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Michael B.

Michael B.

Joined on 06/03/07

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Most Favorable Review

A quality, fully modular, PSU

CORSAIR RM650 650 W ATX 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Power Supply
CORSAIR RM650 650 W ATX 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Power Supply

Pros: 1. Efficient, 80 PLUS GOLD Certified. Supports both 115V/60Hz and 230V/50Hz without a manual switch (100240V and 47-63Hz). 2. Silent (zero RPM Mode Fan) operation under low loads (up to ~250 watts). The PSU includes a "Silent Operation" warning sticker. At power on, the Fan turns on after 2-3 seconds, then runs for 5-6 seconds, to let you know its working. 3. The 24 pin Motherboard Cable has 28-pins (18+10) where the cable plugs into the PSU's modular interface. The extra four pins are "sense wires", allowing the PSU to read the voltages at the Load end of the cable and adjust the voltages. 4. Comes with four mounting screws and 10 cable ties. 5. Ten year Warranty.

Cons: 1. There is some confusion on what cables/connectors are provided. I will attempt to clarify here (also see the image). Eight Corsair Type 4 cables are included. All eight cables can be plugged into the PSU concurrently. Read each list row below as: "Number of Cables: Number of Connectors per Cable x Connector Type". One: 1 x 24 pin ATX Two: 1 x 8 pin (4+4) EPS (CPU) Two: 2 x 8 pin (6+2) PCIe One: 4 x 4 pin Molex Peripheral One: 4 x 15 pin SATA One: 3 x 15 pin SATA 2. The PSU comes in a cheap/thin (impossible not to tear when opening) plastic bag. All other packaging is good quality. 3. No PSU Motherboard cable connector "test plug". Seasonic has started including these. This "test plug" allows you to assure the PSU will power on before you connect it to your Motherboard.

Overall Review: 1. Modular PSU cables are not standardized. Do not attempt to use the cables from one PSU on any other PSU (even from the same manufacturer). 2. Over time, both EPS (CPU) and PCIe cable connectors have grown to eight pins, however they are NOT interchangeable. The Pinouts of EPS (a.k.a. CPU) cables connectors are NOT the same as PCIe connectors cables. In fact, they are reversed (+12 Volt and Ground). Using the wrong cable will short +12 Volt to Ground and likely cause damage. 3. I recommend this PSU.

Most Critical Review

DDR3 runs below Spec

PowerColor Go! Green Radeon HD 5450 1GB DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 CrossFireX Support Low Profile Graphics Card AX5450 1GBK3-SHEV4
PowerColor Go! Green Radeon HD 5450 1GB DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 CrossFireX Support Low Profile Graphics Card AX5450 1GBK3-SHEV4

Pros: I own multiple AMD/ATI Radeon HD 5450 cards from Sapphire, XFX and PowerColor. All the cards meet my needs (I'm not a gamer). My heaviest demand is Windows Media Center (MCE). Other than the amount of DDR3 RAM, I thought the cards would be identical. Boy was I wrong. I am posting my results, comparing the three vendors.

Cons: The Sapphire (I own two) and PowerColor have 1GB of DDR3. The XFX has 512MB of DDR3. Using CPUID HWMonitor all four card cores run at 650 MHz. The DDR3 on the two Sapphire cards run at 667 MHz (above spec); the XFX DDR3 at 533 MHz (at spec); the PowerColor DDR3 at 400 MHz (below spec). All the cards are 64 bit, so card specs double the MHz. The Sapphire and XFX reduce the core and DDR3 MHz under light load (to reduce power and heat). The PowerColor remains constant at 650 and 400 MHz. Running the same (real life) workload (Windows MCE), the Sapphire utilization is ~28%; the XFX ~58%; the PowerColor ~60%. The Sapphire operates at ~47C; the XFX ~43C; the PowerColor ~49C. From visual inspection, the Sapphire has the largest heat sync (it wraps around the card). The XFX heat sync is smaller (only extends above the card). The PowerColor has the smallest heat sync. Windows Experience Index (Desktop Graphics, and 3D Business and Gaming): Sapphire (4.5 and 6.1); XFX* (2.7 and 5.4); PowerColor (3.4 and 5.7). * Note the XFX card only has half the DDR3.

