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ALEX G.

ALEX G.

Joined on 01/17/14

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 5
Most Favorable Review

Very good card

MSI  R9 270X GAMING 2G ITX 256-Bit  GDDR5  PCI Express 3.0 x16  HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
MSI R9 270X GAMING 2G ITX 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Pros: Powerful card, runs most games on max/ultra settings no problem... no excess heat, no fan screaming or whining. This thing is perfect for my mini itx build. It fits inside my small case, and has no downsides. Really solid build quality also; I had a 260X before this that was loud, not very playable on high resolution or settings. It was no-good compared to this thing. This card weighs almost twice as much as the last one, and that's because of the thick metal heatsink, backplate, and superior fan. Great job MSI.

Cons: It has a dragon, that you might not like... Also, as another reviewer said, its not blue (?)... Who cares this thing is solid.

Overall Review: Recommend, two thumbs up

Good board

MSI A88XI AC FM2+ / FM2 AMD A88X (Bolton D4) SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI Mini ITX AMD Motherboard
MSI A88XI AC FM2+ / FM2 AMD A88X (Bolton D4) SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI Mini ITX AMD Motherboard

Pros: This board was a nice upgrade from my previous Mini-ITX for my Athlon 760k. I have found it incredibly easy to overclock and I am totally satisfied with this board. Hesitant at first, because I have never owned an MSI board before, but this thing is a great success. Quality part.

Cons: All the software suites these things come with are very hit or (in most cases) miss.

Overall Review: They should make a cheaper version with no built-in WiFi module. In fact... Not enough vareity of good Mini-ITX boards out there period. I had the choice between this and an ASRock one, and maybe a couple others I don't remember. Tangent: I went with the ASRock first. Nothing wrong with it, took a little extra to set up and then figure out, and then when I broke the PCI-E slot trying to replace the GPU (complete user idiocy on my end, the old board is still good if I want to use an APU) I decided to try this one out. A bit of a gamble at that point, but I'm really satisfied with the outcome.

Low pro, way to go

G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory Model F3-2133C9D-8GAB
G.SKILL Ares Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 2133 (PC3 17000) Desktop Memory Model F3-2133C9D-8GAB

Pros: This was the only RAM that would fit in my mini-ITX case with any capable CPU heatsink. No giant fins on top, and heat is no where near an issue at with these... There is no sacrifice in choosing these and I wish every stick of RAM would have low heatsinks and good specs like these.

Cons: RAM is more expensive than when it was really cheap. This is no exception.

Overall Review: They're blue obviously. If you're building a color coded build this would be a thing.

Pretty great

Rosewill HIVE Series, HIVE-550S, 550W Fully Modular Power Supply, 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified, Single +12V Rail, SLI & CrossFire Ready, Black
Rosewill HIVE Series, HIVE-550S, 550W Fully Modular Power Supply, 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified, Single +12V Rail, SLI & CrossFire Ready, Black

Pros: Really quiet. Modular. Best budget PSU I've come across.

Cons: Not taking an egg off but I really wish there was some way to choose how many of what kinds of cords come with power supplies in general. I have 1 SSD and no optical drive or anything else I need that chain for. Oh well, random thought, not particular to this PSU.

Overall Review: Cool and quiet and modular. What more can you ask for at this price?

Good board

ASRock FM2A88X-ITX+ FM2+ / FM2 AMD A88X (Bolton D4) SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI Mini ITX AMD Motherboard
ASRock FM2A88X-ITX+ FM2+ / FM2 AMD A88X (Bolton D4) SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 HDMI Mini ITX AMD Motherboard

Pros: Easy to use. BIOS gives me the options I want. I wanted to Overclock my 760k and I was able to within minutes of turning this thing on. Well packaged. Nice layout with plenty of ports.

Cons: Wish the RAM slots were a tiny bit (few mm?) further away from the CPU socket... bummer that there are so few possible low profile heatsinks.

Overall Review: Forced to use the stock AMD cooler, but it's OK because I can just screw a much better (and much less whiny) fan on to it. Idle temps for my 760k are 53-54 degrees C with the stock cooler. New fan is on the way.