Results: SiSoftware Sandra
With the same CPU used in both systems, the $800 and $1,000 builds are nearly matched in Sandra’s CPU-specific Arithmetic benchmark. Any hopes that a slightly larger CPU cooler would give the $1,000 build a little extra overclocking headroom were dashed when the $800 machine matched its 4.40 GHz.
The $800 PC appears affected by a minor configuration issue in one of the software’s Cryptography tests.
All else being equal—isn’t. Don chose lower voltage for his $800 machine's memory, and was unable to approach the $1,000 system’s bandwidth. The $600 machine takes the middle with moderate memory manipulation.