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Aaron G.

Aaron G.

Joined on 08/29/10

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 14
Most Favorable Review

Nice Sleek Monitor and Colors

ASUS 23" LCD Monitor 1ms (GTG) 2 x HDMI, D-Sub, DVI-D (Via HDMI) VX238H-W
ASUS 23" LCD Monitor 1ms (GTG) 2 x HDMI, D-Sub, DVI-D (Via HDMI) VX238H-W

Pros: - Sleek Design with thin bezel - 2x HDMI Xbox 360 and Computer Connected - I honestly really like the stand while some other don't to say the least. - The white color looks very fancy indeed. - Price - 1ms

Cons: - Color Presets are kinda terrible some presets are just overly saturated while others are dark etc...You really need to tinker with color settings to get a good calibration. - 60Hz

Overall Review: To begin this wasn't a total upgrade from my previous monitor Samsung XL2370 23" but from 3 different opinions I got from my family the colors really killed it sky high. I had my Samsung monitor for 4 years and 2 months and when I originally thought the colors where awesome I was completely blown away with this ASUS Monitor. The colors are great and makes things like working in Photoshop much better. The games depth of color look overall much better indeed, however the dark's in my opinion are very very dark maybe for certain games. For instance Tomb Raider when I walk inside the Tombs I Honestly can't see anything to say the least(Not sure if it was meant to be like that or not...?). This is when I change the preset to Scenery or something different then I can notice the outlines of the caves. So why am I giving it 4/5 Eggs. Well their is ONE issue that is kinda bothersome. Now hopefully I can explain it well. Its not a major performance issue but basically when I drag screens in Windows theirs a ripple,blurry stutter effect on the outlines of the window only. Not really sure which term to describe best but this only happens when i drag things on windows. Now on games I can't really tell if this issues exists but on SWTOR I can clearly see it on characters names when they are moving their HP bars get all rippled to say the least. On games like Tomb Raider, Dead Space, SC2 I honestly can't see this effect if it's there due high details of the game. Also to further add, when this monitor arrived I was very close in RMA it. Why was this? Well when I hooked it up for the first time I was getting distorted Reds and Greens effects on Videos In General, Games, Photoshop Images. Basically on games there was specs of green dots in certain areas when game was in motion. And when I would watch videos on youtube their would be outlines of greens and reds on peoples faces or objects. Lastly, in Photoshop when I would zoom in or out on a person face I would see traces of reds and greens on them. This wasn't a graphics card issue because my Samsung monitor didn't suffer from it and drivers are up to date like always. I tried a total of 4 cables 2x HMDI and 2x DVI To HMDI cables and the issue persisted. On the 2nd or 3rd day the problem completely went away go figure.... not really sure if this was due reducing the RGB colors in Windows Color Calibration or if the Monitor just needed to get warmed up. In the end this problem was finally gone and after 1 month of using this monitor it hasn't returned. Overall I'm satisfied with this monitors colors and sleek design but the problem that I described is why I'm giving 4/5 I also bought during this time a Sapphire R9 280x Tri-X with up to date drivers 4/24/14 Catalyst 14.4 and problem still persists so its not a graphics issue, definitely monitors even after trying 4 different cables.

Most Critical Review

Decent Product

Cooler Master SickleFlow 120 - Sleeve Bearing 120mm Red LED Silent Fan for Computer Cases, CPU Coolers, and Radiators
Cooler Master SickleFlow 120 - Sleeve Bearing 120mm Red LED Silent Fan for Computer Cases, CPU Coolers, and Radiators

Pros: - Moves decent amount of air. - Red LED light.

Cons: - Not PWM - Doesn't seem like high quality build - Started to make slight rattle after a year or so.

Overall Review: Nothing really much say about this fan, it's okay I suppose moves decent amount of air. However it did started to make a slight rattle noise after a year, make sure to clean or blow the dust of the blades which could also be the problem. The fan looks cheaply made as well. I moved on to COUGAR fans and honestly they are far more superior all around such as built quality they seem more sturdy, PWM feature, and affordable price.

CAT 6 30FT. CABLE

Coboc CY-CAT6-30-BK 30ft. 24AWG Snagless Cat 6 Black Color 550MHz UTP Ethernet Stranded Copper Patch cord /Molded Network lan Cable
Coboc CY-CAT6-30-BK 30ft. 24AWG Snagless Cat 6 Black Color 550MHz UTP Ethernet Stranded Copper Patch cord /Molded Network lan Cable

Pros: - Black - Price - CAT 6

Cons: NONE

Overall Review: Their isn't really much to say about a Ethernet cable in all honestly, so yeah... lets just go with personal thoughts and opinions. Firstly, I wanted to upgrade my ~5year old wireless PCI-e card so I was thinking to my self "Why pay $50-100 for a high end or well known brand (i.e Asus) PCI-e wireless card, when you can buy a cable for just ~$5-10 (purchased mine for $5.68)" Some may argue because it's wireless obviously it will reduce cable clutter which is a valid point. However my cable is running on the floor through the back of some shelves, bed, and computer desk, honestly I can't really tell at all that it's there. I've had the cable(30FT) for about 2 1/2 months and is working as intended and is connected with speeds up to 1Gbps( I do have cable internet but my speeds don't go that high). Haven't experienced any issues what so ever and I prefer having a solid connection to avoid connection drops or lag in games. Overall, I'm happy with my purchase and saved myself potentially ~$70+ if I would of purchased a PCI-e wireless card.

