System Builder Marathon Q1 2015: $1750 Performance PC

[ykki]

hmmm
for some reason there's this wierd-looking orange brick where the performance PC is supposed to be. Any explanations?

Its inside the "orange brick'.

 

[MasterMace]

Ya, sorry, I'm not in agreement with the 600/1200/1800 format. Once you get passed a $1000 budget, a person's ability to pay increases more than that sub-$1000. The difference between a $1200 build and a $600 build is double. The difference between a 1200 and an 1800 is not. More commonly you'll see builds nearer the $2400, $1800 builds are same ballpark as $1200 builds. You'll see $1200 caliber builds, with nicer motherboards, bigger SSDs, a bigger power supply, a better case, and it's right up there at $1800.

 

[Xivilain]

Ya, sorry, I'm not in agreement with the 600/1200/1800 format. Once you get passed a $1000 budget, a person's ability to pay increases more than that sub-$1000. The difference between a $1200 build and a $600 build is double. The difference between a 1200 and an 1800 is not. More commonly you'll see builds nearer the $2400, $1800 builds are same ballpark as $1200 builds. You'll see $1200 caliber builds, with nicer motherboards, bigger SSDs, a bigger power supply, a better case, and it's right up there at $1800.

I agree with you. The last 3 builds I did for friends and family all were at $900-$1000 range. They all wanted a reliable PC. 1 of those builds was gaming oriented, so we squeezed in a decent graphics card (at the time) GTX 470 and reduced other areas to make up for it. If they'd told me their budget was $1200 then it would have earned them 1 or 2 nicer parts, which in my opinion, isn't worth it, unless all the parts are reliable and higher quality. And if they'd taken that route, they would be over $1800+ easily.

I think 600/1000/2000 ($) would be suitable for Budget/Mainstream/Performance.

 

[jdon]

As much as I love seeing these build marathons, I kind of fail to see the point of comparing the systems value wise. There's an inherent bias toward the mainstream system. It's mainstream for a reason; it usually falls nicely between "minimum requirements" and "diminishing returns" for most people that build with new parts. If someone was looking at gaming in the $600 range, they're way more likely to just buy some pre-built box (probably used/refurb/hand-me-down) and stuff a 750 Ti in it and use the remaining budget on Mtn Dew and a new game. Then they'd post complaints about the game running crappy and eventually realize they should have thrown a few hundred more bucks at the rig to start with and built the day 2 system. </rant>

 

[sea monkey]

I might need to offset the radiator father

<Tommy Boy>RADIATOR. I AM YOUR FATHER</Tommy Boy>

Q3 2015 $1600 PC

areyouawizard.jpg

 

[igetsin]

And while on topic of Video cards and gaming, do you have to account for the high cost of gaming monitor or a few to support the maximum resolution alotted by the SLI setup?

 

[jfby]

I have yet to run into an issue with "only" 3.5 GB of VRAM in my GTX 970. Every game I've played on my 1080P monitor is maxed with zero issues. Maybe at 4K this would be a problem, but then at 4K I probably wouldn't be playing max regardless.

 

[jfby]

Other than the PSU and 256 SSD this looks like a great build, but not including a monitor in the price is a little deceptive. Assuming a 1080P monitor would there be any reason for SLI of GTX 970?

 

[Onus]

...Assuming a 1080P monitor would there be any reason for SLI of GTX 970?

That's going to depend on whom you ask, and what games they're playing. There are a few people who insist on 120FPS (they have 120Hz monitors) with all settings on "UltraMaxOhWOW!" These people would probably need to SLI a pair of GTX970's to assuage their OCD. For those of us living in the Real World, however, who are happy to play at 45-55FPS on merely "excellent" settings, a single GTX970 should have years of life in it.

 

[Taintedskittles]

I have only 1 question. When you press the power button. Does the dukes of hazard theme play from the speakers? lol
nice build, impressed with the 4.8ghz turbo boost

 

[Crashman]

I have only 1 question. When you press the power button. Does the dukes of hazard theme play from the speakers? lol
nice build, impressed with the 4.8ghz turbo boost

No theme song, but it does play the first twelve notes of Dixy...

 

[Guest]

Noob question what does it mean for the following:

What is 4k benches?
Where is the competition enrolled?
What is the the 3.5GB barrier?
Whats a non-modular PSU?

Thank you.

 

[de5_Roy]

Noob question what does it mean for the following:

What is 4k benches?

4K in this case means 3840x2160 resoltion (UHD) which has 4 times the pixels of a standard 1920x1080 resolution display.. 4k benches indicate benchmarking gameplay performance at that display resolution ( on a display capable of at least 60Hz refresh rate).

Where is the competition enrolled?

can you refer to the exact text and the article/source? competition usually refers to the competing vendor at a particular area e.g. price, technology, market segment etc.

What is the the 3.5GB barrier?

in case of nvidia geforce gtx 970 cards, this explains it better
http://www.tomshardware.com/news/nvidia-geforce-gtx-970-specifications,28464.html

Whats a non-modular PSU?

Thank you.

non modular psus refer to the kind of psus that have all their cables attached to the psu itself (i.e. bases soldered to the circuit board itself). in modular psus the cables are detachable and users have the choice to attach necessary cables to the psu connectors. paraphrasing corsair:

Modular power supplies have cables that can be attached to the power supply individually. Unlike more basic PSUs, which have permanently attached cables, modular power supplies allow you to use only the cables you need for your particular installation. This has several benefits: installations and upgrades are easier, you’ll get neater-looking results, and keeping unneeded cables out of the airflow path can reduce noise and improve your system’s performance.

most basic, run of the mill psus are non-modular.

 

[Guest]

Thanks tremendously. The competition i was referring to was this PC build. I assume people were entering different PC builds.

