System Builder Marathon, Sept. 2011: System Value Compared
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Benchmark Results: 3DMark And PCMark
Lower motherboard and memory prices allows the $2000 build to step up to GeForce GTX 580 SLI graphics, while the $1000 PC transitions to GeForce GTX 460 SLI, mainly for experimental reasons. While the change does help the overclocked $1000 build a little, the $2000 machine naturally dominates.
The $500 machine appears a bit lost here, but it still gets one-third of the performance at one-fourth the cost.
An undersized SSD certainly helps the $1000 machine’s PCMark scores compared to our previous SBM. It’s unfortunate that the 30 GB drive is too small to hold all of the applications this benchmark represents.
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Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
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46 Comments
Comment from the forums
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revjacob Actually what we need now are more affordable 2560x1600 monitors for these enthusiast PCs.Reply -
compton I think the next quarter SBM should utilize an SSD at all segments. Its just about time when no one should seriously think of not including a SSD a build. There are great values out there and even the budget system deserves some love. If a small increase in price segments is necessary, so be it. Going from a HDD to a SSD is like going from IGP to discrete class graphics.Reply
Also, as a result, more emphasis should be placed on the storage sub system. I know these are gaming configurations, but I'd give up my GPU in a nanosecond if it meant I could keep my SSDs. Fortunately, I don't have to choose, but I would if I had too, and I'm not alone out there. Budget systems don't feel so budget-y with even a modest SSD. -
chumly Maybe the value of the $1000 PC would go up if you weren't wasting money on unnecessary or poorly chosen parts. You could add another 4 GB of ram, and swap out the twin stuttering 460's for 6870's (and still have enough money to add a better, modular PSU).Reply
Here:
http://i.imgur.com/g22Bq.jpg -
jprahman comptonI think the next quarter SBM should utilize an SSD at all segments. Its just about time when no one should seriously think of not including a SSD a build.Reply
Yeah, good luck fitting an SSD into a $500 gaming build.
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Kamab jprahmanYeah, good luck fitting an SSD into a $500 gaming build.Reply
there have been 64GB Vertex Crucial drives on sale for < 79$. Which isn't bad. -
compton jprahmanYeah, good luck fitting an SSD into a $500 gaming build.Reply
That's why I think the $500 system should be closer to $600, maybe like $550. 30GB Agility drives were going for $40 yesterday at the Egg, so its not like you have to spend $300 to get a tangible benefit. That one addition would have contributed a significant performance benefit and the budget category used to be $650 anyway. -
nd22 I would have stick to 1 gpu in the 1000 S build. Instead of 2 gf 460/radeon 6850 I would have used 1 radeon 6970/ geforce gtx570 - from persoanl experience 1 gpu = less problems!Reply -
mayankleoboy1 i think quicksync should be included in the final score as video conversion is something that everyone of us do. and if we buy a SB cpu, then we would surely use quicksync.Reply
maybe also include windows boot time.