System Builder Marathon, Sept. 2011: $2000 Performance PC
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Page 1:Welcome Back, SLI!
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Page 2:Motherboard And Graphics
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Page 3:Processor And Memory
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Page 4:Storage
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Page 5:Case, Cooling, And Power
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Page 6:Hardware Installation
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Page 7:Overclocking, Or Maybe Not
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Page 8:Test Settings And Benchmarks
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Page 9:Benchmark Results: 3DMark And PCMark
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Page 10:Benchmark Results: SiSoftware Sandra
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Page 11:Benchmark Results: Crysis And F1 2010
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Page 12:Benchmark Results: Just Cause 2 And Metro 2033
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Page 13:Benchmark Results: Audio And Video Encoding
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Page 14:Benchmark Results: Productivity
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Page 15:Power, Heat, And Efficiency
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Page 16:Is There Value In A $2000 Build?
Processor And Memory
CPU: Intel Core i7-2600K
Intel’s Sandy Bridge-based processors have the highest per-core, per-clock performance of any desktop CPU we could buy. These are also some of the most scalable chips Intel has ever produced. Unfortunately, achieving a high overclock requires an unlocked K-series model, of which only two are available (and the other is a Core i5). We snagged the flagship Core i7 version.
Read Customer Reviews of Intel's Core i7-2600K
The advantages Intel’s Core i7-2600K has over the Core i5-2500K include Hyper Threading technology, which enabled two logical cores for every physical core, an extra 100 MHz of clock rate, and 2 MB of shared last-level cache.
We’ve heard that Core i7-2600K also gets Intel’s top-binned parts, so that might give this one a little extra overclocking capability. Added together, those advantages need to be worth at least $95 to cover the difference in price.
Memory: G.Skill DDR3-1866 CAS 9
We’ve been using G.Skill’s low-cost DDR3-1600 CAS 8 for a few builds, but those parts were out of stock when we ordered today’s system. We chose its F3-14900CL9D-8GBXL DDR3-1866 CAS 9 kit as a suitable replacement, though we didn't necessarily count on this kit giving us better memory.
Read Customer Reviews of G.Skill's F3-14900CL9D-8GBXL DDR3 Kit
The price difference between the formerly-used parts and this higher-rated version was only around $5-$10—depending on the day of the order. But this order was placed immediately prior to our most recent round-up. We can only hope that these parts overclock better than that story's fastest award-winning model.
- Welcome Back, SLI!
- Motherboard And Graphics
- Processor And Memory
- Storage
- Case, Cooling, And Power
- Hardware Installation
- Overclocking, Or Maybe Not
- Test Settings And Benchmarks
- Benchmark Results: 3DMark And PCMark
- Benchmark Results: SiSoftware Sandra
- Benchmark Results: Crysis And F1 2010
- Benchmark Results: Just Cause 2 And Metro 2033
- Benchmark Results: Audio And Video Encoding
- Benchmark Results: Productivity
- Power, Heat, And Efficiency
- Is There Value In A $2000 Build?
No, this case cools better than many (most?) cases more expensive than it. 2x 120mm intake is more than adequate for SLI cards with room for air to flow between them. Did you even look at the power consumption numbers? The system when overclocked only consumed 697w at load from the wall (actual consumption is less), while the PSU is rated at 850w.
Check out Scott Wasson's excellent story about Crysis 2 on The Tech Report. Tons of artificial geometry to favor Nvidia's tessellation-emphasizing architecture. Not sure that's something we want to fold into our benchmark suite. We are looking at new games, but bear in mind that as soon as we ditch these, we kill the comparison points from the previous quarter. That's why you don't see the SBMs shift benchmark suites as often!
All three should have provided at least equal performance, and been better on intangible benefits to micro stuttering.
Now I know we'll see the usual "well this is meant to be a learning experience, learn from our errors and improve for next time" comments, but these are not mistakes I expect to see Tom's writers making. Even non-uber-enthusiast readers can probably see that some of the imbalances here. No result is horrible, but I'd have expected Tom's to look at that Newegg shopping cart and immediately think "nope guys, this isn't right. This gfx setup... in an Antec 300?" etc.
Always love these articles guys, keep them up! Even if I do disagree with some of the choices obviously
No, this case cools better than many (most?) cases more expensive than it. 2x 120mm intake is more than adequate for SLI cards with room for air to flow between them. Did you even look at the power consumption numbers? The system when overclocked only consumed 697w at load from the wall (actual consumption is less), while the PSU is rated at 850w.
Thanks for the builds!
It was purchased on Newegg about a month ago in preparation for this series, actually =)
As you saw in that piece, micro-stutter was most apparent on more mainstream cards. Something like the GTX 580 isn't going to demonstrate the issues seen there, whereas a GTX 560/HD 6850 might.
Check out Scott Wasson's excellent story about Crysis 2 on The Tech Report. Tons of artificial geometry to favor Nvidia's tessellation-emphasizing architecture. Not sure that's something we want to fold into our benchmark suite. We are looking at new games, but bear in mind that as soon as we ditch these, we kill the comparison points from the previous quarter. That's why you don't see the SBMs shift benchmark suites as often!
Overall the build certainly wasn't bad, just not quite 10/10 for me
Oh, and do you think the overclocking would've been improved with a cooler that blows over the vrms, like the Cooler master GeminII S?