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caleb r.

caleb r.

Joined on 10/11/02

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 16
Most Favorable Review

Spacious!

WD Red Plus 6TB NAS Hard Disk Drive - 5400 RPM Class SATA 6Gb/s, CMR, 64MB Cache, 3.5 Inch - WD60EFRX
WD Red Plus 6TB NAS Hard Disk Drive - 5400 RPM Class SATA 6Gb/s, CMR, 64MB Cache, 3.5 Inch - WD60EFRX

Pros: +Quiet +Cool +6TB

Cons: -None

Overall Review: I've had 5 of these running problem-free in a Synology 5-bay NAS since 2014! Zero errors, zero problems.

Most Critical Review

Weak hardware

ASUS RT-N66U N900 Dual-Band WiFi Gigabit Router
ASUS RT-N66U N900 Dual-Band WiFi Gigabit Router

Pros: Fast, good compatibility

Cons: Power button broke randomly (with no human interaction)... now only duct tape and a hard object keep it turned on...

Overall Review: Worked great while it lasted, randomly died, though (just like my RT-N16 did...)

Second time's a charm!

CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4 2400 (PC4 19200) Desktop Memory Model CMK32GX4M4A2400C12
CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4 2400 (PC4 19200) Desktop Memory Model CMK32GX4M4A2400C12

Pros: +Cheap(ish) +Capacity +low profile

Cons: As with all the machines I build, I do a thorough memtest86 run against them before even adding HDD/SSD and installing anything. Right off the bat I knew something was wrong when I started getting freezing, errors, etc. from these sticks. I think this is the first time I've ever had RAM fail memtest (first for anything, I guess)... I've RMA'd them back and will see if the replacement kit is usable...

Overall Review: Update (7/1/16): Replacement kit arrived and has passed Memtest86 v7 with flying colors (even the 'hammer test'!)... looks like I just got a bad kit (which happens, admittedly). I'll up the rating to 4 eggs, but I'll dock one for getting the first bad stick of ram I've ever gotten :) Motherboard: AsRock Exreme4 mATX + core i5

Get it.

Noctua NH-L12 120mm & 92mm SSO Bearing PWM Fans CPU Cooler
Noctua NH-L12 120mm & 92mm SSO Bearing PWM Fans CPU Cooler

Pros: +Dead-silent +Low-profile +Keeps my 65W TDP core i5 extremely cool (30C max) +Easy to install

Cons: -Not a thing

Overall Review: I was shocked by how good this air cooler was... I have a closed-loop cooler in my gaming rig and this thing blows that away... I may have to switch that rig over as well... The only question you should have about this cooler is if it will fit in your case or not ( which it almost certainly should). Pay attention to RAM slot blockage when installing (just be sure to orient it in a way that works).

Impressive

iStarUSA D-400-6-ND Black 1.2mm SECC Zinc-Coated Steel 4U Rackmount Compact Stylish Chassis 6 External 5.25" Drive Bays
iStarUSA D-400-6-ND Black 1.2mm SECC Zinc-Coated Steel 4U Rackmount Compact Stylish Chassis 6 External 5.25" Drive Bays

Pros: +Plenty of room. +Very high quality construction. +6X 5.25" external drive bays +No frills

Cons: -2X 80mm exhaust ports (they could've gotten away with 2X 92mm probably). -The power LED connector is a three-prong style, incompatible with a lot of motherboard headers (I had to get the pliers out and 're-assign' the offending wire :) )

Overall Review: This case is a joy to work with. The 6 5.25" bays allow me to have two 4X 3.5" -> 3X 5.25" adapters for two 4-drive RAID arrays. The additional 3.5" bays allow for system drives as well. The power LED thing was a bit of a bummer, but easy enough to fix (This is with an AsRock Extreme4 mATX board). Plenty of room inside when dealing with mATX/mITX. Plenty of room for a dual-fan Noctua NH-L12 installation, as well.

Perfect

Noctua NF-A8 PWM, Premium Quiet Fan, 4-Pin (80mm, Brown)
Noctua NF-A8 PWM, Premium Quiet Fan, 4-Pin (80mm, Brown)

Pros: +Quiet! +Moves a surprising amount of air. +Fits easily inside of a 4U server case.

Cons: -A bit pricey (but worth it)

Overall Review: Paired two of these up in exhaust position in my 4U rack-mount server case. Absolutely can't hear them spinning and the air circulated is impressive.