System Builder Marathon, June 2010: $550 Gaming PC

Features
By
Published

Test System Configuration And Benchmarks

$550 Gaming PC System Test Configuration

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Component Base Settings Overclock Settings
CPU AMD Athlon II X3 435 (Rana), 2.90 GHz2,000 MHz HyperTransport Link, 2,000 MHz Northbridge, No L3 Cache 3.556 GHz (14x 254 MHz), 1.488V2,032 MHz HyperTransport Link, 2,540 MHz Northbridge
CPU Cooler Cooler Master Hyper TX3 Unchanged
Motherboard Asus M4A77TDAMD 770/SB710, BIOS V2007 (04/14/10) Unchanged
RAM 2GB Crucial PC3-10600 CTKIT12864BA13392 x 2,048MB, DDR3-1333, CL 9-9-9-24 at 1.5V DDR3-1355, CL 8-8-8-24 at 1.6V
Graphics PowerColor AX5770 1GBD5-H Radeon HD 5770 1GB850 MHz GPU, 1,200 MHz GDDR5 910 MHz GPU, 1,410 MHz GDDR5
Hard Drive Samsung Spinpoint F3 HD502HJ500GB, 7,200 RPM, 16MB Cache Unchanged
Sound Integrated 7.1-Channel HD Audio Unchanged
Network Integrated Gigabit Networking Unchanged
Power Cooler Master eXtreme Power Plus RS-500-PCAR-A3 500W Unchanged
Optical Samsung Black 22x DVD Burner SATA Model SH-S223C Unchanged
Software And Drivers
Operating System Windows 7 Ultimate Edition x64 Unchanged
Graphic Driver AMD Catalyst 10.4 Unchanged
Platform Driver AMD 770/SB710 Chipset Rev. 636.02 Unchanged
Swipe to scroll horizontally
Benchmark Configuration
3D Games
Crysis Patch 1.2.1, DirectX 10, 64-bit executable, benchmark toolTest Set 1: High Quality, No AATest Set 2: Very High Quality, No AA
DiRT 2 In-game benchmark, DX11Test Set 1: High Quality, No AATest Set 2: Ultra Quality, 8x AA
Call Of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign, Act III, Second Sun (45 sec. FRAPS)Test Set 1: Highest Settings, No AATest Set 2: Highest Settings, 4x AA
S.T.A.L.K.E.R: Call Of Pripyat S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call Of Pripyat Benchmark versionTest Set 1: High Preset, DX11 EFDL, No AATest Set 2: Ultra Preset, DX11 EFDL, 4x MSAA
Audio/Video Encoding
iTunes Version:9.0.2.25 x64Audio CD ("Terminator II" SE), 53 minDefault format AAC
HandBrake 0.9.4 Version 0.9.4Convert first .vob file from "The Last Samurai" (1GB) to .MP4, High Profile
TMPEGEnc 4.0 Xpress Version: 4.7.3.292Import File: "Terminator 2" SE DVD (5 Minutes)Resolution: 720x576 (PAL) 16:9
DivX 9.6.1 Encoding mode: Insane QualityEnhanced multithreading enabled using SSE4Quarter-pixel search
Xvid 1.2.2 Display encoding status = off
MainConcept Reference 1.6.1 MPEG2 to MPEG2 (H.264), MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG2), Audio: MPEG2 (44.1 KHz, 2 Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kb/s), Mode: PAL (25 FPS)
Productivity
Autodesk 3ds Max 2010 Version: 11.0 x64, Rendering Dragon Image at 1920x1080 (HDTV)
Grisoft AVG Anti-Virus 9.0 Version: 9.0.663, Virus base: 270.14.1/2407, Benchmark: Scan 334MB Folder of ZIP/RAR compressed files
WinRAR 3.90 Version x64 3.90, Dictionary = 4,096KB, Benchmark: THG-Workload (334MB)
7-Zip Version 4.65: Format=Zip, Compression=Ultra, Method=Deflate, Dictionary Size=32KB, Word Size=128, Threads=8, Benchmark: THG-Workload (334 MB)
Adobe Photoshop CS4 Version 11.0 Extended (64-bit)Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates filters
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings
3DMark Vantage Version: 1.0.2, GPU and CPU scores
PCMark Vantage Version: 1.0.1.0 x64, System, Productivity, Hard Disk Drive benchmarks
SiSoftware Sandra 2010 Version 2010.1.16.11, CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / MultiMedia, Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark
99 Comments Comment from the forums
  • gkay09
    ^ I dont like the idea of using the CM eXtreme power PSUs...
    You could get a EA 430W for about $49 @newegg...
    Just a thought - you could save money on the mobo by going with TOM's favorite brand ASRock board with the 770 Chipset...So with the money saved, getting a better PSU would have been a good idea...
    Reply
  • adbat
    I plan to build a similar machine so it's nice to see the numbers :-)
    Again unlocking was successful the 50-50 chance do not apply to your tests.
    But no surprise this is a just enough machine.
    Reply
  • archange
    Buying the same components here, online, gets me to ~800 USD. That, including my 3% Diamond Customer discount at my favorite e-tailer. Granted, the Power Color was out of stock, which led me to Sapphire and i also had to exchange the RAM for Kingston HyperX CL7.

