System Builder Marathon, Sept. 2011: $2000 Performance PC

[flong]

Easiest answer: If one does 16 FPS and the other does 4, neither are playable. Ergo, the performance difference therefore doesn't matter. Even though the performance difference between THOSE TWO scores doesn't matter, the lower score still hurts its machine when added to the "average performance" calculations.
Hmm, what part of "no heat issues with this build" isn't clear to anyone?

Let me use the BTX form factor as an example: The more closely the CPU area resembles a "duct", the better Tom's Hardware tests have found a tower-style CPU cooler to work. Narrow cases typically have the lowest temperatures in Tom's Hardware comparison, whether tall or short, likely because more of the exhaust air is forced to first go through the CPU cooler.

The Antec Three Hundred is cheap and has good airflow. It's been used in many SBM builds because of the low CPU temperatures and price. Size only played a major role in one of those builds, because the graphics cards in that build were internally vented and all their heat had to go through the CPU cooler as well. So Tom's Hardware quit pairing internally vented graphics cards with the Antec Three Hundred, and the problem went away.

It's really that simple. Look up the Hyper 212 Plus review to see how bad a cooler it is, then take a look at the temperatures in this article. Remember that you need to get into the high 90's before Sandy Bridge overclocking is significantly hampered.

I think what people are saying is that this build could have much more efficient cooling for just a little more money. Cooling is important not just to meet the minimum limits but to exceed them. The cooler your components run the better.

The 2600K / 2500K chips are so efficient that they do not produce the heat of the I-7 9XX chips and a lot of people used that to skimp on the cooling for their rigs as this build does. I think that is a mistake because it is best to run as cool as possible. This promotes stability and longevity for all of the components.

In my 2600K build I spent the $75 for the Noctua NH-D14 and $150 for the Corsair 650D case (which is very good at cooling with one HDD cage removed). I also purchased the Corsair HX 850 because I don't want the PSU to heat up the case and I am running just one ATI 6950. I don't plan to seriously overclock and so I could have skimped and gotten a cheaper case and a Hyper 212 for $30. But I was looking at the overall quality of my build - not the cheapest way out.

My CPU rarely goes over 35C and all other components hover between 28C-35C under full load. I have locked my 6950 at 60% fan and it rarely goes over 52C under full load. I have never even heard the PSU fan even turn on - it is so efficient it runs my system silently. This produces a fantastically efficient, cool and quiet system and it really only cost me about $100 more than "cheaping out" with a lesser case and CPU cooler. Considering I have about $2500 invested in my system, this $100 is chump change and is well worth it - it is dirt cheap insurance to protect my expensive components.

Also, because my system is running at 91-92% efficiency most of the time I am approximately 7% more efficient than Tom's Hardware's build. Over the my projected lifetime of this system of approximately 3 years, I will save the $100 in electricity and still have a top rated PSU under warranty (7-year warranty) and CPU cooler that I can use for my next build which saves even more money. I am not sure you would want to reuse a Hyper 212 and the 750W Seasonic has no head room to upgrade a system.

Add to this I have the luxury of using a top quality case instead of a cheapo case (with all of their problems) and I don't have to worry about the stability of the PSU or the CPU cooler because I have the best quality units. Really it is a no brainer to spend a little extra for the real-world builder.

Yes this build did not have any "heat problems," but it could have been better for very little added cost.

 

[Guest]

I don't know what they expected with that MB. You are building a $2000 rig and that's the Mobo you choose...was it a surprise to find it had inadequate cooling and poor overclocking? Personally if you are going to really invest in any part in a build that expensive, it should be the MB. It serves as the foundation for the computer and as they've shown, skimping there negatively affected other key areas.

 

[mjmjpfaff]

why dont you go over 1.4v? is there some link between volts and heat because as far as i know heat kills?

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]mjmjpfaff[/nom]why dont you go over 1.4v? is there some link between volts and heat because as far as i know heat kills?[/citation]You can throw an arc in sub-zero temperatures, I have a lot of welding experience.

 

[flong]

[citation][nom]Crashman[/nom]You can throw an arc in sub-zero temperatures, I have a lot of welding experience.[/citation]

It takes a lot of skill to be a good welder.

 

[jocandyapple]

This is my 1st comment and I really want to say that these monthly computer builds are really awesome! I can pick the price point and customize the setups. Thanks Tom!

