System Builder Marathon, December 2010: $2000 PC

The link to enter the giveaway doesn't work!

I would love to be first to enter

i think im gona get a revo 2 drive ssd to upgrade my current build.... all thanks to santa !!

Its good to know that choosing the wrong memory can affect performance in such a way.

I'm pretty surprised we didn't see Geforce GTX 570s in this build, I guess they got released too late to make it here.

>> First time in recent memory
"Cough Cough" Lame Pun

Wow that Mushkin memory really jacked up this benchmark.

Most perfect build ever ? Just read the configs yet, and I think that's a possibility.

Now don't skin me if the config proves to be a flop in the coming pages. Just read the first page and couldn't resist a comment.

Why not replace the two ssd's with a single intel 120gb... same price and now on 35nm

I think this one can be trimmed to a very good $1500 build as well. Change the CPU to i5 760, remove one of the cards, one of the SSDs, and you'll need lower capacity PSU for that, let's slash $30-$50 there, you get a very good PC for $1500.

And oh, cheapen the case as well. There's no free lunch. You gotta sacrifice some silence to gains some frame rates.

Get rid of MW2 in benchmarks for Battlefield Bad Company 2 and add in Starcraft 2 in my opinion. Nice computer, that's too bad about the memory.

Having $2000, I would take i5 760 + 2 x gtx580

I agree with the people above who mentioned i5 760 and GTX 570. I was thinking the same thing when I saw the config. IMO, $2000 would give you far better performance in games, especially with high resolution and quality:

GIGABYTE GA-P55A-UD3 LGA 1156 - $125
Intel i5 760 - $205
Scythe Mugen 2 - 47
Cooler Master HAF 932 - $140
GTX 570 2x SLI $700
Samsung F3 1TB - $70
Crucial 128GB C300 - $275
CORSAIR XMS 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 - $125
Antec TruePower Quattro TPQ-1000 1000W - $170
Lite-On iHBS112 Blu-ray Drive: 12x BD-R, 16x DVD±R - $120
Total: $1977

All prices without rebates included. The $23 left over can be used to pay for the shipping where applicable. Also, an SSD can be replaced for a cheaper one to save a little money, if that's your thing.

But isn't this worse than the previous $2000 PC?

@barmaley
Everything is fine except the motherboard and here's why:
http://www.hardware-revolution.com/p55-motherboards-crossfire-sli-performance-problem/

why is single intel 120GB better than 2x 64GB RAID 0? I thought the later twice the speed than a single SSD?

$2000 config with TWO gtx 580:
ASUS Maximus III Formula LGA 1156 - $179
Core i5-760 - $205
Noctua NH-U12P - $75
Kingston DDR3 4gb - $56
ENERMAX REVOLUTION85+ 920W - $200
SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4 2Tb - $100
COOLER MASTER CM690 II Advanced Black Steel - $80
GTX580 x2 (SLI) - $1100

Total price: $2005

This build with 2 GTX 580 is nice. The only thing is that a lot people would have a problem paying $2000 and not getting blue ray and SSD. Not that it affects gaming in a big way as much as a good graphics card does, but it still counts.

gti88$2000 config with TWO gtx 580:ASUS Maximus III Formula LGA 1156 - $179Core i5-760 - $205Noctua NH-U12P - $75Kingston DDR3 4gb - $56ENERMAX REVOLUTION85+ 920W - $200SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4 2Tb - $100COOLER MASTER CM690 II Advanced Black Steel - $80GTX580 x2 (SLI) - $1100Total price: $2005

Good for gaming and nothing else.

Probably one of the most balanced (and i mean that in a good way) build i've seen in a while. (though i do miss the exotic 4x4850 from Don a while back, and i do hope u bring that back some day)

Tamz_mscIts good to know that choosing the wrong memory can affect performance in such a way.

And yes +1 for that and for Thomas, i'm looking forward to a follow-up article on that specific issue.