System Builder Marathon Q4 2015: $1055 Prosumer PC

Overclocking & Results

Overclocking

I applied a quick and clean CPU overclock by first setting my desired 1.30V core voltage and an optimistic 46x multiplier, and then backtracking to a 45x multiplier to find complete stability. I used the same method for DRAM, starting with 1.30V with the system not booting at DDR4-2800, then backing down to DDR4-2666.

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I reconfirmed that DDR4-2800 wouldn’t work with this combination of hardware even at 1.35V, and then focused more effort on improved latency at DDR4-2666. I was eventually able to tighten primary timings to 14-14-14-28 and set command rate to 1T, and was even able to drop the memory voltage from 1.30 to 1.28V without decreasing its stability.

Noting that Eric was able to get his identical GTX 970 to 1400 MHz, I started at 1440 MHz and worked my way backwards. The graphics card initially appeared capable of the same 1400 MHz GPU clock, but a crash after about an hour of testing caused me to backtrack to 1390 MHz.

Graphics memory was far easier. Starting at GDDR5-7200 and working my way up, I eventually reached an 8000 MT/s data rate before a few small artifacts appeared after yet another hour of testing. I backed it down to GDDR5-7880.

Component Settings

This quarter’s $1055 Prosumer PC goes up against the $800 machine it replaces, as well as the $1600 general-purpose build that went before.

Synthetics

3DMark highlights the huge difference in capability between this quarter’s GTX 970 and last quarter’s GTX 750 Ti. The $1600 PC of two quarters ago also benefited from both a six-core CPU and a GTX 970, though the newer machine’s Asus card overclocked better than its predecessor’s PNY.

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The $1055 build’s SSD holds it prominently over the $800 machine in PCMark, while its superior memory boosts it throughout Sandra Cryptography and Memory Bandwidth.

Gaming

The previous $800 workhorse finds itself drowning in its own blood through game tests, where only the similarly-equipped $1600 machine can gain any advantage over the new $1055 PC.

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An oddity at Battlefield 4’s medium test settings occurs as the overclocked configuration falls behind its baseline. Thought it appears to be card throttling, the same phenomena isn’t seen at Ultra quality. A little additional testing showed the card throttling to maintain a temperature of 80° in spite of its 90° setting.

Applications

Leaning on the same CPU as its $800 predecessor, the $1055 machine barely outpaces it in audio and video encoding. The competition gets more interesting in Adobe Creative Suite, as After Effects leans on the new machine’s extra RAM and Photoshop’s OpenCL filters benefit from its greater GPU prowess.

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That 7-Zip thing? Why yes, I am glad that the new machine has an SSD, just as I was happy with the $1600 machine’s more powerful CPU.

Power, Heat & Efficiency

That big number readers seem to be concerned about, 320W, is the maximum load from the wall with both the CPU and GPU fully stressed. At the $1055 machine’s power supply efficiency rating, that’s around 270W output. And yes, power supplies are rated in output.

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Performance levels across the board are up for the $1055 PC, resulting in a 3% baseline-to-baseline efficiency gain over the $800 PC it replaces. With its better overclocks producing even greater performance increases, efficiency lost to overclocking is also greatly improved.

One chart shows why I put the vented left side panel on the right side of the machine. Decibel levels in the mid-20’s idle and mid-30’s fully loaded are easy for most users to live with.

Value

Remember that I said chasing value was the only justification each builder would have for increasing his expenses? Here is where I put up or, as it applies to our Day 4 comparison, shut up.

If someone told you that spending an extra 32% on your PC would give you a 47% performance boost, you’d probably wonder what “new math” had done to them. Yet the results are clear, as is the reason for a 12% value (i.e. performance for the money) win. Better overclocking pushes the new machine to an even larger 16% value lead over the previous O/C.

Anyone who prefers to save money by using an existing OS license will see a slightly lower value boost, but the new machine still wins.

Non-platform component costs, including those of the case and additional drives, were ultra low for the new build at $20 total. The $800 machine’s $44 drop allows it to creep closer to the new build's value, yet the new build still wins.

Things look even better for the $1055 machine at high gaming resolutions, but even the $1600 PC was able to beat the $800 build in this comparison. Considering that the new Prosumer PC is designed to do work first and game second, its great gaming results are a pleasant bonus.

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Thomas Soderstrom is a Senior Staff Editor at Tom's Hardware, covering Cases, Cooling, Memory and Motherboards. Follow him onTwitter.

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