System Builder Marathon, March 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 $2,000 Performance PC
Day 2: The $1,000 Enthusiast PC
Day 3: The $500 Gaming PC
Day 4: Performance And Value, Dissected
Day 5: Tom's Hand-Picked SuperCombo

Introduction

I find it almost ironic that folks who use the value label in talking about their most affordable finds will then go on to talk about the value of their most expensive purchases. The true meaning of value varies between all of us, so long as the product we're talking about does its job the way we want it to. Any product that doesn’t perform adequately then becomes worthless.

Putting aside those qualitative assessments, value can also be determined mathematically by comparing performance to price. The numeric “bang-for-the-buck” result is an easy tool for picking winners, but doesn’t do a good enough job explaining whether the winning product can sufficiently fill the buyer’s needs. A perfect comparison would discuss numeric expressions of performance-value, as well as the suitability of each system for specific tasks.

The cheapest PC in today’s comparison is already equipped with a high-performance graphics card and, as always, will receive the same level of overclocking attention as its high-priced competitors. The real question, then, is how far up the performance ladder the $550 PC can climb, and whether the superior components in the $1000 and $2000 builds will allow them to double and quadruple the less-expensive machine's performance?