System Builder Marathon, Sept. 2011: $500 Gaming PC

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very nice article, i was wondering how the 955 oced would do against the i3.

While there are many unthinkable things in this build, the low price of $500 is also unthinkable. That's less than an ipad....
 
Why have the charts reduced to an unreadable size for this article?
 
This is a tad bit better then the one I built off of the earlier build i used from toms. (Built it soon after school ended).
 
This is probably the ONLY $500 build (except for the very 1st one) that I've agreed on mostly (not liking the case too much, but it works in this budget).

The last $500 build just was crap generally (micro-ATX and not many options on the mobo, IMHO).

This budget gaming rig is really close to what I'd build for a friend/family member that wanted to have a gaming rig. I'd change a few things, of coarse, but the overall direction (and selection of parts) is SPOT ON, IMHO!! Good job guys at TH!!!
 
What's that? The Surprise Fourth Build will not be the $2k version? Someone's going to poke around in the grey area between the i3-2100 and the i5-2500? How much extra cash will be allowed?

Why do posts like this "sound" like the something from the '60s Batman TV show?

Tune in tomorrow! 😛
 
First off, great build, the balance of parts is great, and almost exactly what I would recommend to someone in this budget area.

But seriously, what is going on with the small/ low res charts?
 
Its a good $500 build .except it cost $520 and the motherboard is a dead end part .
For another $30 you can include an AM3+ board with the latest 970 series chip set that is fully compatible with Bulldozer.
As it is this build is a dead end , and its out of date in 3 weeks

But its still a better computer than the previous intel build
 
It was a good comparison, and the right build to do, because we got an honest look at the differences and advantages to each platform.
That said, I would have to say that it's not the right $500 system for most gamers. The P II X2 555BE would perhaps let you get a better board, making it a smarter buy at $520, and of course some excellent Rosewill combo deals (that are always on) would help out with the case and PSU.
 
Nice to see the 955 finally get to stick it to the i-3. That and the old boy is what, two years old? Way to go AMD! Its a shame Tom's could'nt point that out. Not really surprising though, with the tiny charts hiding how the 955, DOMINATED, the i-3 at high resolution.
 
Nicely done. I can atest to the volume of that freaking stock fan too. I had mine up to 7000 RPM on my HTPC. I HAD to replace it, it sounded like an old ventalation fan in a bathroom
 
@Cobra5000 - Are you really that happy that a stock SB I3 is beaten by a P-II x4 OC'd just past the AMD X4 top end proc? Ya, its 2 years old but the I3 isn't exactly a high end part. If the P-II had kept up or beaten a I5, then you should be cheering. I think you meant "the tiny charts hiding how the 6780, DOMINATED, the 6850 at high resolutions." The wins the 955 got were in productivity apps due to its 4 physical cores.

I'm hoping that bulldozer will finally give Intel something to worry about. Some pricing wars would be really nice. But I'm not holding my breath.

I think it would be interesting if they changed the video card to a 6850 and show how much the processor change actually made a difference.
 
[citation][nom]mayankleoboy1[/nom]whats with the fuzzy and unreadable charts?[/citation]

Toms is saving up bandwidth by annoying readers.
 
Are you really that happy that a stock SB I3 is beaten by a P-II x4 OC'd just past the AMD X4 top end proc? Ya, its 2 years old but the I3 isn't exactly a high end part. If the P-II had kept up or beaten a I5, then you should be cheering. I think you meant "the tiny charts hiding how the 6780, DOMINATED, the 6850 at high resolutions." The wins the 955 got were in productivity apps due to its 4 physical cores.
Click to expand...

I think the overall options that the AMD build for the $ is a much better build. Yes the PII x4 is older and doesn't dominate that much, but it's a smarter build for the $, IMHO. Yes the mobo is dated too, but it has much better options than the Intel based build last time. The 6870 does make a difference overall for gaming, so that should be no surprise. This is the main reason for going with a more economical and budget friendly AMD based build. The whole point of sticking to the budget (which this build went over the limit by $20) is what this build is about. I would GLADLY recommend the $20 more for a better GPU, than to give a customer a slightly gimped mobo (as the Intel build had). I don't know if it's just me, but this build is in line with what I think most people would build for a $500 build price (minus any OS prices/issues). I would probably get a AM3+ based mobo for possible upgrades later, but it all depends on the customer that would be getting this build.
 
Ever since core 2 duo, AMD has only been able to compete on gang for the buck rather than raw performance, but they have been doing so quite well.
And this is another example of that. It is a bit sad about the upgradeability going forwards however, I tend to prioritize a motherboard that will fit a much better CPU than what i am getting, that way one can easily upgrade CPU and GPU as appropriate.
But this is a good build overall, definatly worth a think by anyone that is buying a system in this pricerange.
 
Jumping back up to the old $625 pricing point would allow us to explore many new performance options and features, though. We certainly appreciate reader feedback concerning this current build, and would value input in what direction you’d like us to take next time around.
Click to expand...
Personally, I'd really like to see multiple builds around a price point. I understand the budget, but if I can get 50% more performance out of another 25% on the cost, it's a worthy investment.

What about having three people on staff pick different builds that all cost within $100 or $150 of each other. Comparing a $500 build to a $2000 build isn't very helpful. Three builds between $500 and $625 would be more helpful. Then, maybe 3 builds in the neighborhood of $1000, and three builds around $2000.

Finally, I’d like to somehow factor in the longevity of these builds. How will the $500 build compare to the $1000 build in a year. Is it better to buy a new $500 PC every year, or get two years out of the $1000 PC? Maybe it’s best to dump $2000 into a new rig every 4 years!
 
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