System Builder Marathon, Q1 2013: $1,600 Alternative PC

Test Settings And Benchmarks

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Test Hardware Configurations
Row 0 - Cell 0 $1,600 Alternative PCQ1 2013 $1,000 PC
Processor (Overclock)Intel Core i5-3570K 3.40 GHz, Four Physical CoresO/C to 4.40 GHz, 1.30 VIntel Core i5-3570K 3.40 GHz, Four Physical CoresO/C to 4.40 GHz, 1.28 V
Graphics (Overclock)2 x PowerColor 2GBD5-2DHPPV3E: 975 MHz GPU,  GDDR5-6000, CrossFireO/C to 1,200 MHz GDDR5-6400PowerColor 2GBD5-2DHPPV3E: 975 MHz GPU,  GDDR5-6000O/C to 1,200 MHz GDDR5-6400
Memory (Overclock)8 GB Crucial DDR3-1600 CAS 8-8-8-24, O/C at 1.50 V to DDR3-2133 CL 9-9-9-248 GB Crucial DDR3-1600 CAS 8-8-8-24, O/C at 1.50 V to DDR3-2133 CL 9-9-9-24
Motherboard (Overclock)Gigabyte GA-Z77X-UD4H: LGA 1155, Intel Z77 ExpressStock 100 MHz BCLKASRock Z77 Extreme4: LGA 1155, Intel Z77 ExpressStock 100 MHz BCLK
OpticalAsus DRW-24B1ST: 24x DVD±RLite-On iHAS124: 24x DVD±R
CaseFractal Design Define R4Rosewill Redbone U3
CPU CoolerNoctua NH-D14Cooler Master Hyper 212 Plus
Hard DriveMushkin Chronos Deluxe DX 240 GB, SATA 6Gb/s SSDMushkin Chronos Deluxe DX 240 GB, SATA 6Gb/s SSD
PowerCorsair HX750: 750 W Modular, ATX12V v2.3, 80 PLUS GoldAntec Neo Eco 520C: ATX12V v2.3, 80 PLUS
Software
OSMicrosoft Windows 8 Pro x64
GraphicsAMD Catalyst 13.2 Beta 6AMD Catalyst 13.1
ChipsetIntel INF 9.3.0.1026Intel INF 9.3.0.1026

The same software installation that gave me good results with a single card returned OpenCL errors with two cards. An update to Catalyst 13.2 Beta 6 solved those errors.

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3D Game Benchamarks
Battlefield 3Campaign Mode, "Going Hunting" 90-Second Fraps Test Set 1: Medium Quality Defaults (No AA, 4x AF) Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Defaults (4x AA, 16x AF)
F1 2012Version 1.2, Direct X 11, Built-in Benchmark Test Set 1: High Quality, No AA Test Set 2: Ultra Quality, 8x MSAA
Elder Scrolls V: SkyrimUpdate 1.5.26, Celedon Aethirborn Level 6, 25-Second Fraps Test Set 1: DX11, High Details No AA, 8x AF, FXAA enabled Test Set 2: DX11, Ultra Details, 8x AA, 16x AF, FXAA enabled
Far Cry 3V. 1.04, DirectX 11, 50-second Fraps "Amanaki Outpost" Test Set 1: High Quality, No AA, Standard ATC., SSAO Test Set 2: Ultra Quality, 4x MSAA, Enhanced ATC, HDAO
Adobe Creative Suite
Adobe After Effects CS6Version 11.0.0.378 x64: Create Video which includes three Streams, 210 Frames, Render Multiple Frames Simultaneosly
Adobe Photoshop CS6Version 13 x64: Filter 15.7 MB TIF Image: Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates
Adobe Premeire Pro CS6Version 6.0.0.0, 6.61 GB MXF Project to H.264 to H.264 Blu-ray, Output 1920x1080, Maximum Quality
Audio/Video Encoding
iTunesVersion 10.4.1.10 x64: Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 minutes, default AAC format
Lame MP3Version 3.98.3: Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min, convert WAV to MP3 audio format, Command: -b 160 --nores (160 Kb/s)
HandBrake CLIVersion: 0.98: Video from Canon Eos 7D (1920x1080, 25 FPS) 1 Minutes 22 Seconds Audio: PCM-S16, 48,000 Hz, Two-Channel, to Video: AVC1 Audio: AAC (High Profile)
TotalCode Studio 2.5Version: 2.5.0.10677: MPEG-2 to H.264, MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG-2), Audio: MPEG-2 (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 FineReaderVersion 10.0.102.95: Read PDF save to Doc, Source: Political Economy (J. Broadhurst 1842) 111 Pages
Adobe Acrobat XVersion 10.0.0.396: Print PDF from 115-Page PowerPoint, 128-bit RC4 Encryption
Autodesk 3ds Max 2012Version 14.0 x64: Space Flyby Mentalray, 248 Frames, 1440x1080
BlenderVersion: 2.64a, Cycles Engine, Syntax blender -b thg.blend -f 1, 1920x1080, 8x Anti-Aliasing, Render THG.blend frame 1
Visual Studio 2010Version 10.0, Compile Google Chrome, Scripted
File Compression
WinZipVersion 17.0 Pro: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to ZIP, command line switches "-a -ez -p -r"
WinRARVersion 4.2: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to RAR, command line switches "winrar a -r -m3"
7-ZipVersion 9.28: THG-Workload (1.3 GB) to .7z, command line switches "a -t7z -r -m0=LZMA2 -mx=5"
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings
3DMark 11Version: 1.0.1.0, Benchmark Only
PCMark 7Version: 1.0.4 x64, System, Productivity, Hard Disk Drive benchmarks
SiSoftware Sandra 2011Version Version 2013.01.19.11, CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / Cryptography, Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.