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Anthony J.

Anthony J.

Joined on 06/17/06

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 9
Most Favorable Review

Thumpin away!

MSI Z77A-GD80 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS and Thunderbolt
MSI Z77A-GD80 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS and Thunderbolt

Pros: To start with I was drawn to this board by its main stream capabilities, high end components and of course the new (new to the PC industry) Thunderbolt port. Not wanting to waste money on any overpriced and over rated 2011 socket series systems as of yet (too buggy) I opted for this board. I was a bit apprehensive about purchasing an MSI product, being I’ve always associated them with the lower end of the scale PC electronics. Well, today I sit here eating my own words. With an i7-2770K OC @ 4.7GHz, 65C with a H100 Corsair cooler and 16GB G.Skill Trident X DDR3 2400. This system runs cooler, of course faster, a lot of bells and whistles and will last me another year or so even with a dead end socket. I upgraded from a ASUS Sabertooth X58, i7 950, 12GB Corsair Dominator OC at 3.7GHz, Corsair H80. I am a happy camper. Well done MSI.

Cons: None

Overall Review: System Specs: Mobo - MSI Z77A-GD80 w/Thunderbolt CPU - Intel i7-2770K (OC @ 4.7Ghz) Mem - G.Skill Trident X DDR3 2400, 16GB (2x8) HD OS - WD 600GB Velosiraptor, 10,000rpm, Sata 6GB GPU - Sapphire HD 6990, DDR5 4GB HD Storage - Hitachi Deskstar 2TB 7200 x2 Optical - LG Blu-Ray R-RW x2 CPU Cooler - Corsair H100 PS - Corsair AX Pro 1200w Case - HAF 932 Advanced Monitor/s - LG 24” LED 2ms x3 (Eyefinity mode 5760 x 1080P)

Great for NAS drives

HGST Touro Desk Pro 4TB USB 3.0 3.5" External Hard Drive 0S03503 Black
HGST Touro Desk Pro 4TB USB 3.0 3.5" External Hard Drive 0S03503 Black

Pros: As suggested by another user I picked up 5 of these external drives on sale for my Thecus N5550 NAS, confirming first they were on NAS compatibility list. Removed all 5 from their cases and plopped them in my NAS case, set them up raid 6 and have been working flawlessly since (knock on wood). Hitachi 7200rpm, SATA 6GB drives, BOOYAA!! Buying these drives as inexpensive externals (money saved) and ripping them apart, in my opinion is well worth the warranty loss. Thanks Newegg for the deal.

Cons: none

Overall Review: It's a shame you have to buy these drives externally to get a deal. The OEM bare drives are obviously overpriced by the factory. On a positive note I tossed my older 3TB drives back in the cases and sold them. More money to buy stuff from Newegg.

What a thumper

XFX Radeon HD 7990 6GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 CrossFireX Support Graphics Card FX-799A-XNF9
XFX Radeon HD 7990 6GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 CrossFireX Support Graphics Card FX-799A-XNF9

Pros: Recently replaced my Sapphire Radeon HD6990 with this card. Didn't expect to see much difference in performance, boy was I wrong. Running BF3 on 3x 24" LG monitors with the game settings maxed out. My monitors almost can't handle what this card can dish out. The clarity is unreal. Noise isn't and issue either. Only under heavy and extended demands do I hear the fans rev up. I'm very pleased with this card. I would highly recommend it if it's within your financial range.

Cons: My only complaint is that it's dropped $100 since my purchase, that's electronics for ya.

Overall Review: Rig specs: MSI Z77GD80 Thunderbolt i7 3770k OC @ 4.7GHz 16GB GSkill PC3 17000 Kingston HyperX 240GB x2, raid 0 XFX Radeon HD 7990 Corsair 1200 Corsair H100 HAFX v2 LG Blu-ray burning roms x2 NZXT SEN-001LX Sentry LX LG 24",2ms, x3

Giving it a shot

ASUS RT-N66U N900 Dual-Band WiFi Gigabit Router
ASUS RT-N66U N900 Dual-Band WiFi Gigabit Router

Pros: Up and running in just a couple minutes, fast, dependable (TBD). See other thoughts

