System Builder Marathon, Q4 2012: $500 Gaming PC

Deals
By Paul Henningsen
published

Benchmark Results: F1 2012

F1 2012

We’re replacing DiRT 3 with F1 2012, which is another of Codemasters’ racing sims based on its own EGO Engine 2.0.

Although we don't have comparison data from last quarter, we immediately see lower frame rates compared to what we're used to from DiRT 3.

This quarter's $500 gaming PC handles the High detail preset easily, so let's crank up the settings.

The more demanding Ultra detail preset with 8x MSAA knocks our stock rig down to an average of 45 FPS. Frame rates appear limited by platform limitations, though the 14% speed-up realized from graphics overclocking does let us know that graphics have an impact as well.

Paul Henningsen
150 Comments Comment from the forums
  • killerchickens
    $501 Plus $100 for a copy of windows 7.
    Reply
  • Crashman
    killerchickens$501 Plus $100 for a copy of windows 7.Run Linux, this is a hardware shootout.
    Reply
  • willyroc
    I personally feel that they could have gone with H61 and gotten a 2GB 7850 instead.
    Reply
  • killerchickens
    CrashmanRun Linux, this is a hardware shootout.
    Linux for a gaming desktop I dont think so.
    Reply
  • willyroc
    Not to mention that the 500GB version of the HDD is only $3 more.
    Reply
  • jerm1027
    Our best alternative remained the quad-core Phenom II X4 995 Black Edition for $95. But we chose not to revisit this old favorite, figuring that adding a Radeon HD 7850 would have taxed our budget.
    What about the Phenom II 965? It's only $75 at TigerDirect.
    Reply
  • killerchickens
    Why is Windows 8 Professional being used?
    Reply
  • EzioAs
    9539399 said:
    I personally feel that they could have gone with H61 and gotten a 2GB 7850 instead.

    I think they'd be better off with a B75 motherboard, 4GB RAM and an i3-3220.
    Reply
  • mayankleoboy1
    I am not very comfortable using windows8 in these benches. Reason : Drivers have not yet matured for win8. I would have waited for the next quarter SBM before using win8.
    Reply
  • killerchickens
    Windows is free and we use Linux in are gaming Machines what are we in Soviet Russia .
    Reply