System Builder Marathon: Performance And Value Compared

[undercovernerd6]

Im sorry but roughly 12% increase from 1 gpu to 3 is hardly something to write home about.

 

[Onus]

The tri-SLI reminds me of a SBM build a few years ago in which four HD4850s were used in Crossfire. It wasn't an approach that anyone had ever tried before, but it was very interesting. This tri-SLI unfortunately was not quite so interesting. Perhaps a lesson here is that tri-SLI is just not a useful approach.

 

[ingtar33]

how do we win these rigs. as a poor baptist missionary i'm always looking to get lucky and win new computer tech... I love my machine because it came to me through the kindness of a number of others. that said i still love this hobby too much to not want to get my hands on something new and awesome.

 

[Onus]

If you are in the USA (excluding Rhode Island), you can fill out a quick little form (linked at the beginning of each SBM article). Please don't harangue Tom's about International or Rhode Island participation; they can't extend the contest to these areas due to tax and other regulations imposed by elected and/or appointed parasites.

 

[ingtar33]

If you are in the USA (excluding Rhode Island), you can fill out a quick little form (linked at the beginning of each SBM article). Please don't harangue Tom's about International or Rhode Island participation; they can't extend the contest to these areas due to tax and other regulations imposed by elected and/or appointed parasites.

thanks much =D

 

[jee_are]

For the next SMB I would love to see a no holds barred approach when it comes to buying the hardware. By that, I mean allowing your writers to buy used or refurbished parts. This is something us readers do all the time. I think it would be a fun read, to see how the writers were able to haggle there way to a cheap case on Craigslist or received a BD-RW from Ebay that turned out to be CD-RW etc. This approach would probably favor the low budget system but it could allow for some very interesting builds. My 2 cents.

 

[Onus]

I'm not sure that would work for the SBM, which I believe is sponsored by Newegg. As a separate challenge series, however (possibly involving different writers), it might work out quite well. Give each writer an identical budget ($750-$1000 max) and turn them loose.

 

[ingtar33]

For the next SMB I would love to see a no holds barred approach when it comes to buying the hardware. By that, I mean allowing your writers to buy used or refurbished parts. This is something us readers do all the time. I think it would be a fun read, to see how the writers were able to haggle there way to a cheap case on Craigslist or received a BD-RW from Ebay that turned out to be CD-RW etc. This approach would probably favor the low budget system but it could allow for some very interesting builds. My 2 cents.

i'd LOVE an article like that.

I think that might work better as a different kind of contest. Give each writer an identical budget ($750-$1000 max) and turn them loose.

much less... i built my rig with just a little less then $400 and about 3 months of hunting. and i'm pimped out thanks to a little hustle, a little luck and the generosity of strangers. phII 965be/8gb ddr3 1600/h100/HD 7770/5.1 suround sound bluray speaker/reciever system/23" 2ms responce time 1080p asus monitor/ logitech gaming mouse/dell mechanical keyboard... the list goes on and on... it's a nicely pimped out ride. still looking for a bargain on an ssd or motherboard. i like my motherboard just lookin' for something new and flashy... caps don't last forever; and the RAID setup on my boot drive isn't close to fast enough.

 

[RedJaron]

It seems to me ultimately unreasonable to judge three very different systems on the same value scale. At some point, fitness for purpose has to enter into the consideration.

I get the same feeling. Yes, you can mathematically break down performance and value, but at some point the numbers become subjective in what portions are weighted more than others. In the mean-time, overall build quality and feel are very hard to judge and quantify, such as case design and style, value of mboard connectivity, and upgrade paths.

It's a nasty cycle, you set forth the rules of a competition and invariably someone can figure out how best to game the system. It's not necessarily done, or even a bad thing, because well-defined rules means you know exactly what you're going up against. However those rules certainly don't apply to everyone, maybe not even the majority of users.

 

[vertexx]

I can't think of anyone I've ever known for whom the $2550 machine is anything like what I'd suggest. I'm not sure what I'd do if I won it; maybe I'd part it out, or pull one of the graphics cards to get the power down into a more comfortable range and then sell it.

I actually would love to have the $2550 build, but not as a build. It's the perfect example of the sum of the parts being much greater than the whole.

If I win it, I will have an upgrade heyday.

1. Sell the SBE on ebay for $435-475, and buy components for a 6300 build together with one of the 760s and the Noctua cooler for my oldest son. I made the $1,000 mistake of buying an HP touchsmart for him a few years back, and he's itching for a gaming PC now. The HP is throwaway.

2. Use the 2nd & 3rd 760's, the SSD, and PSU to upgrade my home-office gaming PC - will be a very nice upgrade indeed from a single 7850 and 1TB HDD.

3. Add the 3TB drive to my living room HTPC - can always use the extra storage there.

4. Use the Lian-Li case for.... well, it might make a good planter out back. Or maybe I can just recycle the aluminum.... I love Lian-Li's - I have a PC-Q25 for my Xeon E-3 home server, which is just phenomenal , but that one picked out for this build pretty much has zero utility in my book.

