Pros: - Video passes 2D performance of a GeForce 650 Ti - Processing speed benches about the same as a FX-4100 ( 3.6ghz) CPU

Cons: - Boxed heatsink/fan doesn't come with enough paste on it. Had to suppliment with Arctic Silver. - Heatsink doesn't cover the whole top of the CPU - Video 3D performance is on par with a GeForce 6800 (not a bad card, but not on par with current GPU's that support DirectX 11). - Fan doesn't have traditional "AMD" sticker. - generic fan. - No "powered by" sticker in box

Overall Review: Decent processor if looking for multiple cores but don't expect big performance out of this. A comparable AMD AM3+ system is much more bang for the buck, especially if you already have an AM3 board. You can also expect to update the BIOS of a new motherboard in order to fully support this CPU. For example, Gigabytes F2A88XM-D3H will randomly crash while gaming until you apply their current BIOS. When talking with Gigabyte, they claim the BIOS update has nothing to do with the APU, however it did stabilize the system so that it no longer crashes. Overall, this APU is good performance on a budget although you will pay a bit extra for a motherboard that supports APU's so the cost savings is outweighed. APU Combo ---------------------------- $154 for this APU $84 for the board ( F2A88XM-D3H ) ---------------------------- $238 + taxes and shipping CPU/Video Combo ---------------------------- $99 - AMD FX-4130 CPU $54 - MSI 760GM-P23 Motherboard $74 - XFX HD-667X-ZHF3 Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-bit (Video card) ---------------------------- $227 The CPU/Video Combo as stated above is MUCH faster than the APU Combo, and a bit cheaper. The CPU/Video combo does consume a bit more power, however it is negligible except for those who are super concerned with every extra watt of power consumed. The APU does make a nice server where power consumption is limited, but aside from that, the traditional desktop combo is not only cheaper -- but faster, and easier to upgrade the individual components.

Pros: - Has room for desktop ATX PSU - 3 x 5.25" Bays that face out - 3 x 3.5" Internal bays - Cases have a clear plastic wrap on them to prevent scratches which you can peel off (similar to that on the face of a new iPhone)

Cons: - Have to remove pretty much everything to install drives into the 3.5" bays - Almost all screws and screw-holes are stripped by manufacturer - PSU is inconsistant (bought 2 cases, one had 4 Molex, while the other PSU had 3 Molex -- both PSU's are Hercules Model # AP-MP53ATX40 and have the Athena Power brand ) - PSU's output 11.6 volts on the 12 volt connector which causes random shut-downs. Tested system configuration used only 222 watts, and had to buy new desktop PSU's to replace them.

Overall Review: - Buy lots of extra screws to replace all the stripped ones. - Have a long neck magnetized screwdriver handy -- you will need it to install the 3.5" drives - Throw the PSU in the trash when you get it as no motherboard uses 11.6 volts on the 12 volt. - Drink lots of coffee and have patience. Assembly of a basic system with 4 drives takes approximately 1 to 1.5 hours for experienced builders. I recommend paying the extra few bucks for an iStarUSA or SuperMicro case with PSU as you will be forking over extra money for a PSU anyway). *** Additional warning *** -- NewEgg RMA shows "Unfortunately, our records indicate that the manufacturer's labor warranty for this product has expired. Please contact the product manufacturer for additional service options." -- So this is a buy-at-own-risk item with no warranty.

Pros: - Lots of M2 slots - Lots of USB ports on the back - Wifi6 / Bluetooth built-in - Good RAM, CPU, and Video clearance from each other. - Lots of fan headers - Decent amount of SATA ports (although I no longer use these) - TPM 1.3 support - Resizable BAR setting available to enable/disable. - Crypto mining support for GPU at BIOS level

Cons: - No firmware updates since 2023 - Downloadable drivers/etc from MSI are dated. - Realtek audio drivers install as "USB" version - POST can be slow to initialize before seeing any data on the screen (usually a "_" character in the top left is what you see first for several seconds). If MSI improved this in their firmware, it would dramatically reduce boot time as it can last for up to 2 minutes on board init alone.

Overall Review: Very fast, durable, and full featured motherboard for the generation. Highly recommend despite the cons I listed.

Pros: This switch is excellent bang for the buck. * Good speed, and reliable transmissions on all ports. * GBIC (Fibre) ports add extra bang as they are not the cheap Fibre (aka, 100Mbit), these are the real deal offering the capacity to handle the full load of every Giga port if fully loaded with room to breathe. * Fully managed web based interface allows for virtual lans, dhcp server, time sync, and a plethora of other options to manage the switch on a port by port basis or overall. * Runs cool * Built-in toggleable DoS, and Storm protection * Flow control * Duel firmware (backup and live firmware / settings ) * Lifetime next-day replacement warranty by HP *****

Cons: The only con, is that the web management interface is password only -- no duel credentials.

Overall Review: For just over $200, this product is a must have for anyone looking to upgrade their network to Gigabit, or to buy into a more reliable switch. Each GBIC port, currently valued at around $110 each makes up for the cost of this product alone. Having a fully managed switching and auto-sensing hub with lots of pretty lights that is reliable --- even better. Comparable with a CISCO of same features. --- and, when the lights glow and slide accross during it's POST, it kinda reminded me of the nigh-rider car -- Kit. In all cases, if you buy this --- you will fall in love !!!

Pros: - Simple and complete board with lots of features. - BIOS included is fairly recent - August 2013. - Once updated, the board runs well. - Has native BIOS operations for Windows 8, and UEFI Boot - of Windows 8 Boot partition. - VERY LIMITED RAID support pre-BIOS (CTRL+R after enabling RAID). 0 (Striping), 1 (Mirroring), and "Volume" ((JBOD) --

Cons: - No Linux support - Does not fully support A10-6800K until BIOS is updated to F2 (random crashes in Windows without this update) - RAID does not have a rebuild option in BIOS - Can only use Windows to update the BIOS as Q-Flash says it is outdated and the DOS utility "efiflash.exe" is from 2012 and also will not update saying that utility is outdated. - USA Tech Support claims they do not have access to their FTP / Internal information for latest software/drivers/etc - The RAID drivers provided are not signed (causes a big problem with installing Windows). The drivers on AMD's site are also not signed, but are more complete. - Moving a RAID set to a different board (exact model), causes the RAID set to partially fail -- one drive on. one drive off.

Overall Review: After installing Windows just to be able to update the BIOS using their @BIOS utility, Q-Flash is still 1.05, and says it is outdated making BIOS updates impossible without windows in the future. When used with A10-6800K (4.1 Ghz ) CPU, overall bench is only slightly faster than AMD FX-4100 ( 3.6 Ghz ) -- about 2-3% faster, and the Video is overall a bit faster than a GeForce 650 Ti, however on 3D video, the chip benches at around 80% slower. (comparison of same version of windows with the latest official drivers installed, no overclocking)