System Builder Marathon, December 2010: $1000 PC

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Although we were afraid of the results, this time around we decided to try something new, forgoing the Core i5 in favor of a dual-core Core i3 CPU in our build. Can the higher clock rate compensate for the loss of two physical cores in our $1000 system?

Test Systems And Benchmarks

We compare our new build to the $1000 enthusiast system we put together for our last SBM in September 2010. The Intel Core i3-550/Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 SLI combo should have a higher capacity for playable high-resolution graphics than the preceding Core i5-750/GeForce GTX 470 config. But the previous system’s quad-core CPU is expected to outperform our dual-core model in threaded productivity and transcoding applications.

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$1000 Enthusiast PC Test Settings
Row 0 - Cell 0 Standard Speed Overclocked
Motherboard ASUS Sabertooth 55i Chipset: Intel P55 Unchanged
Processor Intel Core i3-5503.2 GHz, Dual Core, 4 MB L3 Cache 4019 MHz at 1.35 V,167.5 MHz BCLK
Memory GeIL Black Dragon 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) SDRAM DDR3-1333 Dual-Channel Desktop Memory Kit, CAS 7-7-7-24-1T DDR3-1004, CAS 7-7-7-24-1T
Graphics 2 x ECS NBGTX460 (SLI) 1 GB GDDR5-3700 Per CardGeForce GTX 460 GPU at 765/1530 MHz core/shaders GDDR5-3800 825/1650 MHz core/shaders
Hard Drives Western Digital Caviar Black 750 GB 7200 RPM, 32 MB Cache, SATA 3Gb/s Unchanged
Optical LG 22x DVD – GH22LS50 OEM22x DVD+R, 8x DVD+RW, 48x CD ROM Unchanged
Case NZXT Gamma Unchanged
Power Corsair CMPSU-650TX 650 W ATX12V, EPS12V, 80 PLUS Certified Unchanged
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$1000 Enthusiast PC (From Previous SBM) Test Settings
Row 0 - Cell 0 Standard Speed Overclocked
Motherboard Asus P7P55D-E LX LGA 1156, Intel P55 chipset, BIOS 1003 Unchanged
Processor Intel Core i5-750  2.66 GHz, Four Cores, 8 MB L3 Cache 3.75 GHz, 178 MHz Reference Clock
Memory Crucial 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) SDRAM DDR3-1333 Dual-Channel Desktop Memory Kit, CAS 9-9-9-24-1T DDR3-1070, CAS 8-8-8-22-1T
Graphics MSI GeForce GTX 470 1280 MB GDDR5-3348 Per Card 607/1215 MHz GPU/Shaders, 837 MHz Mem GDDR5-4500 690/1380 MHz GPU/Shaders, 845 MHz Mem
Hard Drives Western Digital Caviar Black 640 GB 7200 RPM, 32 MB Cache, SATA 3Gb/s Unchanged
Optical Lite-On iHAS12424x DVD+R, 8x DVD+RW, 48x CD ROM Unchanged
Case Antec Three Hundred Unchanged
Power Corsair CMPSU-650HX 650 W ATX12V, EPS12V , 80 PLUS Certified Unchanged

And here's a list of the benchmarks:

