System Builder Marathon Bonus: Newegg Customer Choice PC

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Interesting, still not surprising given recent results in group dynamic studies. Groups will often make better choices than individuals, that's not to say a group can replace or perform on par with an expert individual, just better than the average.
 
Just saying, Asrock Extreme3 Gen3 Z68 would save some and not bad rated. Could go for something like the OCZ ZT 750w which also is solidly rated, both saving money and offering similar if not better performance. For the GPUs, probably would've been better just to go with 2x7850 just to see how it does after all I haven't seen a whole bunch of those benchmarks.

Understood that this is best on best rated components, just saying it would've been nice to see the ones I mentioned for a value build.
 
[citation][nom]mikenygmail[/nom]Nice, but would have been better with 2 x 6970 2 GB or 2 x 6950 2 GB unlocked to 6970.[/citation]

Yeah that was what I was thinking, if you have a 2560x1600 monitor then the 2 6950s wont see that performance hit at that res like the 560ti's do. And would outperform the 7970 as a result while still costing enough less to move up to that 2500k.

When I can drop $1300 for a Dell U3011 or HP ZR30w I doubt I would be pairing it with a $1300 PC, so I wonder if its even necessary for a mid range build as how often are you really going to find that pairing. Though hopefully soon Apple is going to push the LCD makers kicking and screaming into the 4k and 8k display era!


 
Wow: And here I was thinkin' "maybe the SBM should work like the monthly Best X articals, where it's not anchored to a price point".

Drunk Min's t'ink alac, and all that.
 
"...with none of the compromises that plagued Don't maligned build"

Last page. Should be "Don's" but "Don't" works good enough 😛

Definitely would have loved to see a pair of 2GB cards duke it out though. The base system called for it (nearly). Take the price from the hide of the mobo.
 
[citation][nom]mikenygmail[/nom]Nice, but would have been better with 2 x 6970 2 GB or 2 x 6950 2 GB unlocked to 6970.[/citation]Better choices outside of "consumer choice" are irrelevant to a "consumer choice" selection.[citation][nom]a4mula[/nom]Interesting, still not surprising given recent results in group dynamic studies. Groups will often make better choices than individuals, that's not to say a group can replace or perform on par with an expert individual, just better than the average.[/citation]Yes, the motherboard could have been better AND cheaper if not for the fact that it was picked by the group rather than an expert individual, but the complete unit was still acceptable.[citation][nom]aznshinobi[/nom]Just saying, Asrock Extreme3 Gen3 Z68 would save some and not bad rated. Could go for something like the OCZ ZT 750w which also is solidly rated, both saving money and offering similar if not better performance. For the GPUs, probably would've been better just to go with 2x7850 just to see how it does after all I haven't seen a whole bunch of those benchmarks.Understood that this is best on best rated components, just saying it would've been nice to see the ones I mentioned for a value build.[/citation]Right, part choices were limited to the top two rated parts, based on which of the top two customer rated parts most closely matched the rest of the system.[citation][nom]Darkerson[/nom]Not a bad system at all. Im just waiting for people to start whining about 680s like in the other builds.[/citation]LOL, I'm waiting for a stream of "Why didn't YOU pick THIS" when Newegg Customers were the pickers and the "THIS" they're screaming about doesn't even have a customer rating :)
 
Im sure it will be inevitable. 😉


Stupid TomsHardware, Y U NO PICK MY PARTS! 😛

Edit: Obvious sarcasm is obvious. Ah well, Ill take this as all the non article reading 680 noobs being offended. I dont care.
 
So in the table under software for the $1300 PC you put "Nvidia GeForce 285.62" for the graphics driver. I'm hoping that's a mistake because you have a 7970 installed! 😛
 
Nice article. I personally prefer Don's build over this one since he focused more on gaming(without relying to multi-gpu setups) and his build had better efficiency although this one has a better power supply, better case, cpu cooler and a higher capacity ssd.

To me, multi-gpu setups are just a cheaper alternative to get better performance but introduce many issues that Tom's Hardware always states(micro-stuttering, heat, power and scaling), it's definitely better to get a more powerful single card. Not to mention the 560ti in this build only has a 1GB of framebuffer, which is only enough for max details at 1920x1080/1920x1200 but once your target is 2560x1600 or triple monitor gaming, it fails just as shown in the article.

For most gamers out there, a 64GB ssd is probably enough for windows and programs, and let's face it, loading time doesn't dramatically decrease when you install your games on an ssd. Yes, they do loads faster but definitely not enough to justify paying more just for games. If you want it to load faster, caching using intel SRT on the Z68 platform is the better choice.