So, bring on the sweepstakes!

 

[TempAccount007]

Great SBM guys. Would have preferred to see the $650 machine get this,
GIGABYTE GV-R795WF3-3GD Radeon HD 7950 3GB for $224 ($199 after rebate)
and spent the additional money on a ,
COOLER MASTER Hyper 212 Plus
which gives plenty of headroom to take a fx-6300 to an easy 4.5 ghz OC with low temps. Just built my first 2 FX-6300s this way with absolutely no problem.
With an extra Gig of graphics memory, comparable gpu oc ability and framerates and a solid OC on the cpu I think this system would be an easy walk away winner.

What mobo, memory, case, and psu did you use for your build(s)?

As my first build, I may copy it exactly

The value of that cpu and gpu are almost impossible to pass up.

 

[FearViper]

Awesome and helpful article.

 

[polyzp]

Tom

You should review a system with AMD FX 9590 + 7990 CROSSFIRE + 990FX which costs under 1600 dollars combined now for all Three!

Similar to the 2500 system but cheaper! THREE GTX 760s and the 3930k + LGA 2011 costs around 1600 as well.

 

[de5_Roy]

Tom
You should review a system with AMD FX 9590 + 7990 CROSSFIRE + 990FX which costs under 1600 dollars combined now for all Three!
Similar to the 2500 system but cheaper! THREE GTX 760s and the 3930k + LGA 2011 costs around 1600 as well.

i second this combo with a ROFL. lack of full frame pacing support aside, this pc will make a great space heater.
may be make an Red Hot (pun intended) all-amd marathon with $650 with fx6300, $1200-1500 with fx8320/8350/9370, $2000-2500 with fx9370/9590. for the budget build - radeon 7950, mid-range - 7970 cfx, high end - 7990 cfx or r9 280 cfx (if allowed).
for cooling, cm hyper 212 evo, corsair h80, corsair h110/100i or swiftech h220 respectively.

 

[vertexx]

I'd really like to see you guys blow it out with a true high-end build with a custom loop, perhaps just once a year. Your competitors had this type of build featured in their headliner for today: http://anandtech.com/show/7363/the-neophytes-custom-liquid-cooling-guide-how-to-why-to-what-to-expect

The air-cooled version of this build would run in the $3,000-3,500 range. Perhaps for this build, you'd be able to get some sponsors to cough up the components.

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

CPU: Intel Core i7-4770K 3.5GHz Quad-Core Processor ($339.99 @ Newegg)
CPU Cooler: Noctua NH-U14S 55.0 CFM CPU Cooler ($70.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Motherboard: Gigabyte G1.SNIPER 5 EATX LGA1150 Motherboard ($369.99 @ Newegg)
Memory: G.Skill Trident X Series 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3-2133 Memory ($339.99 @ Newegg)
Storage: Plextor M5P Xtreme Series 256GB 2.5" Solid State Disk ($228.98 @ SuperBiiz)
Storage: Western Digital Caviar Black 2TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive ($144.91 @ Amazon)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($637.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Video Card: EVGA GeForce GTX 780 3GB Video Card (2-Way SLI) ($637.99 @ SuperBiiz)
Case: Corsair Air 540 ATX Desktop Case ($139.99 @ Amazon)
Power Supply: Corsair 1200W 80 PLUS Platinum Certified ATX12V / EPS12V Power Supply ($276.99 @ Newegg)
Optical Drive: Asus BW-12B1ST/BLK/G/AS Blu-Ray/DVD/CD Writer ($58.99 @ NCIX US)
Total: $3186.79
(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)
(Generated by PCPartPicker 2013-09-30 09:02 EDT-0400)

I understand this series is to see how much performance each builder can get within a certain budget. Perhaps a once-a-year blow-it-all out build as a bonus build - would be fun, especially fun to win!

 

[Obie327]

My 2011 build with Sandy I7 2600k(4 ghz) , GTX 680, 16 gigs of ram and 64 bit windows 7 is still running everything I throw at it on a single 1080p display, Anything more except maybe video card upgrade would be overkill . Haswell is looking kinda rough for an upgrade when Ivy does it running cooler and wee bit faster than (Sandy) without too much hassle when overclocking. Me, Personally think a two card solution to be max when dealing with gaming graphics performance. Heck even the I5 3570k and gtx 760 perfect for most gaming situations I encounter.(1080p,single display) Very diminished returns. I'll wait for the 800 series or later to enjoy (three) monitor setup with two cards if I ever go that route.

 

[JamieR007]

I'd love to see a workstation based SBM too - using an integrated GPU and benchmarks for photoshop, database, visual studio, eclipse, office, etc, etc.

 

[jstabl]

LOL, 650 barely covers my power supply