System Builder Marathon, March 2011: $2000 Performance PC

Test Settings

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Test Hardware Configurations
Row 0 - Cell 0 New $2000 PCPrevious $2000 PC
Motherboard (Overclock)Asus P8P67 WS Revolution LGA 1155, Intel P67 ExpressNo BCLK OverclockGigabyte X58A-UD3R Intel X58 Express, ICH10RO/C to 176 MHz BCLK
Processor (Overclock)Intel Core i7-2600K 3.40 GHz, Four Physical CoresO/C to to 4.80 GHz, 1.40 VIntel Core i7-950 3.06 GHz, Four Physical CoresO/C to to 4.05 GHz, 1.40 V
Memory (Overclock)8 GB G.Skill DDR3-1600 CAS 8-8-8-24, O/C at 1.60 V to DDR3-1866 CL 8-9-8-246 GB Kingston DDR3-1600 CAS 7-8-7-20, O/C at 1.65 V to DDR3-1760 CL 8-9-8-24
Graphics (Overclock)2 x XFX Radeon HD 6950 2 GB 800 MHz GPU,  GDDR5-5000O/C to 840 MHz, GDDR5-53002 x Gigabyte HD 6870 1 GB 900 MHz GPU,  GDDR5-4200O/C to 975 MHz, GDDR5-4680
Hard Drive2 x A-Data S599 SSD, Striped 64 GB x2 (128 GB Combined) MLC, SATA 3Gb/s2 x A-Data S599 SSD, Striped 64 GB x2 (128 GB Combined) MLC, SATA 3Gb/s
OpticalLite-On iHBS212 BD-RE 12x BD-R, 16x DVD±RLite-On iHBS212 BD-RE 12x BD-R, 16x DVD±R
CaseAntec Three Hundred IllusionCorsair Graphite Series 600T
PowerSeasonic SS-850HT: 850 W, ATX12V v2.31, 80 PLUS SilverSeasonic SS-850HT: 850 W, ATX12V v2.31, 80 PLUS Silver
CPU CoolerScythe Mugen 2 Rev. B (SCMG-2100)Prolimatech Megahalems Rev.B CM R4-BMBS-20PK-R0 120 mm
Software
OSMicrosoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64
GraphicsAMD Catalyst 11.2AMD Catalyst 10.12
ChipsetIntel INF 9.2.0.1021Intel INF 9.1.2.1007

We compared today’s $2000 machine to our most recent prior $2000 build, to gauge how much further its new hardware would take us up the performance ladder.

Swipe to scroll horizontally
Benchmark Configuration
3D Games
CrysisPatch 1.2.1, DirectX 10, 64-bit executable, benchmark tool Test Set 1: High Quality, No AA Test Set 2: Very High Quality, 8x AA
F1 2010V1.01, Run with -benchmark example_benchmark.xml Test Set 1: High Quality Preset, No AA Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Preset, 8x AA
Just Cause 2Version 1.0.0.2, Built-In Benchmark "Concrete Jungle" Test Set 1: Medium Details, No AA, 8x AF Test Set 2: Highest Details, 8x AA, 16x AF
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call Of PripyatCall Of Pripyat Benchmark version Test Set 1: High Preset, DX11 EFDL, No AA Test Set 2: Ultra Preset, DX11 EFDL, 4x MSAA
Audio/Video Encoding
iTunesVersion:9.0.2.25 x64 Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 minutes Default format AAC
Handbrake 0.9.4Version 0.9.4, convert first .vob file from The Last Samurai (1 GB) to .mp4, High Profile
TMPEGEnc 4.0 XPressVersion: 4.7.3.292 Import File: Terminator 2 SE DVD (5 Minutes) Resolution: 720x576 (PAL) 16:9
DivX Codec 6.9.1Encoding mode: Insane Quality Enhanced multithreading enabled using SSE4 Quarter-pixel search
Xvid 1.2.2Display encoding status = off
MainConcept Reference 1.6.1MPEG-2 to MPEG-4 (H.264), MainConcept H.264/AVC Codec, 28 sec HDTV 1920x1080 (MPEG-2), Audio: MPEG-2 (44.1 KHz, 2 Channel, 16-Bit, 224 Kb/s), Mode: PAL (25 FPS)
Productivity
Adobe Photoshop CS4Version: 11.0 x64, Filter 15.7 MB TIF Image Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates
Autodesk 3ds Max 2010Version: 11.0 x64, Rendering Dragon Image at 1920x1080 (HDTV)
WinRAR 3.90Version x64 3.90, Dictionary = 4,096 KB, Benchmark: THG-Workload (334 MB)
7-ZipVersion 4.65: Format=Zip, Compression=Ultra, Method=Deflate, Dictionary Size=32 KB, Word Size=128, Threads=8 Benchmark: THG-Workload (334 MB)
Synthetic Benchmarks and Settings
3DMark 11Version: 1.0.1.0, Benchmark Only
PCMark VantageVersion: 1.0.1.0 x64, System, Productivity, Hard Disk Drive benchmarks
SiSoftware Sandra 2011Version 2011.1.17.15, CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic / MultiMedia, Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark
Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware US. He tests and reviews cases, cooling, memory and motherboards.