Pros: + Fast clock + Good price + Contrary to what you might think by looking at it, fan is extremely quiet

Cons: - Intel HD graphics are improving, but still weak

Overall Review: A lot of people making a custom build would probably not even think to use an i3. However, you can get a much faster clock than most i5 processors, giving good single- or dual-thread (read: general purpose) performance. Personally I would not get an i5 or i7 unless I was doing renderings, simulations, compiling, or technical computing that uses all 4 cores. Even then, I'm not sure a gen 6 i5/i7 belongs in any build under $1k. I was expecting a garbage stock fan/cooler with this CPU. But it is actually very quiet. I don't see any reason to upgrade it on a processor that can't be overclocked.

Pros: _

Cons: Does not work with my HP ENVY 14 w/ mobility Radeon HD 5650. Tested with multiple monitors and graphics settings. VGA and Displayport are interfaces that are standardized across all devices, but...

Overall Review: Maybe this unit is not incompatible but just broken/defective, I will never know.

Pros: - none

Cons: - Worked the 2 times I used it within the 30 day return period. Not so much anymore a few months later

Overall Review: I'll yank the review if you send me a new one...

Pros: + Does its job. Fits my motherboard.

Cons: - No problems yet, but I am wary because I have had other (different) G-Skill modules go bad on me before, at 1-2 years of use.

Overall Review: I don't think there is any difference between this and the Ripjaws V ram modules, besides the addition of a heat spreader. It may not look as cool, but this RAM does not run nearly hot enough for a heat spreader to matter.

Pros: + Like all H170 mobos, has plenty of connections, but is not overclockable. + Supports major new technologies, so should be somewhat future-proof: Intel gen-6 socket DDR4 RAM M.2 SSD slot USB-C socket + ASUS has served me well in terms of being reliable, and also having lots of settings and options.

Cons: - I could have used a third USB 2.0 header.

Overall Review: I would absolutely recommend ASUS as a brand, and the Intel gen-6 platform, but you may want to consider chipset options such as B150, H170, Z170 depending on your needs. A little surprised by issues with other reviewers, but my experiences have been problem-free.

Pros: + Cheap after rebate + Better than Intel HD 530 graphics, barely + Fan and heatsink are overkill for this card + Supposedly 4k-ready, but I don't think it would have the power

Cons: - First card I received would repeatedly shut off after 1 minute. XFX support handled things well enough and sent me a replacement, which worked. Still, I would rather not deal with this, and it's a ding on XFX's product quality and reliability. - Chipset is a re-badged HD7xxx from 2012. I didn't realize this at first, but I wish I could get an underclocked/entry-level version of a modern chipset instead. - Fan was noisy at it's idle speed of 35%. Using SpeedFan and FurMark however, I found that the card could be stress tested at only 27% fan, which was much quieter. 100% fan would be way overkill.

Overall Review: My initial thinking when purchasing was, "graphics cards these days are so crazy powerful, that even a lower end one would be fine for me doing lightweight games, emulation, etc." But, I have found that Intel integrated graphics have come a long way since 2012, and unfortunately you have to break the $100 mark in order to get any benefit at all from discrete graphics.