System Builder Marathon, June 2010: $1,000 Enthusiast PC

[tokenz]

[citation][nom]manitoublack[/nom]I've succeeded in unlocking cores in 3 out of 3 tries, but the point stands, buy the processor you want right off the bat. Imagine if it were a dud. 1055T is the only AMD processor on the market worth thinking about.[/citation]

I agree and yet no article on its performance overclocked. It reminds me of an old celeron processor I used to have.

 

[cleeve]

[citation][nom]pinkfloydminnesota[/nom]Two 4890's would give you FAR better performance, and be $80 cheaper, allowing an upgrade to a 955 or 965. The resulting machine would give you more than TWICE the FPS in most games.Bad choices.[/citation]

That doesn't make sense. You seem to have a really misinformed idea of how 5830's and 4890's relatively perform.

They deliver almost identical performance, and you can get 5830's for as low as $220 online right now...

 

[cleeve]

[citation][nom]noob2222[/nom]funny how blind and twisted the comments get. These articles are here to discuss the possible build options for everyone, not just Intel fanboys who think that Intel should own the world. This build runs 25% of the speed of a machine costing 50% more, overclocked narrows it to 35% to 50% cost, but it holds its own well enough. The options for building a $1000 machine are limitless, constantly posting that this sucks because I can build this for the same, well, good for you, go do it, post the results, and see how many people complain about how they could have done better...[/citation]

Noob2222, that's probably the best comment I've read today.

It's sad to me that internet etiquette has deteriorated to the point where commenters will totally miss the point of the build and the lessons learned therein. It's all to often a race to point a finger and call 'FAIL! I could have done so much better!'.

I mention at the beginning of the article that this build is part of a larger CPU vs. GPU experiment and I'm extremely happy with the lessons learned, and with the build itself. I also mention that next time we'll invest more into the CPU (probably with an X6/5850 combo at this point) so we can compare the two and see where the strengths and weaknesses lie.

I only hope that the folks who bothered to actually read the article have considered it enough to grasp the point (like you and some others have).

 

[ansar]

I agree with the first few posters. The 720 makes this sort of a blah build.

 

[Onus]

Any possibility of testing with another company's HD5830s to see if it's just the Gigabyte model that has problems?

 

[JonnyDough]

I'm looking forward to the $500 budget system sporting an Athlon X3. That's the real value.

 

[wildeast]

ye same jonny, iam going to build a new pc after they post it

 

[buckinbottoms]

crossfire 5770's and a 965 or 1055 would have put it more on par with the last system. Not complaining, just offering a suggestion. Would certainly take it as is.

 

[ordcestus]

[citation][nom]jetbruceli[/nom]I built one for under a thousand amd x6 1055tGTX 470700 w Corsairhaf9224gb 1333gigabyte 870dvd rw asusand 500 gb 7200rpm and this beats this system by a huge margin[/citation]
That build will work better on heavily threaded applications because of the extra cores but you will lose gaming performance with just a single 470.
I like this build because it stays in the budget and concentrates the money towards its intended purpose, gaming. I would be happy to build a customer something similar and there is good room to add a few upgrades as the system ages.
Definitly one of the best $1000 builds I've seen.

 

[monkeysweat]

Some of you commenters are funny, its kinda like an old person watching a soap opera, why you do that? NO DONT GO THERE!! Awwwww, come on, if it were me,,,,, Well, its not your money they are using and you know what,,,I like the fact they switch it up to see what different combinations of hardware are capable of when you have a certain budget,,sometimes they work out, sometimes they dont,,,

 

[JackNSally]

Why not go with a 5870 or GTX470? Less hassles and no worries about whether the game can take advantage of crossfire?

 

[cleeve]

[citation][nom]keczapifrytki[/nom]Do you have a deal with Crucial to do this or is their memory really that amazing? [/citation]

No deal with Crucial, it's just that our correspondent Thomas Soderstrom does extensive memory testing and we've consistently found that the cheap Crucial DDR3 overclocks like much more expensive memory. Google it.

 

[cleeve]

[citation][nom]JackNSally[/nom]Why not go with a 5870 or GTX470? Less hassles and no worries about whether the game can take advantage of crossfire?[/citation]

You need to actually read the article to find out.

