SBM 5: Price/Performance

System Builder Marathon September: The Articles

Here are links to each each of the five articles in this month's System Builder Marathon (SBM).

Day 1: Low Cost PC compared to last SBM Low Cost PC
Day 2: Mid Cost PC compared to last SBM Mid Cost PC
Day 3: Higher Cost PC compared to last SBM Higher Cost PC
Day 4: All Three September SBM PCs Overclocked
Day 5: Summary - Price- Performance Winner

The Best Laid Schemes O' Mice An' Men

A greater truth is rarely spoken: In the world of system building, things often get ugly. Carefully planning helps one to avoid a few common pitfalls, but it often occurs that something doesn't fit, an order gets delayed, a vital component gets switched, or one part doesn't deliver the expected performance. We've proven that throwing money at the problem is not the solution, as our problems increased with the complexity of each build. System Builder Marathons are designed to deliver the same challenges to reviewers that independent builders would normally expect, so no cheating or shortcuts were allowed. Anyone wishing to revisit our ordeal is welcome to click on the links above for the full build details of each system.

This month's marathon presents a special treat for value-seeking overclockers, as our final analysis will compare three systems at three distinct price points, using both baseline and overclocked speeds. Will the lowest-cost system win yet again, and if it does, will there still be any justification for purchasing higher cost parts?

With four long days of tuning and testing behind us, it's finally time to measure each system's worth!

Test Setup

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