System Builder Marathon Q3 2014: High-End Performance PC

By Thomas Soderstrom
published

Motherboard, Case And Cooling

Motherboard: MSI Z97 Gaming 5

The Asus motherboard in last quarter’s $1600 PC was a good value back then, but MSI’s Z97 Gaming 5 is a slightly better value today. Prices don’t always fluctuate synchronously.

Read Customer Reviews of MSI's Z97 Gaming 5 (opens in new tab)

Originally recognized with an award for its good value at $160, the same Z97 Gaming 5 sells for less than $150 today (or at least at the time of writing).

Case: Enermax Ostrog GT

Last quarter’s build received a sleek-looking, somewhat quiet case with good cooling performance to match its looks. One of our readers even complained that the case looked a little too upscale to be a good value, even though it was only $90. That won’t be a problem this time.

Read Customer Reviews of Enermax's Ostrog GT (opens in new tab)

Though somewhat stylish, Enermax’s Ostrog GT looks like a nicely designed, inexpensive gaming case. Assets include its great cooling performance and modest noise isolation. Deficits include a top panel with room for a radiator without fans, or fans without a radiator. I was hoping to use alternative mounting methods to put a radiator and fans up there anyway before I figured out that I wouldn’t be able to afford a closed-loop liquid cooler.

CPU Cooling: Phanteks PH-TC14PE

The war between Noctua and Phanteks has been raging for a long time, with fans of the latter brand often making wild claims about superior performance and a lower price as almost everyone else shrugs. Indeed, our own tests have shown little to no performance difference between the NH-D14 and PH-TC14PE, and every attempt to purchase the more colorful brand for a lower price has been fruitless, until now.

Read Customer Reviews of Phantek's PH-TC14PE (opens in new tab)

Phantek’s temporary discounts finally aligned with a purchase day, and that discount applied only to the black version. The discount will probably apply to a different color by the time you buy one, but value is colorblind.

Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.
45 Comments Comment from the forums
  • Onus
    Alternate builds, regardless of other merits, which do not conform to SBM rules (e.g. parts from sources other than Newegg) will be deleted as off-topic to the SBM discussion.
    Reply
  • SuckRaven
    I love the SBM articles that Tom's publishes, and read them regularly. However with respect to the self-limiting / self imposed (or perhaps not self) budget constraints, I feel that often the various builds end up feeling somewhat dated. I understand this is a result of the criteria that are set, and well explained, but I also think Tom's should do a somewhat more price-no-object oriented build as well. Of course, I am aware of the difficulties here. But a build with current motherboards with X99 chipsets, the newest Haswell-E processors, the latest in NVIDIA / AMD multi-GPUs, DDR4 RAM, the fastest/most durable SSDs, and liquid and air cooling might be of interest to a lot of readers as well (including myself). Efficiency and performance value/dollar aside, I would love to see a machine like this go head to head with the current high-end build, just for the sake of curiosity, if not necessarily practicality.
    Reply
  • Onus
    I thoroughly enjoyed the writeup of this PC. I've often found selections in the high-priced build way more than I need myself, but this is the first time I can recall not also thinking "what a waste" about one part or another. This one was good.
    Reply
  • mavikt
    I won't get excited for a new build until both CPU and GPU have gotten their die shrink.
    These quarterly builds usually only show miniscule improvements unless something disruptive happens to the market like a tick or tock. These articles could as well be bi-annual. Good though that the price point that you're at shifts from time to time.
    Reply
  • bmyton
    4790k -> 4690k = -$100
    290x -> SLI 770 = +$100
    Same budget, theoretically a 10-15% performance boost, and new topic of discussion as part of the article.

    These SBM builds have taken very few risks in the last few quarters...
    Reply
  • ShermOR
    GTX 980 $560 = + $30 = $1665
    Reply
  • Crashman
    14249729 said:
    4790k -> 4690k = -$100
    290x -> SLI 770 = +$100
    Same budget, theoretically a 10-15% performance boost, and new topic of discussion as part of the article.

    These SBM builds have taken very few risks in the last few quarters...
    I was actually thinking of using two of the cards Don used in his build, before I found out that Don had one. That would only be +$20 without downgrading the CPU.

    Reply
  • Mac266
    PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant
    CPU: Intel Core i5-4690K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($239.99 @ Newegg)
    CPU Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler ($34.99 @ Newegg)
    Motherboard: ASRock Z97 EXTREME4 ATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($143.79 @ Newegg)
    Memory: Team Vulcan 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3-1600 Memory ($76.99 @ Newegg)
    Storage: Crucial MX100 256GB 2.5" Solid State Drive ($115.98 @ Newegg)
    Storage: Western Digital Caviar Blue 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($59.99 @ Newegg)
    Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 3GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($329.99 @ Newegg)
    Video Card: Asus GeForce GTX 780 3GB DirectCU II Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($329.99 @ Newegg)
    Power Supply: Corsair Professional 850W 80+ Gold Certified Semi-Modular ATX Power Supply ($129.99 @ Newegg)
    Total: $1461.70
    Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when availableGenerated by PCPartPicker 2014-09-25 18:14 EDT-0400
    What about this? Might be cheating, given the price drops from the GTX 900 series release. Also add $10 from a promo on the PSU.
    Reply
  • DynamoNED
    This is one of my favorite High-End Builds in recent memory, because it is very balanced, without some of the excesses from previous builds. It's very nearly what I would build myself on that budget. Bravo, Thomas!
    Reply
  • 10tacle
    This is like the third SBM article I've seen that just missed the latest GPU release, and hence, it wasn't included. Surely it was known the GTX 980 release was around the corner when this build was thought up. Is there a reason why these SMBs can't be held off if it is known a new GPU series is coming out (and will actually be available in stock) within a matter of a couple of weeks or even a month?

    With that said, I do find these SBM articles most interesting of all.
    Reply