System Builder Marathon, June 2011: $500 Gaming PC

Benchmark Results: Synthetics

The current machine nets a win at both of 3DMark 11’s lower presets. By the time we get to the Extreme preset score, it's clear we're using the same graphics platform given how close all four configurations fall.

Interestingly, the overclocked setup from last quarter only narrowly edges out today's machine in stock form, too.

We’ve collected PCMark 7 data on our June system but will chart the older version (Vantage) here for comparison to the March PC.

Judging by our real-world test suite results, it’s no surprise that the overclocked AMD system nets a clear win in the productivity sub-test. The older machine does trail our more recent effort in the overall system score, though. The current system also delivers a decent boost in storage performance.

The Phenom II scores higher in the Arithmetic component of SiSoftware's Sandra 2011 benchmark when it's overclocked. Otherwise, this chart is dominated by the current two-core/four-thread Core i3-2100.

It should have been a clean sweep in the Multimedia tests for the AMD-based machine. But despite multiple benchmark runs last quarter, the Int. x16 iSSE2 score fell below our expectations.

Memory data rates weren't increased on either $500 machine. We were, however, able to increase bandwidth through tighter timings (8-8-8-24).

Despite core speed and CPU-NB frequency overclocking, the AMD-based rig can’t come close to matching the bandwidth of our Sandy Bridge-based platform.