Reader's Rigs - ADE 1 - Page 1

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ADE 1

Age: 33
Occupation: Business Development Manager for Market Research Company
Location: Pocklington, nr. York, England

How long have you been a member of Guru3D forums? 

I think since about November 2004

What did you first come here for? 

Tips on Graphics Cards and Mods

What do you mainly use the system for? 

Gaming / Copying DVDs & CDs(!) / Work

How much did you spend on the rig? 

£ 3,000 (inc. all accessories)

How often do you update/buy a new rig? 

This is my first one that I’ve built back in November 2004 and have upgraded components ever since.  Will look at building another one maybe later in the year. 

What components are used?

- Coolermaster Cavalier Case (CAV-T03) with 80mm intake and 120mm exhaust fan
- ASUS P4C800E Deluxe Motherboard (Socket 478)
- Intel P4 Extreme Edition 3.4ghz CPU overclocked to 3.9ghz @ 1.65v
- 2gb Corsair 4400 Dual RAM @ 2.75v
- XFX 6800 Ultra overclocked to 440 / 1155 @ 1.6v
- 2x S-ATA Seagate Barracudas 160 gb each RAID 0 configured
- 2x Philips DVDR1640 DVD / CD Drives
- 600W Jeantec Artic Power Supply with exhaust fan
- Creative Soundblaster Audigy 2 ZS Sound card in 5.1
- Logitech 5.1 Speakers
- External Maxtor 300gb hard drive (Firewire)
- ASETEK Waterchilled CPU (did have Northbridge cooled as well until the block developed a split and fried my original motherboard and 6800GT!!!! – still not got back to me re. warranty claim!)  Idle CPU temp is 27C, under full load 31C.
- Hyundai L90D+ monitor through DVI output
- Canon i350 Inkjet printer

Why ATI or NVIDIA, why Intel/AMD? 

Always bought nVidia and really pleased with them – started off on my original PC with a 5700FX OC.  Also, only really knew about Intel initially from their reputation.  Next rig will probably be with a top of the range AMD Athlon.

Does the system work as expected? 

Yes – if not better!

What's the best part of your rig? 

Waterchill CPU block and graphics card

What sucks and should not have been bought? 

Nothing I can think of at the moment – v. happy with everything – in fact, probably a bigger case so I could have been able to fit the dual Waterchill radiator inside – currently outside at the back.

Any modifications?

Had to modify the back slightly in order to route Waterchill piping and electrics to the pump.  I also fitted an Artic Silencer NV5 to my original Asus V9999 6800GT. 

3DMark scores? 

3dMark03 13875, 3dMark05 5904 – all with default driver settings (Quality) and 3dMark settings.  Haven’t benchmarked with High Performance driver settings yet.

Future upgrades? 

Maybe the new 7800 GTX graphics card but will wait to see.  That will probably be part of my next rig with PCI-E motherboard.