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Jeffrey N.

Jeffrey N.

Joined on 07/10/05

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 3
Most Favorable Review

Finally dying after outstanding performance.

EVGA GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 SLI Support Video Card 512-P3-N841-A3
EVGA GeForce 8800GTS (G92) 512MB GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 SLI Support Video Card 512-P3-N841-A3

Pros: All other reviews of this are pretty accurate. This was a remarkable card for its time. I bought it in 2008 and have been using it in my main PC ever since. It has never come across a game I couldn't run at fairly decent video settings.

Cons: Nearly 6 years after purchasing, the card is slowly failing. Pixels randomly show up around my screens even if there's nothing running. I even occasionally get blue screens. I've reduced my setup from 2 to 1 monitors and it has noticeably reduced the chances of a BSOD (but has not stopped them entirely). Sad to see such a nice card bite the dust, but I fear I only have a short time left before it dies entirely.

Overall Review: I've performed a very long list of tests and driver tests. Through 3 reformats and re-installs of the OS, different drivers, and new cables, I've finally confirmed that the card is reaching the end of it's life. I am still giving this card 5 stars because for a graphics card to perform so well for six years straight of a heavy-pc user (on a computer that is on 40-80 hours a week) is pretty outstanding. I am even more impressed that the fan on this card has lasted this long when usually the fan is the first thing to fail. Even though this card is becoming one of the past and quickly outdated by far superior cards out there, should you stumble upon this card I would absolutely recommend it. It's very affordable and I am happy with the years I had with it.

Good Drive, works great so far.

WD Blue 1TB Desktop Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD10EZEX
WD Blue 1TB Desktop Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM SATA 6Gb/s 64MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD10EZEX

Pros: Drive arrived only two days after ordering, despite using free shipping! Shipment Box and the Drive itself (packed in an ESD bag) arrived in perfect condition.

Cons: None so far. Should any issues come up, I will update my review.

Overall Review: Unpacked the drive, plugged it into my PC, and installed Windows 7 64-bit within 10 minutes onto the drive without any issues. The drive gives 931GB Available (really 915GB after Windows 7 files are in.) Windows Disk Properties lists Capacity at: 1,000,097,181,696 bytes. Windows Experience Index (that gives your hardware ratings) only rates this drive a 5.9 for Disk Data Transfer Rate. While I feel this is sufficient and have no complaints, it is the lowest score on my rig. In the first three days I had massive file transfers onto the drive (roughly ~630,000 files at 580GB). Afterwards the drive is still running fast, smooth, and quiet. Just a reminder to beginners that this is an OEM drive, meaning no cables/jumpers/anything come with it, just the drive itself. This keeps the cost down.

Decent

Vantec Spectrum Fan Card with Dual 70mm Adjustable UV LED Fans - Model SP-FC70-BL
Vantec Spectrum Fan Card with Dual 70mm Adjustable UV LED Fans - Model SP-FC70-BL

Pros: Both fans on this run fairly well and very quiet. The control in the back allows you to turn down the fan power, which I suppose could make the unit last longer and use less voltage, but personally you should never be that close to running out of voltage anyways (or it would be time to upgrade your power supply). It seems to do the job great. I recommend this if your graphics card does not have a fan of its own. On my card (which has a fan) it lowered me by 2ºC. On my brother's card which does not have a fan, it lowered the temp by 7ºC. Also the lights are very bright and perfect for this unit.

Cons: None that I could find. Although personally I would have preferred a switch to turn the lights off when I want, but no biggy.

Overall Review: Again, if either your graphics card is missing a fan, or your computer has horrible airflow, buy this card. It's cheap enough and it makes enough of an impact to help keep your PC cool, especially with the upcoming summer :)