System Builder Marathon, Dec. 2009: $700 Gaming PC

[Guest]

This is a no-no for me. I prefer single GPU setups, because of the consumption. Additionally, I prefer upgradeable setups. I upgraded my rig 2 times in the last two years with the same MB (GA-MA790X-DS4): A64 3800+ -> A64 5000+ -> PhII X3 720BE

 

[noob2222]

[citation][nom]pauldh[/nom]Last round’s data was left out of the charts because of the migration to Windows 7 and updated benchmark versions. However, a link to the September $650 PC was provided in the opening paragraph of the intro, and comparisons made throughout the data analysis. [/citation]

I found it now, should have been a little more prominent such as : here
[citation][nom]pauldh[/nom]The gaming benchmarks are especially comparable, and yes as we note, this rig was behind the Sep PII at the lower settings/resolution and had a graphics advantage taking over at the higher settings. But note, the September build was MORE expensive when this system was ordered, not $50 cheaper. Had we opted to use up this whole “price adjustment” budget and build a $750 machine, a kit of CAS 5 DDR2 (like the AMD build) would have done this one wonders, even more so than expected.[/citation]

Didn't realize memory prices jumped $50 in 3 months. Haven't kept up with that. Same $50 kit is now $100.

[citation][nom]pauldh[/nom]Bingo; Notice all AMD last round even at the high end, and all Intel this round, even at the low end. Something we wanted to try, but will not be continuing. [/citation]
I can agree with this, shouldn't be continued.
[citation][nom]pauldh[/nom]That is exactly the plan for next round, although getting a pair of 4870s will likely not be an option. At $87, pairing with an aftermarket cooler will then raise the CPU+cooler budget a bit over the $102 from Sep, or the $92 from December. One of the goals set for this Intel rig back in September was to keep an equal CPU budget to last round, and if possible put the extra money into a graphics step up, although more along the lines of 4850 1GB not 4870’s. There was nothing exciting to challenge the PII at stock clocks, instead the focus was on an aftermarket cooler and better OC. Unfortunately this E5300 was a bit of a dud compared to previous E5200’s. I wouldn’t say the 435 would kill these past two rigs though. I suspect it will trade blows in the apps, and likely take a few nice wins(at low res) in the games.[/citation]
Impossible to say on the price comparison 3 months from now, seeing how memory prices doubled. Might get lucky and find something on sale like this to shave the added costs. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813138146

And having a dud cpu goes to show, don't rely on super overclocked results, you won't always get it. Same with the $2500 build.

 

[noob2222]

[citation][nom]ryanjm[/nom]Here is a system I just priced out with some parts from Newegg, and some from Microcenter which has killer cpu prices:[/citation]
pricing microcenter kinda defeats the main article page "sponsored by Newegg".

And as one pointed out the ram from this article won't fit in a p55 board.

 

[coupe]

Thank you for all the responses. Now I think after a while that Tom's is doing the right thing. They are pushing the envelope and testing different combinations and methods. If they kept the same ideas it would become stagnant and just another tech site.

Kudos!

 

[masterasia]

Very nice build. That Samsung HDD is the shiznit. It's sold out everywhere I look or marked up around $70. I bought 2 when they first came out for $48. Then 2 more off Newegg. Overall it's a very nice drive for the money.

That Antec 200 case has gotta be one of the most fugly cases I've ever seen. Overall, very nice build.

 

[Ehsan w]

[citation][nom]pois[/nom]I don't get your guides, you keep talking about buying two graphic cards. Why the hell would I want two graphic cards, if I'm ONE user with ONE PC ? It just doesn't ass up, maybe you can't do maths or maybe you're some kind of two-headed, four-eyed mutant I relal don't get it.[/citation]

man that's the dumbest comment i've ever seen.
Congratulations, you are now officially retarded.


"While last month’s Phenom II-based PC handled high details all the way up to 1920x1200, this system barely squeaks out playable performance at our lowest resolution."

I don't think people would really buy a $700,- pc, and get a screen with that resolution, let alone 30" screens.
Other than that, nice review.

 

[ambientmf]

As of today, would'nt it make more sense to go with a cheaper AM3 motherboard with DDR3? A decent DDR3-1333 kit runs for under $100CAD which, at the moment, is nearly identical in price to DDR2 kits.

I myself am going for a Phenom II X4 system with a single 4870, for just under $900. I've given up on DDR2 as far as the memory.

