System Builder Marathon, Q4 2012: $1,000 Enthusiast PC

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By Don Woligroski
published

Video Card, Power Supply, And Case

Video Card: Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 GV-N670OC-2GD

We're giving Gigabyte's GV-N670OC-2GD another try, since we used it in last quarter's System Builder Marathon and our goal is to compare platform performance without altering other variables. Of course, no two graphics cards overclock in exactly the same way, so we're hoping to squeeze similar frequencies out of this card when it comes to pushing our new build to its limit.

Read Customer Reviews of Gigabyte's GV-N670OC-2GD

Gigabyte's GV-N670OC-2GD earned our Recommended Buy award in Seven GeForce GTX 670 Cards, Benchmarked And Reviewed as a result of its quiet operation and excellent performance. The good news is that the price of this GeForce GTX 670 card dropped from $400 to $350 since our last build.

Power Supply: Corsair CX600 V2

Read Customer Reviews of Corsair's CX600 V2

Corsair’s CX600 is a great power supply; we discovered that last quarter when we used it for this same machine.

A low price should be indicative of fairly entry-level features. It's not modular, and it's limited to a pair of six/eight-pin power cables for our GeForce GTX 670 graphics card. Nevertheless, it should prove ample for our needs. It also fits nicely in our budget at $70.

PC Case: HEC Blitz

Read Customer Reviews of HEC's Blitz

At $50, HEC's Blitz is not exactly the lowest-budget case we could have purchased. Though, in our defense, its price is higher now than when we ordered it.

Even still, it's a roomy enclosure that comes with two 120 mm fans. We're expecting it to get the job done. No, it's not particularly drop-dead gorgeous, but it's not brash or juvenile, either.

Don Woligroski
126 Comments Comment from the forums
  • CaptainTom
    So a 600w PSU for one 670? Get a 500w, get kingston RAM that is $20 cheaper, a $50-$70 liquid cooler for the FX, and BOOM! More performance for the same price. I get you wanted to test a similar system, but just make that a different article...
    Reply
  • serhat359
    Could have used a 6 or 4-core FX and made more money for a better cpu cooler and case. You have already demonstrated that more than 4 cores aren't used in gaming and here you have an 8 core CPU...
    Reply
  • dkcomputer
    Thats like... The worst possible $1k build. wow
    Reply
  • boulbox
    @Serhat i agree with you but this would be a better all around build. I think he could have done better though
    Reply
  • dkcomputer
    Swap mobo for ASRock Z68 PRO3 GEN3 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 and processor for a sandybridge i5-2500. No overclocking needed.
    Reply
  • wolley74
    Dat hitachi HDD, you guys do know that Seagate Barracudas are around $70 for 64MB cache 1TB storage and SATA 6 right? and arguably are far more reliable
    Reply
  • aznshinobi
    Why wouldn't you drop down a bit to the FX-8320, that's about $40 saved, that could save you enough money to get the 7970 which clock for clock is better than the GTX 670.
    Reply
  • mouse24
    serhat359Could have used a 6 or 4-core FX and made more money for a better cpu cooler and case. You have already demonstrated that more than 4 cores aren't used in gaming and here you have an 8 core CPU...
    Its not 8 core, its 4 core with dual modules per core. Shared resources. Its why you see an increase in performance between a 4300 and an 8320
    Reply
  • DjEaZy
    http://valid.canardpc.com/2604796
    Reply
  • yyk71200
    mouse24Its not 8 core, its 4 core with dual modules per core. Shared resources. Its why you see an increase in performance between a 4300 and an 8320No, its other way around. It is 4 module cpu. Each module contains two integer cores (thus 8 cores total) and one FPU. It is more like reduced 8 core than full 8 core. Neverthles, Intel still is better.
    Reply