Pros: *Price *Performance *Low Energy Consumption *Impressive Gaming Performance

Cons: OC'ing is out of the question

Overall Review: I purchased this for a friends build on a budget and needless to say I am surprised on how well it performs. Its not a Core i3 or Core i5 and while it doesn't perform as well in intensive programs like Cinebench R15 and the x264 HD Video encoding its an amazing value for average daily use. Where it really shines and blew me away was in gaming. As I said I purchased this for a friends budget build with the intention of later upgrading to a Core i5 when he could afford a Core i5. Its paired with a EVGA GTX 760 and the truth is I thought it would bottleneck a little but I don't notice any difference between this and my personal Core i5-2500 and GTX 760. I actually went back and benchmarked a couple of games like Bioshock Infinite, Sleeping Dogs and Tomb Raider. I was expecting a much bigger gap but instead was pleasantly surprised to see that my system and his are within 7fps of each other on those games. I can't say enough about how impressed I am with this chip. It stays cool and the stock cooler is actually pretty quiet this time around. I am assuming the fact this CPU doesn't get hot sort of negates the need for a large heatsink. I was going to go with an AMD APU but decided to go this route instead last minute and I am glad I did. This is a solid choice for an everyday family PC, office PC and an exceptional budget gaming CPU that could last you for a while until you decide to upgrade...if that upgrade is even needed. My build: Core i5-2500 (non K), 8GB Gskill 1600, EVGA GTX 760, 1TB Hitachi HDD. His build: Intel G3220, 8 GB Team Elite 1333, EVGA GTX 760, 1TB Seagate HDD

Pros: The GTX 970 is in my opinion the best well rounded GPU on the market. Gigabyte has done a great job with the cooler as they have with previous cards. This card delivers smooth 60fps @ 1080p on high-ultra settings with most games without a hiccup when paired with a Core i5 2nd gen or higher.

Cons: Gigabyte customer service is without a doubt the worst customer service of any PC component manufacturer on the planet so if you buy this product with the hopes of getting service within the warranty period you better keep your fingers crossed. About 10 months ago my friend told me he processed an RMA for a GTX 770 through Gigabyte and they flat out denied him stating he had replaced the thermal paste which he swore to me he didn't so they denied his claim and returned his card. This was the same GTX 770 he purchased refurbished through Newegg. Fast forward and I am in the market for a GTX 970 and it was a tossup between the Gigabyte and MSi and the only reason I went with Gigabyte was because of a rebate which I have yet to receive. I have had this GPU in total for almost 2 months. Right after my 30 day Newegg warranty was up I was directed to Gigabyte's RMA department because the GPU became unresponsive and stopped producing a video signal. I tried everything they suggested before I called including rolling back the drivers, installing new drivers and nothing helped. They finally gave me an RMA # and I was told to ship the card to them on my dime which cost me $12. I waited almost 2 weeks before checking the status of my RMA and when I did I was shocked. My RMA was refused because they claim I replaced the thermal paste with after market thermal paste which is a complete lie. After going back and forth with them on the phone they told me there was nothing they could do because I had altered the card and they would be shipping it back to me. So here I am today with a GPU that I spent neatly $400 of my hard earned money that is no more than a paper weight and there is nothing I can do about it. They will more than likely reply to this with some false effort to smooth things over but don't be fooled they don't care. This company will fabricate a lie to refuse your warranty claim.

Overall Review: When considering your next GPU or component for that matter steer clear of this company. You have been warned.

Pros: *Incredibly fast *Efficient *Five-year warranty *Versatile *Fits in a variety of devices like ROG Ally, Steam Deck and laptops and PC's with an adapter as needed.

Cons: *Price *No 4TB Version

Overall Review: For its size, the Crucial P310 2TB PCIe Gen4 2230 NVMe M.2 SSD contends with full size NVME options. I installed this in a PC using a 2230 to 2280 adapter for testing purposes and I was blown away at how fast it is. Even though this was supposed to be for testing purposes I have enjoyed it so much that it has become my primary game storage drive in my desktop. Would I recommend it for a PC? Well no not really. I would really recommend this for someone looking for a handheld option like the ROG Ally or Steam Deck. Being that I had neither of those devices I purchased a 2230 to 2280 adapter to use it in my desktop. While it is not practical for a desktop it does work and it works well beyond my expectations but considering its price point there are a ton of other standard NVME options out there for less. On the other hand if you are in the market for a 2230 NVME than look no further.

