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Patrick K.

Patrick K.

Joined on 06/30/13

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 15
Most Favorable Review

good cooler for XFX HD-7970

Prolimatech PRO-MK-26-BK MK-26 Black Series GPU Cooler
Prolimatech PRO-MK-26-BK MK-26 Black Series GPU Cooler

Pros: I bought the silver version of this cooler (now discontinued) for my XFX HD 7970 ghz edition. For the most part the cooler is amazing. It made my card max out at about 63ºC with 25% fan speed. The cooler is amazing at keeping these AMD cards cool.

Cons: This is a very big cooler, I had to remove the side duct on my Cooler Master Haf-X so I could fit the case door on. Also the stick on heatsinks did not want to stay, I had to glue them on. But that was probably my fault because I did not have any alcohol to clean the memory chips and the vrms. I also had an issue with Arctic 120mm PWM fans, the metal fan bracket would hit the fan blades. Also this cooler takes about a 1/2 hour to install, don't rush the installation.

Overall Review: overall I am happy with the cooler, but it needs improvement. also I wish the silver version is available. I have a crossfire setup in my PC and I have 2 different coolers. Also one thing to note is you will probably need some sort of video card support bracket. My card sagged down so far the one of the fans rubbed against the back of the other video card. Despite these issues I still plan to purchase another cooler and would recommend it to others.

11/19/2015
Most Critical Review

decent keyboard bad mouse

CM Storm Devastator - LED Gaming Keyboard and Mouse Combo Bundle (Red Edition)
CM Storm Devastator - LED Gaming Keyboard and Mouse Combo Bundle (Red Edition)

Pros: Good keyboard, I have had no problems with it. The mouse has adjustable DPI.

Cons: The mouse died about 2 weeks after using it, when I try to scroll down a page it jolts up and will not scroll down. I tried to RMA it when it broke, but it turns out that I need to send in both the keyboard and mouse. I also have to pay for return shipping, so I said screw it and I started using a generic HP mouse. I find it sad how a generic HP mouse held up better than the included mouse, shame on you Cooler Master.

Good case for a budget build

Fractal Design Core 1000 Black Micro ATX Mini Tower Computer Case
Fractal Design Core 1000 Black Micro ATX Mini Tower Computer Case

Pros: Overall this is a good case, it is decently built, the inside is painted, uses 120mm fans in front and and one on the side. This is a good case to use when you build a computer for someone who does not want a "gaming" computer. It blends in well when you use it in an office environment.

Cons: The steel used in the case is a little thinner than I would like, I wish the case came with a USB 2.0 to 3.0 adapter so older motherboards can use both front USB ports. Be careful when using larger Micro-ATX motherboards as one time I had to cut and bend part of the 5-1/4 drive bay so I could install a larger Matx motherboard (one with 8 mounting holes instead of 6).

Overall Review: This is one of my first choices for a computer build, I have built in this case 3 times and have been happy with it. I would not recommend spending much more than $30, because it is a cheap case.

Good basic motherboard

ASRock AM1B-M AM1 USB 3.0 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
ASRock AM1B-M AM1 USB 3.0 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: The motherboard is a good basic board for a web browsing/extremely light gaming. I am using this motherboard currently with a Sempron 3850, but I intend to upgrade to an Athlon in the future. I have so far not had any issues with it.

Cons: what I wish this motherboard had was 4 SATA ports, I know Asrock has a Matx am1 board with 4 SATA ports because in the installation they list the AM1H-M that has 4 SATA ports. I also wished it had another USB2 header, but that is probably a chipset limitation.

Overall Review: If you are considering building a budget gaming computer DO NOT choose any AM1 motherboards. The reason why is PCIe x16 slot is only a 4x slot, meaning your video card gets less then half of the bandwidth it would get in a higher end PC. This is not a problem with Asrock, this is a chipset limitation beyond their control.

good board

GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-MA770T-UD3P AM3 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: The board was a good deal when it was available, it was only $30! It also has a nice 8+2 power phase design and lots of USB ports for the price.

Cons: I wish this was R3.1 because that is the am3+ version of the board, so unfortunately this board can not run any of the am3+ FX chips.

Overall Review: I wish it was am3+ but for the price it was worth the gamble.

junk

WD RE3 WD2502ABYS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive
WD RE3 WD2502ABYS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive

Pros: cheap

Cons: drive arrived I plug it into my computer and no big surprise to me, it has bad sectors.

Overall Review: I have had bad luck with WD drives in the past, this is the final nail in the coffin. I am no longer purchasing hard drives from Western Digital.