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Clifford W.

Clifford W.

Joined on 11/26/07

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 6
Most Favorable Review

Working Well w/Old Linksys Router

ASUS PCE-AC68 AC1900 Dual-Band Wireless PCI-E Adapter
ASUS PCE-AC68 AC1900 Dual-Band Wireless PCI-E Adapter

Pros: Easy install; connected swiftly; stayed connected. I'm using it with the remote base on my desk, away from the case and monitors. Router is ~8m and one wall away. DSL service for now, upgrading to cable in the near future (and will update this review afterward)..

Cons: None thus far.

Overall Review: I'd like to say that "Celeste" from ASUS may not be an actual person, but they honored my problems with the PCE-AC66 I'd purchased and that wasn't compatible with the Z87 chipset. This unit was a direct and no-cost replacement, which they shipped without waiting for my old device to reach them.

11/22/2013
Most Critical Review

Good and (Mostly) Bad

ASUS PCE-AC66 Next Generation AC Dual-Band Wireless Adapter IEEE 802.11ac, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n PCI Express Up to 1750Mbps (450/1300Mbps) Wireless Data Rates
ASUS PCE-AC66 Next Generation AC Dual-Band Wireless Adapter IEEE 802.11ac, IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n PCI Express Up to 1750Mbps (450/1300Mbps) Wireless Data Rates

Pros: Easy installation; Nice appearance through the case's side window; flexible location options for antenna triangle, especially with its magnetic base; connected readily with my old WRT54G router at the best speed the old girl could muster.

Cons: ASUS ADMITS PCE-AC66 IS INCOMPATIBLE WITH Z87 CHIPSET (as of 9/9/2013, anyway)! THERE IS NO FIX. Google "asus pce-ac66 z87" and see for yourself. If you've got problems, you can only replace this adapter with a different one (like the PCE-AC68).

Overall Review: Everything went great on my new build ... until I installed the drivers for this adapter. Then Win7Premium suddenly had tons of issues booting up, very frequently hanging. I finally wiped the drive clean and started from scratch, taking things one single step at a time and rebooting after each one. This card's drivers were the culprit. Will contact retailer (not Newegg -- my bad) and ASUS for PCE-AC68 straight-up replacement.

White Version; Works Great, But Hot

ARRIS SURFboard SB6141 8x4 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem
ARRIS SURFboard SB6141 8x4 DOCSIS 3.0 Cable Modem

Pros: Swallows TWC Extreme internet feed, puts out signal without drama. Hardwired to ASUS RT-AC68U router, which is hardwired to TV and wirelessly connects to PC and two Apple devices. No bogging with three users simultaneously.

Cons: Runs hot. Lights on front panel are a little bright, but not offensively so.

Overall Review: Purchased JUN2014 for new TWC install, replacing satellite service. TWC set it up properly (wow!), and it's run seamlessly ever since. Very smooth.

I'm Lovin' It!

Corsair Graphite Series 600T “Steel Silver” Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Gaming Case
Corsair Graphite Series 600T “Steel Silver” Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Gaming Case

Pros: HUGE; nice, functional cable routing; lots of racks for drives; two big and quiet 200mm fans; convenient fan speed knob; air intakes pop off for easy cleaning; 4 USB3.0 ports on top; beautiful window on left side (comes with mesh panel if you'd rather that).

Cons: HUGE -- wider than I'd expected and didn't fit in the hanging under-desk rack I have; instructions were very uninformative (e.g. can the fan LEDs be turned off? Who knows!); on the heavy side.

Overall Review: I really like this case. It moves a lot of air, so I'm not scared to dabble in some overclocking without liquid CPU cooling. It looks fantastic, and it's easy to work inside it.

11/22/2013

Solid PSU for this Basic User

XFX PRO750W XXX Edition Semi-Modular 80Plus Silver 750 Watt Power Supply
XFX PRO750W XXX Edition Semi-Modular 80Plus Silver 750 Watt Power Supply

Pros: Easy install; box loaded with cables; good instructions; looks good through the case window.

Cons: None thus far (fingers crossed!).

Overall Review: After years of upgrading, I used this XFX power supply in my first "clean slate" build. No trouble in the build, and it's worked well since. Not knowing it's even there is a pretty good result, in my book.

11/22/2013

Solid

MSI GeForce GTX 650 Ti BOOST 2GB GDDR5 SLI Support Graphics Card N650ti-2GD5/OC BE
MSI GeForce GTX 650 Ti BOOST 2GB GDDR5 SLI Support Graphics Card N650ti-2GD5/OC BE

Pros: Easy-peasy install; works in either PCIe3.0 slot on my ASUS Z87-PLUS mobo; doesn't seem to be running hot at all (my system isn't OC'ed, though). Drives a 22" HP monitor, and soon will be driving a 27" second monitor. Fingers crossed, but I expect no trouble.

Cons: None, really. It's thick, like graphics cards all are, so there were elbow-room issues with my wireless card (that has its own heatsink) that dictated which slot the latter went into.

Overall Review: Bought in AUG2013 for new build.

10/20/2013