System Builder Marathon, Sept. '09: $650 Gaming PC

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Test System Configuration And Benchmarks

$650 Gaming PC System Test Configuration

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Component Base Settings Overclock Setting
CPU AMD Phenom II X2 550 Black Edition (Callisto), 3.1 GHz2,000 MHz HyperTransport, 2000 MHz northbridge, 6MB L3 Cache 3.654 GHz (18 x 203 MHz), 1.35 V 2,030 MHz HyperTransport, 2,436 MHz northbridge
CPU Cooler AMD Boxed Heatsink/Fan Unchanged
Motherboard Gigabyte GA-MA790X-UD4P (rev. 1.0)AMD 790X / SB750, BIOS F5 (06/03/2009) Unchanged
RAM 4GB OCZ2G10664GK PC2-85002 x 2048MB, DDR2-1066, CL 5-6-6-18 at 2.1V DDR2-1083, CL 5-6-6-18 at 2.1V
Graphics 2 x Sapphire 100245HDMI Radeon HD 4850 512MB625 MHz GPU, 1,986 MHz Memory Data Rate 700MHz GPU, 2,260 MHz Memory
Hard Drive Western Digital Caviar Blue WD5000AAKS500GB, 7,2000 RPM, 16MB Cache Unchanged
Sound Integrated 7.1-Channel HD Audio Unchanged
Network Integrated Gigabit Networking Unchanged
Power Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Unchanged
Optical Samsung Black 22X DVD Burner SATA Model SH-S223B Unchanged
Software and Drivers
Operating System Windows Vista Ultimate Edition x64, Service Pack 1 Unchanged
Graphics Driver AMD Catalyst 9.9 unchanged
Platform Driver AMD UD3 7 Series Utility DVD 2.01 B9.0217.2 unchanged
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Benchmark  Configuration
3D Games
Crysis Patch 1.2.1, DirectX 10, 64-bit executable, benchmark toolTest Set 1: High Quality, No AATest Set 2: Very High Quality, No AA
Far Cry 2 DirectX 10, in-game benchmarkTest Set 1: Very High Quality, No AATest Set 2: Ultra High Quality, 4x AA
Fallout 3 Patch 1.7, Custom THG BenchmarkTest Set 1: Ultra High Quality, No MSAA, No AFTest Set 2: Ultra High Quality, 4x MSAA, 15x AF
World in Conflict Patch 1009, DirectX 10, timedemoTest 1: Very High Details, No AA / No AFTest 2: Very High Details 4x AA / 16x AF
Tom Clancy's H.A.W.X DirectX 10.1, in-game benchmarkTest 1: Highest Settings, No AATest 2: Highest Settings, 4x AA
Audio Video Encoding
iTunes 8 Version: 8.1.0.52 (x64)Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 minDefault format AAC
Lame MP3 Version: 3.98 64bits (07-04-2008)Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 minwave to MP3
TMPEG 4.6 Version: 4.6.3.268Import File: Terminator 2 SE DVD (5 Minutes)Resolution: 720x576 (PAL) 16:9
DivX 6.8.5 Encoding mode: Insane QualityEnhanced multithreading enabled using SSE4Quarter-pixel search
XviD 1.2.1 Display encoding status = off
Mainconcept Reference 1.6.1Reference H.264 Plugin Pro 1.5.1 MPEG2 to MPEG2 (H.264), MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG2), Audio: MPEG2 (44.1 kHz, 2 Channel, 16-Bit, 224 kbp/s), Mode: PAL (25 FPS)
Productivity
Autodesk 3ds Max 2009 Version: 11.0, Rendering Dragon Image at 1920x1080 (HDTV)
Grisoft AVG Anti Virus 8.5 Version: 8.5.287, Virus database 2094, Benchmark: Scan 334 MB Folder of ZIP/RAR compressed files
WinRAR 3.80 Version 3.80, WinZIP Commandline Version 3.0, Compression = Best, Dictionary = 4,096 KB, Benchmark: THG-Workload (334 MB)
WinZip 12 Version 12.0, Compression = Best, Benchmark: THG-Workload (139 MB)
Adobe Photoshop CS4 Version 11.0 (64-bit)Applying 6 filters to a 16 MB TIFF image
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings
3DMark Vantage Version: 1.02, GPU and CPU scores
PCMark Vantage Version: 1.00, System, Memories, Hard Disk Drive benchmarks, Windows Media Player 10.00.00.3646
SiSoftware Sandra 2009 SP3 Version 2009.4.15.92, CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / Multimedia, Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark
94 Comments Comment from the forums
  • dirtmountain
    A nicely done build, great work with overclocking on a stock cooler and an impeccable write up. Thanks for the great article Mr. Henningsen. AMD did a good job for a budget build, especially at stock clocks.
    Reply
  • one-shot
    Great article! It's crazy to see all of that packed into a case for only ~$650.
    Reply
  • I usually love reading these, but this time I just went directly to the comment section. There's no point in building or owning an amd box, they are too weak compared to modern Intel/Nvidia based systems.
    Reply
  • anamaniac
    Wonderful. =D

    What about the new $100 quad core athlon with no L3?
    I know I like extra cores. Wonderful choice regardless.

    I wonder what the quad core athlon with a 512MB 5850 (which would increase the budget though) will be like. Both cheap yet highend parts. =D

    Nice to see what only a pocketful of cash can get you.
    Reply
  • tacoslave
    i know it wasn't available at the time but what about that 100 dollar quad core the athlon II x4?
    Reply
  • rdawise
    Good article. I know you stated you were leaving the "unlocking" of the other cores to the winner of the contest, but were you guys able to unlock? If so, could you re-run those benchmarks? Again great article.
    Reply
  • stray_gator
    While "forcing" all AMD builds for a single marathon is a good idea, the timing is somewhat unfortunate.
    An article which explores the performance and value of a complete Lynnfield build is something I (and many others, i'd dare to guess) would like to see but haven't yet, and this month's SBM is a missed opportunity in that regard.
    Reply
  • jj463rd
    That's a bitchin budget gamer system especially looking at the gaming benchmarks.Just this month I was thinking about building a similar type of system with the Phenom II X2 550BE.I was going to go with gigabytes 785G type board (just one graphics card slot) though however I may reconsider that especially with what you presented here although I was shooting for a much cheaper budget build (about $180 less than what you have),Newegg did have a gigabyte 785G board with the Phenom II X2 and $20 off in a combo deal until the end of this month.
    I think that your choices were better than mine (more powerful).
    Reply
  • gkay09
    Another alternate mobo - 785G ...they are availbale in AM3/AM2+ flavours and have SB 710, which can allow core unlocking -http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394
    But not sure about their o/c potential though...
    Reply
  • neiroatopelcc
    Nice to see a cheap system still using a quality motherboard.
    Reply