Overall, I agree with the last statement on the article, "the customers are mostly right".
 
I'd be really curious to know if and how much better a pair of GTX 560 Ti 2GBs would have done in this comparison.

That's one thing I haven't really stumbled across yet is a good test for how a pair of GTX 560 Ti 1GB cards compare to the 2GB cards. Has anyone done a test like that?
 
@EzioAs " Yes, they do loads faster but definitely not enough to justify paying more just for games" . Are you f*cking serious ?
Load times half with using my SSD , how about 1 minute waiting in Dragon Age halved to 30 seconds ? , how about instant loading of application , how about INSTANT alt tabbing though the games .. come on man , don't speak if you don't have a SSD ( or have money for it ) . 64G SSD are CHEAP , and anyone who has a salary can afford them.
 


No need to be rude, but seriously, it depends on the game. Some loads faster quite significantly, but other don't and for a gaming oriented system, SSDs are very optional. Maybe you don't fully understand what I posted before, but I did say 64GB is enough for gamers, not games. What I meant is the required capacity for the OS and other programs but with only 64GB, it's probably only enough to install 1-2 modern games depending on the size. Games can still be installed on the hard drive and on the Z68 platform, you can use Intel SRT to use the ssd as a cache for the hard drive. That way, your most commonly used programs or games still has the quick responsiveness as when you used an ssd.

I stand by on what I said before and I apologize if I offend you in any way
 
[citation][nom]lightbulbsocket[/nom]I'd be really curious to know if and how much better a pair of GTX 560 Ti 2GBs would have done in this comparison.That's one thing I haven't really stumbled across yet is a good test for how a pair of GTX 560 Ti 1GB cards compare to the 2GB cards. Has anyone done a test like that?[/citation]It might have also been interesting to compared only #1 picks rather than #1 and #2 combined. A pair of GTX 550's, 64 GB SSD and only 4GB of RAM? Probably only the games would suffer.
 
It's worth pointing out that customers will factor in things that don't show up in benchmarks - for instance, the reliability of Intel motherboards or EVGA's customer service. Not to say the other PC's parts are sold by crappy vendors, but pure performance isn't necessarily the whole story of this PC.
 
Ok, but when Don RMA's his mobo and gets one back that works, he gets a "do-over." After all, the value comparison piece did mention that would be done before the parts were sent to the winners, so obviously it will need to be tested. While this "do-over" may not merit a whole benchmark article, I would definitely appreciate a short one calling out the performance differences.
It looks to me like overall, Don's PC wins. At lower resolutions and/or settings, the CC PC has higher FPS, but both have FPS sufficiently high as to not matter. Now look at where the CC PC fails, such as BF3 on Ultra. FPS in the teens is not playable, but Don's PC is merrily fragging along, over 40FPS even at stock. And, Don's PC uses a lot less power doing it.
Where Don's PC fails though is that miserable Apevia case; I don't want "that" under my desk. My 12-yr old nephew would probably love it, but it just isn't for me.
 
[citation][nom]jtt283[/nom]Ok, but when Don RMA's his mobo and gets one back that works, he gets a "do-over." After all, the value comparison piece did mention that would be done before the parts were sent to the winners, so obviously it will need to be tested. While this "do-over" may not merit a whole benchmark article, I would definitely appreciate a short one calling out the performance differences.It looks to me like overall, Don's PC wins. At lower resolutions and/or settings, the CC PC has higher FPS, but both have FPS sufficiently high as to not matter. Now look at where the CC PC fails, such as BF3 on Ultra. FPS in the teens is not playable, but Don's PC is merrily fragging along, over 40FPS even at stock. And, Don's PC uses a lot less power doing it.Where Don's PC fails though is that miserable Apevia case; I don't want "that" under my desk. My 12-yr old nephew would probably love it, but it just isn't for me.[/citation]The only things wrong with Don's PC are its junk case, junk motherboard, locked CPU, too-small SSD, and read-only optical drive. That's over half the system, you'd be better off putting his graphics card into this one.

Note: Written from the perspective of a motherboard, case and optical drive reviewer.
 
Great build! I learn so much by these builds and comments its just ridiculous. Thanks for pointing out that the high resolution drops were caused by a lack of ram.
Really looking forward to Ivy Bridge builds this summer too.
 
Great write up. I know the GTX680 just barley came out, but it would've been nice to see it in the build for 2 reasons. I know its just a tad bit more expensive but it has more available on board video memory to support the ultra settings in BF3, and with the use of just one card you bring down your power usage and heat production.
 
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