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Username?
Emirate xaaron
Age/Occupation/Location?
31/ full time sales / UK.
How long have you been a member of Guru3D forums?
Only just joined after a recommendation.
What did you first come here for?
Drivers and tips on graphics card issues and performance.
What do you mainly use the system for?
Gaming and a small amount of multimedia.
How much did you spend on the rig?
£1,100 approx.
How often do you update/buy a new rig?
Whenever I feel the need to. At the mo Im just making small changes but eventually I'll build a whole new system and this will probably be my backup system.
What components are used?
AMD Athlon64 3000+ socket 754
DFI LanParty UT nForce3 250Gb
Nanya 1GB PC3200
XFX geforce 6800GT
Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS
Lite-on DVD-ROM
NEC DVDRW 3500a
Samsung 160gb SATA
Standard floppy drive
Logitech internet pro keyboard and Logitech mx510 mouse
Logitech x-530 5.1 speakers
Hiper Type R 480w PSU
Antec P160 case with window
Philips 170s 17 TFT monitor
Windows XP Home SP2
Why ATI or NVIDIA, why Intel/AMD?
Apart from a 9800 Pro that I had Ive always used Nvidia cards and Im happy with the performance Ive had from them. As for the CPU, I used Intel for a while and fancied trying an AMD 64 and have been very impressed so far.
Does the system work as expected?
Yeah Id say so. I think I could squeeze more performance if I wanted to, but while I have air cooling I dont want to push it. Once I install water cooling then Ill have fun getting more from it.
What's the best part of your rig?
I love my Antec P160 case and Im chuffed how good a job I have done with the cables inside. Im still very pleased with my 6800GT and havent come across a reason to change it.
What sucks and should not have been bought?
Nothing really sucks as such, but I guess I should have gone for socket 939 which was just starting to come out when I bought the socket 754 setup. Saying that it works as well as some socket 939 versions that people I know have. The monitor isnt the best I could have bought but it will do until I get a decent DVI 19 monitor at some point.
Modified cases/video cards/other? Did you do it yourself? Walk us through it.
Without sounding too standard, I have only added a window door to the case and a couple blue lights. I did however spray the drives silver to complete the front of the case, and I plan to change the cooler on the 6800 GT. The whole computer was built by myself.
3DMark scores?
3Dmark03: 11,132
3Dmark05: 5, 288
Future upgrades?
Its going to be a while before I change, but when I do Ill change the whole lot and go for whatever the current socket is at the time and PCI-Express. Until then Im gonna put an Athlon 64 3700+ in to boost it a bit more. Im thinking of putting an extra 512MB RAM in as well as water cooling, and a new DVI equipped 19 TFT monitor is on the cards.
