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Brent M.

Brent M.

Joined on 07/29/09

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 12
Most Favorable Review

Worth every penny

AMD Ryzen 9 3rd Gen - RYZEN 9 3900X Matisse (Zen 2) 12-Core 3.8 GHz (4.6 GHz Max Boost) Socket AM4 105W 100-100000023BOX Desktop Processor
AMD Ryzen 9 3rd Gen - RYZEN 9 3900X Matisse (Zen 2) 12-Core 3.8 GHz (4.6 GHz Max Boost) Socket AM4 105W 100-100000023BOX Desktop Processor

Pros: - Combined 3 dedicated PCs into 1 while giving me more cores than the summation of the 3 for-mention PCs - For objective reviews of this processor, see professional reviews elsewhere online

Cons: - None.

Overall Review: This review is subjective, for an objective review you can see the hundreds of professional reviews for this processor. Why would you ever need a 12 cores with 24 logical threads? This processor has allowed me to combined 3 PCs into 1, which has dramatically cut down on my I.T. management of disparate systems. I used to have a dedicated PC for gaming/compiling, a dedicated PC for video surveillance, and a dedicated HTPC for streaming and archival management. I now do all 3 in 1 without any performance degradation while also enjoying a speed boost because each of these tasks gets a few more logical cores to utilize. I'm very happy with this processor, I've been holding off upgrading for a long time because my 3770K has been an amazing CPU (and is still amazing). The 3900X is the first CPU which has checked all of the boxes that gave me justification for an upgrade.

Amazing portable storage

SAMSUNG T5 Portable SSD 1TB - Up to 540 MB/s - USB 3.1 External Solid State Drive MU-PA1T0B/AM
SAMSUNG T5 Portable SSD 1TB - Up to 540 MB/s - USB 3.1 External Solid State Drive MU-PA1T0B/AM

Pros: - USB powered, no need for additional PSU - Instant on, instant off - SSD transfer speeds - Surprisingly small, I did not expect it to be almost the size of a credit card but a bit thicker - Can easily carry it in my pocket - A very sturdy outer casing - The "on" blue LED isn't blinding, it's nicely dimmed

Cons: - Absolutely none

Overall Review: - I have not owned this device long enough to comment on its endurance but so far there are 0 issues and no hint of any problems.

Night vs day, great upgrade

HyperX Impact 16GB (1 x 16GB) DDR4 2666 RAM (Notebook Memory) CL15 XMP SODIMM (260-Pin) HX426S15IB2/16
HyperX Impact 16GB (1 x 16GB) DDR4 2666 RAM (Notebook Memory) CL15 XMP SODIMM (260-Pin) HX426S15IB2/16

Pros: - Worked exactly as advertised - Speed increase is noticeable on my laptop - Painless install, completely stable RAM (no BSODs or other issues)

Cons: - None

Overall Review: I have a F556U, this family of Asus laptops has tremendous value but most are sold with only 8 GB of RAM. I bought a single 16GB module byHyperX to replace a 4GB 2400MHz CAS-19 Corsair RAM module that came with the laptop and now my machine is noticeably faster. 10/10, would buy HyperX again

Worked immediately

NETGEAR ProSafe 8-Port Gigabit Ethernet Desktop Switch (GS108)
NETGEAR ProSafe 8-Port Gigabit Ethernet Desktop Switch (GS108)

Pros: Plugged it in, worked immediately. Everything it is connected to is registering at 1,000Mbps. One of the data paths is from my main pc to a Nvidia shield, I have not been able to detect any increase in latency. I have a mix of cat6 and cat5e cables connected to it, no issues.

Cons: None so far

Overall Review: I’ll likely buy at least one more to replace a massive wireless router in my living room. That switch will then be plugged into an array of IPtv devices. If I experience any problems with that array of mixed devices, I’ll update my review.

Best video card I've ever owned

EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB GDDR5X PCI Express 3.0 SLI Support Video Card 11G-P4-6696-RX
EVGA GeForce GTX 1080 Ti 11GB GDDR5X PCI Express 3.0 SLI Support Video Card 11G-P4-6696-RX

Pros: - Minimal coil whine. My 980Ti Strix card has coil whine roughly 3x louder. - Runs cool - Quiet fans - Fans appear to be auto-adjusting. Even at higher speeds they are still quiet. - Painless installation - Mature driver, no issues - Fast, perfect performance on all of my games (4k, 60fps)

Cons: - You could argue the price but I bought my refurbished and it was less than the cost of lower-grade after market 1080ti cards

Overall Review: I bought this as a "RX" series, which means it was refurbished. It was $300 off of what I can find as its MSRP. The refurb comes only with the card, no cables, no disc, no instructions and no covers for the SLI pins. Most people recommend that you use your PSU cables anyways so the fact that this didn't come with cables did not affect my install. About the only thing I would've liked is a cover for the SLI pins, it reduces the risk of any accidental connectivity. I've never purchased a card outside of a year of it being introduced, due to the crypto-mining insanity I was forced to wait a long time. Since I bought it over a year out of its initial release, to my pleasant surprise the driver is mature and I had absolutely no problems installing it and running all of my games. I typically buy a card that is no more than 3 months after its initial release and often there are driver instability problems (EG: Just Cause 3 with the 980Ti, constant crashing). However, the 1080ti executed all of my games perfectly after a painless installation. If you're like me and you think the pricing for the 2080Ti is insane then pick up a 1080ti refurb or on sale. This card should last you a while.

10/28/2018

Works exactly as advertised

SYBA SY-ENC50104 4 Bay 3.5" SATA III HDD NON-RAID Enclosure – Supports USB 3.0 & eSATA Interface
SYBA SY-ENC50104 4 Bay 3.5" SATA III HDD NON-RAID Enclosure – Supports USB 3.0 & eSATA Interface

Pros: - Very easy to install HDDs - Setup was intuitive, I did not need to reference the instructions for first-use - Comes with everything you need, including screws - All of my drives were recognized immediately by Windows. I'll be testing this enclosure on Linux later, you can assume it worked well if the review was not updated within a week. - I set the fan to "low", on this setting it is very quiet. There is a setting to turn it off completely. The HDDs r/w & spinning sound are slightly louder than the fan so turning the fan off completely seemed pointless.

Cons: - A non-mainstream USB-3 cable is used

Overall Review: To unmount the HD from the tray, it's easiest to flip the HD on its back and then pull two tabs off on one side and then pull the other two tabs off on the other. Using this technique you can quickly and safely remove the tray.

10/10/2018