Overall Review: By nearly every metric I measured, the Sapphire is the best; the XFX a near second (given equal DDR3); the PowerColor a distant third. I rate only two Eggs mostly because the DDR3 is not to Spec.

Small size, Big performance.

Crucial P310 2TB PCIe Gen4 2230 NVMe M.2 SSD - Up to 7,100 MB/s - Uplevel Your Console - Internal Solid State Drive (PC) - CT2000P310SSD2
Crucial P310 2TB PCIe Gen4 2230 NVMe M.2 SSD - Up to 7,100 MB/s - Uplevel Your Console - Internal Solid State Drive (PC) - CT2000P310SSD2

Pros: My focus was usage of the Crucial P310 in a USB-C external enclosure (Ugreen, see image). Best of bread performance. If you want to see Motherboard attached performance measurements (Read/Write x Large/Small blocks) look at the numerous other reviews. Sequential Read: 7100 MB/s, Sequential Write: 6000 MB/s. I measured 1,000 MB/sec Read, and 700 MB/sec Write transferring large files via Windows 10 Drag and Drop via USB-C.

Cons: The Crucial P310 comes with no Heat sync or Fan. The paper packaging box is flimsy, however the Crucial P310 is protected by a firm plastic insert. Weak software support. Crucial Storage Executive (shows drive health, enables firmware updates, contains useful features for drive maintenance and operation) see below.

Overall Review: The form factor is M.2 2230 (22mm x 30 mm) single sided. Identical components as the M.2 2280 version. Interface: NVMe (PCIe Gen 4 x4). Phison NVMe E27 controller. Micron 232-Layer QLC (Quad Level Cell, four bits per cell) flash dies in a single package. RAID NAND. No DRAM Cache. SSD Endurance is 440 TB written (on 2TB). 5 year Warranty. I installed Crucial Storage Executive (Version: 10.07.072024.01). It is a JAVA App and loads slowly. A banner displays for about five seconds, then goes away; about twenty seconds later the App finally loads. With the P310 2230 (CT2000P310SSD2) attached (via a USB enclosure) after the banner goes away, it takes like five minutes to load the App. During that time, I see high CPU usage (Windows Anti Virus). Once the App finally loads (seriously after five minutes of nothing on my screen) the P310 2230 wasn't even displayed. I was able to use the Crucial Storage Executive App to update my T500 2280 (CT2000T500SSD8) firmware from P8CR002 to P8CR004, Motherboard M.2 installed in the same system.

Ten years of Backward Compatibility (2024 to 2014) for Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H

Crucial T500 2TB Gen4 NVMe M.2 Internal Gaming SSD, Up to 7400MB/s, laptop & desktop Compatible + 1mo Adobe CC All Apps - CT2000T500SSD8
Crucial T500 2TB Gen4 NVMe M.2 Internal Gaming SSD, Up to 7400MB/s, laptop & desktop Compatible + 1mo Adobe CC All Apps - CT2000T500SSD8

Pros: My focus is Backward Compatibility. That is, can I install a 2024 NMVe into a 2014 Motherboard? - The short answer is Yes, and it performs well (for its age). The NMVe has no Heat sync or Fan (see Image #2) but runs cool (26 C, 79 F). The stress level on the NVMe in my system is non existent. If you want to see performance measurements (Read/Write x Large/Small blocks) look at the numerous other reviews.

