PC Club Enpower Sabre Extreme: E6600 Made Easy
by Jarred Walton on August 29, 2006 4:40 AM EST- Posted in
- Systems
Noise and Power
Another aspect of system performance that would like to test is the noise and power requirements. As this is supposed to be a general use computer, most people aren't going to be interested in turbine engine noise levels or high power bills. We test systems at stock and overclocked (where applicable) speeds in both idle and 100% load situations. We then measured power draw and noise levels created by the system. 100% load is achieved by running two instances of Folding@Home along with the Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory benchmark. Performing video encoding or other CPU intensive tasks while playing a game will achieve a similar CPU load. We also provide a CPU-only stress test to show the difference between 100% CPU load and 100% CPU + GPU load. The CPU load is achieved by running the two Folding@Home instances without starting any games or other tasks.
Some of our readers have questioned in the past why we even perform such heavy stress test scenarios. After all, there are a lot of people that will never run to CPU intensive tasks along with a game to fully stress their computer, right? The problem is, we really don't know for sure what the future holds. Right now, most games and applications will not achieve the same load levels that we are using. In another year, however, with products like Windows Vista shipping and new games on the horizon, we may actually see situations where "typical use" scenarios put a similar stress on a system. We consider these tests a worst-case scenario, but provided the systems can run fully stable throughout our testing then we can say with some confidence that they will be okay with future applications and games.
For the ABS system, noise results basically showed no difference between any of the clock speeds, as all of the fans run at a constant RPM. However, the water cooling fan does come with the ability to control fan speed, so we set that to minimum for idle testing and maximum speed to show the difference in noise levels. The PC Club Sabre Extreme uses variable fan speeds to deal with heat output, so we enabled the appropriate setting in the BIOS for testing.
Starting with power requirements, it should come as little surprise that increasing CPU speed and voltage requires more power. The 25% overclock we used on the Sabre Extreme uses an additional ~20W of power. In comparison to an extreme system like the ABS Ultimate X9, the power requirements of the Sabre Extreme are extremely low. Using two faster graphics cards, a faster CPU, not to mention the water cooling configuration and hard drives clearly requires a lot more power than a typical midrange computer.
Looking at noise levels, the charts look relatively constant on the PC Club. At higher overclocks (not shown), noise levels did increase a few more decibels, but it required additional CPU voltage to reach that point. The PC Club Sabre Extreme is not a silent system, but it is relatively quiet. One thing that isn't shown is the variations in noise level that occur with variable fan speeds enabled in the BIOS. We actually found the changing RPMs of the fans to be more annoying than simply leaving them at maximum fan speed all the time. Particularly at lower RPMs, the fans in the PC Club tend to generate a dull hum that resonates with the case. We preferred disabling the CPU fan speed control in order to eliminate this effect, although there's no way to disable the variable fan speed of the PSU.
The ABS Ultimate X9 is louder at maximum fan speed and quieter at minimum fan speed -- nearly silent in the case of the latter -- but we also have to mention that the X9 was not entirely stable during testing in the original configuration, and for high stress situations you would definitely want to increase the fan RPMs.
Another aspect of system performance that would like to test is the noise and power requirements. As this is supposed to be a general use computer, most people aren't going to be interested in turbine engine noise levels or high power bills. We test systems at stock and overclocked (where applicable) speeds in both idle and 100% load situations. We then measured power draw and noise levels created by the system. 100% load is achieved by running two instances of Folding@Home along with the Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory benchmark. Performing video encoding or other CPU intensive tasks while playing a game will achieve a similar CPU load. We also provide a CPU-only stress test to show the difference between 100% CPU load and 100% CPU + GPU load. The CPU load is achieved by running the two Folding@Home instances without starting any games or other tasks.
Some of our readers have questioned in the past why we even perform such heavy stress test scenarios. After all, there are a lot of people that will never run to CPU intensive tasks along with a game to fully stress their computer, right? The problem is, we really don't know for sure what the future holds. Right now, most games and applications will not achieve the same load levels that we are using. In another year, however, with products like Windows Vista shipping and new games on the horizon, we may actually see situations where "typical use" scenarios put a similar stress on a system. We consider these tests a worst-case scenario, but provided the systems can run fully stable throughout our testing then we can say with some confidence that they will be okay with future applications and games.
For the ABS system, noise results basically showed no difference between any of the clock speeds, as all of the fans run at a constant RPM. However, the water cooling fan does come with the ability to control fan speed, so we set that to minimum for idle testing and maximum speed to show the difference in noise levels. The PC Club Sabre Extreme uses variable fan speeds to deal with heat output, so we enabled the appropriate setting in the BIOS for testing.
Starting with power requirements, it should come as little surprise that increasing CPU speed and voltage requires more power. The 25% overclock we used on the Sabre Extreme uses an additional ~20W of power. In comparison to an extreme system like the ABS Ultimate X9, the power requirements of the Sabre Extreme are extremely low. Using two faster graphics cards, a faster CPU, not to mention the water cooling configuration and hard drives clearly requires a lot more power than a typical midrange computer.
Looking at noise levels, the charts look relatively constant on the PC Club. At higher overclocks (not shown), noise levels did increase a few more decibels, but it required additional CPU voltage to reach that point. The PC Club Sabre Extreme is not a silent system, but it is relatively quiet. One thing that isn't shown is the variations in noise level that occur with variable fan speeds enabled in the BIOS. We actually found the changing RPMs of the fans to be more annoying than simply leaving them at maximum fan speed all the time. Particularly at lower RPMs, the fans in the PC Club tend to generate a dull hum that resonates with the case. We preferred disabling the CPU fan speed control in order to eliminate this effect, although there's no way to disable the variable fan speed of the PSU.
