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

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Test System And Benchmarks

Windows 8 is here and we've updated the entire benchmark suite. That's the good news. The bad news is that, in the process of adopting new workloads, new versions, and more applications, we don't have comparison data for some of the tests. Last quarter's numbers are included where applicable, and of course next quarter, we'll have an even more comprehensive suite to present.

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Current $1,000 Enthusiast PC Test Settings
Row 0 - Cell 0 Default Configuration Overclocked
Motherboard Gigabyte DA-970A-D3, Socket AM3+, AMD 970 Chipset Unchanged
Processor AMD FX-8350 (Piledriver): 4 GHz Base Clock Rate, 4.3 GHz Maximum Turbo Core, 8 MB Shared L3 Cache 4.33 GHz @ 1.3375 V
Memory Mushkin Enhanced Blackline: DDR3-1600, 2 x 4 GB (8 GB) Dual-Channel Desktop Memory Kit 1866 MT/s 9-9-9-24-1T @ 1.6 V
Graphics Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 GV-N670OC-2GD: 2 GB GDDR5 @ 6008 MT/s, GPU @ 1058 MHz (GPU Boost) GDDR5 @ 7012 MT/s, GPU @ 1137 MHz (GPU Boost) Power @ 112%, +1 mV
Hard Drive Hitachi GST Deskstar 7K1000.C: 1 TB, 7200 RPM, 32 MB Cache, SATA 3Gb/s Unchanged
Optical LG GH24NS90 OEM: DVD Burner Unchanged
Case HEC Blitz Unchanged
Power Corsair CX600: 600 W, ATX12V, EPS12V, 80 PLUS-Certified Unchanged
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August $1,000 Enthusiast PC Test Settings
Row 0 - Cell 0 Default Configuration Overclocked
Motherboard ASRock Fatal1ty P67 Performance, LGA 1155, Intel P67 Express chipset Unchanged
Processor Intel Core i5-3570K (Ivy Bridge), 3.4 GHz Base Clock Rate, 3.8 GHz Maximum Turbo Boost, 6 MB Shared L3 Cache 4.6 GHz @ +0.1 V
Memory Mushkin Enhanced Blackline: DDR3-1600, 2 x 4 GB (8 GB) Dual-Channel Desktop Memory Kit 1866 MT/s 9-9-9-24-1T @ 1.6 V
Graphics Gigabyte GeForce GTX 670 GV-N670OC-2GD: 2 GB GDDR5 @ 6008 MT/s, GPU @ 1058 MHz (GPU Boost) GDDR5 @ 6504 MT/s, GPU @ 1241 MHz (GPU Boost), Power @ 121%, +1 mV
Hard Drive Seagate Barracuda 750 GB: 7200 RPM, 32 MB Cache SATA 6Gb/s Unchanged
Optical Samsung SH-222BB/BEBE: 22x DVD Burner Unchanged
Case Rosewill Redbone Unchanged
Power Corsair CX600: 600 W, ATX12V, EPS12V, 80 PLUS-Certified Unchanged

And here are the benchmark details:

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Benchmark Configuration
3D Games
Battlefield 3 Version 1.0.0.0, DirectX 11, 90-sec. FRAPS "Going Hunting" Test Set 1: Medium Quality Preset, No AA, 4X AF, SSAO Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Preset,  4X MSAA, 16X AF, HBAO
Elders Scroll V: Skyrim Version 1.6.89.06, Version 1.5.26.05 (June), 25-Sec. FRAPS Test Set 1: High Preset, No AA, 8x AF, FXAA Enabled Test Set 2: Ultra Preset, 8x AA, 16x AF, FXAA Enabled
F1 2012 Version 1.2, Direct X 11, Built-in Benchmark Test Set 1: High Quality, No AA Test Set 2: Ultra Quality, 8x MSAA
Audio/Video Encoding
HandBrake CLI Version: 0.98, Video: Video from Canon EOS 7D (1920x1080, 25 frames) 1 Minutes 22 Seconds, Audio: PCM-S16, 48 000 Hz, Two-Channel, to Video: AVC1 Audio: AAC (High Profile)
iTunes Version 10.4.1.10 x64: Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 minutes, default AAC format
Lame MP3 Version 3.98.3: Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min, convert WAV to MP3 audio format, Command: -b 160 --nores (160 Kb/s)
TotalCode Studio 2.5 Version: 2.5.0.10677, MPEG2 to H.264, MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG2), Audio:MPEG2 (44.1 kHz, Two-Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kb/s) Codec: H.264 Pro, Mode: PAL 50i (25 FPS), Profile: H.264 BD HDMV
Productivity
ABBYY FineReader Version 10.0.102.82: Read PDF save to Doc, Source: Political Economy (J. Broadhurst 1842) 111 Pages
Adobe Photoshop CS6 Version 13 x64: Filter 15.7 MB TIF Image: Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates
Autodesk 3ds Max 2012 Version 14.0 x64: Space Flyby Mentalray, 248 Frames, 1440x1080
7-Zip Version 9.28, LZMA2, Syntax "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5" Benchmark: THG-Workload-2012
WinRAR Version 4.2, RAR, Syntax "winrar a -r -m3" Benchmark: THG-Workload-2012
WinZip Version 17.0 Pro, Best Method, ZIPX Benchmark: THG-Workload-2012
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings
3DMark 11 Version: 1.0.1, Entry, Performance, Extreme Suite
PCMark 7 Version: 1.0.4, System, Productivity, Hard Disk Drive benchmarks
SiSoftware Sandra 2012 Version: 2012 SP5c-1872, 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.

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