Pros: *Steel chassis with all around metal mesh panels designed for airflow *Small footprint taking up very little space on a desk (200 (W) x 271 (D) x 458 (H) mm) *Easily accessible front control panel *Panels are easy to remove and screws are captive so they are less likely to get lost *

Cons: *Fairly limited number of storage slots *Cooling could be better considering its design *A little tall for what is considered a compact case *Pricing could be a little lower

Overall Review: Overall assembly wasn't too difficult. Mounting the power supply was pretty simple. Mounting a SSD is very easy and the SSD bracket can be positioned to accommodate the PSU. Motherboard installation is also straight forward. Note that there is a plate positioned in front of the motherboard that can be removed to make that installation easier. There is also quite a bit of space to install the GPU without removing anything. I did manage to fit an XFX 6800XT without any issues. Cabling wasn't difficult either but it will take some work if you want it to look clean. Considering you will never see the inside of the case I focused more on wiring for airflow rather than aesthetics. I would recommend a modular PSU like the Corsair SF750. The most difficult part with cabling this case was tying down excess wiring on the back between the panel and case. It is not difficult but does take a little longer to complete. Overall the design isn't going to be practical for everyone. It is than other small form factor cases so it isn't going to fit everywhere. On a desk it will serve you just fine. While gaming I noticed my temperatures would spike up more than what I would have liked but after tweaking my fan settings that was quickly solved. I would recommend this to anyone that needs a small case due to limited desk space. I would also recommend this to someone that doesn't care about tempered glass windows and just needs a case to get the job done.

Pros: *Great performance on my AMD platforms *Pricing is very competitive *Only 1.76" tall *Lighting is fully customizable using Corsair iCUE software *Optimized for RYZEN

Cons: *As much as I like Corsair I am not a fan of iCUE software *Optimized for RYZEN *DDR4 is at or near end of life

Overall Review: When it comes to desktop memory the only thing I expect is performance and that it works as advertised without hiccups. Out of the box it worked with XMP enabled at 3200 by simply enabling it in the BIOS. I didn't have to tinker with any other settings as I have had to do with other memory modules I have tested in the past. I have put this PC through hours of buttery smooth gaming with this memory and have not had a single issue. I did not attempt to overclock it because truth be told the hypothetical performance increase would be negligible and you would never see it in real world use. It's not low profile memory by any means but it is only 1.76" tall. This could be a factor if I decide to switch to air cooling in the future. I was a disappointed my Gigabyte B550 Aorus Elite could not control the RBG lighting. The modules were not detected by the RGB Fusion software until after installing the iCUE software but even then the Gigabyte software could not control the lighting. This is not a deal breaker though as I will take functionality over aesthetics any day of the week. At the end of the day this has been some of the best performing RAM I have ever used. Most consumers just want a piece of hardware to work out of the box and that is what you are getting here. I like it so much so that is is going to stay in my RYZEN PC and I plan on picking up another 16GB kit in the near future before DDR4 is phased out.

Pros: *inexpensive * will work with almost all motherboards *has two 2+6 pin connectors which can power any single graphics card *nice build quality. *120 mm fan which is silent. *good quality wires

Cons: *cables a little shorter than I would have liked, great for medium case not so much for a full sized case *quality of housing material scratches easy but expected in this price range

Overall Review: If you want to power just a single graphics card then this is a great choice but if you are looking to power multiple cards or a real power hungry card I would recommend looking at the bronze line or better. I am giving it a 4 eggs for the performance and quality for this price tag. I am currently using this power supply with an older AMD Athlon 860K quad core build which I use as a standalone PLEX server and it runs 24/7 and so far its worked flawless for over a month. I did test this power supply with my FuryX and while it worked fine I would not recommend it as a long term solution for high end builds. If you are looking entry level or even mid range this is a solid choice.