System Builder Marathon, May '09: $1,300 Enthusiast PC

[Snipergod87]

[citation][nom]enterco[/nom]If it were 'portable lan-party-sized', it wouldn't contain two dual-slot graphics cards on a micro-atx case, because of improper cooling. The choice of CPU heatsink it's also bad, and it may pose problems when the system is moved if handled improperly.[/citation]

I would have to agree, about the improper cooling. However the back plate for the CPU fan is a good idea.. I am not sure about the dimensions of the case but im sure you can fit some smaller HS/F units in there. If it was LGA775 I think the Artic Cooling Freezer 7 Pro would work well.

 

[sublifer]

[citation][nom]vorless[/nom]Yeah wtf is with this micro atx shit.[/citation]
If you read yesterday's you'd know they devoted this SBM to gamer cube style PCs...

I'd be happy with it... probably have to upgrade to a BR drive... but still nice. I'd have liked to see that measure of overclocked efficiency again.

 

[DjEaZy]

... ok, i do it too... maybe it's because i'm in the other part of the planet... in Latvia... just... my friend has payed a sick sum of money to buy a box full of new HW... but i do stuff much faster on my half year old machine... my friend is wondering how... and i say, what my father use to say: "it's depends what is between keyboard and the chair"...

 

[Guest]

Even though Toms just did a marathon using only AMD CPUs, people are still upset that they used the best CPU for under $300 in this build. There's no winning, there are always going to be people that want to see Intel CPUs and people that want to see AMD CPUs and do not care what the best "fit" or "value" is.

That being said, love the build. I really do not like the mobo choice, but I understand going for MicroATX. Its not for me, but still a nice build and a hell of a system for $1300.

 

[SirCrono]

The SFF and microatx boards made this the worst system builder marathon I can remember. It's a sad day.

 

[Onus]

I like this build.
The back plate will handle the stress of moving it around.
For my use, I'd take out one GPU (my games don't need SLI) and put in a PCI slot cooler to help get rid of the heat. I would not want to run a GPU fan at 100%; how long would it last? I agree that cutting a hole in the bottom of the case would be a good idea.

 

[doomtomb]

Again with the lil DFI motherboard that could. Get a freaking Asus Rampage II Gene!!!

 

[arkadi]

Bad luck or not, guy's that build was lame. One or two things can get wrong, but everything is wrong about this one. Relay disappointing....

 

[MAD4AMD]

I like this month marathon! Why? Because it's different...
Like it was said: you don't need much creativity to build full atx ubermachine, but try to pull out one in m-atx! About the component choice, that's a different story, bet the article is superb!

 

[scryer_360]

The MicroATX layout makes sense: an "Enthusiast" rig could conceivably see some LAN Party fun, and given that DFI mobo doesn't seem to underperform its ATX equivalents, I'm not complaining.

Decent build. Can't believe we haven't seen more 4870 vs GTX 260 complaining though.

 

[brisingamen]

i figured an x3 720 and two 275's would be a no brainer for gaming, . . .
the am3 socket has just as bright a future as any i socket,
the phenom 2 would have less of a problem with heat, easy OC.

 

[brisingamen]

im all about small HI-PO systems! keep the mini itx and HTPC performance benchmarks commin! great work guys, i like this review, i just would have chose different parts.

i only build half a dozen systems a year or so, sometimes its hard to give these guys the benefit of the doubt but they have literally used hundreds of components,

and if had a friend of mine who isnt a computer person, had come home from a custom pc shop with this rig for 1300 bucks i would consider them having got a good system. if only the average PC shop was this good at assembling systems for people on a budget without getting jyped i mean, this world would be a much better place.

im sure many of us on here could make long cases for several other system builds on that price but, to the non power/gaming freak the differences probably wouldnt be noticeable to the average person.

oh a few weeks ago some THG reviews layouts were kind of messed, thanks for cleaning up these last few articles.
props THG.

 

[tommysch]

Anything under a big mid tower or a full tower is unacceptable for a gaming PC.

 

[realitybytez]

[citation][nom]NaNoSoLdIeR[/nom]wouldn't Scythe Ninja 2 be a better cooler for this system? ...[/citation]
the Scythe Ninja 2 is compatable with Intel Socket 775 / 478 and AMD Socket AM2 / 939 / 940 / 754 CPUs. Not the LGA1366.

 

[steed24]

[citation][nom]brisingamen[/nom]i figured an x3 720 and two 275's would be a no brainer for gaming, . . .the am3 socket has just as bright a future as any i socket, the phenom 2 would have less of a problem with heat, easy OC.[/citation]

I agree. If you are making a computer for lans it should concentrate on gaming. But they would use 2 4890s for the dragon, not 275s

 

[presidenteody]

I'm not sure if Intel pays people for reviewing their product or not but i am noticing a bias toward intel in situations where the competition would provide almost as much performance for hundreds less. Sure i agree i7s are great but come on... I work for a retailer and participate in intel retail edge where they give a lot of their products away to sales people to try their products and become familiar over the competition, but i run both amd and intel systems and amd has the value over intel any day of the week even after overclocking. I was against the EU's decision to fine intel but for tom's to review ONLY INTEL on their enthusiast and performance SMB for the past 6 months? And who knows i bet tomorrows $600 will have an intel in it as well?

