Tech

Ars System Guide: We actually built the Performance Gaming Box (December 2014)

Though our time together was brief, we’ve got construction notes and basic benchmarks.

Brian Won – Jan 4, 2015 4:00 pm | 98

The Ars System Guide—our regularly updated series on building the best computers for unique needs and different price points—has been around for more than a decade. And while things have evolved significantly over that time, there’s always been a lingering (albeit largely unspoken) criticism.

We never actually build the boxes.

So when the opportunity finally presented itself, of course we had to act. Shortly after wrapping up the newest Gaming Boxes, I received a request in my non-Ars life for a build eerily similar to the higher-end Performance Gaming Box. This model represented the first time the System Guide crammed that much performance into such a small box, and somehow it turned out to be both more and less interesting than expected.

What follows is an actual build that’s about 95 percent identical to our latest Guide specifications. The biggest changes are a larger SSD and, critically, the lack of an identical monitor. Sadly, we had a very brief window with the Performance Gaming Box before it was shipped off via a sleigh and eight reindeer (or the UPS truck). But rest assured, that time was used for actual Ars System Guide build documentation and limited testing.

Components

Again, the components for this particular build follow the Performance Gaming Box very closely, though not exactly. Overall this recreation is not as close as we’d hoped due to last minute supply issues and specific needs for the system’s ultimate use.

The Performance Gaming Box components are listed below, and this was constructed per the higher-end option with SLI’ed Geforce GTX 970’s. Notable changes are listed in italics and strikeouts.

Core components:

Intel Core i5-4690K = $229.99
Gigabyte GA-Z97MX-Gaming 5 = $127.99 ($117.99AR)
Crucial Ballistix Sport XT Crucial Ballistix Tactical 16GB (2x8GB) DDR3-1866 CL9 CL10 1.5v = $151.99 $159.99
Samsung 840 EVO 500GB 1TB = $229.99 $416.99
Toshiba 3TB (DT01ACA300) = $99.99
Corsair Obsidian 350D = $79.99 ($59.99AR)
Corsair 120mm AF120 Quiet Edition Twin Pack = $28.99
eVGA SuperNOVA 850 G2 Corsair HX850 = $144.99 ($114.99AR) $139.99 ($109.99AR)
Logitech G402 = $49.95
Coolermaster Storm QuickFire XT = $99.95
Edifier M1360 = $47.77
Subtotal = $1,301.59 $1,043.94 ($1,251.59 $983.94 after rebates)

Higher-end option:

eVGA Geforce GTX 970 Superclocked (04G-P4-1972-KR) = $349.99 * 2 = $699.98
Asus ROG Swift PG278Q 27″ 144hz = $799.99
Total = $2,801.56 $2,543.91 ($2751.56 $2,483.91 after rebates)

There are few specific omissions that limited our testing. To start, speakers, a keyboard, and a mouse did not make it to our testing. While these are largely personal choices in the end, it would’ve been nice to mirror the guide specifications.

More significantly, the Asus ROG Swift 27″ monitor never made it to our hands. This meant actual graphical benchmarks were run only in a most cursory fashion. We had time for power measurements and FurMark, but not much else.

Finally, there were three changes that might make a quantifiable difference in our benchmarks: SSD, (lack of) harddisk, and power supply. While the Performance Gaming Box specs a 500GB SSD and a 3TB harddisk, this particular build has only a 1TB SSD. It’s still a Samsung 840 EVO, and its power consumption between 500GB and 1TB models is extremely close, close enough not to matter for our purposes. The omission of a harddisk is more significant, saving 5 or 6 watts during normal use per Toshiba’s specs.

Power supply is a Corsair HX850 instead of an eVGA SuperNOVA 850 G2. Both are 850W power supplies rated at 80PLUS Gold for efficiency, and both show very similar efficiency per Jonnyguru (Corsair, eVGA). Technically the Corsair appears to be a few tenths of a percent more efficient, but that’s stretching the limits of our simple measuring equipment.

Construction nuances

We already have guides on how to build a computer. This is not intended to replace them; rather, this is a more detailed look at the specific nuances of this Performance Gaming Box’s assembly process.

We have a fair amount of experience with the Corsair Obsidian 350D here in the Orbiting HQ, and while not perfect, it’s pretty easy to work in. The only quirk that might be irritating to the Performance Gaming Box is the fact that the Corsair AF120 Quiet 120mm fans have cables that are a hair too short to find all the fan headers on the motherboard. One hides neatly, but the other is just a tad too short and has to be aimed straight to the fan header, as opposed to neatly routed like the rest of the cables in the system. A 3-pin fan extension of 2″ or 3″ (5 to 8cm) would probably enable neater cable routing.

We start by shifting the front 140mm fan to the top rear as an exhaust, although this could be left in as an intake and instead lowered or raised to permit the additional intake fan to be installed. Removing the 3.5″ drive cage (several screws, including on the bottom of the chassis) makes this easier. Note that we moved top fan rubber isolators to the 140mm fan holes, although fit was a little messy. Take care to clock fans properly so the fan power cable comes out close to a fan header, as it keeps things neater. The motherboard I/O shield also snaps in neatly at this time.

Memory and CPU are on the motherboard before installation, although with the Intel retail box heatsink this is a trivial task to do if you’ve already installed the motherboard inside the case. Corsair preinstalls all the standoffs needed, and the center standoff is a snap-in design for motherboard alignment. Routing the front panel cables takes a little bit of untangling and routing, but the cutouts in the case match up well with where the cables need to go. Gigabyte lacks the convenient front panel cable blocks that Asus includes, but this is a fairly minor inconvenience. We connect the other headers (i.e. USB 3.0) at this time, although others may choose to do so later—doing so anytime before the GPU’s are installed is fine. Note that the USB 3.0 internal header cable is pretty thick, so plan accordingly. We usually start the zip tie massacre in earnest at this point, taking care to keep cables neatly bundled and out of the way of any moving parts where they might get damaged. An important reminder: many cables do need a little slack in them to prevent unnecessary strain on the connectors, so don’t go too crazy when pulling cables out of the way.

