
For listening to Mozart's g minor string quintette? Great. For blowing up bridge or shooting aliens with a machine gun? I'm just not sure sound matters as much. For a living room box that does most things fine, and is quiet, I'll take a 35 watt Kaveri, and still have enough money left over to make a more powerful machine than this $2600 monster.
I also don't understand the relatively cheap processor. For $2600 (which is what the ad says, but the author never seemed to mention, so it's hard to be sure), the processor should be the i7-4970K. Haswell-E might work too, but probably the 4970K would be best.
Someone is going to want this, but I think it's very limited in scope. Silence, or near silence, is great for computers, but for different segments. Most gamers want performance for their dollar, and this falls short.
"The price for this machine is only $330 over the self-built option, with us using the closest-matching $400 OrigenAE case. If you subtract the $49 overclock fee and $99 cable service, Steiger only has about $189 in mark-up."
The next guy after you suggested using cheaper parts. We have the SBM for that.
The next guy after you suggested using cheaper parts. We have the SBM for that.
I thought is was an ad price listed like the ads listed on other pages, so I guess I just assumed that was an ad price
For a gaming/htpc I think this is just too much $. I would have went with something below $6-800, but that is just me.
You can build a quieter computer with a better video card (GTX970) for about HALF THE PRICE. I built a system and here are the only noise elements:
1) Noctua cooler (runs at 300RPM in idle)
2) BeQuiet PSU (inaudible)
3) Asus Strix GTX970 (has 0dB mode)
I don't have the card yet but it would be completely silent unless doing heavy gaming. My system can't be heard from one foot away in a silent room.
Other:
- 2xRAID0 for SSD is pointless in the real-world.
- not sure where that "16dB" number came from considering the PC has a pump, a radiator fan, and a GTX770. That's pretty much impossible.
You can build a quieter computer with a better video card (GTX970) for about HALF THE PRICE. I built a system and here are the only noise elements:
1) Noctua cooler (runs at 300RPM in idle)
2) BeQuiet PSU (inaudible)
3) Asus Strix GTX970 (has 0dB mode)
I don't have the card yet but it would be completely silent unless doing heavy gaming. My system can't be heard from one foot away in a silent room.
Your response is like someone saying "How can you call $8 for two 8 oz Fillet Mignons a good deal? I just paid $4 for a pound of hamburger!"
Other:
- 2xRAID0 for SSD is pointless in the real-world.
- not sure where that "16dB" number came from considering the PC has a pump, a radiator fan, and a GTX770. That's pretty much impossible.
What you won't be able to explain is how they're "overcharging" for this exact configuration. Which means, as a builder, they're offering you a good rate. Aka, a fair deal.
...
- not sure where that "16dB" number came from considering the PC has a pump, a radiator fan, and a GTX770. That's pretty much impossible.
If you read the conclusion he says the cost is only a couple hundred dollars more than building your own which I disagree with so I think it's fair to comment on his "value" comment.
*I just added up the cost of all the parts, and NOT COUNTING THE CASE but including the software the total comes to $1500 USD.
The cost to buy this machine with these specs was almost $2600. Now if we use $300 for a similar case since I don't think you can buy the case on its own the price difference comes to about $800USD.
*So you can build the same EXACT setup with a difference case and save $800USD by doing it yourself. That is hardly "a couple hundred dollars" difference as stated in the article.
If you read the conclusion he says the cost is only a couple hundred dollars more than building your own which I disagree with so I think it's fair to comment on his "value" comment.
*I just added up the cost of all the parts, and NOT COUNTING THE CASE but including the software the total comes to $1500 USD.
The cost to buy this machine with these specs was almost $2600. Now if we use $300 for a similar case since I don't think you can buy the case on its own the price difference comes to about $800USD.
*So you can build the same EXACT setup with a difference case and save $800USD by doing it yourself. That is hardly "a couple hundred dollars" difference as stated in the article.
I added up the cost of all the parts when I wrote the article:
Processor 235
Graphics 350
Motherboard 150
Memory 180
System Drive 150
Power 145
Wi-Fi 33
System Drive 125
CPU Cooler 65
Storage Drive 125
Optical 90
case 400
OS 100
Playback SW 100
Overclock 0
Cable Sleeving 0
2248
Prices might have changed a little since I wrote the article, but I bet you'd find any large changes in a component price are eventually picked up by this builder. Moreover, I priced the parts using Google product search and top venders (Newegg, Tigerdirect, Directron, etc) wherever applicable (case and ODD were only available from small venders) on the SAME DAY that I priced the finished system at Steiger Dynamics.
Look, nobody likes to admit they're wrong, that's why I kept a record of all the part prices when I made those calculations. I wanted to be sure that when someone came in here to question my analysis, I'd have the data to prove its validity.
Hey, I did say this was an underground bunker
All of you critics can put your gaudy cheap-ass builds in your living room. I'll take something like this or my own home-built SG08 based build for mine.
People with money typically don't have the time to build their own PC. This one clearly caters to them, and it represents a good value for the performance and the aesthetic.
I'd think the best way to achieve a totally silent yet powerful HTPC would be to utilize a laptop-type tech to power down the GPU entirely and switch to integrated graphics so only the air cooler on the CPU is spinning.
2) I somehow skipped over the noise page. My fault; had some issues with my browser. My only concern would be that, despite the noise rating you would still hear the pump as I've used that cooler before and could hear it in a silent room.
I still think a good Noctua cooler would make more sense.
3) PRICING.
Quite a difference in pricing I guess because I used PCPartpicker. I chose an EVGA GTX770 for example and it was about $100 cheaper. I also estimated $300 for the case but you said $400. It's my understanding you can't buy it separately.
Summary:
Again, I perhaps worded things incorrectly but my POINT was meant to be you could build something just as quiet (in my opinion) with basically the same parts for a lot cheaper.
For example, here's my $1600 build using a similar Silverstone case and almost exactly the other main components (not counting extra software): http://pcpartpicker.com/p/VjWWmG
I know it's a "boutique" case so you're paying for that but I guess we disagree in the way the word "VALUE" is used when I can build almost the same thing for a lot cheaper.
Anyway, I apologize if offense was taken.
That's the setup I've got going anyway. Using integrated graphics, an ssd, the stock cpu cooler, and a silent case fan, I barely get any noise out of my HTPC. It's actually way quieter than my playstation and xbox. (It may help that I've got a door on the front of my entertainment cabinet, with a quiet fan setup on the back.)