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System Builder Marathon, March 2011: $2000 Performance PC

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System Storage And Memory

System Drives: 2 x A-Data S599 64 GB SSD in RAID 0

A-Data continues to provide some of the best value in SandForce-based SSDs, offering up to 280 MB/s reads and 270 MB/s writes from a single drive. We picked two drives to deliver even higher throughput.

Read Customer Reviews of A-Data's S599 64 GB SSD

A-Data even includes 3.5” bay adapters. Even though these aren’t designed to work with 3.5” hot-swap bays, they’re perfect for our chosen case which supports only screw-in installation.

System RAM: 8 GB G.Skill Ripjaws X DDR3-1600 CAS 8

While high-density RAM usually has a hard time keeping up with the performance levels of low-density competitors, G.Skill was able to deliver a value-priced 2 x 4 GB configuration at a blistering DDR3-1600 CAS 8-8-8-24 rating.

Read Customer Reviews of G.Skill's 8 GB Ripjaws X DDR3-1600 Kit

We saved $20 by choosing these 1.50 V parts over the 1.60 V CAS 7-8-7-24 version, harboring a hunch that the higher-rated modules used the same parts. If that hunch is correct, increasing these to 1.60 V should allow room to use enhanced timings, higher data rates, or a combination of data rate and timing improvements.

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.
144 Comments Comment from the forums
  • wribbs
    Was wondering when the SBM would return. Now if I just had an extra $2K. Now lets see how the lower price models hold up.

    Sure is a good time to be building a new PC.
    Reply
  • duk3
    I'd love to win one of these.
    Especially this one
    Reply
  • dragonsqrrl
    Wow, nice system this time around. Excellent performance and efficiency, although I personally would've chosen a nicer case for a $2000 system. I know you guys have your reasons, and for the purposes of a purely price/performance oriented build it makes sense to skimp on the aesthetic qualities of a case, but for me personally, it's still nice to see a high-end case complement some high-end hardware.
    Reply
  • toxxel
    Nice system for 2k, wondering what the other systems will offer for their respective tier.
    Reply
  • sparky2010
    since the 6990 is out, wouldn't getting that one card be a legitimate choice too? isn't it also at around $600?
    Reply
  • illuminatuz
    oh wow!!! you know what if you can really think you can make a performance pc.. i mean same performance.. but lesser cost..
    i am not saying OC and AMD thing.. same hardware..
    Reply
  • dertechie
    That system looks familiar. Very familiar. Almost. . . have you been spying on me?

    I built a system exactly like that, except with an 2500K, P8P67 Pro, single 6950 2GB, single SSD, DVD rather than BD, H50 and a cheaper PSU. Tears through Metro 2033 maxed at 1920x1200 like butter. When prices on 6950s fall some more I'll add a card and see if they can handle Eyefinity.
    Reply
  • illuminatuz
    and its possible.. just take a nice gtx 560ti rather two amd sli and take 8 gig ram.. since anything above 8 gig will give diminishing returns and 500 gb hdd is more than enough i think.. buy a cheaper case, (punch holes to make it cooler :P) thats it.. same cpu same mobo and everything else same. you can also opt for cheaper 1155 mobo. i think gigabyte's got some.. or asus maybe.. no need for some two pcie and crap.. you can take a higher gpu.. say like gtx 580 or 6990.. well sli will give value if you are going for long term.. and you can install server's power.. they are cheap and of higher quality (thats what i heard from my pc vendor). i think there better be another marathon where there are the best pc at lowest cost.. that would make more sense rather giving budget.. so that people can know what they can make with the money they got.. since not all have exactly 1000$ or 2000$ there are people from other countries as well following www.tomshardware.com so keep up the good work fellas ^_^/~~
    Reply
  • tapher
    Ten-ies!

    Props on the build, dawgs. Daddy likes!

    Breath is bated for the bevy of builds to come!
    Reply
  • andy5174
    Contest is limited to residents of the USA

    not again.....
    Reply