System Builder Marathon Q3 2014: High-End Performance PC

[kamhagh]

i would get different ssd!

 

[silnox]

We complain about last hardware not being included in BM because we want to see the performance of 970-980 GTX, and yes, we know we have their performance in a recent article, but anyway...

Said that, obviously there are rules for a reason, and this build is great anyway.

For instance, I was going to buy my own rig similar to this one, untill I saw new 980GTX and swaped 290X that pales compared with new nvidea card. I would loved to see same build with 980X performance.

You can see it here It's a little more expensive because has more RAM & SSD, but no O.S. nor cooler.

 

[tvvisted]

Nice build, cant wait to see the gtx 900s!

 

[f-14]

Don argued that cases should be among those parts, since we weren’t testing the extra lights and front-panel connectors that often push enclosure prices skyward. I made that concession, even though cases do affect cooling and therefore overclocking.[quote/].

Don's arguement is flawed because size and cooling do factor, look at his RAM and CPU problem, that noctua would never have fit into my last case. so does the cd/dvd rom/removeable media. i used to make music cds and vcd's then dvd's and now i use alot of SD or compact flash cards for music and videos. my portable mp3 player has external flash storage as well as my car's audio/video. bluetooth has too much interference from cops radar, banks security systems, cell phones of other motorists out door recreationalists and indoor fitness as well as being a huge open door security flaw on said devices.

 

[RedJaron]

I thoroughly enjoyed the writeup of this PC. I've often found selections in the high-priced build way more than I need myself, but this is the first time I can recall not also thinking "what a waste" about one part or another. This one was good.

I felt the same. This felt like a good mix without going too overboard. I'm not a fan of the case looks, but that's purely subjective. The internal components are all very nice.

And overclocking on an undervolt? I love winning the silicon lottery.

 

[youssef 2010]

You MUST include noise measurements for the SBM machines

 

[Crashman]

You MUST include noise measurements for the SBM machines

35 decibels A-weighted at full combined load and one meter.

 

[coolitic]

290x?

If Geforce was selected, you could get a cheaper psu, and wouldn't have to hear so much fan noise.

 

[Mattery]

I'd ditch the optical drive on the theory you can use an external and move it across each time. I use my external to install os then store it away.

 

[Crashman]

290x?

If Geforce was selected, you could get a cheaper psu, and wouldn't have to hear so much fan noise.

I take it you didn't read the article then, with its moderate heat/power/noise stuff, or even the comments above. But thanks for looking at the parts list.

I'd ditch the optical drive on the theory you can use an external and move it across each time. I use my external to install os then store it away.

We don't know that the winner will have an external though. If we're supplying an OS DVD, we'd might as well add the $18 optical drive to read it right?

 

[flying tiger ii]

Nice build, case is iffy though

 

[eodeo]

Very depressing overclocking benefits, especially in games.

I don't get it. 290x has 2816 cores. I'd imagine even a slight overclock of them ALL would yield a better then 54 to 56 fps boost. That's a 2fps increase after a detailed overclocking of CPU, GPU and RAM...

 

[Patrick Tobin]

Always bugs me that they're stuck with just Newegg. They rarely are lowest in price. The only one that should be ruled out is Microcenter considering how rarely people are near one.

 

[Crashman]

Very depressing overclocking benefits, especially in games.

I don't get it. 290x has 2816 cores. I'd imagine even a slight overclock of them ALL would yield a better then 54 to 56 fps boost. That's a 2fps increase after a detailed overclocking of CPU, GPU and RAM...

Different samples of the card have different overclocking capabilities, but it seems that MOST of the cards they sell are already (by the brand) overclocked within 100 MHz of their stock-voltage ceiling.

I have bad luck with over-volting graphics cards. That's Don's thing, the graphics guru.

Always bugs me that they're stuck with just Newegg. They rarely are lowest in price. The only one that should be ruled out is Microcenter considering how rarely people are near one.

Well, they're often pretty close to the lowest for motherboards. And they pay for all of the parts just to get their name mentioned (ads and stuff are dealt with by the ad sales team).

 

[VegasBoz]

I've been out of the 'build-your-own' business for well over 20 years. Every time I read these articles I want to immediately build one for myself, but I still haven't succumbed to the temptation...YET!

 

[almarcy]

I enjoyed this article. I am a geezer with an ancient homebrew PC, but it is fun to dream I play Aion. I like to collect oyster pearls and flowers and meteorites. Not a flashy, manly gamester. I was in Nam. Those thrills are burnt out. (Thankfully). I enjoy my quiet, cool PC. I enjoy listening to my Music collection while I do my PC stuff, too. I build Hot Rod audio amps, not PCs 😉 YMMV. Well written, Tom's!

 

[etm_echo]

Purely objective, but out of all cases... this is one is just not that good looking,

 

[Crashman]

Purely objective, but out of all cases... this is one is just not that good looking,

Ah, but the price! The only way I could step up the quality without spending more would have been the Antec Three Hundred, but that one doesn't have USB 3.0 and you can't turn off the lights.

 

[Onus]

The case is a little beastly, but not really bad; I tend to like Enermax anyway. You would have certainly caught all kinds of grief if you omitted front USB3.0.

 

[RedJaron]

I'm still waiting for someone to use the Raven 3 in an SBM. I know, some people think it's ugly with the gold stripes ( you can get it in silver now, ) but that is a fine case with wonderful cooling and low noise. Yeah, I might be a little fanboy about it.

 

[jvhbca]

I have a similar setup and I am thrilled with it:

Motherboard: ASRock Fatal1ty Z97X Killer
CPU: Intel 4790k (stock)
HDD: Samsung 840 Pro 256GB + 700GB spinning hdd
RAM: adata xpg v1.0 series 16gb
GPU: XFX R9 290X Double Dissipation
PSU: Corsair RM850
MONITOR: Asus vg278he