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Stephen V.

Stephen V.

Joined on 10/02/05

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 13
Most Favorable Review

Does the job!

GIGABYTE GeForce GT 430 (Fermi) 2GB DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card GV-N430-2GI
GIGABYTE GeForce GT 430 (Fermi) 2GB DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card GV-N430-2GI

Pros: I installed this for my parents on a rig I built about 3 years ago. The onboard video on that mobo had just died, and this looked like the best bang for the buck as far as replacements went. Installation went just fine and my parents have been happy with it ever since. They don't game much, but it handles any HD video they throw at it.

Cons: None so far!

11/26/2012
Most Critical Review

Not up to the task

Rosewill N300 Wireless PCI Express Adapter, 300 Mbps (2.4 GHz) PCIe Wi-Fi Network Card for PC
Rosewill N300 Wireless PCI Express Adapter, 300 Mbps (2.4 GHz) PCIe Wi-Fi Network Card for PC

Pros: Not much.

Cons: It worked very well for about a month, then started with all kinds of lag, drops, what have you. We tried different configurations, moving the tower, rolling back drivers, etc. Nothing worked. Keep in mind this was about 15 feet away from the router. I bought a usb wireless adapter and haven't looked back.

Was fine, then wasn't.

TP-LINK TL-WN722N Wireless N150 High Gain USB Adapter, 150Mbps, w/4 dBi High Gain Detachable Antenna, IEEE 802.11b/g/n, WEP, WPA/WPA2
TP-LINK TL-WN722N Wireless N150 High Gain USB Adapter, 150Mbps, w/4 dBi High Gain Detachable Antenna, IEEE 802.11b/g/n, WEP, WPA/WPA2

Pros: This adapter worked fine when we first got it. Had better range than the wireless n card on the motherboard, hardly dropped a connection.

Cons: Stopped working after 9 months.

Overall Review: Fortunately, I only bought this for my sister's rig because the previous wireless card wasn't cutting it. Now she's in a new home and her computer is much closer to the router and the other wireless card does the trick.

Still up to the task

AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition - Phenom II X4 Deneb Quad-Core 3.2 GHz Socket AM3 125W Processor - HDZ955FBGIBOX
AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition - Phenom II X4 Deneb Quad-Core 3.2 GHz Socket AM3 125W Processor - HDZ955FBGIBOX

Pros: Still handling games today! I'm glad I bought this CPU back in 2009, it was served me well. Had an arctic freezer pro on it until this year when I got a Hyper 212 EVO. Despite it being a 125W beast, it doesn't run any hotter than 42C under full load.

Cons: It's sad that the product has been discontinued, but there's better processors out there at 95W anyways.

Still going strong!

CORSAIR TX Series CMPSU-750TX 750 W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Compatible with New 4th Gen CPU Certified Haswell Ready
CORSAIR TX Series CMPSU-750TX 750 W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Compatible with New 4th Gen CPU Certified Haswell Ready

Pros: It's been in my rig for over 4 years now, nothing but smooth handling of my power hungry 955 BE and GTX260. I'm thinking about upgrading my rig soon, and I'll definitely be keeping this PSU.

Cons: It's not modular, but I knew that going in. Not a problem in my case, since I have a full tower, the unused medusa cords sit at the bottom of my case, not obstructing anything.

Pretty nice

Cooler Master Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Cooler Master Storm Scout SGC-2000-KKN1-GP Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: Nice case layout, no sharp edges, toolless mounting brackets were a breeze for both the HDD and DVD drive. The red LED's look great, not too bright/overly nerdy. Can even turn them off if you so desire. The case handle is very sturdy, came in very handy when building the rig for my sister.

Cons: The back exhaust fan is broken. Shame on you CM! Not really a big deal, they made sure replacing the fans on this case would be easy. A little disappointed to spend some of the money I saved on the Cyber Monday deal on a new fan, but eh. Fans are cheap. I also had to "break in" the power switch a little bit. Wouldn't work until I pushed in hard (and heard something snap), but it works just fine now. Also would've liked some dust screens on the 2 side panel slots. Better get some if you live in a place with cats or dogs!

Overall Review: I haven't experienced any of the grounding issues other users have had. There's a couple minor flaws that all together equal one egg, but on the whole this is a pretty good case.