System Builder Marathon Q3 2015: Value Comparison

[Xivilain]

We need a ballot widget here, for readers to cast their vote. Does Tom's have one?

I vote: No budget w/ same or more benchmarks. Then let price/performance ratio determine the winner.

 

[McWhiskey]

I vote:
Same baseline for all three PC's (OS, ODD, monitor, etc...). This is a system builder's marathon; don't waste time or budget on these things.

Set common goal with no budget (HTPC, lan party rig, workstation, console killer, etc...)

Weight benchmark results to favor the desired goal. Also give the price/performance metric heavy weight so efficiency would be the major goal.

 

[videobear]

I'd like to see a build for a home NAS. And a build for an HTPC. And a build for a rig to support VR. Budget is secondary, but value is important.

 

[Wrought]

Sorry I'm late to the party. I would like to see a pure 1080p face-off for those of us who are going to skip 1440p for the hypothetical 4k party that will be happening when the new tech comes out from AMD, Intel, and nVidia next year. Where's the best value for us 1080p dinosaurs who are hanging on for real 4k solutions that don't involve multi-gpu setups? Show me the cheapest setup that will still run almost everything 1080p on ultra at 60 fps...and not a single frame faster!