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

By Don Woligroski
published

Benchmark Results: Rendering And Productivity

One of the new tests in our System Builder Marathon suite is Blender. Although we don't have comparison data from the Core i5-based machine, the trend tells us that this threaded benchmark would likely favor the FX-8350 at stock settings and then shift toward the overclocked Core i5.

The FX-8350 system is slower than we might have expected in 3ds Max, though. This one is threaded as well, so we at least would have thought it'd best the stock Core i5. However, repeated iterations show our results are accurate.

The new system does well at its stock clock rates compared to the previous build in ABBYY's FineReader OCR application, but again succumbs to the overclocked Core i5.

We have no comparison data for Visual Studio, unfortunately. However, AMD FX-8350 Review: Does Piledriver Fix Bulldozer's Flaws? showed us that the the FX-8350 should edge out Intel's Core i5-3570K at stock settings. Again, an aggressive overclock would likely turn things in favor of the Intel processor eventually, though.

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