Pros: This EVO answers some of the issues with the previous version, notably the replacement of the 2.5" internal drive bay with a 3.5" version, and they have addressed a front bezel clearance issue when mounting 140mm fans ahead of the metal front wall. Nearly all case components can be disassembled (with the exception of the PS riser) which lends well to paint or modification (see notes in "other"). Component installation is made easy by excellent access via three large removable panels. Cables are well hidden below the motherboard tray, and the tray has pass-through holes in convenient locations. Most cables are taken immediately over the edge of the tray and out of sight below. This results in a very clean and organized appearance. I installed a Corsair H110 (280mm) radiator with ease, using its 140mm fans mounted in front of the metal wall and radiator behind. The case's plastic front bezel fit properly without modification. I'm certain that similar 220mm rads would work equally well.

Cons: Only a few from my perspective: My modular 180mm PS just fits, but the cables are very close to the components on the PCB on back of the hot-swap trays. A standard ATX PS would allow more room, but there are fewer choices of high wattage in that size. 180mm is the largest you can go without modification. It's nice to have the 3.5" drive bay, but the larger drives mount too close to the side of the power supply. The SATA and power cables have to mash against the PS and you're working blind if you install them last, as I did. It would have been better had I mounted the drives before dropping the MB tray in, but that defeats the purpose of the slide-in mounting system. I'm talking about the internal bay, not the front hot-swap. Someone voiced concern about the hot-swap doors. Drives insert there with very little force. If the operator isn't heavy-handed, they should be fine. Just use a little finesse.

Overall Review: The stock 120mm fans arrive mounted behind the front wall, next to the motherboard. You can move them ahead of that wall with no interference from the plastic front bezel. In that configuration, you can fit 13" (330mm) video cards. 140mm fans now also fit there without modification. As mentioned, I mounted a Corsair H110 (280mm) rad with the fans ahead of the metal wall and the radiator behind, next to the motherboard. With that 28mm thick radiator installed as such, there is barely room for 11.8" (300mm) video card(s). I chose the EVGA 780ti SC ACX, which is only 10.5" and have plenty of room. Best advice is to mount all of the components that go below the motherboard tray first. Have all the cables laying in their appropriate locations before dropping the tray in. That makes it much easier because once that tray is in, you won't be able to see or reach nearly as well for plugs and cables. You may remove the tray and mount the MB to it separately if you like, and pre-position any CPU cooler backplates. If using a normal CPU cooler, you may mount it before installing the tray. If using a closed-loop radiator, mount the CPU back-plate (they often have double-sided tape), then install the tray (with MB), then work on the radiator installation and CPU block/pump. Advice about closed loop radiator: Don't pick it up by the hoses. Not because it's that delicate, but because that heavy pump swings around and will bump the radiator fins, which ARE delicate. Even if you don't do any damage, you'll bend them and they'll never look straight again. Painting: I thought the textured finish would hold paint. Wrong. I cleaned it with mild solvent, but didn't sand anything. My over-the-counter aerosol looks great, but chips and scratches way too easily. Part of that can be blamed on modern aerosol paint, but I should have scuffed it. Regardless, I enjoyed the project and don't regret the effort. This is my 2nd HAF XB. In both cases, I have discarded the 120mm front fans in favor of 140mm replacements. Since that spot can accept both sizes, there is a lot of metal which exists in order to fit the 120mm, but which intrudes upon the larger fan. This time, I cut away the excess metal. I didn't want any restrictions for my radiator. Metal work is not everyone's bag, so I can't recommend it to the average consumer, but I personally wish the thing came fitted with 140s and never used the 120s at all. Folks wanting a 120 or 240mm rad can adapt it down more easily than my effort to adapt it "up".

Pros: Bright crisp, colorful image as a regular monitor. Factory color/gamma/contrast were pretty close out of the box. This was my first taste of 3D for games. The images were softer (less sharp), but fairly bright with decent color, as compared to an active 3D set (see below)

Cons: Cheapest stand I've seen; just a snap-in foot; no adjustment except very slight tilt. Plugs point straight out the back, so no flush wall mount. The OSM indicates which buttons to press as: "1:Exit Select:2", suggesting that button 1 is left, 2 right. Nope, just the opposite. It's an annoying mismatch. If you purchase this as a 3D gamer, I think you will be disappointed. The technology has potential, but the implimentation is just not ripe. The 2d menus, buttons and pointer react strangely with the 3D world presented beyond them. It is visually fatiguing to have to look at both at the same time, and you always do while you play. Part of the issue is that when the 2D object blocks only one eye's portion of a 3D object, your eyes don't know how to resolve the half-image. I suspect that it's a software issue, and one that TriDef (required for 3D) struggles with. Otherwise, the 3D imagery is okay, but not great.

