Joined on 05/28/04
Stellar Performance
Pros: Essentially an overclocked 680 for less money, which makes this one a no brainer. Fast, great value, runs cool, GPU boost 2.0...
Cons: Size: Not a problem for me seeing that I have a full tower but this may be an issue for others that wish put this card in an mATX or ITX case GPU boost 2.0 doesn't really have that great of instructions, you basically have to go to youtube or a forum to learn how to use the software... Not a deal breaker
Overall Review: This card is a beast. It runs everything I throw at it at max settings without breaking a sweat (Hitman Absolution, Saints Row 3, Skyrim with mods well over 100fps, Heaven valley benchmark maxed out without any stuttering, Farcry 3, etc) If you are an Nvidia guy then this is the best card for the money in my opinion, anything above this card is overkill for almost all the games out there today and you start running into the law of diminishing returns. There are some ATI cards out there that will perform on par with this card for less money, but I feel that Nvidia makes a superior product for most games. This card should be able to keep up for awhile and you can always add another and SLI down the road, which is where Nvidia really shines and since most everyone agrees that SLI is superior to Crossfire.
FAST
Pros: Very fast stock speeds Easy to setup a moderate OC Reliable Did I mention this CPU is FAST?!?!
Cons: Doesn't OC as well as some of the previous i7's such as the 3770k Expensive Can run hot
Overall Review: I'm running this beast at 4.4GHz with an Enermax ETS-T40-BK with an extra 120mm fan in push/pull configuration. Never goes over 72° C, Intel lists anything under 90° to be safe with 105° being where the CPU starts to throttle. So it's running relatively cool. I could push it harder but I have no reason to seeing that this CPU is very fast even at stock speeds. Running this with an ASROCK extreme4 Z87 Mobo. Overall I have been extremely happy with this chip, it's my first Intel system in the last 10 years and after having this chip I think I will stick with Intel for the future. AMD makes the best value chips, but if you can afford something like this i7 then it's worth it, in my opinion. Great chip!
Better than some close loop water coolers
Pros: Great cooling, quiet, option to add a second fan for push/pull configuration, cool LED lights, very high build quality, cheap, out performs many closed loop water cooling units, fit and finish is excellent.
Cons: The only unit is really big, which is to be expected of any decent CPU air cooler. Only other thing I can think of is that this cooler blocks one of the dimms on my motherboard so I had to move both of my sticks over one slot so I could maintain dual channel memory.
Overall Review: This is a great cooler, especially for the price. I have my 4770k OC'd to 4.4GHz and it hardly breaks a sweat. Full load it stays under 70°C with an average temp of 65°C under full load. Idle temp is 25°C. I know I could push this thing farther if I wanted to but I have no need to. Ambient temp in my rooms is about 20°C. I'm extremely happy with this cooler, especially since the haswell CPU's are known for running very hot.
Great graphics at a great price!
Pros: Runs Counter Strike:source and half life 2 at 1920x1080 with no problems at all on my 37" LVM-37w3. Solid card at a great price.
Cons: None
Super Value
Pros: Lots of inputs that all except 1080p. Doubles as an incredible PC monitor at 1920x1080! Good response time, there isn't any ghosting when the monitor is being fed a progressive signal. Great value for the price, since it is thousands cheaper than similar sized high end 1080p LCD displays.
Cons: Only one HDMI input. Slight ghosting when the display is being sent an interlaced signal. This is because the display must deinterlace the signal since flat panels can only produce progressive images.
Overall Review: Overall, I am really happy with my purchase. The ghosting I mentioned is only a problem when watching digital cable. The issue is barely noticeable; however, I am pretty obsessed with HDTV's so I tend to pick up every little imperfection. Currently, none of the networks broadcast 1080p, hopefully this will change sometime soon as this would reduce ghosting on flat panel displays. I would recommend this display to anyone looking for a mid sized budget flat panel.