Joined on 05/07/02
Solid Gaming Card
Pros: Running well with current stock settings. Software for easy management of overclocking options, if you are into that. Running Skyrim solidly with highest settings. Haven't tried out mods to really stress test it yet, but am excited to see what all it can handle.
Cons: None so far.
Overall Review: Planning to get a second card in the near future, but so far haven't really seen an absolute need for it.
Pros: Great picture and sound for the price. Thin and light weight. No dead or stuck pixels.
Cons: Not enough inputs. You can hook up one of each type of input, but the S-Video and standard component video share audio connections. This is not what I expected on purchase, and is a definate pain in the rear.
Overall Review: Bought this unit to replace the bedroom TV. Looks great, sounds great and is much better to old CRT screen. I have a DVD player and Satellite tuner connected to the unit. They are using Component and S-Video connectors, respectively. There is a standard component input availalbe, but because there is no seperate audio connection, to hook up a PS2/XBox/Gamecube I have to unhook the audio from the DTV first.
Amazing Boot Times
Pros: First time owning an SSD, running with Windows 10. Cold-boot only takes about 10-12 seconds on average, and selecting "Restart" to being ready to log in again is about 8 seconds! Not sure if it is all due to the SSD, something in the motherboard hardware/bios, Windows 10, or any combination of the bunch, but very impressive to me none-the-less.
Cons: None so far.
Overall Review: Using as the Windows 10 boot drive in a new system, with absolutely everything else I can redirect being installed to a standard hard drive.
First Wireless Headset
Pros: Love these things so far. Range is enough to walk around a whole floor of my house without losing signal, though it does drop when I go upstairs. Fit snugly, and easy to adjust. No setup required, at least in Windows 10. Easy to use controls. Sound is very good, at least for me, but I am by no means an audiophile (sp?). Surround sound effect actually works. Charges fairly quickly, and lasts at least 8 hours (haven't tested for the full 10 hour advertised duration yet). Can be used while plugged in, for those times when you forgot to charge it, or just can't wait for a full charge.
Cons: Surround sound does work, but isn't as strong a separation as I would have liked. For example, the difference between Forward-Left and just Left, and between Behind-Left and just left can be a bit subtle, though Forward-Left and Behind-Left is easily noticeable. Still, not worth knocking the score for.
Overall Review: Not noise cancelling (and not advertised as such), but earpiece materials do a fair job of noise isolation. (I wasn't willing to pay the noise cancelling premium)
So Much Power!
Pros: So far running fast and cool.
Cons: Nothing yet.
Overall Review: Hard to image that a bit over 20 years ago I built my first computer with a CPU that had a single core that maxed out at about 2.5% the speed of any one of the cores in this beast. (Yeah, I am getting old...)
Watch Your Clearance
Pros: Well built, with a smooth (polished) block for mounting at the CPU. 2 Fans, one on each side of the radiator, run quiet so far, though I haven't really stress tested the system fully yet.
Cons: Clearance is very tight on the side by the memory cards, at least on my ASUS ROG Maximus VII Hero motherboard. In fact, I was only able to mount it with the fans blowing from front-to-back of the case. Trying to mount it blowing out through the top of the case would have the radiator fins pressing down on the memory cards well before the heatsink meets the CPU. Mounting bracket instructions are a little bit hard to figure out at first. They mark the wrong orientations in red, and show them a bit bigger, but provide no similar easy indication for the right orientations. My Phanteks Enthoo Pro Series PH-ES614P_BK case has plenty of headroom for the fan, but I could see narrower cases having problems fitting it in.
Overall Review: Cables on the fans are long enough to reach the connectors on my motherboard in only one orientation, so make sure you check the distance to the connectors before you clip on the fans, and realize they can only clip on in two orientations.