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Brandon S.

Brandon S.

Joined on 10/23/04

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 5
Most Favorable Review

Great bang for the buck

XIGMATEK Gaia SD1283 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler LGA1150 Haswell Compatible
XIGMATEK Gaia SD1283 120mm Long Life Bearing CPU Cooler LGA1150 Haswell Compatible

Pros: This is really a great fan and heatsink design. It has dropped the temps of my AMD 965BE from 63-64 with the stock setup, to the mid 40's when running Prime95. I can now hit 3.9Ghz with it and it still only runs in the mid 50's. It is also very quiet. The stock fan was so loud that I could hear it in my living room, which is some ways away. Now my system is very quiet. This is the best heatsink in this price range period. And I would put it up against some that are nearly double its price.

Cons: It doesn't use the stock backing plate that ALL AM3 motherboards come with. So you have to remove this, and install theirs. This may require pulling the motherboard.

Great Looking Case

Corsair Graphite Series CC-9011061-WW Black Steel / Plastic Mini-ITX 380T Portable Mini ITX Case
Corsair Graphite Series CC-9011061-WW Black Steel / Plastic Mini-ITX 380T Portable Mini ITX Case

Pros: The Build: Intel 4690K @4.5GHz w/ Corsair H100i Cooler Asrock Z97E-ITX/ac Intel 730 240GB SSD (Plug 3.5" spinner HD for extra storage) 8GB Crucial DDR3 Sapphire HD7950 @1050/1400 Antec Neo-ECO 520c PSU (Relabeled SeaSonic) So first off, I love the look of this case. There aren't really any others out there that are like it. Everybody that sees it goes on about how awesome it looks. The build quality is pretty good for the price. The handle up top is very sturdy, no flex or anything. It is a little tough to get one of the doors open, it kind of sticks. Which is really the only build quality issue that I have with the thing. Functionality wise, it gets the job done. It does get a hot spot below the video card, which you can feel on the outside of the case. I switched out the front 140mm fan for two 120mm fans (Enermax T.B.SILENCE 120mm Red) which has certainly helped address the lower hot spot. I may try a 200mm fan at some point. I also changed out the rear fan for an Enermax as well. The inside of the case has lots of cable tie downs, which is awesome. The integrated fan controller is very cool. I *DO* wish the LED inside the case was red. Would be perfect if it was. I may replace it with a red one in the future. Cable routing is a bit tough, I HIGHLY suggest going with a modular power supply. Makes it a lot cleaner inside. I also sleeved all the wires inside, especially all the front panel wires. Looks MUCH cleaner with them all wrapped up into one. Also the USB header is like 2.5ft long?!

Cons: - The one door not wanting to open and close very well is the only real build defect. - The USB cable being super long is a bit of an annoyance.

Overall Review: Overall I am happy with the case. I am hoping to make it a bit quieter still. I know thats hard to do with seven fans in it. But hoping some Noctua fans on the H100i, and putting a 200mm fan up front will help with that.

Not Good for Finger Grip

Battlefield 4 Razer Taipan Ambidextrous PC Gaming Mouse
Battlefield 4 Razer Taipan Ambidextrous PC Gaming Mouse

Pros: Very high DPI, on the fly DPI adjustability, tracks on lots of surfaces once calibrated, Razor software allows for lots of custom settings.

Cons: Unfortunately I returned this mouse because it was not comfortable for me. I use a finger grip (Kind of a modified claw grip) and the buttons on the left side of the mouse dug into my ring finger (right handed). If I used a palm grip it was fine, and actually quite comfortable. But while gaming, I use the finger grip and it just did not work out for me. Oh, and it does have a glossy finish, so if you hands sweat a lot, avoid it. This is only the case for the BF4 edition. The standard one is matte.

Overall Review: Great mouse if you use a palm grip, and it has cool artwork on it.

Great Memory

Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model CT2KIT51264BA1339
Crucial 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Model CT2KIT51264BA1339

Pros: Crucial memory is among the best in the industry. Crucial is owned by Micron, and therefore gets first choice of the memory that Micron manufactures. Great price and performs well. And has always proven to be very reliable.

Cons: None

Overall Review: In another review below somebody complained that the memory did not say Crucial on it and that it instead said Micron. This is normal. Crucial is not a memory manufacturer, but rather a subsidiary of Micron.

Great Card!

SAPPHIRE  Radeon HD 7950 OC 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card  ( 11196-02-40G)
SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 7950 OC 3GB 384-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card ( 11196-02-40G)

Pros: This card is pretty much everything I wanted it to be. Its quite fast in stock form. Its very quiet. Runs very cool. Very little power consumption compared to some other GPU's. And over clocks very well. 1000/1300 is very easy to get without any voltage changes.

Cons: Its not a cheap card. But it cost roughly the same as a GTX580, but with a fair amount more performance, and WAY less power consumption.

Overall Review: Its not quite as fast as an HD7970, but its far cooler and quieter. Non-Reference 7970's will eventually come out. But until then, I would say go for this card instead.