Introduction
As we wrap up another system builder marathon, we realize while nothing in life ever seems to work out perfectly; sometimes things work out pretty well.
This marathon was supposed to be published a number of weeks ago – before the new Radeon 4800 series was launched – and therefore we didn’t have the option of selecting ATI’s excellent new cards for our builds. Unfortunately, our intrepid reviewer Thomas Soderstrom had an unlucky break (involving a few bones and some surgery) and was unable to assemble and test one of the systems, forcing us to defer the marathon. It was further delayed when Nvidia and ATI released their new video cards, the reviews of which of course took precedence over our marathon and pushed us back even further.
While the video cards we chose for these systems might not be our first choice if we could do it all over again (considering what’s available), the rebates available on the GeForce 8800 cards are so prevalent that even today a pair of them in SLI would be $100 cheaper than a pair of 4850s, and realistically the prices will likely drop even further. The rest of the builds were spec’d out well enough that these marathon systems are still viable hardware ensembles.
For more information on the components used to build each of the systems we’re comparing, in addition to the overclocked configurations, check out the sub-$1,000 PC, the sub-$2,000 PC, and the sub-$4,000 PC.
Let’s review the benchmarks we’ve used once more, see how everything stacks up, and analyze the price/performance data to see the value each system offers for the dollar.
3D-Games | |
Crysis | Version: 1.1 |
Video Quality 1: High Details No Anti-Aliasing | |
Video Quality 2: Very High Details, 4x Anti-Aliasing | |
Benchmark: Benchmark_CPU.bat | |
Prey | Version: 1.3 |
Video Quality 1: Default (No AA, 8x AF) | |
Video Quality 2: High Quality, 4x AA | |
Benchmark: THG-Demo | |
Supreme | Version: 3.220 |
Commander | Video Quality 1: Default |
Video Quality 2: High Fidelity, High Shadow, 4x AA | |
Benchmark: Real 60 Game | |
Unreal | Version: Retail |
Tournament 3 | Texture Detail: 5 |
World Detail: 5 | |
Field of View: 100 | |
Benchmark: Botmatch (WAR-Torlan, 12 bots, 1 Minute) | |
Warhammer | Version: 1.6 |
Mark of Chaos | Video Quality:Default (Highest Settings) |
Demo: THG Timedemo (1 Minute) | |
Audio | |
iTunes 7.2 | Version: 7.1.1.5 |
Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min | |
High Quality (160kb/s) | |
Lame MP3 | Version: 3.98 Beta 3 (05-22-2007) |
Audio CD "Terminator II SE", 53 min | |
wave to MP3 | |
160kb/s | |
Video | |
TMPEGEnc | Version: 4.2.10.211 |
4.0 Xpress | Import File: Terminator 2 SE DVD (5 Minutes) |
Resolution: 720x576 (PAL) 16:9 | |
Audio: Dolby Digital, 48 kHz, 6-Channel, English | |
Advanced Acoustic Engine MP3 Encoder (160 kb/s) | |
DivX 6.6 | Version: 6.6.1 |
Profile: Home Theater Profile (720x576) | |
1-pass, 780 kb/s | |
Encoding mode: Insane Quality | |
Enhanced multithreading | |
XviD 1.1.2 | Version: 1.1.2 |
Target quantizer: 1.00 (maximum quality) | |
Applications | |
Adobe | Version: 10.0x20070321 |
Photoshop CS3 | Filtering 69 MB TIF Photo |
Benchmark: Tom’s Guide-Benchmark V1.0.0.4 | |
Autodesk | Version: 9.0 |
3D Studio Max | Rendering One Video Frame |
Quality: HTDV 1920x1080 and 1280x720 | |
Grisoft AVG | Version: 7.5.467 |
Anti-Virus | Virus Base: 269.6.1/776 |
Benchmark: Scanning 3.82GB Application Folder | |
Maxon | Version: 10.008 |
Cinema 4D | Resolution: 1280x1024 |
Benchmark: Rose Drop, 8 bits (50 Frames) | |
Rarlab Winrar | Version 3.70 BETA 8 |
Compression = Best | |
Dictionary = 4096 kB | |
Uncompressed Folder Size: 642 MB | |
Synthetics | |
SPECviewperf 9 | Version: 9.0.3 |
PCMark05 Pro | Version: 1.1.0 |
System, CPU and Memory Tests | |
Windows Media Player 11.0.6000.6324 | |
Windows Media Encoder 9.00.00.2980 | |
Futuremark | Version 1.10 |
3DMark 2006 | System Test Only |
SiSoftware | Version 2008.1.12.30 |
Sandra XII | CPU Test = CPU Arithmetic, Multimedia |
Memory Test = Bandwidth Benchmark |