Working as Intended

SAPPHIRE VAPOR-X Radeon R9 280X 3GB PCI Express 3.0 Graphics Card 100363VX-2SR
SAPPHIRE VAPOR-X Radeon R9 280X 3GB PCI Express 3.0 Graphics Card 100363VX-2SR

Pros: - One of the best GPU coolers in my opinion. 60-65c during full load, I've never seen this go above 70c. - Very nice aesthetics. - I like the blue/black color theme.

Cons: - Card is long but I had no problem fitting inside my Corsair Carbide 500r case.

Overall Review: Well I hate starting this review like this but If I would of wrote this review maybe couple months back it would of been very differently. To begin I am very bummed and mad at this time, I ordered this GPU on 04/07/14 and paid roughly $390. Almost a year has gone by and with that amount of money I could purchased a R9 290x or the new Nvidia GTX 970 which range from $330-$360 as I am writing this review. I had my eyes set on this card(at the time) however due to the gold miners I wasn't able to purchase any R9 280x since they were going for like $450+. I am very bummed knowing I could bought a VERY high end graphics card right now... oh well technology sure advances rapidly. Now that my rant is out of the way i'll quickly give my opinion on this card. Well it's almost a year since I've had this card and honestly I haven't had any problems what so ever, not even screen issues. The cooler on this thing is amazing, I monitored the temps on this card for the first few months and to this day I've never seen it exceed over 70c, it averages between 60c-65c. Honestly this GPU might be a little too much for my needs, I am still kinda new the PC gaming scene, around four years. I only play like 1-2 games to be honest that is SWTOR and SC2. I bought two other games just to "test" the graphics on this thing and that was Tomb Raider which had no issues maxing out. However Watch Dogs on the other hand doesn't quite max it out, I'm not saying its horrible or anything but you can still play this game at very high settings but once you start to max out some settings it starts to get rough. To conclude I am giving this card 5/5 eggs, everything about this card has been working flawlessly. My rant is just a personal thing knowing I could of bought something better... and doesn't affect the product by any means.

Simple but nice looking case

Corsair Carbide Series 500R Arctic White Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Gaming Case
Corsair Carbide Series 500R Arctic White Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Gaming Case

Pros: - Nice cable management - Very spacious. - 2x USB 3.0 Front ports. - 3 White LED fans 2x 120mm and 1x 200mm. - Lots of fan mount locations, currently running 3x intake and 3x exhaust - White case with some black as well. - Bottom and top dust filter. - Very simple design, I LIKE IT!!! - Top tray to put USB thumb-drives or anything small. - Removable HDD cage to fit long graphics card. - I did end up getting my $20 rebate card. ($80 after rebate)

Cons: - The only negative is removing the front panel to clean the mesh dust filter which is a pain to remove. If only it popped out like the top dust filter it would of been awesome. Other then that I don't see anything wrong with this case.

Overall Review: This review has been held of for about a year, i'll make it quick. This case was my choice for my first computer build. I really like this case due to its simple yet modern design with a white finish. The case already had screws installed for a mid-atx motherboard so that was nice. Also another thing to add is the top HDD cage is removable to fit longer cards even with the cage I was still able to fit my R9 280x which measures 12.2inches with about a half inch to spare but I still ended up removing the cage for maximum airflow from the the front case fans. It comes with 4 pre-installed case fans and even after 1+ year they are working just fine I replaced the rear fan and kept the three LED ones. Also has a fan speed controller to control the LED fans. Furthermore the cable management is acceptable with various spots to re-route your cables through. The case also has 3 areas with mesh to protect from dust getting in, it has 2 removable ones (top and bottom) and in the front panel which isn't removable. Overall I like this case, I highly recommend it.

Never got to use this product...

Mediasonic HP1-SU3 USB 3.0 2 Port External USB 3.0 PCI Express Card - LINUX Software RAID supported
Mediasonic HP1-SU3 USB 3.0 2 Port External USB 3.0 PCI Express Card - LINUX Software RAID supported

Pros: - USB 3.0

Cons: - Updating drivers, disc was useless. - Waste of money, see other thoughts.

Overall Review: Honestly I "NEVER" had the chance to use this product at all. I bought this item for a three year old desktop at the time because it didn't had any USB 3.0 ports and I was going to get ready to transition from USB 2.0 thumb-drive to 3.0 speeds. I did manage to install and update the drivers through some random website but never had the chance to test it out because I never had any form of USB 3.0 devices like a portable HDD or a USB thumb-drive that was 3.0 capable at the time. Overall I wasted $15 for nothing... This may be a little of topic and or irrelevant but I ended up building my own PC about three months after I bought this product and well... I have like 8 USB 3.0 ports, which is a lot for my needs since I only have one USB thumb-drive that is 3.0 speed cable...