PC Gamers today want a high performance Desktop. You have to take a high end quad-core processor, drop in not two but three top-of-the-line NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra graphics cards, chain them together in 3 Way SLI and watch the lights dim.

System Requirements:
Three GeForce 8800 Ultra or GeForce 8800 GTX Graphics Cards
NVIDIA nForce 680i or 780i Motherboard
Intel dual or quad-core Core 2 processor (AMD platform to be announced)
Power Supply with MINIMUM Peak Power of 1100 Watts
  - Four 6-pin and two 9-pin PCI-E Power Connectors or
  - Six 6-pin PCI-E Power Connectors
3-Way SLI Connector
Proper and Robust Case Airflow
New Windows Vista Hotfix For 3-Way SLI (KB945149) Validation Required

We take a look at one of the EPHEX line of systems built around an nForce 680i motherboard, Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6850 quad-core processor, a Silverstone TJ10 case and of course, three GeForce 8800 Ultra Graphics cards under the hood.

Adorned with cold cathode blue lightning and an Asetek LCLC(Low Cost Liquid Cooling kit over its processor socket, the Maingear EPHEX means business. The completely self-contained Asetek kit is really something to see actually and we’ll be covering it a bit more in a full Maingear system showcase in the near future. This system chips with a procesor speed of 3.9GHz, a nice overclok for its 3GHz Core 2 Extreme QX6850 processor.

An then of course there are the three NVIDIA GeForce 8800 Ultra cards strapped in with their new NVIDIA 3 Way connector. Once installed these three cards obviously consume all available expansion slot positions in the case, with the exception of the very top PCI Express X1 slot in the first position aboce the first full X16 slot.

Test System specification for 3D Mark 2006
Processor - Core 2 Extreme QX6850 (3GHz)
Motherboard - Asus P5E3 Deluxe
                          EVGA nForce 680i SLI
Video Cards - Geforce 8800 Ultra (3)
                          GeForce 8800 Ultra (2)
                          GeForce 8800 GTX (2)
                          GeForce 8800 GT (2)
                          GeForce 8800 GTS (2)
                          Radeon HD 3870 (2)
                          Radeon HD 2900TX (2)
Memory - 2048MB Corsair DDR3 - 1333 C7
Audio - Integrated on board
Harddrive - Western Digital Raptor 74GB - 10,000RPM - SATA
OS - Windows Vista Ultimate
DirectX - DirectX 10
Video Drivers - NVIDIA Forceware v169.18
                            ATI Catalyst BETA v8.43
Benchmarks 3DMark06 v1.0.2

NVIDIA Monitor - Full System Load Burn-In

3DMark06

Advantages                                       
The Fastest 3D Graphics Solution Money Can Buy At The Moment
Great Performance Scaling At High Resolution and With The atest Game Engines

Disadvantages
onster Power Required
Eco-Unfriendly
Insanely Expensive
HOT