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Philip C.

Philip C.

Joined on 10/24/07

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 31
Most Favorable Review

Great Processor. Great Price

Intel Core i3-540 - Core i3 Clarkdale Dual-Core 3.06 GHz LGA 1156 73W Intel HD Graphics Desktop Processor - BX80616I3540
Intel Core i3-540 - Core i3 Clarkdale Dual-Core 3.06 GHz LGA 1156 73W Intel HD Graphics Desktop Processor - BX80616I3540

Pros: Fast little chip, matches up pretty well against most of AMD's Chips. Made my Core 2 Duo T8300, look like a pentium 1. Great for entry level computers.

Cons: Wasn't enough for what I needed, ended up upgrading to a core i7 2600k 2.5 years later.

Overall Review: Since the i7 upgrade, I have recycled this into my parent's machine, and it is quite happy in its new home, and my parent's are glad to have the upgrade from a single core Celeron D @ 3.46GHz. You will be able to get away with some light gaming on it (assuming you have a good Graphics Card) as it is a quite versatile chip.

Most Critical Review

2 for 2 Now

HyperX 3K 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) (Stand-Alone Drive) SH103S3/120G
HyperX 3K 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) (Stand-Alone Drive) SH103S3/120G

Pros: worked great, until it broke

Cons: Worked, broke, RMAed, Worked, Broke

Overall Review: Save yourself an OS reinstall, buy a different disk.

A bit of a pain to setup, but still awesome!

SiliconDust HDHR3-CC HDHomeRun PRIME 3-Tuner US CableTV with CableCARD Stream Premium Channels and Cut the Cord
SiliconDust HDHR3-CC HDHomeRun PRIME 3-Tuner US CableTV with CableCARD Stream Premium Channels and Cut the Cord

Pros: GREAT, product. DLNA makes it even better. I don't have any HD cable boxes at my house, and this just gave me access to all of the HD channels I have been paying for but haven''t had the equipment to access. I can use my PS3 to watch TV!

Cons: The worst part of the setup, was the waiting in line at my local Comcast office just to get a CableCARD to allow this device to access all the encrypted channels. CableCARDs are required by law to be offered at no additional charge, and Comcast STILL tried to charge me for one. The other part of the setup that sucked was the activation of the cable card. Not sure if it was the connection to the box or the box itself, but activation took more than an hour and multiple phone calls to the activation department (mainly due to the call center being offshore). The only issue I have come across is streaming to my PS3. The video streams sometimes stutter a small bit, however that could be caused by any number of things and may not necessarily be the HDhomerun Prime.

Overall Review: The iOS app requires an in app purchase of $9.99 for the codecs to watch the decrypted Channels. I might consider buying more than 1 of these per house, if I had more Streaming boxes or gaming consoles to replace the set top boxes makes you rent.

One Good, One Bad

WD Green WD30EZRX 3TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive
WD Green WD30EZRX 3TB IntelliPower 64MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive

Pros: Bought two drives. The one that did work is great! Transfer speed is pretty good.

Cons: One of them was DOA. Wasn't able to initialize the disk in Disk Management. I am RMA-ing for a replacement. Hopefully I will have better luck with the replacement.

Overall Review: Although I did get a DOA drive, I'm sure it was just a "luck of the draw" thing. I would still recommend the WD Green drives, as I have had a 1 TB one that is almost 5 years old, and still going strong.

Fast. Stable. Reliable

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3L 1600 (PC3L 12800) Laptop Memory Model F3-1600C9S-8GRSL
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 8GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3L 1600 (PC3L 12800) Laptop Memory Model F3-1600C9S-8GRSL

Pros: Put it right into my Lenovo Yoga 11s, and it worked. No problems.

Cons: As with all G.Skill memory I have ever bought, absolutely NONE.

Overall Review: I have the Lenovo Yoga 11s with the i5-3339Y Ivy Bridge, and this works fine because of the low voltage.

Great case, but not perfect.

CM Storm Stryker - White Full Tower Gaming Computer Case with Handle and External 2.5" Drive Dock
CM Storm Stryker - White Full Tower Gaming Computer Case with Handle and External 2.5" Drive Dock

Pros: BIG. Great Case Construction. Very Sturdy. Room for watercooling with 2x240mm Radiators (and a 120/140mm on the back). Fan Controller integrated. Sturdy handles for moving. Dust Filters. This Case has everything you could ever want in a good computer case. USB front panel is nice and sturdy. I was able to mount my 240mm (Dual 120mm fan) Radiators to the bottom and top after removing the included 200mm fan from the top, the bottom HDD cage, and the SSD cage mounted to the bottom.

Cons: Unfortunately within a week, I managed to break the Power supply dust filter while tipping the case sideways to move it. The tab busted off, but the filter still stays in place. If you decide to do watercooling, you will most likely have to find better screws to mount your radiators if you wish to continue using the dust filters. Luckily for me I had some screws from another case that had flat enough heads to allow for mounting of Radiators.

Overall Review: Even with the dust filter breaking on me, I still love this case. The handle is a great feature to have especially if you like moving your case easily (LAN parties, ease of access to inside components, ect.) even though the case is a bit heavy. Even without water-cooling, this case has great airflow, for efficient cooling of your system.