The ABS Ultimate X9 is louder at maximum fan speed and quieter at minimum fan speed -- nearly silent in the case of the latter -- but we also have to mention that the X9 was not entirely stable during testing in the original configuration, and for high stress situations you would definitely want to increase the fan RPMs.
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nah - Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - link
Good work, as always. How about an update on the CPU?GPU guides ?modo - Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - link
Just went over to ibuypower.com and configured a Core 2 duo E6600 with the MSI 965 mobo, 500W PSU, 1 gig ram, 250 gig HD, 7900Gt 256mb, dvd burner, with a mini-liquid cooler for the cpu for $1245 (without monitor). Enter 'ibuypower' code when you order and you get 5% off, taking the total down to less than $1200.Better system for $200 less?
JarredWalton - Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - link
Add in the OS and monitor, and the total comes to $1522 with the discount. ($1361 without $229 LCD = $1293 with discount.) You need a 16MB cache HDD and a DVDRW with LightScribe if you want to make things "equal" on components. You can also add some extras that may or may not be available elsewhere. Anyway, it's still slightly cheaper; is it worth considering? Sure - it comes with a 3 year warranty. How's the support? I don't know. As stated in the conclusion, PC Club has some reasonable offers people might want to look at - especially if you live near a local store and would like that sort of support. There are a ton of competing system vendors out there.yyrkoon - Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - link
MSI . . . I can not speak for everyone else, but I've had less than good results using MSI products. They may work fine for a period of time, but can not really be comparred to someone like ABIT, or Gigabyte. Who makes the PSU ? Why do you need a 'mini-liquid cooler' ?I've personally configured (but not bought) a simular C2D budget system, but using a E6400, and a 7600GT, and overall cost was around $800usd. Of course, I had planned on migrating a PSU (Antec), and HDDs from an older system. This is why I almost always suggest quality parts, as quality parts often last for years, and can be reused (in the case of a PSU, and HDDs here). You can go even cheaper if you use something along the lines of the Asrock 775Dual-VSTA motherboard, and migrate memory, and video from current system. *shrug* My personal experience with Asrock however, is that usually they are very solid boards (for the price), but are often less than top tier stable, and more often then not, are fairly quirky, and missing Features such as offering a SATAII controller, but disabling (or not including) command queuing(which is part of the SATAII spec, unless I'm mistaken).
QueBert - Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - link
funny, while I don't really care for MSI, never had a problem with them. Now Gigabyte UGH, on my 3rd board right now for this 939. And my last Gigabyte board (Athlon XP) gave me problems from day one. It's crazy how one person can never have a problem with a brand, and the guy next to him has nothing but problems. I think MSI has gotten a lot better then they were in the past. I live 2 blocks from a PC Club, and i can tell you this, whatever prebuilt systems they sell, they've done A LOT of component testing. As I've never heard somebody complain about an Enpower system, besides those who screw things up themselves with viruses and such. I only shop at PC Club, unless it's something they don't carry. They cost a bit more then Newegg, but the service is great. I walk in, they know me by name. They sold me a MB + Memory, I was dumb and didn't check, the MB was DDR2 and the memory was DDR1, I wanted DDR1, so they took the open MB back, no hassle.bob4432 - Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - link
Nice article and seems like a decent system for the $$$$. One question - where can we get the bf2 1.3 benchmark you are using?thanks,
bob :)
JarredWalton - Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - link
Sure, http://images.anandtech.com/reviews/benchmarks/bf2...">have at it. Standard "this is beta" disclaimers apply. If you don't know how to tweak a batch file, you're on your own. :)--Jarred Walton
bob4432 - Wednesday, August 30, 2006 - link
thanks, i had the 1.22 but lost it, then 1.3 came out.regnez - Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - link
why is that in the feature list the graphics card is a 7900gt and in the benchmark setup it is a 7900gtx? is this a typo or was the graphics card switched out for the benchmark setup?also, it does not seem as if a 350 watt psu is enough to power that graphics card...
and one more thing: this system is called a mid-range system in the review, and I quite disagree. a mid range system would be something in the price range of $700-$900. this is a high end system, and it would not take much ($400 ish more) to bring it up to enthusiast level.
JarredWalton - Tuesday, August 29, 2006 - link
It was a typo; the system (as configured and tested) uses the 7900 GT. In terms of power, look at the power tests on page 9. Even with a 25% overclock and maximum load, the system draws 213W of power. That's not even accounting for PSU efficiency; remember that the PSU rating is what can be output, not the total wall power draw. Say it's 75% efficient; that means the system is using about 160W of power at maximum load. I've got a few generic 350W PSUs running similar configurations, and none of them have ever had issues.Finally, there is always debate about where market segments overlap price ranges. We consider budget to be $750 or less (maybe a bit more for budget gaming). Midrange is a huge segment that goes from around $1000 to $1500. At ~$1600, this is close enough, though it's definitely at the top of the midrange ladder. High-end starts at $2000 and can go way up from there. It's just a term anyway, and if you think $1500 is too high you're welcome to that opinion. The base configuration of the EN-SE5 comes with an E6300, 7300GS TurboCache, 160GB HDD, and costs $800 (including the OS). It's not longer really gaming worthy, but it will do everything else very well.