Overall Review: I bought this monitor after viewing two 55" 3d TVs, side-by-side, one passive, one active. I was so impressed with the passive technology for movies, I thought it might also be good for gaming. It isn't, or at least not in this particular software/hardware package. Two days after this one arrived, I passed it off to my daughter and ordered a 120HZ monitor and the Vision 2 active glasses (fm Newegg). Now I have both systems and can compare them directly. The 120HZ mon. is not the latest "lightboost" tech version, and I wish it was. The image is intolerably dark and the colors suffer. Now I have two 3D monitor choices and neither one is really playable or enjoyable. Call me disappointed. Also to NEWEGG: This monitor bounced around for 3 days in the UPS truck in it's retail packaging until they found me at home. It would be okay if you charged me a couple extra bucks and put it in a box.

Pros: Seems well made; solid, sturdy. The sound at full RPM is a pleasant rush of air, not at all harsh.

Cons: Considering that this model boasts "high static pressure", I wish that the fans fit snugly together instead of having those decorative cut-outs along the flat sides. The whole point of HSP is to push air through something that is difficult to push through (like radiator fins). Air will take the path of least resistance and gaps are not helpful. Though the gaps aren't huge, they are more pronounced in multi-fan arrays. It's not a big deal, but I look at such things from a functional design standpoint and wonder why. The illuminated ring (riing) is intriguing, but it looks better on film than in person. The LEDs only exist in one corner. The light propagates around the ring similar to fiber optics. The LEDs are bright enough to shine through the plastic and onto the fan blades in that one corner, but only in that corner. It tweaks my OCD. I chose to re-orient the fans in my system, 1.) so that the bright LEDs were pointing away from my desk (and my eyes) and 2.) to place the LEDs of each fan to the same corner so that they were esthetically balanced. You can't mirror-image them because the light reflecting on the blades follows the curve of the blade, therefore giving the appearance of angling away from the LED source rather than straight across the fan toward the motor. I don't have a better description for this, but it just looked wrong when I tried. I wish the fans had an LED in each corner instead of just one.

Overall Review: There aren't many other choices for HSP at 140mm. As fans go, this is a fan. I don't mind that it's a 3pin.

Pros: It's a necklace.

Cons: The color of the pearls that I received was (were) very different from the photo presented. Using, of all things, a lipstick color chart, I can say that they most closely matched "Coral Pink."

Overall Review: Some people would like Coral Pink pearls, I'm sure, but this ad showed Cranberry pearls and I made the purchase because of the color. Here's the real poke in the eye: return shipping cost was THIRTY DOLLARS via UPS ground (far east coast to far west coast). I just threw thirty dollars in the trash because this "marketplace" company misrepresented their product. This makes me angry. The seller should have listed the pink ones separately.

Pros: Size and ratio. I'm a fan of large monitors, but recent experience with a 28" 4k left me wanting a larger screen with less pixel density. This monitor's size is wonderful. It's as if it were a 37" monitor, only letter-boxed. I have it paired with a 27" 1440 in portrait orientation and it's really nice to drag items between the two and not have to re-size due to resolution differences.

Cons: Cable connections point out the back instead of down. This means that a wall mount has to hold it away from the wall if you choose to mount it that way. 3440 seems an odd crop if I am working with images. For image work though, I'd really like a 38" or 40" 4K, and I don't see that happening yet. The stand is a legitimate complaint. This monitor looks best when set to eye-height. Vertical viewing angle does affect image quality. Fortunately I already own a third-party stand, but I wouldn't want this big boy squatting down on the table.

Overall Review: I just changed my desktop to solid black to get a fresh impression of backlight bleed. It is barely noticeable in the lower corners and even for that I have to move in closer which increases the angle. Consider this: I'm sitting with my eyes almost a meter away from the screen, but even this far back, I'm 35 degrees off square when I look to each corner. It's a WIDE panel. IPS panels do look much better than TN when off-center, but they aren't perfect. I look forward to panels that don't require backlight. BTW, the visible dimensions of the screen are 800mm x 335mm. To my fellow Americans, that's 4.5 hands wide by 2 hands tall.

Pros: Attractive glossy black finish. EVGA logo is present, but not overstated. Seems an effective cooler, once installed.

Cons: The fan covers the CPU mounting screws, so you have to slide the fan into place after mounting the unit. I say slide, but it's really hard to get the rubber isolators to move smoothly down the slots provided in the cooling fin stack. They snag and roll and stick. The shape of the isolators is strange and difficult to describe. I doubt I'll find replacements elsewhere if I break one. No spares were provided. In the product images on this page you can make out something of the isolator shape in one of the photos. Notice that it's not fully inserted either. Once in place, they work fine, but getting them in and out is a hassle.

Overall Review: Some of the black has chipped away (or was never there) on mine and the chrome-like metal below shines through. Just a small bit, but I see it. Also, I don't care for the clear-plastic fan. I think this unit would look better with black or dark smoke translucent. I don't mind the red LEDs, just that the clear shell looks cheesy.