System Builder Marathon, June 2011: $500 Gaming PC

Is it just me or does anyone get a feeling that the SBM rigs are being sold for advertising?

The X4 955 costs $15 less like you said, and allows overclocking even with stock, and $60 would buy a much better equipped AMD board. Also, $185 gets you a HD6870 these days.

Result? Better FPS per $ for the same price. TBH, that's what I was expecting. I am disappoint.

Seagate Barracuda ST3500413AS 500 GB, SATA 6Gb/s

yet the motherboard has only 4 x SATA2 3.0 Gb/s connectors.

How would you utilize the maximum potential of the hard disk then?

spotminerSeagate Barracuda ST3500413AS 500 GB, SATA 6Gb/s yet the motherboard has only 4 x SATA2 3.0 Gb/s connectors.How would you utilize the maximum potential of the hard disk then?

Because HDD's cannot saturate even the Sata 3.0Gb/s line. They run at around 120MB/s, but sata II can handle up to 280MB/s or so. It's a cash grab. Means nothing for HDD's.

striker410Because HDD's cannot saturate even the Sata 3.0Gb/s line. They run at around 120MB/s, but sata II can handle up to 280MB/s or so. It's a cash grab. Means nothing for HDD's.

I see thanks.

I can only hope that the rumor that Intel is currently prepping a K series i3 is true. I'm using a 2500k now, but I think an i3-k would kick ass in the spare 1155 board I've got laying around.

As far as the June budget build goes, it's really just an alternated Intel flavored version of the March build. As such, some hopeful budget builders may find reasons to go either route. Maybe the best argument against going AMD for the $500 build is the impending release of Llano and Bulldozer. It doesn't make much sense to put together an AMD system at this time -- even if you're looking at the budget area. The Phenom II will continue to be a good value especially if you're updating an older AMD system. It's not that the Phenom/Athlon is so slow as much as Intel's SB is just plain fast and efficient.

I want an unlocked i3 Intel... please make it happen.

An unlocked i3, that would be cool. I might even buy one, AMD fan that I am!

It looks like someone was doing a all Intel promo.
What software can utilize hyper threaded cores.
Not on any gamers PC'S much less on MS 64 bit at an entry level.
Granted at high end, they do make a great deal of difference but not at entry level.
And since when is power conservation a consideration for a gamer.

An i3 k model coming out about now would effectively kill AMD at this price point. If you get a good OC'able processor now, odds are you wont be changing platforms in a couple of months.

lott11It looks like someone was doing a all Intel promo.What software can utilize hyper threaded cores.Not on any gamers PC'S much less on MS 64 bit at an entry level.Granted at high end, they do make a great deal of difference but not at entry level.And since when is power conservation a consideration for a gamer.

Um lets see, unreal 3 can use hyperthreading, battlefield bad company 2 and battlefield 3 take advantage of hyperthreading, many games such as wow now take advantage of it. Need i go on.

zero_Is it just me or does anyone get a feeling that the SBM rigs are being sold for advertising? The X4 955 costs $15 less like you said, and allows overclocking even with stock, and $60 would buy a much better equipped AMD board. Also, $185 gets you a HD6870 these days.Result? Better FPS per $ for the same price. TBH, that's what I was expecting. I am disappoint.

I still think the i3-2100 was the right choice...

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-cpu-core-i3-2100-phenom-ii-x6-1075t,2859-10.html

For a gaming oriented build at this price point, these lower end Sandy Bridge processors can't be beat. Even when you factor in the overclocking potential of similarly priced AMD processors (Phenom II X4 955 or 965) I don't think it's enough to defeat the i3-2100 in the games where it matters most. Even when it comes to multitasking and and multithreaded workloads, the dual-core Sandy Bridge is still very performance competitive, which is kind of sad from an architectural standpoint (quad-thread i3 vs quad-core Phenom II).

If this build were targeted at workstation applications however, I think you could definitely make the argument that AMD offers a viable alternative with the additional cores. But again, this is a gaming oriented build.

AMD needs to hurry up on the Bulldozer release if a dual core Intel chip, one that can't be overclocked, is giving their quads a run for their money. If this is an base i3, what does the i5 do when pushed to 4 or 4.5 GHZ on a full set of 4 cores?

It'd be worth it for me, at least, to spend the $100 or so difference and get something with a bit extra oomph. I'm prepared for the standard "It's more than that 11!!1!!!" and "Intel doesn't have a chip for less than $999!11!1oneone!!!" whining that will follow, but cost-wise it's not that bad anymore. Bulldozer, AMD, or I'm not impressed. Give me something that won't choke my GPU to death.

Looks to me the Phenom 955 owns the $500 spot . Its cheaper , you get a better motherboard that your friends wont laugh at .

Can we have this article updated with both rigs graphics cards set at the same clocks ? That would be a telling comparison .

Meh, this build almost seems to be a wash with the March build. and with the price drops on the 955BE, AMD still seems to make more sense than Intel at this price point. Another thing I don't understand is why he chooses to pay more for his parts than is necessary.

well, this month: Intel CPU and AMD Graphics so everyone is pleased. But wait, where is nVidia?

