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Kevin K.

Kevin K.

Joined on 01/14/09

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 13
Most Favorable Review

Orion 585W

hec HP585DB 585 W ATX12V Power Supply - Power Cord Included
hec HP585DB 585 W ATX12V Power Supply - Power Cord Included

Pros: Not DOA, powers everything perfectly. In my recently built system that runs 24/7 for almost a month. It does not get hot like my brother's 350w Antec Smartpower. two fans keep it cool. Quiet for what its worth

Cons: feels a bit cheap but not really a con. noisiest part in my system (not saying much, everything else is silent.)

Overall Review: If you need a PSU with decent wattage and don't want to spend a lot, take a chance with a less known brand and save money.

Best design and engineering for under $100

Cooler Master RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Cooler Master RC-690-KKN1-GP Black SECC/ ABS ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: For starters, the only way you will get better quality and design than this is plunking down $200 on a high end Lian-Li case. This case is simply amazing. Bottom mounted PSU, space for seven 120mm fans, excellent airflow. can hold up to I think a 13" graphics card. Meshed front and top panels look awesome, especially modded with LEDs. You can disconnect the top panel headers you aren't using to help cut down on cables. The cable management is impeccable. The plastic clips it comes with are pretty lame, but there is plenty of space for routing all of the cables behind the motherboard tray (get an 8-pin EPS extension!), and with a modular PSU, this is the easiest case to work on, ever. My old Rosewill case had the same Cooler Master fans that this came with, same build. Moved it into this case, and my CPU temps dropped almost 15*C at load! Its huge for a mid tower. This case is quiet! Even with five fans, it is silent.

Cons: Huge for a mid tower. Inside is not black, but I will paint it next summer. Power and Reset buttons are a little bit strange, but I actually like them. Included fans a bit weak on paper, but more than good enough nonetheless. Included cable management clips are useless, but they come out. First day of owning it I almost broke a flash drive when I put my foot on top of the case, not used to top I/O ports. Basically nothing worth complaining about

Overall Review: I didn't buy this from Newegg, but from the manufacturer, refurbished because it was a really good deal

12/22/2009

Great router, but one very annoying problem

Linksys WRT54GL 802.11b/g Wireless Broadband Router up to 54 Mbps/ Compatible with Open Source DD-WRT (not pre-load)
Linksys WRT54GL 802.11b/g Wireless Broadband Router up to 54 Mbps/ Compatible with Open Source DD-WRT (not pre-load)

Pros: After using a NETGEAR rangemax router that would crash, and despite the name, got terrible wireless range, this is simply amazing. easier to set up, better build, no bright lights, and good antennas. Linux based, so its gotta be stable.

Cons: One glaring issue. There is a very annoying high pitched sound emitted from the router (not the power brick), around 15-17kHz. I did some research and this is a common problem with these, it is caused by the voltage inverters inside the router. if you are sensitive to high frequencies like I am, don't put this in your bedroom. it doesn't run too hot, so I may cut antenna and cable holes in a steel ammo box, and put it inside of there

Overall Review: There is a reason this router won the customer choice award 27 times. one glaring problem, but if you can put up with it, its a good router.

WRT54GL

Linksys WRT54GL 802.11b/g Wireless Broadband Router up to 54 Mbps/ Compatible with Open Source DD-WRT (not pre-load)
Linksys WRT54GL 802.11b/g Wireless Broadband Router up to 54 Mbps/ Compatible with Open Source DD-WRT (not pre-load)

Pros: Thus far, this router is great, far better than our NETGEAR rangemax router. better signal, no annoying excessive lights, much easier setup.

Cons: Difficult for me to install Linux firmware. see other thoughts

Overall Review: I attempted to install DD-WRT, but it failed, and my router ended up bricked. However, even with strange command line tools, recovery was easy. Will write another review when this becomes our main router, once my brother moves out and takes his netgear.

this, for only $23 shipped?

Rosewill R226-P-BK 120mm Fan ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Rosewill R226-P-BK 120mm Fan ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: big and roomy, compared to my micro tower. pretty nice looking case. inexpensive but not cheap, maybe just a little (thin metal) but still great quality. nice flip down door to hide front audio and USB ports. Can't say much about the stock fan, other than it seemed cheap and low quality, replaced with a Rosewill fan. put a cooler master fan in the front after seeing my hard drive temps around 116-118 F. now they run around 100. sturdy enough to hold my extremely heavy power supply unit.

Cons: cheap stock fan. HDD bays a little close together but no big deal. air duct useless with my CPU cooler. mobo screw holes did not line up perfectly. had to point my CPU cooler into the PSU fan because the rear fan is not centered right behind the cooler. blinding power LED (I sleep with my computer on and cant sleep with light on). memory and chipsets run hot, but my other case had a custom side fan and I will probably put one in this case as well. not much woth complaining about, especially for the price.

Overall Review: if you need a good case but don't want to spend a lot, get it. If you don't mind spending the extra money, get an Antec Three Hundred.

Still going strong after six months

ASRock G31M-S LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
ASRock G31M-S LGA 775 Intel G31 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: I reviewed this after getting it about six months back, it still works great. I have a E2200 overclocked to 2.53GHz with 667 HyperX Kingston overclocked to 960MHz! No voltage adjustments but still good for overclocking to an extent.

Cons: finally got some of these. The onboard video is really bad, but I will put a 4670 in there soon. Hopefully that will also fix the problem of how how the northbridge gets! I have burned myself on the heatsink many times after playing STALKER SoC. the southbridge also gets extremely hot, the heatsink on it is pretty pathetic. onboard audio is junk but I have a SB Audigy. expect using custom fans on the northbridge if where you use it is over 80 degrees, or if you game on the onboard graphics.