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System Builder Marathon, Q1 2013: $800 Enthusiast PC

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Results: Battlefield 3 And The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Battlefield 3

Battlefield 3's single-player campaign is typically limited by graphics performance. Given the dissimilar graphics cards we're using, it's actually really surprising to see our results so close together at this title's Medium quality preset. Once we step up to the more demanding Ultra settings, though, Nvidia's GeForce GTX 670 assumes a lead.

The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim

Unlike Battlefield, Skyrim tends to be limited by processor performance rather than the graphics card.

At the High detail preset, this quarter's Intel-based build takes a notable lead. Using the Ultra preset with 8x MSAA, that advantage is maintained until 2560x1600, where the bottleneck shifts to the GPU.

63 Comments Comment from the forums
  • DragonClaw 27 February 2013 11:16
    The table outlining the components of the build. It should read 800$ and not 1000$, I think?
    Reply
  • abbadon_34 27 February 2013 11:29
    guessed they reused the previous template, sure it'll be fixed soon and people will wonder what we're talking about
    Reply
  • mayankleoboy1 27 February 2013 11:41
    Although we're going to miss the snappy boot-up times and almost-instant application launches the solid-state drive enabled, we probably won't be penalized too much in the benchmark results.

    And therein lies the problem with benchmarks.
    An enthusiast PC, without a SSD boot drive?
    Reply
  • manitoublack 27 February 2013 11:49
    That's a great value PC there. Would be hard pressed to think of a more compelling combination for the money. Well done.

    Reply
  • qTrueno 27 February 2013 11:59
    The heat sink breaks easily but it is a good cheap solution, as long it doesn't break.
    Reply
  • ipwn3r456 27 February 2013 12:30
    If this machine were at $1000 budget, might as well add a 128GB SSD, and replace the HD 7870 to a HD 7950.
    Reply
  • butremor 27 February 2013 12:38
    "Overclocking

    Overclocking the Core i5-3550K is"
    Reply
  • ARICH5 27 February 2013 13:01
    i think you couldve found a cheaper z77 solution and squieezed in a 64mb cache hdd
    Reply
  • dudewitbow 27 February 2013 13:02
    ipwn3r456If this machine were at $1000 budget, might as well add a 128GB SSD, and replace the HD 7870 to a HD 7950.

    there would be marginal performance boost from switching from a 7870 LE(nerfed 7950, heck can call it a 7930 and it would be partially correct in a way) to an actual 7950. Though its likely the outcome for the 1k budget coming up next.
    Reply
  • abhijitkalyane 27 February 2013 13:04
    I really wasn't expecting the AMD chip to be so close to the i5. I'm a bit surprised. The power consumption figures look bad for the FX though.
    Reply