System Builder Marathon, Sept. 2011: $500 Gaming PC
Table of contents
- 1. A Return To Overclocking
- 2. CPU And Cooler
- 3. Motherboard And Memory
- 4. Graphics Card And Hard Drive
- 5. Case, Power Supply, And Optical Drive
- 6. Assembly
- 7. Overclocking
- 8. Test System Configuration And Benchmarks
- 9. Benchmark Results: Crysis And Just Cause 2
- 10. Benchmark Results: F1 2010 And Metro 2033
- 11. Benchmark Results: Audio And Video
- 12. Benchmark Results: Productivity
- 13. Benchmark Results: Synthetics
- 14. Power Consumption And Temperatures
- 15. Performance Summary, Efficiency, And Conclusion
System Builder Marathon, September 2011: The Articles
Here are links to each of the four articles in this month’s System Builder Marathon (we’ll update them as each story is published). And remember, these systems are all being given away at the end of the marathon.
To enter the giveaway, please fill out this Google form, and be sure to read the complete rules before entering!
Day 1: The $2000 Performance PC
Day 2: The $1000 Enthusiast PC
Day 3: The $500 Gaming PC
Day 4: Performance And Value, Dissected
Introduction
Our $500 System Builder Marathon gaming PC from June 2011 departed from the norm by centering on a budget-oriented Intel Sandy Bridge-based platform that could not be overclocked. At all. It had to stand or fall based on its out-of-box processing power.
The machine actually achieved its goals by providing the best stock performance, the best gaming performance, and, by far, the best efficiency to date for any build under $600 of our series. That's pretty incredible for a processor that couldn't be overclocked.
But there was also a bit of controversy surrounding the build, sparked by the author himself. You see, for the same cost, I could have taken the AMD configuration from the quarter prior and jumped up to an even more attractive Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition CPU.
Furthermore, price drops that went into effect by the time our last series went live meant the higher-end Phenom was available for just $113, which nearly covered the cost of even more powerful graphics hardware.
So, for those of you who read last quarter's series or participated in the discussion, it should come as no surprise to find a Black Edition Phenom II X4 and Radeon HD 6870 listed in the component table below.
| $500 Gaming PC System Components | ||
|---|---|---|
| Component | Model | Price |
| CPU | AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition | $120 |
| CPU Cooler | AMD boxed heatsink/fan | 0 |
| Motherboard | ASRock M3A770DE | $60 |
| RAM | Crucial Ballistix sport 4 GB (2 x 2 GB) DDR3-1333 BL2KIT25664BA1339 | $25 |
| Graphics | Sapphire 100314-3L Radeon HD 6870 1 GB | $175 |
| Hard Drive | Seagate Barracuda ST500DM002 500 GB SATA 6.0Gb/s | $40 |
| Case | NZXT Gamma Classic Series GAMA-001BK | $36 |
| Power | Antec EarthWatts Green EA430D 430 W | $44 |
| Optical | Samsung 22x DVD Burner SATA Model SH-222AB | $19 |
| Total Price | $519 | |
The Phenom II X4 955 BE gives us a nice frequency increase across its four physical cores and the flexibility of an unlocked CPU multiplier. The bundled cooler that comes with the Black Edition chips is a step above the all-aluminum versions bundled with AMD’s more mainstream quad-core offerings, so we expect more potential when it comes time to overclock.
While financial constraints kept us from stepping up to a fancier motherboard compared to past budget-oriented builds, at least we weren't forced to use a stripped-down microATX model, as we had to last quarter. Once again, then, the goal was to spend as close to $500 as possible and still beat the previous build. Although our Phenom II X4 of choice had settled back in at $120, we were still able to buy a nicer graphics card thanks to steep drops in memory prices (our 4 GB memory kit sold for just $25).
And while we're on the subject of money, let's take an opportunity to refresh you on some of our practices here. If you're familiar with our System Builder Marathon, then you know that the budget is dedicated to hardware components alone. It doesn't include software or peripherals. Also, we don't factor in Newegg's combo deals or manufacturer mail-in rebates, since they're often not available when it comes time for you to replicate our builds. Lastly, shipping costs and taxes don't get considered. In case you're interested, there was a $20 rebate available on our chosen graphics card, which could get our price down to $499. But we still would have had to pay $11 for shipping.
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$500 for a quad-core build with a 6870 - better than I ever expected to see on a $500 build. This would provide a great entry level gaming PC at a very affordable price.
Impressive performance considering the tight budget! Anyone with a little more money could spend the extra on upgrading the weak case and cpu cooler, which would make it a nice all-round system.
why don't we get a UK version of these builds, prices are really different in the UK compared to the USA and plus I would like to be able to join in and have a chance in wining one of these builds!
i agree, i would like to see you do a similar one with UK prices..we get ripped something rotten over here!!
or just do the same build but quote in £ and $ and assume that all parts have equally changed prices.
or just do the same build but quote in £ and $ and assume that all parts have equally changed prices.
It wouldn't really work.
Some of the brands readily available in the US aren't easy to acquire or as cheap in the UK.
On top of that the UK tends to get new parts slightly later and at higher intail costs.
You can't directly convert the prices either as generally parts are a lot cheaper in the US then UK. Instead of $500 = £325, $500 of PC parts is closer to £500.
It wouldn't really work.Some of the brands readily available in the US aren't easy to acquire or as cheap in the UK.On top of that the UK tends to get new parts slightly later and at higher intail costs.You can't directly convert the prices either as generally parts are a lot cheaper in the US then UK. Instead of $500 = £325, $500 of PC parts is closer to £500.
the problem for toms is that they then have to create two discrete builds, one for the US and one for the UK with all of the testing and blagging that involves. And then where do you stop? one for Australia, Germany, etc...