Cons: The external (paper) packaging box is flimsy (see Image #1) which was crushed. However, the NVMe card was undamaged due to internal plastic insert. NOTE: A common mistake when installing Windows on a another HDD, SDD, NVME is forgetting to disconnect all other boot devices during the install. You want Windows to create a new EFI (Boot) partition on the new boot device during the install. You can then select which boot device you want to load via the UEFI BIOS Boot Order. If you leave another boot device connected during the install, Windows will just update its EFI (Boot) partition (i.e. Dual Boot). You will be unable to boot from your new install device unless the boot device with the EFI (Boot) partition is attached.

Overall Review: I received a Gigabyte GA-Z97X-UD3H Motherboard from NewEgg to review in June 2014. The Motherboard is based on the Intel Z97 Chipset. With PCI Express Revision 2.0 (Configurations x1, x2, x4). The Motherboard was an early adopter of M.2 SSD/NVMe slots. - SATA Express support for 10 Gb/s data transfer - M.2 for SSDs drives with up to 10 Gb/s data transfer I could see the NVMe in Windows 10 Disk Manager. I initialized the NVMe as GPT (GUID Partition Table Scheme). I then created and formatted Primary Partitions. I could Read and Write files to the NVMe. I measure ~550 MB/sec copying a large file from the NVMe to another folder on the NVMe (else I am limited by HDD or Network speeds). I rebooted from a Windows 10 Media-Creation-Tool and performed a clean install of Windows 10. Then my trouble started. The NVMe did not show up anywhere in my UEFI (BIOS). There was no entry in the Boot Order for the NVMe. The solution was to update the UEFI (BIOS) from F6 (May 30, 2014) to F9 (Sep 18, 2015). This F9 update adds (to BIOS Features) a Menu item (NVMe Configuration) and includes the NVMe in the Boot Order. Now I can boot Windows 10 from NVMe (or my original HDD) via the UEFI BIOS Boot Order.

Zero installation versatility for my ATX case

CORSAIR QX RGB Series, iCUE LINK QX120 RGB, 120mm Magnetic Dome RGB Fan, Expansion  Kit
CORSAIR QX RGB Series, iCUE LINK QX120 RGB, 120mm Magnetic Dome RGB Fan, Expansion Kit

Pros: 1. Easy to install. - Plug the Hub into a six pin PSU power connector via provided cable. - Plug the Hub into USB2 port on your motherboard via provided cable. - Plug the first Fan into first Hub port via provided cable. - Plug additional Fan(s) into either the first Fan (either directly or via provided cable) or the second Hub port via provided cable. - Install the Corsair iCUE software. If your Fans power on, but the Fans and Hub do not show up in the iCUE display, the Hub USB cable is likely not attached correctly. 2. The Fans look very nice and have ample programmability. I prefer the "Time Warp" LED mode. 3. I was immediately instructed to update the LINK System Hub Firmware to v.1.6.336 (from v.1.0.200). My first update attempt failed, the second attempt worked. 4. Three Fan speeds (RPM) under the "Cooling" menu - Quiet: 480, Balanced: 850, Extreme: 1200. 5. The Fans are very Quiet at all RPM levels (480, 850, and 1200). 6. You can program the LED Colors three ways: - [a] Select a pre-set, [b] Slide a circle on a color pallet, [c] In raw Hex (i.e. RRGGBB).

Cons: 1. Somewhat Expensive. 2. The Cables are thick, and not easy to bend. The two cables in the Starter Kit (one short and one long) have Straight connectors on both ends. The two additional cables (both short 200mm) have a 90 degree connector on one end. There are no provided cables with 90 degree connectors on both ends of the cable. 3. No new Devices shows up in the Windows Device Manager. 4. Heavy disk usage from iCUE software when you Boot your system. 5. With "Time Warp" (in Static mode) the fans appear to "rock, back and forth" at times at lowest 480 RPM level (a.k.a. Quiet).

