System Builder Marathon: TH's $2000 Hand-Picked Build

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Power, Heat, And Efficiency

AMD’s modernized GPU has thus-far provided a marginal performance lead over Nvidia’s older part, but power consumption is where it really stands out.

Our overclocked alternative PC reduces full-load power consumption by over 200 W, and we can only credit its lower CPU overclock for 68 W of that reduction.

Heat numbers are a little more deceptive, since the alternative system’s higher GPU temperature happened within the range of its automatic fan controls.

Efficiency is a comparison of energy to work, so it’s good to see the lower-energy alternative PC also producing slightly better performance at stock clocks.

Dividing the performance difference by the power difference proves our theory, with the alternative PC leading the original by 26%. Both builds lost efficiency when overclocked due to the relatively high CPU core voltage required to push the higher frequency settings.

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.
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46 Comments Comment from the forums
  • dogman_1234
    Can't Wait untill Bulldozer and Sandy Brodge Editions come out. I know it sounds cliche but...
    Reply
  • Tamz_msc
    This is probably the best way of spending 2000$ for a PC.
    Reply
  • hardcore_gamer
    Performance / watt of this build is really impressive.
    Reply
  • A price table for the new build would be nice too, so i can see how much would it cost when i remove the BD and Case.
    Reply
  • gti88
    Tamz_mscThis is probably the best way of spending 2000$ for a PC.I don't think so, considering that cheaper and less power-hungry Sandy Bridge is coming.
    Reply
  • scook9
    gti88I don't think so, considering that cheaper and less power-hungry Sandy Bridge is coming.You forgot weaker ;)
    Reply
  • scrumworks
    Decent review but it seems that in nvidia setups, even the same CPUs can somehow overclock better. And the speed of RAM has negligible or no effect on overall system performance so no point tuning that component.
    Reply
  • Luay
    "Familiarity in overclocking and a third PCIe x16 graphics card slot that operates in x8 mode when occupied are two reasons why we chose the X58A-UD3R over the similarly-priced Asus Sabertooth X58."

    Ok, fine. Wouldn't hurt to familiarize anew with a better board and that 3rd slot wasn't used anyways. Megahalems over Noctua? Seasonic over Corsair AX? :(

    Or was it last minute budget cuts to make it less than $2000?
    Reply
  • nerrawg
    scrumworksDecent review but it seems that in nvidia setups, even the same CPUs can somehow overclock better. And the speed of RAM has negligible or no effect on overall system performance so no point tuning that component.
    What do you mean, this was the same model processor but not the same one. They got a new one for this build - so how does that show that the graphics have anything to do with the overclock? If anything it says exactly what is stated in the article, that the overclockability of the i7 950 varies between each sample quite a margin.

    NVidia or for that matter AMD graphics have no effect on the CPU overclock.
    Reply
  • -Fran-
    How does a Core i5 @~4.3Ghz or a Phenom II X6 @~4Ghz stack up against the Core i7? Well, that's using the same other components, 'cept RAM and MoBo :P

    I'd like to know that.

    Cheers!
    Reply