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Benchmark Configuration
3D Games
Crysis Patch 1.2.1, DirectX 10, 64-bit executable, benchmark tool Test Set 1: High Quality, No AA Test Set 2: Very High Quality, No AA
DiRT 2 In-game benchmarkTest Set 1: High Quality Preset, No AATest Set 2: Ultra Quality Preset, 8x AA
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign, Act III, Second Sun (45 sec. FRAPS)Test Set 1: Highest Settings, No AATest Set 2: Highest Settings, 4x AA
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.:Call of Pripyat S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call Of Pripyat benchmark versionTest Set 1: High Preset, DX11 EFDL, No AATest Set 2: Ultra Preset, DX11 EFDL, 4x MSAA
World in Conflict Patch 1009, DirectX 10, timedemo Test 1: Very High Details, No AA / No AF Test 2: Very High Details 4x AA / 16x AF
Audio/Video Encoding
iTunes Version: 9.0.2.25 x64Audio CD ("Terminator II" SE), 53 minDefault format AAC
Handbrake 0.9.4 Version 0.9.4, convert first .vob filefrom "The Last Samurai" (1 GB) to .mp4 High Profile
TMPGEnc 4.0 Express Version: 4.7.3.292Import File: "Terminator 2" SE DVD (5 Minutes)Resolution: 720x576 (PAL) 16:9
DivX 6.9.1 Encoding mode: Insane QualityEnhanced multithreading enabled using SSE4Quarter-pixel search
XviD 1.2.2 Display encoding status = off
MainConcept Reference 1.6.1 MPEG2 to MPEG2 (H.264), MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG2) Audio: MPEG2 (44.1 KHz, 2 Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kb/s) Mode: PAL (25 FPS)
Productivity
Adobe Photoshop CS4 (64-bit) Version: 11.0 x64, Filter 15.7MB TIF ImageRadial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates
Autodesk 3ds Max 2010 Version: 11.0 x64, Rendering Dragon Image at 1920x1080 (HDTV)
Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus 9.0 Version: 9.0.663, Virus base: 270.14.1/2407Benchmark: Scan 334 MB Folder of ZIP/RAR compressed files
WinRAR 3.90 Version x64 3.90, Dictionary = 4,096 KB, Benchmark: THG-Workload (334 MB)
7-Zip Version 4.65: Format=Zip, Compression=Ultra, Method=Deflate, Dictionary Size=32KB, Word Size=128, Threads=8Benchmark: THG-Workload (334 MB)
Synthetic Benchmarks
3DMark Vantage Version: 1.01, GPU and CPU scores
PCMark Vantage Version: 1.0.1.0 x64, System, Productivity, Hard Disk Drive benchmarks
SiSoftware Sandra 2010 Version 2010.1.16.11, CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / MultiMedia, Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark
Don Woligroski
Contributor

Don Woligroski was a former senior hardware editor for Tom's Hardware. He has covered a wide range of PC hardware topics, including CPUs, GPUs, system building, and emerging technologies.

116 Comments Comment from the forums
  • AMW1011
    I can't say I'm impressed this time. You should never have went with a clarksdale, they are simply bad. Getting a more reasonably priced motherboard, cutting another $20 from the HDD and PSU, and an i5 750, would have been much better.

    Still, we have more information than before so I can't complain.
    Reply
  • Poisoner
    That PSU only has 2 PCI-E hook ups. So you'll have to use adapters in this build. Pathetic.
    Reply
  • ivan_chess
    The CPU choice was a little disappointing this time around. A Core i5 or even a comparably priced AMD processor would have done much better (especially in productivity because four cores are typically better than two).
    Reply
  • adbat
    I think it would be good to include previous build in the test system page it would make comparison easier.
    Reply
  • duk3
    1 tb 7200.12 hard drive?
    GTX 570? (debatable)
    Cheaper motherboard, maybe not supporting SLI if gtx 570 is taken over 460 sli?
    $50 corsair ddr3 1600?
    i5 760 with these savings?
    Reply
  • Core2uu
    I think we're missing the point of including the Core i3 in this month's build. The purpose was to explore the CPU bottle-necking that can be observed on today's common applications because threading implementation has managed to find itself actually put into effect. Throwing in an i5 760 would have been too predictable and too boring. This puts perspective on the fact that dual-cores matched with high clock speeds are no longer the performance kings as was true more than a year ago.
    Reply
  • scrumworks
    Tom's nvidia -line continues. No surprises there.
    Reply
  • amirp
    like they said in the previous article even the 6000 series radeons weren't out when they made these articles,
    reading comprehensions noobs
    Reply
  • amirp
    *comprehension
    Reply
  • sudeshc
    Not impressed, could have been better.
    Reply