 

[mjmjpfaff]

You can throw an arc in sub-zero temperatures, I have a lot of welding experience.

doesnt make any sense at all. i thought we were talking about overclocking processors

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]mjmjpfaff[/nom]doesnt make any sense at all. i thought we were talking about overclocking processors[/citation]If you increase the voltage on anything enough you'll throw a spark through the insulator.

CPUs are a little different in that the material becomes more resistive as temperature is decreased, but it takes a fairly large drop in temperature to allow a moderate increase in voltage. If I wanted to go over 1.40V I'd probably want to keep the core below 30°, and that can't be done with an air cooler inside a case at normal ambient temperatures.

 

[quangluu96]

Wow, first time seeing a computer that can eat Crysis at 2500x1600 close to 100 frames, i still remember when crysis first came out and people dump their money on Quad GTX 295 and still get like ~60fps and even lower at heavy battle at that resolution.

 

[twstd1]

I'd really like to know why you chose this motherboard without giving us a look at the mSATA SSD/HDD performance compared to a straight forward SSD setup. I'm sure I've missed an article on it somewhere. I would like to have seen the performance differences between the two options. I know that the majority of enthusiasts would not be using a standard HDD setup for their OS drive anyway but I would still like to see this motherboards new technology used and benchmarked. I have done a little bit of research on this mSATA SSD and see that it is mostly just used for caching your most used apps. I was hoping that you could install your OS to it and maybe have another SSD for all programs and then an HDD for data storage. It seems to make sense to me to use it that way so I'm a little unclear on why it would just be used for caching and be available in so many different storage sizes. I mean do you really need to cache 60GB worth of data? Also if you already have an SSD would the mSATA SSD still help to speed up the access times of your storage HDD?

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]twstd1[/nom]I'd really like to know why you chose this motherboard without giving us a look at the mSATA SSD/HDD performance compared to a straight forward SSD setup. I'm sure I've missed an article on it somewhere. I would like to have seen the performance differences between the two options. I know that the majority of enthusiasts would not be using a standard HDD setup for their OS drive anyway but I would still like to see this motherboards new technology used and benchmarked. I have done a little bit of research on this mSATA SSD and see that it is mostly just used for caching your most used apps. I was hoping that you could install your OS to it and maybe have another SSD for all programs and then an HDD for data storage. It seems to make sense to me to use it that way so I'm a little unclear on why it would just be used for caching and be available in so many different storage sizes. I mean do you really need to cache 60GB worth of data? Also if you already have an SSD would the mSATA SSD still help to speed up the access times of your storage HDD?[/citation]It makes sense of a 30GB drive is all you can afford. Here's one of the articles on it, which briefly describes why a larger SSD was chosen instead:

http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/z68-express-lucidlogix-virtu-ssd-caching,2888-4.html

SSD Cache splits the difference between HDD and SSD performance, so it's only a good option for people who can't afford a large-enough fast-enough SSD for their programs. Such was the case with the $1000 PC.

 

[akataria7]

dat is lot of power there

 

[Guest]

Shouldn't your CPU heatsink be mounted horizontally instead of vertically?

I thought that the heat pipes work better when they are horizontal.

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]wesintexas[/nom]Shouldn't your CPU heatsink be mounted horizontally instead of vertically?I thought that the heat pipes work better when they are horizontal.[/citation]Perhaps, but the heat sink fins work better when the air flows front to back.

Ideally, heat pipes should be one-sided and point straight up with the bottom at the heat source. Because that's too hard to work out for designers, cooler manufacturers have added a wicking material.

 

[Guest]

why not one gtx 590 or 6990

 

[Crashman]

[citation][nom]28101993[/nom]why not one gtx 590 or 6990[/citation]GTX 590 is roughly equal to two 570's, and two 580's are faster. 6990 is roughly equal to two 570's, and two 580's are faster. On top of that, both the GTX 590 and HD 6990 are ABSOLUTE TRASH from the thermal perspective, two externally-vented cards are vastly superior.

 

[Novuake]

why not one gtx 590 or 6990

Because of the heat and price. It is a horrible card.

2 x 580s are alot more powerful.

 

[penth]

Hey Crashman, did you notice if there is a LED power indicator on the board itself that shows the board has power when the power supply is on but the pc is not booted up?

 

[Guest]

I think buyers should be aware that doing this motherboard and cooling solution limits your ability to use four ram modules. So if you are planning on never upgrading it is fine, but for buyers like myself thinking ahead, this will not do.

 

[ramsuporter8]

need to make a 2012 one!!!!!

 

[ramsuporter8]

What would be the best monitor to accompany this?