Puget Systems Gaming Computer

Users who want loads of expansion room, along with great performance and overclocking features, will love Puget System's Gaming Computer, despite its daunting price tag of $5765 (as of January 3, 2008).

The PGC comes with Intel's latest Extreme processor (the 45nm 3-GHz QX9650) and two sticks of 1066-MHz DDR3 RAM totaling 2GB. Strapped to the CPU is a Puget Hydro CL1 liquid cooler, whose radiator connects to a large exhaust fan situated where a power supply would normally be. The power supply occupies the lower back of the case, a unique arrangement that contributes to one of the neatest interiors we've ever seen.

Another contributor to interior tidiness is Antec's wonderful P182 case which provides 11 drive bays. Blue LED-lit fans, a dark-blue cold cathode lighting tube, and the copper heat exchange components of the Asus P5E3 Deluxe SLi motherboard look great when seen through the clear side panel.

The Puget Systems Gaming Computer's overall score of 124 on our WorldBench 6 Beta 2 test suite translates into a word score of Superior, but the system's performance fell off in such large-file-intensive tasks as using Nero 7 Ultra edition to create disc images. The most likely explanation for the drop-off is that the PGC we reviewed didn't combine two hard drives in a striped array; instead, it relied on a 150GB, 10,000-rpm Western Digital Raptor hard drive and a separate 1TB, 7200-rpm Hitachi hard drive. The system's gaming scores were excellent, thanks to its 768MB nVidia GeForce 8800 Ultra graphics board.

Other elements in our test configuration were an 18x Asus DVD-rewritable drive, and a wireless Logitech M-RBA97 mouse and Y-RAH72 keyboard. All are serviceable, but at this price I'd have liked something a little snazzier. Still, this is a good system for users with deep pockets and a taste for elegant assembly.