We use a straight end of an included SATA cable to connect to the motherboard, pushing it through the adjacent cutout and then up to the SSD. The 350D has two 2.5″ bays, and we use the lower one to mount the SSD (after securing it with screws—a recommended step if you expect FedEx/UPS to manhandle your system). The motherboard’s SATA cables have a 90 degree end, and using the lower bay means less stress on the 90 degree connector. Using SATA cables with straight ends on both would let both 2.5″ bays be used comfortably.

Power supply installation is straightforward. We orient the PSU to suck air through the filtered bottom vent, although anyone using a Corsair Obsidian 350D (or any case with bottom-mount PSU vent) directly on the floor where the bottom vent may be obstructed may wish to flip the PSU over. That means taking in air from inside the case itself instead, but it beats a blocked cooling fan.

A semi-modular power supply unit is just fine inside the 350D thanks to a generous amount of room and large cutouts for cables. The ATX12V/EPS12V power cable on most power supplies is plenty long, so we do need to carefully route the excess cable. Ditto for the main ATX power cable, which is thick and might prevent the side panel from closing if it sticks out too much. We recommend keeping a little bit of slack on the cables to avoid any unnecessary strain.

Interior view, cabling finished *before* GPU installation. Note front panel audio, front panel buttons, LEDs, and fan power cables routed along bottom of motherboard. Here’s a close-up of the 2.5″ drive bay cables.

We route the PCI-e power cables directly from the power supply area to the GPU’s, since they’re right above the power supply. This makes for a bit of a large bundle right in front of the power supply, but there’s plenty of unused space and it’s out of the airflow path for the fans. Cooling is not affected. The SATA cable for the SSD gets bundled behind the SSD. Cabling for the harddisk needs a little more care, but it’s still fairly straightforward to route.

Before actually powering up the system, make sure all tape covering the fan filter, packaging materials, and anything else that might interfere with system operation is removed. The eVGA GPU’s we use include covers for the unused monitor connections, and we prefer to leave those installed.

Power consumption

Unfortunately, testing was extremely limited due to the circumstances. The only data we have is a very limited set of power consumption numbers. System was set at factory clocks—stock for the processor and eVGA’s stock (which are overclocked vs. nVidia reference) clock speeds for the eVGA Geforce GTX 970’s. Testing resolution was 1280×1024 at 60hz via DVI. Power consumption was measured at the wall with a Kill-A-Watt P3 P4400. Calculated DC power consumption numbers were estimated based on actual power supply efficiency measurements.

Test	Maximum	Observed	DC
Idle	N/A	52.7 watts to 56.7W (typical)	N/A
IntelBurnTest	163W	159~163W	141~145W
Prime95 (small FFT)	167W	N/A	149W
Prime95 (large FFT)	179W	174~179W	155~159W
FurMark (GPU)	372W	353~372W	320~337W
FurMark + Prime95 (2x P95 threads, blend)	484W	479~484W	433~437W

FurMark

	Sustained	Temperature	Power	Fan	Limit
GPU1	1386mhz	80 degrees C	94 percent	64 percent	voltage limit observed
GPU2	1265mhz	80 degrees C	74 percent	64 percent	temperature limit observed

FurMark + Prime95

	Sustained	Temperature	Power	Fan	Limit
GPU1	1113mhz	81 degrees C	101.1 percent	68 percent	power limit observed
GPU2	1113mhz	85 degrees C	100.6 percent	82 percent	power limit observed

Ambient temperature was approximately 21~22C. No CPU throttling was observed, although temperatures did get extremely toasty under extended Prime95 loads (90C+). Under maximum load (FurMark only or FurMark + Prime95), system noise was audible but very tolerable despite our testing area not being particularly quiet. At idle, fan noise was really only audible when close to the top of the case where noise has a direct leakage path due to the very open top panel.

The actual Performance Gaming Box would probably have somewhat higher power consumption by 1W to ~4W at idle and ~6W during use due to the inclusion of a 3.5″ harddisk.

Additional fan profile tweaks might have resulted in different noise results or temperatures, and that’s definitely something that deserves a more in-depth look at a future date. Blocking off the unused half of the top fan mount or testing different fan configurations might also have been useful.

The very brief period we had with the system precluded proper temperature, noise, or performance testing. Ideally, we would get a few days with the Value Gaming Box or the Performance Gaming Box on a proper test bench instead of a production area inside the Orbiting HQ, and we would prefer to have the Asus ROG Swift PG278Q on hand for proper gaming benchmarks. Alas, t’was not to be.

Finishing touches

Gigabyte and nVidia have fairly smooth driver installation procedures, although we prefer to get drivers off their respective websites rather than going off the included driver discs. Double-check the SSD firmware by downloading and installing Samsung SSD Magician; if your SSD is old stock it may still have the older, buggy 840 EVO firmware on it that resulted in slow performance on old data.

From here, the gear is all set it up and ready to enjoy. Or, as was the case with this particular box after testing, the gear was ready to be sent off the next destination. Perfect System Guide builds are difficult to come by in the wild due to a variety of factors—release timing, pricing, updates, parts simply in stock, and more—but rest assured we’ll keep our eyes open for the next opportunity that presents itself, no matter how brief. Hopefully, it’ll come around before the next decade of Guides is complete.

Brian Won

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