There's never a dull moment with the Voodoo F1 Liquid—an insanely configured, canary yellow high-performance gaming system. The similarly insane (yet not the highest) price is due to top peripherals, a custom paint job, a CPU/GPU liquid-glycol–based cooling system, and a lifetime component upgrade plan.

Based on an AMD Athlon 64 FX-51, an overclocked nVidia GeForce FX 5950, two 10,000-rpm 36GB RAID 0 hard drives, and a 7,200-rpm 250GB hard drive, this unit delivers excellent gaming performance.

One annoyance: Our unit did not include front USB 2.0 ports (expected in upcoming models). But if you have the bucks and the need for extreme gaming or content creation speed, the Voodoo F1 Liquid can work its magic for you.

MULTIMEDIA

Music:
With the Klipsch ProMedia Ultra 5.1 speakers, an Audigy 2 Platinum eX, and Zalman 5.1-channel headphones, the hardware side of the equation is very strong (though presently, you must unplug the speakers to install the headphones, something Voodoo is fixing soon). InterVideo's WinDVD combines with Ahead Software's Nero Express to handle multiformat ripping and burning needs.

Photos:
The F1 is configured as an extreme gaming system: No special photo-editing software or memory card readers are included.

Video:
A 72GB RAID 0 array and a separate 250GB hard drive provide ample video storage space for the casual video producer. The DVD±RW drive delivers media flexibility, and the 22-inch CRT is wonderful to use with InterVideo's WinDVD suite and Ulead DVD MovieFactory.

Gaming:
The F1 was built for extreme gaming and stresses the stability afforded by its custom Cool IT chilling solution. The nVidia GeForce FX 5950 and the large 22-inch NEC SuperBright CRT add to the graphics immersion.

PERFORMANCE

SUPPORT

The warranty for parts and labor is three years. No on-site service is available. Toll-free technical support is 9:30– 8:00 eastern time Monday–Saturday.