Review: Vigor's Quadfather Uses AMD Quad FX CPUs

Optical Drive

Vigor chose the same high-value Optiarc 7170 DVD writer found in all of our System Builder Marathon articles, again putting added value into this high-end performance system. Specifications include DVD-R and +R writes of 18x, DVD+RW and -RW rewrites of 8x and 6x, DVD+R and -R Dual Layer disk writes of 8x, CD-R and -RW writes of 48x and 32x and DVD-RAM writes of 12X.

The Optiarc 7170 is available in both Serial ATA and Ultra ATA versions, for a similar price. While the majority of builders would likely prefer the thinner cable of the SATA version, Vigor decided to use the legacy Ultra ATA version for reasons beyond our knowledge.

Floppy Drive

A floppy drive is still required for loading RAID controller drives when installing Windows, but there is no need to waste an entire bay on this rarely-used device. Our configuration includes an eight-in-one multi-format memory card drive above the floppy disk slot.

Power Supply

Dual 8800GTX graphics cards and dual processors add up to a tremendous power load, so this Vigor Force Recon QX4 came equipped with an Enermax Galaxy EGX1000EWL power supply. It features a semi-modular design with the often-used cables soldered-in and the less-used cables plugged in.

A quick glance at Vigor Gaming's current parts list instead shows the 1100W Tagan TurboJet model TG1100-U96, with a slightly higher rated capacity and a whole bunch of positive reviews to prove it just might be the better part.