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Mitchell B.

Mitchell B.

Joined on 03/22/05

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 10
Most Favorable Review

Very happy

Cooler Master Elite 310 RC-310-BKR2-GP Black with blue front panel Steel Body / ABS plastic front bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 420W Power Supply
Cooler Master Elite 310 RC-310-BKR2-GP Black with blue front panel Steel Body / ABS plastic front bezel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 420W Power Supply

Pros: Plenty of space inside for my purposes. Pre-drilled fan mounts to add two more 120mm if you so desire. Power supply is okay, 16 on a single +12, not exceptional but acceptable for a "free" power supply. Case has good airflow properties.

Cons: Power supply only has one SATA power cable with two plugs built in. I had to use a molex-sata adapter because the SATA plugs are not spread far enough apart to reach both my optical drive and hard drive.

Overall Review: I would skip the model with the included power supply if you're going to add a GPU that requires external power. I just don't know if it will give you the juice you need.

Long lasting, excellent cooling

Thermaltake CL-P0075 80mm 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink
Thermaltake CL-P0075 80mm 2 Ball CPU Cooling Fan/Heatsink

Pros: I've had this thing for five years,. I have gone through 3 CPU upgrades in that time and have had no need to get a new HSF. This keeps my Phenom X4 around 28c Idle, 35-40c at load. Just stellar for such an old product.

Cons: None, none, and none.

Good mobo

ECS IC780M-A AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard
ECS IC780M-A AM3/AM2+/AM2 AMD 770 ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: I like how everything is spaced. Booted up on first press of the power button. Basic O/C options in the BIOS if you need them.

Cons: I would like it if the DIMM slots were numbered but it's not crucial for me.

Overall Review: If you're having problems with getting the board to post (the power turns on but no POST) make sure you've plugged in the 4-pin. It's in a weird place that's easy to overlook.

Great for the money

Acer 19" WXGA+ LCD Monitor 5 ms 1440 x 900 D-Sub X193Wb
Acer 19" WXGA+ LCD Monitor 5 ms 1440 x 900 D-Sub X193Wb

Pros: No dead pixels. Nice solid stand, won't tip over easily. Color is decent after adjustment. Good response time. Widescreen is nice.

Cons: Prefer my 19" Viewsonic CRT.

Overall Review: Bought this for my wife's home office, will be great for her purposes. I gamed on it to test it out. UT3, COD:W@W, and Crysis Warhead look pretty good but again, my CRT beats this for color and image quality. I had bought a Viewsonic LCD a couple years ago but sent it back for my current CRT. I just prefer them for gaming although I will have to switch to LCD eventually. This is a great monitor for the price.

Awesome

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4870 1GB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 CrossFireX Support Video Card Vapor-X
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 4870 1GB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 CrossFireX Support Video Card Vapor-X

Pros: Very, very quiet, especially compared to my previous X1900XT. Temp never rises above 70c. Runs all my games at highest or nearly highest settings with AA and AF.

Cons: Not a one.

Overall Review: Don't let anyone fool you, I have a relatively old PC and this card has breathed new life into it. You don't need the latest and greatest to see great improvements in FPS and image quality with this hardware. Leaps and bounds better than my X1900XT. Huge performance increase at 1024x1280. CPU bound blah blah blah. Don't listen to um. DFI NF4 Ultra-D X2 3800+ @ 2.8Ghz 2GB PC3200 Corsair XMS 4870 1GB X-FI Titanium

Works like a charm.

Link Depot HHS-3 3 ft. Ultra High Speed HDMI  Cable
Link Depot HHS-3 3 ft. Ultra High Speed HDMI Cable

Pros: HDMI on the cheap.

Cons: Switching from component to HDMI I've noticed there's some lag time between when you turn your components on and when you see and hear video/audio. Not bad mind you, I don't think it's the HDMI cable. The con is really on the HDMI interface.