 

[unlicensedhitman]

That doesn't look like fun with all those wires cram into that mirco atx case...

 

[nerrawg]

[citation][nom]JeanLuc: A bit misleading.Good choice of CPU cooler although I might have gone with a the Titan Fenrir instead. However as ifko_pifko points out why did the more expensive $2500 system use a stock cooler yet you had the budget in the cheaper system for 3rd party cooling, very odd.[/citation]

Not completely sure about this, but I think the Titan Fenrir is not available in the US at the moment - it is a great choice in the UK though

 

[xthekidx]

There isn't an intel conspiracy here guys, the Phenom II option was heavily considered in making this build. As a part of the crowd who gave input on this build, I can attest to the fact that many of us felt that AMD deserved a little love, but in the end the price difference was only about $80 or so for the whole build, and the i7 puts up much more impressive numbers than Phenom II can, and i7 looked to be a much better option. Keep in mind this system was planned out and put together over a month ago, since it takes a lot of time to write, test and plan these builds out; the prices have changed a lot since then.

I am glad that THG is trying to explore new angles in the SBM. Its easy to build a Gaming PC in a Full tower, not so in the mATX FF. Lots of places such as anandtech put together full tower gaming PC's, THG is trying to explore a different niche. This SBM is the first review I have read on a lan-party gaming rig in a long while. Just because some of you don't have any friends doesn't mean that the rest of us don't and wouldn't be interested in a portable gaming powerhouse.

 

[gabitu]

I was amd untill i got my 1st core 2 duo...6400.Now i have 8500 which is excelent...But as other guy said Where the hell is Amd in these games?
Why Tom's Hardware is NOT GIVING AMD A CHANCE?????????????????????????
It looks like Tom's is manipulating people with these articles to buy Intel products!!!!!!!!!
They even are publicing the interview with the guy from Puget Systems who is actually saing that amd in more difficult to ship cz the sinks are bigger and havier...tha's cz they are better heatsinks....Why tom's is not publicing something good about amd?And other brands too?
And rebember i'm not amd or intel fan!!!!I'm a costumer....i want to see my choises!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[tikrjee]

Why is it that all these system builds never have things like keyboard, monitor, mouse, or most importantly, operating system included in the cost? I can understand keys, mouse, and monitor not included (somewhat), but I really don't anticipate building a gaming rig running linux exclusively. All things considered, given the target audience, shouldn't this built actually end up costing closer to the $3000 range after ALL of the elements of a complete system are tallied?
Don't get me wrong, I'm a big fan of Tom's and can't thank them enough for keeping me in the loop. I just feel that (for the sake of any new readers or anyone new to DIY system builds) all components should be included in the overall cost (i.e. a system, OS, and KVM for $2500)

 

[DXRick]

What I don't understand is the GTX 260 SLI choice. Did you forget about THIS? The Core i7 build clearly favors one HD 4870 X2 over Nvidia cards! You could get the SAPPHIRE 100251SR Radeon HD 4870 X2 for a little more than those GTX 260s.

 

[cleeve]

[citation][nom]JeanLuc[/nom]The noise table - If I was casually looking at the graphs I might be inclined to think that the default GPU fan ran at a fraction of the noise of the fan at full speed but when you look at the numbers it's more like a 20% increase. A bit misleading.[/citation]

Normally I'd agree with you, but you have to keep in mind that about 35-40 db is natural ambient noise that I can't personally distinguish from total silence, at least in my home with my ears. That's the reading I take get with PCs turened off, so the chart isn't as bad as it seems.

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]serifus[/nom]if you wanted to go SFF it would be nice to see one done in an LIAN-LI PC-A05NB. at least you still get the full atx boards in those.[/citation]

Like the $1300 PC, the Lian-Li PC-A05NB is not SFF, it's a Micro ATX tower. SFF has only two slots and it's really a shame that so many users have misused the term that some manufacturers and retailers are following suit, but you really do have to keep 4-slot and 2-slot boards separate. Micro ATX is a form factor of its own.

 

[JumpKickJoe]

I would really like to see the day that a SBM has a Phenom in it as well as some Radeons...... This is just like the anti-competitive behavior that the EU was talking about. All I see is Intel and Nvidia in these builds man!

Show us what you can get for the same amount of money using AMD and ATI hardware. Might get more bang for your buck and able to put extra in the build and you pocket.

It's really boring to watch an I7 under and overclock all the time. There are other CPU manufacturers Toms!!!!!!!!!!!!