 

[tbiggums]

I don't understand why I got down rated. I was looking at prices on newegg just a few days ago since my laptop fried and they had a combo deal for -$40 on Phenom II x3 BE and GIGABYTE GA-MA790GPT-UD3H. The combo deal for -$70 on a 5850 and 600w thermaltake psu is still there. The components I mentioned + 4gb gskill ripjaws(1333 ddr3), 500gb wd hd, sony dvd drive and antec 300 case came up to $745 on my tab. Tri-core that can be unlocked to a quad and a dx11 capable single gpu that is not far behind 2x 4870's > Tom's setup imo.

 

[dirtmountain]

They don't use combo deals or rebates (usually) in the SBM articles since they're all short term deals and not available to most readers of the articles. Since the HD4870s now run about $180 and were only available at the $125 price for a couple of weeks it was just the luck of the article that they were able to use such a high performance card in this build without breaking the budget. Too bad it's not something that can be repeated.

 

[Tangerine]

I personally do not like this build. 700$ is quite a waste if all you are going to do on it is game. Might as well just buy an xbox 360 elite or a PS3 with lots of games... This build isn't very future proof, as its gonna get outdated pretty fast. IMO I'd spend more money and buy something I would use AND game with.

Does anyone agree?

 

[xtc28]

I actually just built this exact PC for my brother yesterday. Great build for the money11 Koodos

 

[liquidsnake718]

Its nice to see older parts being used and hearing that they are becoming harder to find with price increases. Makes it all the better for those who have lga775's along with gem processors like the e8400 and the q6600's with systems that can be upgraded with newer gpus such as the 5870's, 5970, and the gtx295.... these can still easily take on i7's and i5's.

New may always sound neater, but not necessarily better. The overcloack monsters come out and play at thier best when trying to eke out the most preformance per buck. I just hope you guys could add pictures of the system that was built. Im sure this will be one of the last few systems built on Toms with a c2duo with the core 13 coming out soon. I hope you can compare c2duo with that with another head to head.... maybe the e7600 or the e 8400 with the upcoming i3's?

 

[warcloudff]

I was curious I mean no offense to anyone, but how much research was involve in this build? Cause if research right could of save about $100 by going a different route only saying that cause, my setup can do the same benchmarks for 100 less on a single video card. If anyone is curious is specs are: AMD Althon II 240 $58, HIS IceQ 5750 $155, same burner for $26, ASRock A780GXE $89.99, HITACHI HDS721050CLA362 500GB 54.99, Antec Three Hundred Illusion $64.99, Antec BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power $54.99(I'm sure there's better for less), G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPI 9 $94.99, Cooler Master Hyper TX3 $19.99, shipping $24.78 and you get the same results... If this helps anything. Anyways have a good day.

 

[pauldh]

I was curious I mean no offense to anyone, but how much research was involve in this build? Cause if research right could of save about $100 by going a different route only saying that cause, my setup can do the same benchmarks for 100 less on a single video card. If anyone is curious is specs are: AMD Althon II 240 $58, HIS IceQ 5750 $155, same burner for $26, ASRock A780GXE $89.99, HITACHI HDS721050CLA362 500GB 54.99, Antec Three Hundred Illusion $64.99, Antec BP550 Plus 550W Continuous Power $54.99(I'm sure there's better for less), G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 Memory Model F2-8500CL5D-4GBPI 9 $94.99, Cooler Master Hyper TX3 $19.99, shipping $24.78 and you get the same results... If this helps anything. Anyways have a good day.

Same results? No offense taken, but lets clarify our facts a bit so people don't get misled by false guestimates or generalizations.

Such a system couldn't come close to offering the same performance. In fact, I don't think there is a single encoding / productivity app or game in our test suite such a system could beat this SBM machine in once both are OC'ed.

A single HD 4870 outperforms a 5750 by a good margin. Talking about research... Check every single game/chart in this review: http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/radeon-hd-5770,2446.html

This SBM system had two 4870's, offering far higher performance/playable settings than a single 5750. If you have done the research, how could you possibly claim a single 5750 = dual 4870? Dual 4870 will more often than not put the smack on a single more expensive 5850! (one reason we didn't spend $60 more on a 5850 for this system) Now add in the price, and the 4870 was roughly $25 cheaper than the slower 5750.

Another goal of this overclocked SBM system was to increase applications performance. It successfully beat the OC'ed Phenom II X2 550 BE in every app (ignoring version changes). The Athlon II 240 is nice for the money, but it couldn't touch the E5300 when both are overclocked.

Arguments others have made about the lack of upgradeability of the Dec $700 PC are very valid, but you'll be hard pressed to outperform it once overclocked, without spending more money. If I were shooting to do that, it would be a triple core Athlon II with the same pair of 4870's.

