System Builder Marathon, December 2010: $1000 PC

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.

That PSU only has 2 PCI-E hook ups. So you'll have to use adapters in this build. Pathetic.

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).

I think it would be good to include previous build in the test system page it would make comparison easier.

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?

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.

Tom's nvidia -line continues. No surprises there.

like they said in the previous article even the 6000 series radeons weren't out when they made these articles,
reading comprehensions noobs

*comprehension

Not impressed, could have been better.

add space is getting out of control on this site.

worst i3 overclock ever. And a 750gb wd black? Waste! You could get a faster 1tb samsung for less.

I normally enjoy these builds, but this is among the worst I've seen. For ~$10 you probably could have gotten a ddr3 1600 kit, not to mention money could have been saved on the motherboard. And with a measly 4ghz overclock, you can probably return the aftermarket cooler and get your money back.

amirplike they said in the previous article even the 6000 series radeons weren't out when they made these articles,reading comprehensions noobs

derp

nice

Two GTX 460s... with a dual-core... serious?

...Cable...Management...

a dual-core i3 eh? Why not have tried a dual-core i5-655k? I know, more expensive... but I know some people out there may see "i5" and think that they are all the same. (n00bs, who haven't educated themselves yet.)

The Intel Core i5-655K Clarkdale 3.2GHz LGA 1156 73W Dual-Core Unlocked Desktop Processor ( NewEgg p/n BX80616I5655K ) is the same price as the Intel Core i5-750 Lynnfield 2.66GHz LGA 1156 95W Quad-Core Processor ( NewEgg p/n BX80605I5750 ) at the time of this post.

I enjoyed this build, i don't see the sense in always using the same CPU, case,GPU combos. By changing to the i5, using the NZXT case, the 460 1GB in SLI you give your readers something different to consider and not the same old, same old. Good work and good builds in both the $2,000 and $1,000 SBMs.

WOW look at what I just put together from my local hub, Microcenter, I have a I7-950, 460sli, with blueray player, but the 70 buck from the blueray player could of took me to 8gb of 1600mhz ram.

Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 7,200 RPM SATA ---49.99
Micro Center 4GB DDR3-1333 (PC3-10666) CL9 Desktop ---49.99
Samsung SH-B123L 12X BD Combo Drive ---49.99
x2-Palit NE5TX460FHD79 GeForce GTX 460 ---329.98
Intel Core i7-950 3.06GHz Boxed Processor ---199.99
Diablotek PHD Series 650 Watt ATX12V Power Supply ---39.99
PowerSpec Powerspec TX366 ATX Case ---17.98
Gigabyte GA-X58-USB3 LGA 1366 X58 ATX Intel MotherBoard ---184.99

for a grand total of ---999.48


It would blow that PoS they built away, let me at them!

Ps. if I were to spend it, I would say F the blue ray player and the I7-950 and get the I7-870 for 229.99 and the 97.99 X-fire mobo and go for 2 5850's with 8gbs of 1600 mhz ram. But what do I know ")

FreshnbakedWOW look at what I just put together from my local hub, Microcenter, I have a I7-950, 460sli, with blueray player, but the 70 buck from the blueray player could of took me to 8gb of 1600mhz ram. Western Digital Caviar Blue 500GB 7,200 RPM SATA ---49.99Micro Center 4GB DDR3-1333 (PC3-10666) CL9 Desktop ---49.99Samsung SH-B123L 12X BD Combo Drive ---49.99x2-Palit NE5TX460FHD79 GeForce GTX 460 ---329.98Intel Core i7-950 3.06GHz Boxed Processor ---199.99Diablotek PHD Series 650 Watt ATX12V Power Supply ---39.99PowerSpec Powerspec TX366 ATX Case ---17.98Gigabyte GA-X58-USB3 LGA 1366 X58 ATX Intel MotherBoard ---184.99for a grand total of ---999.48It would blow that PoS they built away, let me at them! Ps. if I were to spend it, I would say F the blue ray player and the I7-950 and get the I7-870 for 229.99 and the 97.99 X-fire mobo and go for 2 5850's with 8gbs of 1600 mhz ram. But what do I know ")

It's from Microcenter (and in store only option for the CPU and perhaps some other parts).The nearest one from me is thousands of miles away in the continental U.S.A.
Toms Hardware I believe only will do a build from parts that are readily available for everyone.

and for the 500 dollar build, check this out, I might buy one for X-mas for fun. Again from microcenter, the AMD 560 x2BE comes with a free Mobo for a special that had been around for about 7 months. So its just kind of a standing offer instead of a deal now.

Cooler Master USP 100 ATX Case with eXtreme 550W PS ---59.99
AMD Phenom II X2 560 Black Edition Boxed Processor ---99.99
MSI 785GM-P45 AM3 785G mATX Motherboard --- 0.00
x2-HIS H575FN1GD Radeon HD 5750 1GB ---219.98
Micro Center 4GB DDR3-1333 (PC3-10666) ---49.99
CD-RW Internal Optical Drive ---9.99
Samsung Spinpoint F3 500GB 7,200RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s ---44.99

for a grand total of ---499.93

The mobo supports X-fire and core unlocking, so 4 cores oc'd around 3.814ghz which my old one did stable. And Oc'd 5750's should be sufficient to knock off any other 500 dollar computer out there. you could also save 5-6 bucks with a 320gb HD. With the case supplied PSU and the bundle pack, its almost unbeatable. I

Lol, Microcenter is not a small shop, they do ship internationally. It's like walmart but for computers only.

and with refurb's and open box items they have available, you could really sqeeze in some power in there. But it's risky in the sense I wouldn't be able to afford to re buy stuff everytime it started on fire, lost data, or w/e reason it was returned for.

Looks like going form quad core to dual core really hurts.