System Builder Marathon, December 2010: $1000 PC

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[citation][nom]hardcore_gamer[/nom]2 cores ?? c'man this is 2010[/citation]I think he was targeting games only...and going by an article that showed how good an overclocked i3-530 had been in games compared to similarly-overclocked multi-cores from both AMD and Intel. The only reason I questioned his selection is that games make up only 1/4 of the final score this time (and 1/3 of the score last time). I also think he was unfortunate not to get at least 4.2 GHz from this CPU.
 
[citation][nom]AMW1011[/nom]Getting a more reasonably priced motherboard, cutting another $20 from the HDD and PSU, and an i5 750, would have been much better.[/citation]

the main thing that these reference builds serve to me is in the enclosure, the fans, and the video card at a given price point. the cpu/mobo too but that will become much less variant with the overclocking disappearing with SB in a month.

that said, you can get a i5 and do a custom overclock trajectory, or follow their's here .. I'm not building pcs often enough to say I could do better.

I was a little disappointed to see a $1000 system without an SSD drive though. Heck, it's been so long in the mainstream, I can get a $1000 laptop with an SSD disk.
 
Well this made me feel a lot better about my aging q6600 in the sythenic benchmarks I beat this machine. score of in pcmark 9881 and then in the si soft. Then my overclock and unlock amd 710 at 3.5 ghz took it to
 
What I'd really love to see is a gaming build competition with a max budget of $1000 (no more, no less) with one side using only AMD for the CPU and and ATi for the GPU vs. the other side using only Intel for the CPU and nVidia for the GPU. Other than that, there are no rules. Use whatever else you want, be it SSDs, Crossfire, SLI, Raptor Hard Drives, gaming motherboards, etc. I'd be really interested to see what could be done with $1000 using the biggest rivalries in the x86 universe today.
 
Wow. I think this build pretty much drives home the necessity of a quad-core in modern gaming machines if the maximum possible framerates are to be extracted. Sure, 90FPS in MW2 will be more than playable, but why settle for it when one can get 150FPS for about $60 more?
 
[citation][nom]eddieroolz[/nom]Wow. I think this build pretty much drives home the necessity of a quad-core in modern gaming machines if the maximum possible framerates are to be extracted. Sure, 90FPS in MW2 will be more than playable, but why settle for it when one can get 150FPS for about $60 more?[/citation]I'm sorry I have to show this again, but you're 100% wrong:
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/core-i3-gaming,2588.html

 
[citation][nom]eddieroolz[/nom]Wow. I think this build pretty much drives home the necessity of a quad-core in modern gaming machines if the maximum possible framerates are to be extracted. Sure, 90FPS in MW2 will be more than playable, but why settle for it when one can get 150FPS for about $60 more?[/citation]
How about because you cannot physically see more than 60fps? Jesus man, you sound like a noob pretending to have a clue. :sol:
 
I don't get fired up for these competitions for two reasons...

1. OS Required - The competition states "system builder" and I believe a system means the requirement of an OS within the price. Otherwise call it computer builder marathon. No OS, no computer "system". You have to throw in a $100 handicap on all submissions for not including an OS.

2. There has to be real world reliability tests. Run it for 2 weeks hard with several applications and uninstall/install parts. This is one of the reasons why DIY computers can suck. No QC, hello glitchy computer.

FYI - to all noobs building the next computer. Take time to evaluate and select a high quality power supply. It's the least sexy part but it's the most important.
 
Almost forgot... Newegg rocks! BUT their prices aren't awesome like they use to be. I used to use Newegg 100% exclusively but now it's about 50%. Still a great online store but if you want even better value you have to dig deeper than just visiting Newegg.
 
@starryman

I'll agree. Newegg is still a great supplier, but the bargains aren't what they used to be.

as far as your multi-part reason for not getting fired up about these competitions,

1.) Yes, NO OS is included, BUT If you want to throw Linux on there, it is 100% FREE to put on it. You'll be crippled as a gamer, you might not have your favorite apps, and if who you work for wants a specific brand of software, you might be up the creek... but I do see your point. No mainstream 90% market OS on it does hold a handicap to the amount that you source a legit copy specifically for it.

2) Tests, agreed, but to say DIY can suck? Only if you don't have a clue on what you're doing to start with. If you pay attention to reviews and specs you can avoid a vast majority of problems that aren't software/user related.

As to the comment on the PSU, I agree. Get at least a *good* PSU; the cheap ones are like playing in a mine field. Some may be good enough for your low-power builds, (just) maybe a bit more, but you have a far greater chance of getting one that won't make it to warranty-end than you do one that will exceed, especially if you don't look at them.
 
I would love to see Tom's do a mATX LAN gaming box based on Sandybridge CPU.

My suggested build base would use:

NZXT Vulcan Black mATX Case
NZXT 200mm Fan /extra 120mm fan for cooling
ASUS P8P67-M PRO LGA 1155 Intel P67 mATX Motherboard (should handle OC well)
Core i5 - 2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (should handle OC well)
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus RR-B10-212P-G (should allow moderate OC)
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 F3-12800CL9D-4GBXL (should handle OC well)
Video card set up could be a single GTX 570 (should handle OC well)or one of the new ATI cards (limted OC).
The rest of the components could be base on cost

I would be hesitant on going with dual cards as the case is tight but it does have good airflow with the additional fans. My concern would be the lack of separation (open slot) between the 2 PCIe slots when each card takes 2 slots. but if they did I would like to see - GTX460's x 2 in SLI or HD 6850 's x2 in XFire

The above should be doable on $1000.
 
Rubbish build. 2x GTX 460s? Are you mad?

Swap them for a 560Ti, overclock it a smidgen and Bam. Same framerates in games with none of the SLI driver headaches, and for a lot less $ and reduce the power load, heat and noise.

Stepping down to 1 graphics card would allow you to go for a more conservative motherboard and a 500W PSU.

This would free up enough in the budget to add an SSD, which should never be missing from an "Enthusaist" build.
 
[citation][nom]Ten98[/nom]Rubbish build. 2x GTX 460s? Are you mad?Swap them for a 560Ti, overclock it a smidgen and Bam. Same framerates.[/citation]

I'm calling double-rubbish back at you on that one. Two GTX 460's will perform as good as a GTX 570, especially at higher resolutions. A 560Ti isn't going to touch them.
 
[citation][nom]Cleeve[/nom]I'm calling double-rubbish back at you on that one. Two GTX 460's will perform as good as a GTX 570, especially at higher resolutions. A 560Ti isn't going to touch them.[/citation]I can't believe you even fell for that, the guy is simply lying.[citation][nom]Ten98[/nom]Rubbish build. 2x GTX 460s? Are you mad?Swap them for a 560Ti, overclock it a smidgen and Bam. Same framerates in games with none of the SLI driver headaches, and for a lot less $ and reduce the power load, heat and noise.Stepping down to 1 graphics card would allow you to go for a more conservative motherboard and a 500W PSU.This would free up enough in the budget to add an SSD, which should never be missing from an "Enthusaist" build.[/citation]No, you "can't" buy a 560 Ti in 2010, and no, you couldn't buy a large enough SSD to hold the site's test suite with the money left over. The only rubbish I see here is yours, please feel free to take it to another site.
 
Built my budget rig less then 1k Core I5 2500 Evga gtx 570 budget non sli board MSI Antec 80+ 650w PS and 2x2 gigs ddr 3 ram 1333 about 700 bucks just for those parts and tears through everything I throw at it 1080p maxed FPS RPGS MMOS ect
 
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