Test Settings
We wanted to include 2560x1600 benchmarks in this comparison so that we could emphasize the more powerful graphics processors of our previous $2000 build. Doing so precludes the System Builder Marathon’s $400 build however, since it wasn’t tested at this super-high resolution.
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| Test Hardware Configurations | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | New/Alternative $2000 PC | Original $2000 PC | Original $1000 PC |
| Motherboard (Overclock) | Gigabyte X58A-UD3R Intel X58 Express, ICH10RO/C to 188 MHz BCLK | MSI NF980-G65 Nvidia nForce 980a SLIO/C to 288 MHz Ref. Clk. | Asus P7P55D-E LX Chipset: Intel P55 ExpressO/C to 178 MHz BCLK |
| Processor (Overclock) | Intel Core i7-970 3.2 GHz, Six Physical CoresO/C to to 4.0 GHz, 1.30V | AMD Phenom II X6 1055T 2.8 GHz, Six CoresO/C to 4.0 GHz at 1.43 V | Intel Core i5-750 2.66 GHz, Four CoresO/C to 3.75 GHz at 1.36 V |
| Memory (Overclock) | 6 GB Mushkin DDR3-1333 CAS 9-9-9-24, O/C at 1.60 V to DDR3-1400, CL 8-8-8-24 | 8 GB G.Skill DDR3-1333 CL 9-9-9-24, O/C at 1.65 V to DDR3-1533, CL 7-7-6-20 | 4 GB Crucial DDR3-1333 CL 9-9-9-24, U/C at 1.50 V to DDR3-1070, CL 8-8-8-22 |
| Graphics (Overclock) | 2 x EVGA GeForce GTX 460 763 MHz GPU, GDDR5-3800O/C to 845MHz, GDDR5-4200 | 2 x MSI GeForce GTX 480 700 MHz GPU, GDDR5-3696O/C to 816 MHz, GDDR5-4132 | MSI GeForce GTX 470 607 MHz GPU, GDDR5-3348O/C to 690 MHz, GDDR5-3380 |
| Hard Drive | Samsung F3 HD103SJ 1 TB, 7200 RPM 32 MB Cache, SATA 3Gb/s | Samsung F3 HD103SJ 1 TB, 7200 RPM 32 MB Cache, SATA 3Gb/s | Western Digital WD36401AALS 640 GB, 7200 RPM 32 MB Cache, SATA 3Gb/s |
| Optical | Lite-On iHAS124 24x DVD±R, 48X CD-R | Lite-On iHAS124 24x DVD±R, 48X CD-R | Lite-On iHAS124 24x DVD±R, 48X CD-R |
| Case | Antec Three Hundred Illusion | SilverStone Raven RV02-BW | Antec Three Hundred |
| Power | Seasonic SS-850HT 850 W, 80 PLUS Silver | Cooler Master Silent Pro RSA00-AMBAJ3-US 1000 W Modular, 80 PLUS Bronze | Corsair CMPSU-650TX 650 W, 80 PLUS Standard |
| CPU Cooler | Scythe Mugen 2 Rev. B (SCMG-2100) | Scythe Mugen 2 Rev. B (SCMG-2100) | Cooler Master Hyper TX3 (RR-910-HTX3-G1) |
| Software | |||
| OS | Microsoft Windows 7 Ultimate x64 | ||
| raphics | Nvidia Forceware 258.96 | Nvidia Forceware 258.96 | Nvidia Forceware 258.96 |
| Chipset | Intel INF 9.1.2.1007 | Nvidia MCP 8.15.11.9038 | Intel INF 9.1.2.1007 |
The $1000 build that so badly disgraced our previous $2000 PC was kept around for today’s roundup, with hopes that the inclusion of high-resolution gaming tests might boost the expensive system’s value score.
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| Benchmark Configuration | |
|---|---|
| 3D Games | |
| Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 | Campaign, Act III, Second Sun (45 sec. FRAPS) Test Set 1: Highest Settings, No AA Test Set 2: Highest Settings, 4x AA |
| Crysis | Patch 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 |
| DiRT 2 | Run with -benchmark example_benchmark.xml Test Set 1: High Quality Preset, No AA Test Set 2: Ultra Quality Preset, 8x AA |
| S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call Of Pripyat | Call 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 | |
| iTunes | Version:9.0.2.25 x64 Audio CD (Terminator II SE), 53 minutes Default format AAC |
| HandBrake 0.9.4 | Version 0.9.4, convert first .vob file from The Last Samurai (1GB) to .mp4, High Profile |
| TMPGEnc 4.0 XPress | Version: 4.7.3.292 Import File: Terminator 2 SE DVD (5 Minutes) Resolution: 720x576 (PAL) 16:9 |
| DivX Codec 6.9.1 | Encoding mode: Insane Quality Enhanced multithreading enabled using SSE4 Quarter-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 | |
| Adobe Photoshop CS4 | Version: 11.0 x64, Filter 15.7 MB TIF Image Radial Blur, Shape Blur, Median, Polar Coordinates |
| 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 334 MB Folder of ZIP/RAR compressed files |
| WinRAR 3.90 | Version x64 3.90, Dictionary = 4,096 KB, Benchmark: THG-Workload (334 MB) |
| 7-Zip | Version 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 Vantage | Version: 1.0.1, 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 |