    People in the States have way to much... fun :P
    Reply
  • Crashman
    gkay09you could save money on the mobo by going with TOM's favorite brand ASRock board with the 770 Chipset...Wait, Tom's has a favorite brand? I've heard rumors in the past that Asus got all of Tom's Hardware's attention...and Gigabyte has been getting a lot of awards so maybe them...where does ASRock come into all of this favoritism, from its use in previous low-cost SBM machines?
    Reply
  • zooted
    I like this build much better than the $1000 one
    Reply
  • noob2222
    This one and the $1000 show some pretty impressive efficiency and power savings over the previous, more expensive builds. Save some dough now and in the long haul. Imo thats pretty important on a tight budget build, you don't want it costing more over its lifetime than what you saved in building it.
    Reply
  • skora
    and liked the idea of incorporating a $100 Cooler Master trio in the build.CrashmanWait, Tom's has a favorite brand? I've heard rumors in the past that Asus got all of Tom's Hardware's attention...and Gigabyte has been getting a lot of awards so maybe them...where does ASRock come into all of this favoritism, from its use in previous low-cost SBM machines?
    No, this month its Coolermaster.

    "and liked the idea of incorporating a $100 Cooler Master trio in the build."

    No shame, we all have bills.

    Very well balanced system. Very helpful to see a working system with just 2 gigs ram and break the stereo type that 4 is required.
    Reply
  • tacoslave
    ah i miss the days when you could buy 4 gigs of ram for $20. But now that only buys you about 1gig.
    Reply
  • cangelini
    skoraand liked the idea of incorporating a $100 Cooler Master trio in the build.No, this month its Coolermaster. No shame, we all have bills.Very well balanced system. Very helpful to see a working system with just 2 gigs ram and break the stereo type that 4 is required.
    You're reading that completely out of context.
    Reply
  • ta152h
    At this price range, I think an Athlon II x2 or Pentium E6500 system would probably do better for pure gaming.

    Both have more cache, the Pentium dramatically so. The Athlon II x2 would almost certainly over clock better, since stock speed is much higher, and most sites show them generally able to get to 3.8 GHz at roughly 1.4v or lower with a stock heat sink. On top of this, they use less power. So, more cache, 250 MHz more with stock heat sink (maybe more with a better one), and more cache against an extra core. Probably for games it would be better, but not always.

    The Pentium E6500 is probably better still. Getting it to around 4 GHz wouldn't be too hard, especially with an upgraded heat sink, and is generally faster clock per clock compared to an Athlon II x2. Power use is significantly lower too.

    Neither are clearly better though. I would rather have a faster two core than a slower three core, but the latter certainly have advantages too.
    Reply