Overall Review: 1. I could NOT install the 120 mm Fan Kit in the top pair of 140/120 mm Fan Grills in my NZXT Source 210 ATX Case. - The screw holes of the second Fan don't line up with Case when "daisy-chained together" (see second image). - The provided "daisy-chain" power/signal plastic plugs are too short in this case. - Corsair could easily solve this issue by providing a longer set of power/signal "daisy-chain" plastic plugs. - The cable connectors are too large to connect two Fans "end to end" or "side-to-side" and align with the Case screw holes (see second image). - If you have similar insulation plans, make sure you order 140 mm Fans (which don't appear to come in a Triple Pack Starter Kit). 2. This is a simple and innovated LED Fan solution. The Hub is USB2 controlled, with augmented Power, and no reliance on BIOS settings. However, you must be logged into Windows before your custom Fan settings are activated.

Zero installation versatility for my ATX case

CORSAIR QX RGB Series, iCUE LINK QX120 RGB, 120mm Magnetic Dome RGB Fan, Starter Kit
CORSAIR QX RGB Series, iCUE LINK QX120 RGB, 120mm Magnetic Dome RGB Fan, Starter Kit

Pros: 1. Easy to install. - Plug the Hub into a six pin PSU power connector via provided cable. - Plug the Hub into USB2 port on your motherboard via provided cable. - Plug the first Fan into first Hub port via provided cable. - Plug additional Fan(s) into either the first Fan (either directly or via provided cable) or the second Hub port via provided cable. - Install the Corsair iCUE software. If your Fans power on, but the Fans and Hub do not show up in the iCUE display, the Hub USB cable is likely not attached correctly. 2. The Fans look very nice and have ample programmability. I prefer the "Time Warp" LED mode. 3. I was immediately instructed to update the LINK System Hub Firmware to v.1.6.336 (from v.1.0.200). My first update attempt failed, the second attempt worked. 4. Three Fan speeds (RPM) under the "Cooling" menu - Quiet: 480, Balanced: 850, Extreme: 1200. 5. The Fans are very Quiet at all RPM levels (480, 850, and 1200). 6. You can program the LED Colors three ways: - [a] Select a pre-set, [b] Slide a circle on a color pallet, [c] In raw Hex (i.e. RRGGBB).

Cons: 1. Somewhat Expensive. 2. The Cables are thick, and not easy to bend. The two cables in the Starter Kit (one short and one long) have Straight connectors on both ends. The two additional cables (both short 200mm) have a 90 degree connector on one end. There are no provided cables with 90 degree connectors on both ends of the cable. 3. No new Devices shows up in the Windows Device Manager. 4. Heavy disk usage from iCUE software when you Boot your system. 5. With "Time Warp" (in Static mode) the fans appear to "rock, back and forth" at times at lowest 480 RPM level (a.k.a. Quiet).

Overall Review: 1. I could NOT install the 120 mm Fan Kit in the top pair of 140/120 mm Fan Grills in my NZXT Source 210 ATX Case. - The screw holes of the second Fan don't line up with Case when "daisy-chained together" (see second image). - The provided "daisy-chain" power/signal plastic plugs are too short in this case. - Corsair could easily solve this issue by providing a longer set of power/signal "daisy-chain" plastic plugs. - The cable connectors are too large to connect two Fans "end to end" or "side-to-side" and align with the Case screw holes (see second image). - If you have similar insulation plans, make sure you order 140 mm Fans (which don't appear to come in a Triple Pack Starter Kit). 2. This is a simple and innovated LED Fan solution. The Hub is USB2 controlled, with augmented Power, and no reliance on BIOS settings. However, you must be logged into Windows before your custom Fan settings are activated.

seller reviews
  • 2

Shipping was faster than unexpected.

Shipped fast, packaged well, product was as expected.

On-time
Delivery
Product
Accuracy
Customer Service
Satisfactory
10/23/2017

Good Memory, slow DHL shipping

The memory runs great AVD3U16000904G-2CW. I wish they didn't use (slower than USPS) DHL shipping (but most important, shipping was free).

On-time
Delivery
Product
Accuracy
Customer Service
Satisfactory