Results: File Compression
All three file compression utilities appear to prefer different attributes of this quarter's machine. In 7-Zip, for example, we're pretty sure that the extra Hyper-Threaded cores are bolstering performance, keeping my system in front of last quarter's. In WinRAR, which tends not to fully utilize all of the cores we give it, we're hypothesizing that extra shared L3 cache is helping the Core i7-3930K along. WinZip gains some from multiple cores working in parallel, but also its OpenCL-accelerated component appears to favor the new system's GeForce GTX 760s more than the dual-GPU 690.
On the other hand, Paul's single GPU was OK with 2GB. I figured we'd need a jump to 4GB with 3-way on his GPU, but 3GB on the 7970 probably would have been enough. Also, a total difference of $60 still would have fit within the budget limit, so, maybe Ivy-Bridge E and Radeons for the next build?
In order to prove what you're saying, I would have needed to search for worse-performing overpriced parts. You'll see on Day 4 that this build has the best performance of the three. So this build actually doesn't prove anything, except maybe that six core processors boost six-core benchmarks and that more graphics power gives you better frame rates at 5760x1080 (etc). But we didn't actually need any proof for those things, did we?
Tom, the future builds need to have better budget tiers. The doubling of the funds in each tier is fine in certain cases but it doesn't provide real insight into hardware choices. Having the tiers with a fixed figure increase such as a $250-400 increase in budget per tier would make more sense. Also, I would love to see the comeback of the $500 budget builds.
Lastly, what happen to the idea of themes each quarter?