Its the, "NEW, ALL SANDY BRIDGE SMB LINEUP", folks who cares if a 955 system is better or not! Thank goodness they at least mentioned it existed.

lott11It looks like someone was doing a all Intel promo.What software can utilize hyper threaded cores.Not on any gamers PC'S much less on MS 64 bit at an entry level.Granted at high end, they do make a great deal of difference but not at entry level.And since when is power conservation a consideration for a gamer.

This post is so full of fail...

I think it was worth building a sandybridge at this price point to compare the two systems .

The article has proved conclusively that sb isnt the phenom killer at this price point. Once you take in to account the relative prices of a 955 and the 2100 , and the 955 being clocked so much higher than the 925 they used then AMD looks better than it did in March .

Im sure a few intel fanboys just had a very bad day

All you dorks drooling over this i3 right now, almost all the charts here were neck-and-neck, too close to really notice the difference. If you take a real world pc with anti-virus and programs running in the background, you will feel the difference between dual-core and quad-core cpu's. Plus if you take a 955-965 they will oc to 3.7-3.9 Ghz SO easy ANYONE can do it, no voltage changes needed. Can you believe the Mobo they used? Sparse is generous! Not even a single pci slot. You could get an AMD board with eveerything, including USB 3.0 front ports. Where are those? Any one of the great readers here at Toms could hop over to the egg, take 20 min. and build a 955 based rig that could stomp this i3 brainwash event down where it belongs.

Remember, Intel dosent just pay the developers to stay ahead.

crisan_tiberiuwell, this month: Intel CPU and AMD Graphics so everyone is pleased. But wait, where is nVidia?

Every once in a while one of the builders does use Nvidia and get this, about a dozen guys cry that it's anti-AMD bias and that THG is a group of Nvidia fanboys.

cobra5000All you dorks drooling over this i3 right now, almost all the charts here were neck-and-neck, too close to really notice the difference. If you take a real world pc with anti-virus and programs running in the background, you will feel the difference between dual-core and quad-core cpu's. Plus if you take a 955-965 they will oc to 3.7-3.9 Ghz SO easy ANYONE can do it, no voltage changes needed. Can you believe the Mobo they used? Sparse is generous! Not even a single pci slot. You could get an AMD board with eveerything, including USB 3.0 front ports. Where are those? Any one of the great readers here at Toms could hop over to the egg, take 20 min. and build a 955 based rig that could stomp this i3 brainwash event down where it belongs.

Both of the other editors disagreed with Paul on the Core i3 placement, one more than the other. I even told him something to the effect that "the i3 isn't better, and even if it were better you'd still need to use AMD just to keep guys like cobra5000 from ruining the follow-up thread". OK, I took a little "artistic license" in that quote, but it's true to the concept I voiced.

Tom's choice of parts for this build was predictable, considering that Sandy Bridge is the new "in-thing" so no surprises there. What I surprising however is Tom's set of benchmarks. What's the point of these SBM guides if the games that are tested are either old or they plan simply suck? Who cares what Just Cause 2 scores on a $500 machine, when it's a banal console port, if Shogun 2, Civilization 5, SC 2, BFBC2 or (hell) even Dragon Age: Origins aren't tested? Same thing with the $1000 build that doesn't benchmark a CrossfireX setup with the Witcher 2 or Shogun 2 - some of the most demanding PC games out there - thusly failing to show that Crossfire setups have serious issues with GAMES PEOPLE WANT TO PLAY!

Also, does Tom's have some exclusivity deal with newegg? I love newegg as much as the next guy/gal but some of these components come MUCH cheaper on amazon.

annnonyxxxxTom's choice of parts for this build was predictable, considering that Sandy Bridge is the new "in-thing" so no surprises there.

Each builder picks his own parts, so characterizing an entire site based on the decisions of one builder shows extreme bias. Either you didn't even read the comments before making yours, or you ignored the facts.

Metro 2033 was included, so at least you know that some of the results are current.

This is called the Tom's Hardware / Newegg system builder marathon for a reason: Tom's formerly got all its parts from the manufacturers, but some were unreliable and others tried to rig the competition. So the site found a vender willing to supply all the parts for free.

Thanks for elaborating on that Crashman. Is there any chance we could get a 955BE and AM3+ board based $500 review for performance comparison ?

While Intel build might be able to outdo it in the efficiency department some users might not care about this as much as they do about pure performance (where 955BE might prove to be more than just a fair a match to i3 2100) and further upgradeability where H61 based braindead board used in this review doesn't leave much wiggling room and AM3+ board might allow upgrade path to Bulldozer CPU, higher speed RAM, come equipped with USB 3.0 etc.

gondorThanks for elaborating on that Crashman. Is there any chance we could get a 955BE and AM3+ board based $500 review for performance comparison ?While Intel build might be able to outdo it in the efficiency department some users might not care about this as much as they do about pure performance (where 955BE might prove to be more than just a fair a match to i3 2100) and further upgradeability where H61 based braindead board used in this review doesn't leave much wiggling room and AM3+ board might allow upgrade path to Bulldozer CPU, higher speed RAM, come equipped with USB 3.0 etc.

I doubt that you'll see anything soon, because the SBM series is only put together every three months.