Joined on 01/06/11
Great Card for liquid cooling
Pros: -Reference GTX 680 PCB design makes it easy to find a compatible water block -Easy to overclock with EVGA precision -Play at 5040x1050 resolution with one card -4GB GDDR5 -Backplate drops temp a few degrees
Cons: -The screws I got with my waterblock (XSPC Razor new style) would not fit through the holes on the backplate so I just took it off but it's not EVGA's fault
Overall Review: Great GPU. I was going to get another one but I don't think I'll even need it
Best CPU for gaming
Pros: -Bang for buck -Bought mine for $200 at microcenter! -Able to keep up with a GTX 1080 at 4K -Power efficiency -Usually within 1-3FPS of 6700k for $100 less -Mine overclocked to 4.6Ghz @ 1.275v with a hyper 212 evo (a $30 cooler!) -Even overclocked at 4.6Ghz my max tamps are below 70-80c -Huge upgrade over FX8320 -Many platform upgrades that I was missing on AMD like PCIe 3.0, USB type c, M.2, DDR4, etc. -No more stuttering in GTA V -My system just feels faster and more responsive than before -CPU and my motherboard support USB type c for my Nexus 6P -6600k, Gigabyte Z170 SLI XP motherboard, and 16GB of 3000MHz DDR4 RAM cost me only about $400 with tax
Cons: -AMD Zen may prove to be a better value in the future -No stock cooler may be an issue for some -Need Z170 chipset for best overclocking -Huge jump for a user of the current AMD FX lineup but it would probably be considered a very minor jump if you have something like a 3570k or newer
Overall Review: If you're just gaming like me and don't do any rendering this CPU is a no brainer when compared to the 6700k. It has almost all the performance (especially when overclocked) of an i7 in games for much less money. Also if you're lucky enough to live by a microcenter you can get these for around $200. My system specs: Rosewill Tyrfing case 6600k @ 4.6GHz CM Hyper 212 Evo Gigabyte GA‑Z170XP‑SLI EVGA 16gb (2x8gb) DDR4 3000mhz Zotac GTX 1080 Amp edition Sandisk Ultra II 960gb SSD Seagate Barracuda 2Tb Thermaltake smart power 700w PSU AOC 28" 4K monitor
Maybe I got lucky
Pros: -It may not be the fastest SSD but coming from a HDD you will be blown away -Game load times are significantly faster -Windows 10 boots in less than 10 seconds -Faster file transfers -Cheap for 960GB -SSD prices have dropped so much, I remember back when I bought a 120GB ssd years ago for a little less than this 960GB
Cons: -Not the fastest but what do you expect at this price point -No cloning software included, not a big deal for me but some might care -I reinstalled Windows just to avoid any possible issues
Overall Review: When I first bought this I was weary from all the bad reviews but for the price I paid at the time ($250 in September 2015) I was willing to risk it and I'm glad I did. Maybe I just got lucky but I have had the drive for 11 months and I have had no issues with it. SSD's have come down in price so much that it just makes so much sense to buy them now.
Great PSU
Pros: -single 12v rail with 50a -Great Price when I bought it during the black friday sale -80 Plus Bronze certified -Very capable psu -Plenty of connectors for me -Cables are not too stiff like I've seen on some PSU's -Cables are plenty long for my case
Cons: -Not modular but that isn't a deal breaker for me -Just nit picking now but it would be nice if the 6pin and 2 pin connectors on the 6+2 pin pcie cable would stick together rather than having to try and hold them together just right to plug it in as an 8 pin on your GPU
Overall Review: This PSU powers all this wonderfully NZXT Gamma Asrock Z77 Extreme 4 Intel core i7 2600k @ 4.5Ghz 1.38v Powercolor R9 290x Team Vulcan RAM 8Gb 1600mhz 1Tb WD Blue 2Tb Seagate Barracuda 60Gb Mushkin enhanced SSD for caching Corsair H100 AIO liquid cooler Asus Blu ray drive Generic DVD burner Rosewill RNX-N250PCe network card Logisys 6 Channel Fan Controller
Options, options, options
Pros: -Very spacious -Great for custom water cooling -Fit my 480mm 35mm thick rad nicely -Front and rear psu mounting -Reversible mobo tray -Hot swapable hdd trays -Enough space under case for psu fan to breathe -Fits 4 double wide GPU's -So many places to mount fans -Red LEDs are a nice touch
Cons: -Front panel connectors took up to much space to fit 4 fans on top of rad so i put two fans inside the case and three on the other side -For some reason when i mounted my psu in the front of the case it would not POST so I mounted it in the back like most cases and it worked fine
Overall Review: I got this case because the 900D was not in stock and I am pretty happy with it. It's overall a great case and the money I saved buying this instead of the 900D i put towards a better GPU
Great RAM
Pros: -It does not have a heat spreader so it was much easier to install a universal water cooling heat spreader -Cheap but good RAM -Bought G.Skill RAM in the past and I'm very satisfied with them so far -Went from 1333 to 2000 pretty easily
Cons: None. This RAM is perfect for what I need
Overall Review: I managed to get a stable overclock at 2000 MHz but you could take further than that if you wanted. I used an XSPC Universal water cooling kit to cool it