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Username: Sprecker
Age: 27
Occupation: Chef
Location: Ottawa, Ontario Canada
I have been a member of Guru3D since Sept 2004
I have been reading the forums since 2000 when I bought a 3dfx 5500 and needed drivers.
I mainly use my system for gaming and surfing the web.
I have spent around $3000-$3500 CAD on this rig.
I usually update my rig every 6 months to 1 year depending on the gain in tech.
CPU P4c 3.06ghz w/ HT 800mhz fsb @ 3.52ghz but set it 3.6ghz for benchmarks.
GPU BFG 6800U OC I keep it at stock speeds (425/1100) unless I am benchmarking then I set it at (482/1280). I use Riva Tuner to OC my card.
MoBo Asus P4P800 i865
RAM 1024MB (512mb x2) dual channel PC 3200 Apacer
Media Liteon DVD +- R/RW
HDD 1x Maxtor 40GB and 1x WD 80GB
PSU Ultra X-Connect 500w modular w/ blue UV reactive cables.
Front panels 1 Enermax 2x2 Ultimate controller and 1 Vantec Nexus
Case Sunon acrylic clear blue
Cooling Dual water cooled:
Rad Danger Den Black Ice Extreme 3 120mm for CPU & HW Black Ice Extreme 2 120mm for 6800U
Pump Swiftech MCP650 for CPU & Swifttech MCP600 for 6800U
Res Dual 3.5" dangerden bay & Swiftech MCR-res. Fittings are all 1/2"
Hose Tygon 1/2" ID UV green
Fans 2 120 mm Delta 130 CFM (Really loud) 3 genaric 120mm fans 50-90CFM
CPU Water Block Polar Flo TT 3 inlet. 1/2" ID
Chipset Swiftech MCW20-R w/ 1/2 " barbs
6800U Swiftech MCW50 w/ 6800 mounting kit.
Fluid Swiftech Hydrix
Lighting 3 cold cathode UV lamps, 1 blue led 80mm fan in front.
I went with Intel because at the time AMD 64's weren't out yet and it was the best proccessor I could get.
I went with the Nvidia 6800U because it was the best feature rich chip that I could get. I had a 5900U, and even though it OC'd like a dream, I was disappointed in the performance compared to the 9800 Pro. Because of this I was really considering the ATI X800XT but because of the lack of PS 3.0 I decided on the 6800U.
The system works as I had thought it should. I do however feel as though it could be faster but that is just the way it is.
The best part of my rig is definately the watercooling. I took me the longest time to build. Mostly because of the research and buying of useless parts. One of my orders (the one that inluded the tygon tubing conveniently enough) was even lost in the mail, but the store was really great and ate the cost and sent me another.
Nothing on my rig realy sucks per say. Although I did buy a lot of junk that never made it into my rig and is in the closet. Like a Kingwin all-in-one water cooling kit. It failed the leak test right after I filled it up. The rest of the junk were just fittings for the water blocks that were incompatible because I never bothered to research for.
I have heavily modified my case to fit the radiators. I had to cut a hole 380cm long and 10cm wide along the left side of the case so I could attach the Black Ice Extreme 3 to it. I did this so the fans would also act as a secondary cooling for the rig and not just the rad. I purchased an 80mm to 120mm fan adapter and used it to attach the Black Ice EXtreme 2 to the top of the case.
The hardest thing was the placement of the pumps and the Swiftech res. One is in the case behind the side rad, the other is attached to the outside, right opposite of the other pump. The swiftech res sticks out a bit (a lot actually) but that was unavoidable because the tubes would kink if I pushed it all the way in and if I were to just cut them shorter then filling would be next to impossible. On the bright side it doesn't block the dvd tray. I had painted flames on the case with UV reactive paint. I rushed (as you can see) and they got all drippy so they are no longer there. I do plan on putting them back on when I have the time to do it correctly.
I chose the Swiftech MCW50 for the 6800U because I could still use the stock ram sinks. It was as if they were made for each other.
I chose the PolarFLo TT for it's asthetics/performance ratio. IMHO it is the nicest looking block on market. Oh and it performs amazingly.
My 3Dmark 05 score is around 5922 http://service.futuremark.com/compare?3dm05=327060
I don't have '03 or Aquamark any more because I no longer feel they are necessary.
In the near future I plan on doing a full redo of the system. I plan on getting an AMD 64 3500-4000
CPU, a next gen GPU (Company will depend on performance and feature set), new MoBO Nforce4 or better, another gig of RAM and a new PSU (company pending). This probably won't happen for at least 6 months.