Joined on 11/26/05
Zero issues, rock stable. no swear
Pros: Installed Windows 8, booted up and went to work. I use the onboard video and it's more than enough for what I do which is watch youtube videos, play a few games on Onlive.com and remote tech support. Has worked since day 1 with never ever as much as a hiccup. I would build more systems based on this kind of experience. See my setup in other thoughts
Cons: None I can think of. You can read the specs for yourself so I won't go into how many ports or how much memory or other details. It just works.
Overall Review: RAIDMAX Helios ATX-819WB Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case CORSAIR Dominator Platinum 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMD8GX3M2A1600C8 Intel Core i7-4770K Haswell 3.5GHz LGA 1150 84W Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80646I74770K ASUS H87M-PRO LGA 1150 Intel H87 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 uATX Intel Motherboard TP-LINK TL-WDN4800 Dual Band Wireless N900 PCI Express Adapter,2.4GHz 450Mbps/5Ghz 450Mbps, Include Low-profile Bracket SIIG Wired Keyboard (JK-US0412-S1) Corsair Professional Series 650-Watt 80 Plus Certified Power Supply compatible with and Platforms - CMPSU-650HX LG Electronics 14x SATA Blu-ray Internal Rewriter without Software, Black (WH14NS40) Logitech G500s Laser Gaming Mouse with Adjustable Weight Tuning Windows 8.1 Pro System Builder OEM DVD 64-Bit Samsung Electronics 840 Pro Series 2.5-Inch 256 GB SATA 6GB/s Solid State Drive MZ-7PD256BW
Bought 2 and both failed after a year
Pros: Fast newegg shipping, faster than a mech hard drive
Cons: I purchased 2 of these and configured RAID 0. One died after a year, sent it back and reinstalled windows, a few months later the other one died, sent it back, took both of returned drives and sold them on Craigslist. Mechanical drives have been so so so much more reliable. I never worried too much about OS backup until I started using SSD drives. Now I run Acronis and keep 4 weeks worth of C: drive backups on my mirrored data drive.
High failure rates
Pros: Fast
Cons: I tried to review my 120gb OCZ driver but it is no longer sold. Still, after reading about the failure rates in the newegg reviews I see that high failure rates are still an issue. I too read the reviews and figured if mine failed I would just send it back. Well, I bought two of them less than two years ago. I had them in RAID 0. One failed and I sent it back, they returned it and I rebuilt my system. Then the other failed, I sent it back, they returned it and I rebuilt my system, then....the unthinkable, the first one I sent back failed again. This time I threw it in the trash. No more OCZ for me. To all of you considering their products, please take not of the failure rates and don't think it can't happen to you.
Big and Beautiful. Goodbye reading glasses
Pros: Big Bright Beautiful and Cheap. Makes using my computer so much easier because everything is easy to read. I have a dual monitor confi with an old syncmaster 213t and the old monitor just pales in comparison.
Cons: For $299 I can't really complain. I did notice that although everything is bigger, I can't really fit much more on the screen than I did with my old monitor. I wish it supported a higher resolution. If you look at it from an angle the colors do change but I sit in front of it so that does not really bother me.
Overall Review: Things are just BIGGER, but with my aging eyes (43 years old) it makes working easier and now I want a second one. Overall I am very happy with my purchase and I would buy a second one if I could.
COOL CASE
Pros: I usually buy Lian Li but for the money this steel case is a great deal. Well built, great design and looks cool. Nice fans, fan speed controls, well placed usb ports on front. Cable management in between mobo and side panel
Cons: Being able to stuff all those extra cables behind the motherboard is a great idea but it was too tight to put the side panel on and I had to move some cables back. This is already a full tower so why not add a little more to the width.
Overall Review: No more lian li for me. I don't even care that that mobo tray is not removable. This thing is so big that it does not matter.