System Builder Marathon, March 2010: System Value Compared

[avatar_raq]

One of the best SBMs yet. I miss the days when the SBM was a monthly phenomenon.
I have one comment ,as far as I know, dirt 2 reverts to DX9 when Dx11 is unavailable. It doesn't have DX10 mode.

 

[Guest]

I'm looking to buy something similar to the 750$ config, using instead a Phenom 955BE and possibly 2x Sapphire VaporX 5850's.

What can I expect in terms of value/performance ratio? Does it stay in the range of the 750$ rig or line up similarily to the 1500$ one?

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]avatar_raq[/nom]One of the best SBMs yet. I miss the days when the SBM was a monthly phenomenon.I have one comment ,as far as I know, dirt 2 reverts to DX9 when Dx11 is unavailable. It doesn't have DX10 mode.[/citation]
It takes a month to set these up, and up to two weeks more to get them published, so the monthly SBM's were forcing builders to pick parts before they even finished with the prior machine! Ouch...anyway it works better quarterly.

 

[jfem]

Thanks for the article.

 

[killerclick]

I wasn't able to unlock the fourth core on Athlon II 435 and mine allows stable overclock only to 3.33 GHz.

 

[voxdan]

If I wanted to build basically this rig but wanted to splurge for the quad core right off the bat, not having to do the unlock, what processor would you guys recommend? Would I need to go to the phenom II x4 925 deneb or is there something else I should consider? I still want to keep it as cheap as possible and I am not doing any games, but will be using it for a lot of productivity, database access stuff. I've never built one and want something as simple as possible to put together and don't want to have to worry about not getting the quad working. Thanks!

 

[TwoPynts]

Excellent article. Good to see the $750 compete so well.

 

[Guest]

Athlon II X4 635
Biostar TA790GX A3+ Full Capasitor
Adata 2x2Gb PC 12800/16000 Dual Kit Extreme Series
WDC SATA II 640Gb 64Mb Green
XFX HD 4850 512Mb 256Bit DDR3
POV INCOGNITO+LCD No PSU
FSP Epsilon 85plus 600W FSP 600W Epsilon 85plus Series
Asus DVDRW Sata 24B1ST/Black 24x
in indonesia it's all approximately $883

 

[Guest]

ups sorry not 1x xfx 4850 but 2x xfx4850

 

[soulfringe]

and to think, i just dropped down $600 for my recent purchases, which only account for about half a pc. lol.

 

[W Craven]

Every knows 5850's scales the same or better then the 5970 and you can use Ati's GPU Clock Tool to override the 775Mhz cap and Msi AB would allow the voltage adjustments needed to run the at 850Mhz and your $1500 vs $3000 wouldn't look so huge.. also you can flash the 5850's to Msi or Asus bios and have unlimited gpu Mhz and voltage.

 

[W Craven]

[citation][nom]W Craven[/nom]Every one knows 5850's scales the same or better then the 5970 and you can use Ati's GPU Clock Tool to override the 775Mhz cap and Msi AB would allow the voltage adjustments needed to run them at 850Mhz and your $1500 vs $3000 wouldn't look so huge.. also you can flash the 5850's to Msi or Asus bios and have unlimited gpu Mhz and voltage.[/citation]

 

[tolham]

[citation][nom]bustapr[/nom]I hope u guys start selling PCs on Newegg. "THG SMB Gaming PCs", I would like to buy that $750 PC, already built at that price or similar. It would save me alot of trouble building and ordering parts and it will become an instant best seller. You guys can destroy cyberpower and alienware and others. Paul Henningson, you can get rich fast.[/citation]
yeah but you're forgetting about labor and profit. with the overhead costs, that $750 would morph into $999.