 

[warcloudff]

Not everyone can afford the best gaming systems or the electric bills that comes with them. Cause for basic game play or even eye candy but I know you may think it out performs it yea, cause its normal that a 256bit interface will beat a 128-bit card. But its price vs performance. Yes I agree that will beat it but for Crysis or other games is all I'm saying its a system that most people can afford on both accounts. That is all my view was about not anything else and sorry that I left that out.

 

[jhatfie]

I would be curious how my single gpu build would match up to this one for the same cost. Core i5 750 & Biostar T5 XE CFX-SLI ($260), CoolerMaster Hyper 212 Plus ($25), 2x2GB Gskill Ripjaw DDR3-1866 ($94), HITACHI 7K1000.B ($69), SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4890 ($185), Antec 300 case ($55), OCZ SE 700W ($55)= $743

 

[lowguppy]

I think there was a great opportunity here to test a $100 Athlon 2 x4 620 CPU, finally getting a quad-core into the budget system, which should help with productivity benchmarks. Game scaling to 4 cores has improved lately as well.

The most disappointing thing is that today this system costs $75 more to build, which means its pushing the budget limit pretty hard. A quad core single GPU system could have been put together for $650, and would better represent a budget PC. The PSU and Motherboard costs really push crossfire out of the budget segment now that 4850s are no longer available for $100.

 

[Kreelor]

So, after I read everything posted (above), and understanding only 50% of it, I still find it next to impossible to figure out what to buy. From what I can understand, everyone who posted seems to have thier own view as to what is good and what isn't so good. That leaves me nowhere, as a novice user!

Besides, if these prices are based upon NewEgg prices, then I should be able to do much better by buying components through TigerDirect.com.

 

[Onus]

No, I've found that Newegg generally has much better prices than Tiger Direct (although I'm sure there are individual item exceptions), especially on better-quality stuff. For example, I don't care how cheap they are, there are only a few Ultra PSUs I'd even briefly consider.

 

[Onus]

Also, you cannot look at a single SBM article as a be-all, end-all guide on what to buy. It is one set of information to consider, as the SBM builds often try unique approaches just to see what will happen. For guidance that is more relevant to your situation (uses, budget, and other constraints), start a thread in the new build forum. Please use the guideline (in a sticky) for your initial post, as it includes a lot of information the community needs to offer the best advice.

 

[darasen66]

I would like to see Tom's build, in the same month, two budget PC's. Make one with a lower end proc and two GPUs and one with a single GPU and a higher end proc.

The same basic setup could be used just swap the CPU and GPU's and compare results.

 

[darasen66]

I would like to see Tom's build, in the same month, two budget PC's. Make one with a lower end proc and two GPUs and one with a single GPU and a higher end proc.

The same basic setup could be used just swap the CPU and GPU's and compare results.

 

[slsullivan]

I don't understand the intel hate, but I also don't understand the decision to go e5300. You should take a look at how a new core i3-530 system or even the low end nehalham pentium would perform. I just priced out, on newegg, a core i3 530, gigabyte mobo, 4 gig of DDR3 RAM, same case/power supply, dual 1 gig 5750s($135 a piece as the 4870s are no longer available), WD 500 HD (32 mb buffer) + a coolmaster CPU cooler, plus samsung drive for $750. Same system with the G6950 would only be $10 more than this system builders system despite the extra $20 spent on graphics system. I feel that this would be a much better build than the one presented here.

 

[xtc28]

Well it possibly would be. You see the thing is, the components were priced at a time when the costs were different (slightly) and certain parts were unavaliable. Also I think it was to show the performance of that particular platform against the other systems that were being built during the marathon. I may be wrong about this info but who really cares. This was the system that was built, this was the system that was tested so this was this system that was featured. We all know there are other configurations that could have been built..... My point is DOES IT MATTER!!!!! NO!!!

 

[slsullivan]

[citation][nom]xtc28[/nom]Well it possibly would be. You see the thing is, the components were priced at a time when the costs were different (slightly) and certain parts were unavaliable. Also I think it was to show the performance of that particular platform against the other systems that were being built during the marathon. I may be wrong about this info but who really cares. This was the system that was built, this was the system that was tested so this was this system that was featured. We all know there are other configurations that could have been built..... My point is DOES IT MATTER!!!!! NO!!![/citation]


I'm just saying I think we all know how a standard pentium e5300 system performs, and we all have a good idea on the different options from AMD as they haven't come out with anything ground breaking in quite a while. But we don't know how a build like the one I priced out would perform, and as Tom's says it takes our view into consideration for its next build, that is what I would like to see, how a budget gaming system built off of the i3/h55 platform would perform.