Pros: Great, affordable processor for my first ever computer build. It was between this and the i7 4790 and for what I want to do (moderate gaming) I don't feel I am seeing any loss in performance going with the i5. The base clock is advertised as 3.5 GHz but with the Turbo Boost technology and watching the clock speeds in Core Temp, this thing pretty much acts like a 3.9 GHz cpu whenever it needs to.

Cons: I don't like the included cooling solution. I cleaned the heatsink off and used Arctic Silver 5 per their instructions for this cpu family but Prime95 pushed temps to 170*F before I stopped the test. One of the push pins was also able to pop out of its motherboard mounting hole with the pin still locked and the risk of the heatsink separating from the cpu during operation because of that was reason enough to get an aftermarket cooler.

Overall Review: I'm sure Intel knows better than I do what is necessary cooling for their cpus but there's something to be said about taking into account the layperson's perception of what 'should be'. It seems to me that the cooler you can keep a cpu, the better, so when there are good aftermarket cooling options for ~$40 I don't see why Intel couldn't offer something better. Or just omit the cooler altogether and pass some savings onto the consumer.

Pros: N/A

Cons: This cooler did not sit level and square when mounted. When looking at it from the horizontal it looked like the leaning tower of Pisa. When looking at if from above it appeared "twisted' like a double helix and its lines of vertical and horizontal symmetry were not parallel with the horizontal/vertical lines of the case. In other words, it didn't look like a square sitting inside another square with the edges being parallel. It looked like a square placed haphazardly inside another square at some rotated angle. The heat plate was flat, it made full contact with the processor. The problem was that the heat pipes were not held in alignment when this thing was put together and it was allowed to twist all over the place before everything was sintered and made secure.

Overall Review: Maybe what I got was a poor example of QA/QC but otherwise it would seem this company needs better fixtures for assembling these things, if they're using any at all.

Pros: Using on an i5 4690, Tj Max of 212*F Temp readings taken from Core Temp Ambient room temp 66*F I used Arctic Silver 5 applied per their exact instructions for my processor family on both the stock cooler and this one for comparison. For me, the threshold of hearing for these fans is about 75%. Below that I can't hear them. At 100%, however they are clearly audible. However, as I detail below, this thing cools so well at low fan speed that I don't think anything over 75% would ever be necessary. Idle temps were reduced about 3*F with this cooler - not a big deal. I don't think you'll see much decrease in idle temps no matter what cooler you choose. Temperature under load is where cooler performance really counts. Running Prime95 on the stock cooler temps reached 170*F before I stopped the test. With this cooler and running any of Prime95's canned test parameters the cpu temps never go over 145*F. During typical use and gaming I'm not seeing temps over 125*F. Oh and that's also at 40% fan speed, higher speed yielded no temp decrease. Not too big. Fits easily in my ATX-Mid case and clears all ram slots on an ATX board when mounted to blow front to back.

Cons: I don't like the screws holding the corners of the top few cooling fins together. Looks sloppy and almost seems like more of an afterthought. Cheap hardware. The mounting brackets/plates are ok but some of the threaded connections seemed loose and the material is too soft for strong threads. Granted, you don't need to crank down on a 4-40 screw (Or metric equivalent) but if I had my way they would be made to a higher standard. I just really hate cheap fasteners.

Overall Review: Overall I am disappointed with products in this category. This is my first time dealing with aftermarket cpu coolers and this was the third one I got before I was satisfied. The first one, another brand and model, didn't sit square and level when mounted. The second, this same make and model, came with defective threads in one of the mounting brackets. Newegg service was great though. They're easy to get ahold of and talk to and they provided a return shipping label both times. I am happy now and I'm impressed with the performance of this cooler. For anyone interested, my background is in mechanical engineering and while heat transfer was one of my weaker subjects in school I had a professor who was an expert in thermofluid science and I remember him discussing heat pipes and mentioning them being as much as 500x more effective at transferring heat as opposed to plain conduction. Needless to say, that alone makes these coolers based on heat pipes very interesting.

Pros: Plenty of room and incorporates slots for cable management. Sturdy and well-constructed. Quiet and effective fans - I have moved my existing hardware into this case for the time being and before my CPU temp would reach 108F under load and I haven't yet seen it go above the mid 90s since making the switch. I like that the 'feet' are built into the profile of the case - I recall reviews on cases where people complain of removable type feet breaking - no worries of that here. The cable to the front USB 3.0 ports utilizes an actual pinned connector for a motherboard header - A friend of mine has a case where the front USB 3.0 ports basically use a USB extension cable, exit through the back of the case, and plug into the 3.0 ports in the back - what were they thinking?? Overall just a great looking case in my opinion.

Cons: Poor instructions

Overall Review: Since the product description and the instructions leave a few things out here's some additional info: There are two switches on top of the case. The left switch controls the top fans and the right switch controls the front fans and LED brightness. The switches can be high, low, or off. The case also comes with rubber plugs to keep dust out of the audio, USB, and SATA ports on top. I was skeptical of the ports being open on top until I discovered these. Be sure to grab the bottom of the case when moving it around. There's an open spot in the back that seems like a convenient handle - don't use it, the top is designed to come off! The instructions aren't very clear on how to take the case apart or how to access the expansion bays. Just take your time looking at how it goes to together and be gentle. With any degree of mechanical aptitude you should be able to avoid breaking anything. Give some thought to how long your power supply cables are. My existing power supply was top mounted so moving it to a bottom mounted case the motherboard and CPU power cables were not long enough. I think most new power supplies these days have plenty of cable length and I got this case with the idea of putting together a new system so I will be getting a new power supply anyways.