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Michael A.

Michael A.

Joined on 06/25/04

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 9
Most Favorable Review

No issues

SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6950 2GB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 CrossFireX Support Video Card (OC Edition) 11188-22-20G
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6950 2GB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 CrossFireX Support Video Card (OC Edition) 11188-22-20G

Pros: 1. Quiet. 2. Factory overclocked. 3. Dual BIOS (the switch is tiny, but it's there). 4. 3D-capable. 5. Fast free delivery (at the time of purchase). 6. Comes with two free games worth almost $100 (at the time of purchase).

Cons: 10 1/4" - 10 1/2" long. Not a real issue for me with my Antec Nine Hundred case, but those of you with small cases should watch out.

Overall Review: I had no problems getting the free copies of BF3 and Dirt3 that came with the card (limited time offer). It took me just a few seconds to get the game keys and start downloading the games (one from Origin and the other from Steam). Both games work fine at 1920x1200 resolution - there's no noticeable lag or anything at max settings. Installation was easy since my power supply already has two 6-pin video card connectors. I didn't notice any significant noise increase while playing games (I did hear some noise increase, but I'm not sure if it was coming from my CPU cooler or the video card fans). I couldn't hear the noise once the in-game sounds started playing through the speakers.

Great product

Pink Gem Shield Glitter Protective Cover Case for Samsung Galaxy S4
Pink Gem Shield Glitter Protective Cover Case for Samsung Galaxy S4

Pros: The case works great! It fits my Samsung GS4.

Cons: None

Great Case!

IN WIN GRone Gray 0.8mm SECC Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case
IN WIN GRone Gray 0.8mm SECC Steel ATX Full Tower Computer Case

Pros: 1. Lots of mounting options for fans. 2. Lots of space to hide cables behind the motherboard. 3. Lots of holes for cables. 4. Large side window! 5. The case looks nice! 6. The thumb-screws are large (1.5 times the diameter of the thumb-screws in my Antec 900 case).

Cons: Not enough information in the manual on how to remove the top panel, but I figured it out.

Overall Review: If you want to remove the top panel to replace/add fans, there's a latch you need to pull down where the two top-side case fans meet. You need to hook you finger behind the latch and pull it towards the center of the case and slide the top panel towards the back of the case. I replaced the two existing fans with Cougar brand ones with red LEDs (they are very quiet) and used one of the stock fans as a third top-side fan. I also removed the top drive cage to allow for better air flow. Initially, I thought I needed an adapter bracket to install a 2.5" SSD, but there are mounting holes and screws are included in the box for you, so there's no need for a separate adapter. Also, the top 5.25" slot for optical drives is partially blocked by wires leading to the power buttons and the surrounding ports, but they can be moved to the side by removing the front panel (held in place by 6 clips) and carefully bending the cables out of the way. You're going to want to do this because a single optical drive in any other location than the top slot would look out of place (brake the pattern on the front of the case).

12/21/2013

Fast SSD

SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-7PD256BW
SAMSUNG 840 Pro Series 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-7PD256BW

Pros: 1. Fast. 2. Stays cool to the touch. 3. Installation was a breeze (Windows 7 can be installed on this without any additional drivers - at least with my Asus Z87-Pro MoBo). 4. The PRO version uses more reliable memory than the EVO. 5. Came with the latest firmware already installed (verified with Samsung Magician software).

Cons: None

Overall Review: I'm using this SSD as a primary drive to boot Windows 7 from. I have it hooked up to the SATA 3 (6Gb/s) port of my Asus Z87-Pro MoBo. Windows Experience Index for this drive is 7.9 - the maximum possible value. I had AHCI enabled when I was installing Windows 7, and the process went without a hitch, and I didn't need to load any special drivers. This might be unique for Intel chipset or UEFI BIOS - I'm not sure. Samsung Magician benchmark results: 555 MB/s sequential read. 509 MB/s sequential write. 87830 IOPS random read. 86697 IOPS random write. CrystalDistMark 3.0.3 x64 test results (MB/s): Sequential: 534.4 read, 515.4 write. 512K: 478.1 read, 313.6 write. 4K: 39.7 read, 136 write. 4K QD32: 389.8 read, 278.3 write.

12/21/2013

Nice Power Supply

PC Power & Cooling ZT Series 650 Watt 80+ Bronze Fully-Modular Active PFC Performance Grade ATX PC Power Supply  (OCZ-ZT650W)
PC Power & Cooling ZT Series 650 Watt 80+ Bronze Fully-Modular Active PFC Performance Grade ATX PC Power Supply (OCZ-ZT650W)

Pros: 1. Enough power for gaming with a GTX 760 video card, a Haswell i5 processor, an SSD, an HDD, and 6 case fans. 2. Quiet. 3. Stays cool to the touch when gaming.

Cons: None

Overall Review: Seems to provide stable power as I haven't had any issues with my PC so far.

12/21/2013

Memory that works

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-1866C9D-16GXM
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-1866C9D-16GXM

Pros: Reliable memory.

Cons: None

Overall Review: Having 16GB of RAM allows me to disable the page file in Windows and use less of my valuable SSD write/erase cycles. I haven't had any problems gaming. I also successfully ran memtest86+, and found no errors.

12/21/2013