 

[Guest]

Modular PSU is quite interesting. I am worried though that I might mess up something on the build. Any tips on making sure I do the build correctly? I'm going to use parts from this recommendation; if they are not sold out.

 

[de5_Roy]

Thanks tremendously. The competition i was referring to was this PC build. I assume people were entering different PC builds.

the submission form is in the first page of the article
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/high-end-performance-pc-build,4049.html

what you're refering to is not SBM, may be the BestConfigs Poll.

Modular PSU is quite interesting. I am worried though that I might mess up something on the build. Any tips on making sure I do the build correctly? I'm going to use parts from this recommendation; if they are not sold out.

SBM articles and the forum's Systems section have a lot of helpful information. you should also check out the stickied threads.

 

[prisoner_223]

It confuses me why the choice was made to go with a pair of 970s for $660, when you could have gone with a R9 295x2 for $30 less. I'd pick significantly more muscle for less cost, that's a no-brainer.


http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16814150710

Or if you wanted something more comparable to the 970s, you could get two R9 290s for less than $500. Factor in mail in rebates, and your looking at $180 in saving. For the same performance.

 

[TNT27]

It confuses me why the choice was made to go with a pair of 970s for $660, when you could have gone with a R9 295x2 for $30 less. I'd pick significantly more muscle for less cost, that's a no-brainer.


http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16814150710

Or if you wanted something more comparable to the 970s, you could get two R9 290s for less than $500. Factor in mail in rebates, and your looking at $180 in saving. For the same performance.

Lots of Nvidia die hards round here, thats why.

Higher wattage psu be needed, though that doesn't cost much more.

 

[Crashman]

It confuses me why the choice was made to go with a pair of 970s for $660, when you could have gone with a R9 295x2 for $30 less. I'd pick significantly more muscle for less cost, that's a no-brainer.


http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16814150710

Or if you wanted something more comparable to the 970s, you could get two R9 290s for less than $500. Factor in mail in rebates, and your looking at $180 in saving. For the same performance.

Lots of Nvidia die hards round here, thats why.

Higher wattage psu be needed, though that doesn't cost much more.

It was based on reader requests from December. System Builder Marathons have always had more AMD than Nvidia graphics cards, look up the past 2 years of machines for proof of a pro-AMD price-based bias (or just blindly follow "your own truth", we don't mind)

 

[Gurg]

It confuses me why the choice was made to go with a pair of 970s for $660, when you could have gone with a R9 295x2 for $30 less. I'd pick significantly more muscle for less cost, that's a no-brainer.


http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16814150710

Or if you wanted something more comparable to the 970s, you could get two R9 290s for less than $500. Factor in mail in rebates, and your looking at $180 in saving. For the same performance.

Lots of Nvidia die hards round here, thats why.

Higher wattage psu be needed, though that doesn't cost much more.

It was based on reader requests from December. System Builder Marathons have always had more AMD than Nvidia graphics cards, look up the past 2 years of machines for proof of a pro-AMD price-based bias (or just blindly follow "your own truth", we don't mind)

Since you already used an h100i on the roof for the cpu, wouldn't it have become a little crowded adding the R9 295x2 closed loop cooler into the rear exhaust?

 

[Crashman]

It confuses me why the choice was made to go with a pair of 970s for $660, when you could have gone with a R9 295x2 for $30 less. I'd pick significantly more muscle for less cost, that's a no-brainer.


http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16814150710

Or if you wanted something more comparable to the 970s, you could get two R9 290s for less than $500. Factor in mail in rebates, and your looking at $180 in saving. For the same performance.

Lots of Nvidia die hards round here, thats why.

Higher wattage psu be needed, though that doesn't cost much more.

It was based on reader requests from December. System Builder Marathons have always had more AMD than Nvidia graphics cards, look up the past 2 years of machines for proof of a pro-AMD price-based bias (or just blindly follow "your own truth", we don't mind)

Since you already used an h100i on the roof for the cpu, wouldn't it have become a little crowded adding the R9 295x2 closed loop cooler into the rear exhaust?

difficult but perhaps not impossible. There's a little room to slide the top radiator forward, to make more room for a rear radiator. But it probably would have forced me to drill holes in the case. How about stacked single radiators?

 

[Gurg]

It confuses me why the choice was made to go with a pair of 970s for $660, when you could have gone with a R9 295x2 for $30 less. I'd pick significantly more muscle for less cost, that's a no-brainer.


http://m.newegg.com/Product/index?itemnumber=N82E16814150710

Or if you wanted something more comparable to the 970s, you could get two R9 290s for less than $500. Factor in mail in rebates, and your looking at $180 in saving. For the same performance.

Lots of Nvidia die hards round here, thats why.

Higher wattage psu be needed, though that doesn't cost much more.

It was based on reader requests from December. System Builder Marathons have always had more AMD than Nvidia graphics cards, look up the past 2 years of machines for proof of a pro-AMD price-based bias (or just blindly follow "your own truth", we don't mind)

Since you already used an h100i on the roof for the cpu, wouldn't it have become a little crowded adding the R9 295x2 closed loop cooler into the rear exhaust?

difficult but perhaps not impossible. There's a little room to slide the top radiator forward, to make more room for a rear radiator. But it probably would have forced me to drill holes in the case. How about stacked single radiators?

Never tried a stack, but to get more room in my midtower haf912 case I have my h100i attached to the inside roof and a 200mm pull exhaust fan on top of outside roof. There isn't enough room for a 120mm closed loop cooler on the inside back exhaust with a 240mm cooler attached to inside roof. . When I had a red mod closed loop cooler on my gpu I had the radiator mounted to my back exhaust with my cpus h100 and the pulling two 120 fans on the roof. I can't fit a massive full tower on my bookshelf so the haf912 was the best I could find for airflow and fans.