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]keczapifrytki[/nom]When you take a look at newegg.com you will see that, for example, G.Skill is about $10 cheaper and has a lot better customer reviews.[/citation]Which G.Skill memory?
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=2010170147%201052129233%201052315794&bop=And&Order=PRICE&PageSize=100

I haven't tested any of the $92 module sets. I've tested most of the remaining memory between $97 and $110 and found Crucial's to overclock the best. With consideration to "everything else available", the best "cheap" modules I've tested have all used D9KPT chips, just like the Crucial RAM, and this RAM seems to operate a little better without heat spreaders. I've a ton of test results to back that up, if you care to read all of our low-cost memory reviews.

A ton of "performance" modules also use D9KPT, but those tend to cost more and overclock slightly less. I can attribute the higher price to the heat spreaders without causing an argument, but as for the tendency to overclock less when heat spreaders are in place I can only guess that the double-sided tape used to attach them isn't working well enough. Everything else is factual (from test data), only the comment about double-sided tape is theoretical.

Bare modules with D9KPT chips overclock to around DDR3-1980 (give or take 8 MHz) consistently on my top platforms. They also reach DDR3-1600 CAS 8 consistently, which is probably why several alternative brands sell the same chips as DDR3-1600 CAS8.

Given all the test data, I had to recommend double-sided modules to Don (2x 2GB) and single-sided modules to Paul (2x 1GB) using these same D9KPT chips. End of story. Of course Crucial loves me, but that love will only last until some younger model comes along that offers more bang for the buck. Right now I've got my eye on these:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231321
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231303
The later modules have been around a while but are only now dropping to a price similar to those they'd replace.

 

[Guest]

What I got for MY grand back at the beginning of May:
CPU - i7-860 retail
Motherboard - MSI P55-GD65
Video - MSI R5750-PM2D1G
Memory - A-Data Gaming Series 2 x 2GB
Boot Drive - A-Data ASINTS-80GM-CSA
Storage Drive - Samsung Eco Green F3 HD203WI 2TB
Optical Drive - Asus DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS
Power - OCZ StealthXStream 700
Case - Antec 300
Extra Fans - 2

Reused from old rig - 750 GB Samsung Spinpoint SATA, IBM keyboard, Logitech TrackMan Wheel, Acer AL2016 W monitor and Altec speakers

 

[matm347]

I thought Toms did a few articles showing that, for gaming performance, a strong CPU isn't as important as one typically thinks. Please, correct me if I'm mistaken.

 

[requiemsallure]

Yeah, there was an article "Gamers: Do You Need More Than An Athlon II X3?" In the end it turned out that the X3 is a great budget processor but it would be wise to invest into something better, like i7-920.

the i7-920 is more or less dead to new potential buyers, with the i7-930 having faster stock speeds not to mention a higher multiplier, the 920 is a dead horse unless you cannot get your hands on a 930 and you absolutely MUST have hyper-threading (all of which is unlikely)

in my opinion the i5-750 is better, for the price by far, however i have no need for HT so its a moot point for me.

 

[anthoni09]

Tell me what you think about:
5770 gpu
phenom 2 x4 965 be
890fx gigabyte mobo
CORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)
COOLER MASTER Silent Pro 600 RS-600-AMBA-D3 600W/COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic.
1tb seagate 7200 32mb hdd

This combo costs 850. Good comparison?

 

[Userremoved]

[citation][nom]anthoni09[/nom]Tell me what you think about:5770 gpuphenom 2 x4 965 be890fx gigabyte moboCORSAIR DOMINATOR 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800)COOLER MASTER Silent Pro 600 RS-600-AMBA-D3 600W/COOLER MASTER HAF 922 RC-922M-KKN1-GP Black Steel + Plastic. 1tb seagate 7200 32mb hddThis combo costs 850. Good comparison?[/citation]
That's a nice system but you up for the Corsair TX650 or Antec EA650 rather than that Cooler Master PSU there both better brands.

 

[Userremoved]

[citation][nom]Userremoved[/nom]That's a nice system but you up for the Corsair TX650 or Antec EA650 rather than that Cooler Master PSU there both better brands.[/citation]
Sorry what I meant is: THAT'S AN AMAZING PRICE.

 

[Krnt]

Hey... That is exactly the same as my almost 1 year old computer, the only difference are the case, and the fact that I have a single recently bought 5830 (previously an R4890).