System Builder Marathon, March 2010: $750 Gaming PC
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Page 1:Finding Balance
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Page 2:CPU And Cooler
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Page 3:Motherboard And Memory
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Page 4:Graphics Cards And Hard Drive
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Page 5:Case, Power Supply, And Optical Drive
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Page 6:Hardware Installation
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Page 7:Overclocking
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Page 8:Unlocking: Success!
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Page 9:Test System Configuration And Benchmarks
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Page 10:Benchmark Results: Synthetics
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Page 11:Benchmark Results: Crysis
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Page 12:Benchmark Results: Call Of Duty: MW2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat, And DiRT 2
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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 Consumption, Performance Summary, And Efficiency
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Page 16:Conclusion
Benchmark Results: Call Of Duty: MW2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat, And DiRT 2
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 offers impressive visuals on modest graphics hardware, and our CPU-limited average frame rates are nearly identical regardless of resolution or anti-aliasing (AA) settings. While overclocking increases performance by 17% and unlocking by 23%, the stock $750 PC still delivers excellent 1080p game play with the highest level of eye candy the game has to offer.
The system offers outstanding performance in S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat without AA at the high preset, but is brought to its knees above 1280x1024 at ultra-high quality with 4x MSAA enabled.
Without enabling the added visuals of hardware tessellation, the DirectX 11 code path offers substantially better performance in this game than DirectX 10.1. Here, a pair of Radeon HD 5750s (and likely a single Radeon HD 5850) would easily outperform these Radeon HD 4850s.
DiRT 2 is another new DirectX 11 addition to our test suite. Unlike S.T.A.L.K.E.R., non-DirectX 11 hardware will default all the way back to DirectX 9 and run faster than a comparable DirectX 11 card. Visually, there isn’t a huge difference between the two paths, so owners of cards like the Radeon HD 5750 may want to force DirectX 9 for added performance.
The $750 PC doesn’t need overclocking to average over 60 FPS at 1080p with the highest available details and AA levels. The unlocked core provides a fairly large boost in performance, at least up until the higher settings where the graphics cards become the limiting factor.
At 1080p with 8x MSAA, the 512MB frame buffer of the Radeon HD 4850 doesn’t seem to be a problem in DiRT 2. Minimum frame rates remained above 55 FPS with the quad-core CPU and dropped to 49 FPS with the overclocked triple-core.
- Finding Balance
- CPU And Cooler
- Motherboard And Memory
- Graphics Cards And Hard Drive
- Case, Power Supply, And Optical Drive
- Hardware Installation
- Overclocking
- Unlocking: Success!
- Test System Configuration And Benchmarks
- Benchmark Results: Synthetics
- Benchmark Results: Crysis
- Benchmark Results: Call Of Duty: MW2, S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Call of Pripyat, And DiRT 2
- Benchmark Results: Audio And Video Encoding
- Benchmark Results: Productivity
- Power Consumption, Performance Summary, And Efficiency
- Conclusion
I've thrown this out there before for a SBM, but a progressive upgrade SBM would be cool. Instead of 3 systems head to head, you start with one with the entry level budget. Bench it, then add $200 or so worth of upgrades, bench it. Rinse and repeat. Your first system might have a single GPU and need to spend a little more on a mobo for a dual ready mobo, but that's not really a deal breaker. Then add the second GPU and better cooling or whatever the article rules end up being.
You could also do something like they do on Top Gear (UK) and inherited some old systems and have to do the best you can to get them current.
Of all the SBMs, this entry model is by far my favorite.
Would it be possible to make a 3-way comparison of systems at the same price (for example, $1000)? One could be an AMD-based system, another an Intel-based, and a third maybe a graphics-heavy monster, or a MicroATX system (to see how much performance you sacrifice to stay in $1000 and fit a small form factor).
unlocking the forth core and still overclocking to 3.6Ghz is just great! I'm getting jealous because my 4th core is broken.
I'm looking forward to the value comparison.
4 cores, 3.2Ghz, 13,000 3dmark points.
Great bang-for-buck system.
Would it be possible to make a 3-way comparison of systems at the same price (for example, $1000)? One could be an AMD-based system, another an Intel-based, and a third maybe a graphics-heavy monster, or a MicroATX system (to see how much performance you sacrifice to stay in $1000 and fit a small form factor).
This processor is a beast for the price...Really Impressed
Except for the CPU cooler, you usually sacrifice nothing to go Micro ATX. Tom's Hardware even did a micro-ATX SBM...where the Core i7 system sucked because it had to use the stock cooler. You can find semi-small micro-ATX cases that fit mid-sized coolers.
Antec also makes a MICRO ATX MID TOWER which REALLY sux since it misses the point of Micro ATX completely, so I don't want to hear about that one.
And of course there's Micro ATX mini-towers with the same layout as full-ATX. You get all the performance of ATX and the big cooler, with a case that's around 14-15" tall.
My argument was not that they should do a $500-$1000-$2000 comparison of uATX builds - they did this. I was suggesting doing a $1000intel - $1000amd - $1000uATX comparison.
And IMO, this case just wasn't a good choice. Coolermaster has comparable cases for as much as $20 less. That 20 bucks would have landed you an x4 630 procc instead, which would be a much better choice for current and future gaming, when unlocking the 4th core in an x3 is always an uncertain affair.
http://www.anandtech.com/mb/showdoc.aspx?i=3762&p=2
Agreed. I have the same motherboard, case, hard drive but different G. Skill kit and a Radeon HD 5750 that benchmarks over 15,000 on 3DMark06(overclocked), 13,378 without overclocking.
My system also has a Phenom II BE 720 as it predates this processor I believe.
I've thrown this out there before for a SBM, but a progressive upgrade SBM would be cool. Instead of 3 systems head to head, you start with one with the entry level budget. Bench it, then add $200 or so worth of upgrades, bench it. Rinse and repeat. Your first system might have a single GPU and need to spend a little more on a mobo for a dual ready mobo, but that's not really a deal breaker. Then add the second GPU and better cooling or whatever the article rules end up being.
You could also do something like they do on Top Gear (UK) and inherited some old systems and have to do the best you can to get them current.
Of all the SBMs, this entry model is by far my favorite.
I do like the idea of finding a way to add upgradability to the SBM, or simply upgrades; e.g. start with three old Dells and throw $100, $200, and $500 at them, and see how much you can improve each one. No rules other than a strict budget; specifically mobo replacement IS allowed.
I also hope the excellent results here mean we will never again see a miserable e5x00 in another budget build.