Pros: Has both 32 bit and 64 bit upgrades so I can install a 32 bit version in a VM for testing with half the memory needed. I did a clean install and activated it online with no problem, never even asked for a previous install disk.

Cons: Awfully expensive when you compare it to O/S upgrades from the fruit company. Guess those guys make their money on over-priced hardware.

Overall Review: Worth an extra $50 to have a transferable license. Unless the policy has changed, with an OEM license MS actually expects you to buy another copy if you upgrade the motherboard and CPU on your own computer; if you ever do upgrade, tell MS the old motherboard died when you call to reactivate.

Pros: Editing a PDF is a piece of cake.

Cons: Windows Explorer crashed multiple times on a cleanly installed system with Win 7 64 bit; took the product off and no more problems. The 6.2 "update" removed the old installation completely and neither the automatic or manual registration worked with the new version.

Overall Review: Good thing it was free with a Win 7 upgrade I purchased at Newegg. Since some people appear to have no problems, install the trial version first to see if you have any issues with it. To be honest I did not try to contact the company for support because I have better things to do with my time.

Pros: Solid adjustment knobs and mode buttons. Has support for PWM so you can let either the system temp or CPU temp control the speed automatically if you choose. The textured bezel matches the bezel on my Cooler Master Elite 371 case perfectly.

Cons: Only has one set of screw holes and does not fit flush with the bezel on my case. Though part of that blame goes to Cooler Master, they should have made this controller the same depth as a floppy drive with more screw holes! Also, the build quality of the power cables is poor and one of the leads for the monitor cable broke loose. Fortunately, the only cable you are likely to need is the PWM. 3.5" width to allow use of floppy port (if the screws fit). I am debating returning it at this point because I am not crazy about the prospect of having to drill holes to make it fit right.

Overall Review: The red led status indicating the fan is in auto mode is extremely annoying. They should have made that blue and put them all behind the buttons or knobs for more subtle lighting or skipped them altogether.

Pros: Quiet power supply with a single rail and plenty of cables.

Cons: As with other modular power supplies, the cables are stiff and tend to be too long requiring a lot of cable management which seems to be defeating the purpose of being modular. The SATA cables are not designed for a bottom mount requiring you to route all the way to the top drive, twist the cable, and come back down. Considering the excessive number of cables, why not include cables designed for both top and bottom mounting? Also, I really do not like the dual connectors on a single cable and they could have they could have just included different cables for each type of connector. There is about a 20” built in cable that is only useful on dual processor work stations few people have any use for.

Overall Review: What is up with the fancy boxes and cable bags modular power supplies come with??? Get rid of them and either pass the savings on or preferably include cables with more of a variety in length and style.

Pros: The case is nice looking and very roomy yet small enough to fit in most computer desks. Plenty of drive slots for a raid configuration. Has mounts for 5 more fans in good locations. Though there are no built in ties, there is room on the right side to route cables out of the way.

Cons: The case is very flimsy resulting in a quite a bit of noise which would not be so noticeable in a computer desk. My main complaint is the lack of replaceable slot covers and the back of the case is extremely weak making it easy to bend the bars between slots when removing the pry out covers. Only comes with 1 fan but 2 are best if you put a computer in a desk so you can draw air from the front. Unnecessary AC-97 audio connector dangles off of the HD connector.

Overall Review: To safely remove the pry out slot covers you need to remove them before installing the motherboard because they are designed to bend inwards; plan on removing all that could be used with your board and putting your own covers on them. The front panel connectors are a little short and might be an issue on some full size motherboards but I had length to spare on a micro ATX. With a bottom mount power supply, you might have a problem with the length of cables on cheaper power supplies but I had about 8” to spare with the modular model I bought. Overall, not bad for a budget build but would not call this case “Elite” and it is not as good as prior models in this line.

Pros: Runs cool and quiet with the stock fan at less than 60% CPU usage playing BF2 while my AMD Phenom II X4 965 Black Edition Deneb 3.4GHz ran at over 90% with the fan sounding like it was about to take off. Thought I would give AMD a try after years of Intel, big mistake. This CPU is definitely worth spending the extra $60 for if you are tempted by the low AMD prices unless you just like burning your money.

Cons: It can't tell me what the winning lottery numbers will be.