“Stren” aka Simon Leigh – Chief Editor
I’ve been playing with computers since I was kid: ZX spectrums then Commodore Amigas and then onto PCs with the 8086. I started customizing PCs when we got a 486 in high school and quickly learned how everything worked thanks to my Dad. By the time I was done with high school I was soon building my own Athlon based PC for University.
All this interest in technology led me to study Electronic Engineering where I worked hard to get a Bachelors and Masters from the University of Cambridge in the UK. After some time as an exchange student at MIT I decided to emigrate to the US and I now work in high speed analog IC (chip) design for a non computing related company. I still modify and build all my computers (currently working on Project Thief) and I’m still interested in getting the best performance out of them.
My engineering focus led me to want to test things and so soon enough I was reviewing parts for myself and when the prominent reviewers of water cooling went into retirement it seemed like a good time to launch Extreme Rigs and step up.
I believe in accurate scientific fact based reviews, but the downside to this can be the time it takes. I would rather release good information at a slower pace than have a fluff article ready at launch.
“fast_fate” aka Darren Karra – Water Cooling Performance Scrutinizer
I first got into computers when I was in my 2nd year of high school. I enrolled into the “new – computer course” at a local college with a bunch of other future tech heads. That was some 30 years ago and wow, haven’t times and the tech changed since then. Life took me in a different direction for my career, but I never lost my interest or enthusiasm for tinkering around with PC’s.
During my current build project I decided to start testing the water cooling parts which might end up in the final build. Having been a “water cooler” for about 8 years already I thought I had a good knowledge base, but there is always more to learn, and there was much to learn about getting reliable and accurate results from my testing.
I started posting my results on one of the forums, but not many people seemed interested – except Stren, and a few others. Regardless of what seemed like a lack of interest I reminded myself that I was doing the testing for myself and carried on. I purchasing some more accurate test equipment and began setting up test benches to run specific tests on.
And here I am now, the build is still not complete and gathers dust, but I’m conducting tests and writing reviews on behalf of Extreme Rigs for all of the water cooling market’s biggest brands – cool !!
“Ramz” aka Mohamed Ramzy – Reviewer
I started gaming and playing with computers since 1993 when I was 10 years old; I started with a Sega SC300 then moved to an Intel based computer in 1996. I took apart my first computer when I was 13 because I couldn’t resist the temptation of knowing how this machine works.
My first real gaming PC was an Intel Pentium IV based system. Then I moved to an Athlon based PC. I had to quit pc gaming for a while due to work and marriage and I came back fully in 2007, starting with a Q9550 system. Then back in 2013 I upgraded to a 3770K based system that I’m now upgrading with dual GPUs under a full custom loop and fully custom sleeved PSU.
I have been an active member of several forums since 2007 and since then my hunger for knowledge and passion to test components has never been bigger. I have to say that being the newest member on ExtremeRigs makes me nervous and makes me want to grasp the opportunity I was given to prove myself as a true enthusiast and a fair, honest, non biased product reviewer.
Turtle Socks – RETIRED
I’m a huge computer enthusiast, always playing with new tech and setups and never satisfied. I was an average computer builder until I picked up a AMD 6990 for an amazing price. From then on I was hooked to finding deals on everything, no matter if the tech was old or new. I’ve played with – or at least owned – more hardware in the past 3 years than most have in their lifetime.
I started out on a forum like most people but became obsessively hooked. Within a year of hanging around the forums I got insanely involved with the Folding@Home community and was dedicating all my time and money to building – and teaching others how to build – 4 processor rigs and folding on them for insane numbers. Within 6 months I was made staff of the folding team but had to retire at the end of the year due to lack of time.
