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MICHAEL F.

MICHAEL F.

Joined on 01/21/04

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 13
Most Favorable Review

Strong, solid performer.

Intel Core i5-6500 - Core i5 6th Gen Skylake Quad-Core 3.2 GHz LGA 1151 65W Intel HD Graphics 530 Desktop Processor - BX80662I56500
Intel Core i5-6500 - Core i5 6th Gen Skylake Quad-Core 3.2 GHz LGA 1151 65W Intel HD Graphics 530 Desktop Processor - BX80662I56500

Pros: Very fast, strong, and powerful CPU. Quiet fan. Ridiculously east to install on motherboard.

Cons: None whatsoever.

Overall Review: I've built dozens, if not hundreds, of PCs over the years, since 1989. Intel, AMD, and Cyrix CPUs. I built this to replace my wife's FX-6300 machine that seemed to be having ethernet port issues. This is the fastest machine I've built, using an Asus H170 gaming motherboard and 16 GB of DDR4 ram. I ran the Windows 7 "Experience Index" on it and it beat the score of my i7-4770 machine, probably due to superior graphics. I use onboard graphics on most of my builds, including these two. I am impressed.

10/26/2016
Most Critical Review

It's a case. It works. It looks pretty good. It's competent, but not stellar.

DIYPC Zondda-B Black USB 3.0 ATX Mid Tower Gaming Computer Case with 3 x Blue Fans (1 x 120mm LED Fan x Side, 1 x 120mm LED Fan x Front, 1 x 120mm Fan x Rear)
DIYPC Zondda-B Black USB 3.0 ATX Mid Tower Gaming Computer Case with 3 x Blue Fans (1 x 120mm LED Fan x Side, 1 x 120mm LED Fan x Front, 1 x 120mm Fan x Rear)

Pros: Cable management, 3 fans, large feet pre-installed, once built, works well, but nothing special.

Cons: Sharp edges, cut my hand while building, no sound dampening, toolless 5-1/4" bays only, minimal accessories (no zip ties, very few extra screws), thin metal so be careful when picking it up when the side cover is off.

Overall Review: I've built in quality cases and this is nowhere near that level. I wouldn't recommend this case. There are much better cases out there for not much more, although I can't complain too much about this because it works well and generally does what it's supposed to do. It's just not much fun to build a PC in this case.

11/19/2019

Nice case with plenty of cooling

DIYPC DIY-BG01 Black USB 3.0 ATX Mid Tower Gaming Computer Case with Pre-installed 3 x 120mm Fans
DIYPC DIY-BG01 Black USB 3.0 ATX Mid Tower Gaming Computer Case with Pre-installed 3 x 120mm Fans

Pros: Plenty of airflow Good quality Cable management is very good Tolerances seem nice and tight

Cons: Thin metal typical of cost-conscious case

Overall Review: Nice case, would buy again. The combination of a huge clear panel, plus excellent cable management abilities made for a VERY clean build for a customer who commented on how "awesome" (his word!) it looks.

Slight variance between two of these

ASUS VE228H 22" (Diagonal 21.5") Full HD 1920 x 1080 DVI-D VGA HDMI Built-in Speakers SPLENDID Video Preset Mode Asus Eye Care with Ultra Low-Blue Light & Flicker-Free LED Backlight LCD Monitor
ASUS VE228H 22" (Diagonal 21.5") Full HD 1920 x 1080 DVI-D VGA HDMI Built-in Speakers SPLENDID Video Preset Mode Asus Eye Care with Ultra Low-Blue Light & Flicker-Free LED Backlight LCD Monitor

Pros: Good feel, weight, and build quality

Cons: Two identical units showed noticeable differences in brightness and contrast.

Overall Review: I bought two of these for a build in which the customer wanted dual monitors. When setting up, I noticed one monitor had richer colors and darker darks and lighter lights. I reset both monitors to default settings in case they weren't already and it made no difference. One appeared a little washed out, and unless I wanted to start fiddling with settings (I didn't!) then I had to deliver them that way. I had hoped that by buying two identical monitors at the same time, I could avoid that. Otherwise, they worked perfectly and trouble-free.

Quality product

CORSAIR CV Series CV450 CP-9020209-NA 450 W ATX12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Non-Modular Power Supply
CORSAIR CV Series CV450 CP-9020209-NA 450 W ATX12V 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Non-Modular Power Supply

Pros: Solid quality feel Quiet Trouble-free

Cons: None

Overall Review: Boxed well, installed without a hint of misalignment or poor tolerances, turned on and just worked from the first time and every time thereafter.

You need a "G" series CPU OR a discreet graphics card.

GIGABYTE B450M DS3H AM4 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
GIGABYTE B450M DS3H AM4 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: No problems whatsoever once I installed a video card. Worked perfectly out of the box with default UEFI settings and a Ryzen 5 1600 CPU. Plenty of ports. Everything you'd expect out of a competent, quality motherboard.

Cons: You need a graphics capable CPU or a video card. Any mention of on board video means it is optional with a graphics capable CPU ONLY.

Overall Review: Having never built a Ryzen system yet (I've built hundreds of Intel and AMD Athlon PCs in the past), I was fooled by the fact it has onboard video connectors and wasn't clear about needing a graphics-capable CPU. The Ryzen 5 1600 does not have graphics capability, only CPUs that end in "G" has it. When I tried to boot, I got no video (no kidding, right?) and beep codes. I looked them up, (one long, 2 short beeps) and it means video card problem. Fortunately, I did have a basic PCIe video card on hand to try and everything worked. My bad for not researching properly, but even PCPartPicker did not alert me that I needed a video card.

11/19/2019