Cons: none

Overall Review: It never ceases to amaze me how electronics these days don't last, not to mention the technology behind them seems to move backwards at times. My point being, a common theme between routers I’ve found is for the first 6 months to a year they all work great, than the slow wireless intermittent connection of death begins to creep in. I just trash canned a (perfectly good, other than wireless problem, just over 1-1/2 year old) Netgear WNDR4500 (blood boiling). Then you have a few backwards built AC models using USB 2.0 instead of 3.0, why? I know, I know I’m supposed to be leaving feedback on the ASUS RT-N66U, but I am so frustrated with router builders these days. Can anyone make a router that lasts past the next generation and/or produce a product with all the latest and greatest features and last for more than 1 year? I’ll pay top dollar for it I DON’T CARE, just make it. As for the RT-N66U, I researched countless websites and reviews and found the ASUS RT-N66U being one of the best, though buying this model meant taking a step backwards compared my newly junked WNDR4500 however, the alternative would mean buying one of the new AC models and from the reviews I’ve read they are just about as unpredictable as anything else, not to mention most lack USB 3.0 support. In addition very few devices can take advantage of the new technology anyway and the prices would scare away all but enthusiasts like myself. What’s the use of having the latest and greatest if they don’t work properly or last? Back to the RT-N66U, My home/small business network consists of the following: 1x RT-N66U, 2x range extenders, 1x 16TB file server, 1x 3TB network drive via the router usb, Pogoplug with 3TB drive, 5x destops, 7x laptops, 6x cells, 2x pads, and a ton of home theater and home security devices I won’t mention. 70% of the network utilization is wireless. 30% of that runs on the 5G portion. Believe it or not, most of this runs 24/7. Side note: I just recently acquired the Galaxy S4, connected it to the Wi-Fi 5G and ran a Megapath speed test with download speeds of 33MBs from 20’ away, nice! Long story short the RT-N66U handled anything I threw at it with no signs of slowing or exhibiting any distress. At this point I am very pleased and would recommend it to anybody who’s either in my position or looking to upgrade an older router. From $149-$169 on the average the RT-N660 it’s a no brainer. Though a bit older in technology and lacks some bells a whistles compared to its modern brethren it’s proven itself to be a contender. I’ll keep you posted.

Nun Better

Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced - High Air Flow Full Tower Computer Case with USB 3.0 and All-Black Interior
Cooler Master HAF 932 Advanced - High Air Flow Full Tower Computer Case with USB 3.0 and All-Black Interior

Pros: More room than a Mack truck, coolest and quietest case I've ever owned. Already been through 3 complete upgrades (builds) and still I cling to this case, why? It’s simply the best.

Cons: None!

Overall Review: The 230mm fans can be replace with the Cooler Master 200mm. Their mounding holes match this case perfect, and more colors, oooooo aaaaaah!! Rig specs: MSI Z77A-GD80 w/Thunderbolt Intel i7-2770K (OC @ 4.7Ghz) G.Skill Trident X DDR3 2400, 16GB (2x8) 2x Kingston Hyper X 240GB Raid 0 Sapphire HD 6990, DDR5 4GB Storage - Hitachi Deskstar 2TB 7200 x2 2x LG Blu-Ray R/RW CPU Cooler - Corsair H100 Power - Corsair AX Pro 1200w Case - HAF 932 Advanced Monitor/s 3x - LG 24” LED 2ms (Eyefinity mode 1520 x 1080) NZXT Sentry LX Fan Controller G.Skill Turbulence II Memory Cooler Uspeed PCI-E to USB 3.0 Hub/Card Reader

Should have bought a tablet sooner

MOTOROLA XOOM with Wi-Fi 1GB DDR2 Memory 10.1" 1280 x 800 Tablet Android 3.1 (Honeycomb)
MOTOROLA XOOM with Wi-Fi 1GB DDR2 Memory 10.1" 1280 x 800 Tablet Android 3.1 (Honeycomb)

Pros: Quality, Functionality, Condition, Price. Why did I wait so long to buy a tablet?.... all the above. I didn't need a tablet , it was just one piece of electronic equipment I wanted to explore. I'm impressed with this Motorola Xoom. I did quite a bit of tablet research before purchasing. Though it's over a year outdated by tech standards, it rocks. For what it can do, the price is a no brainer. Not much I can't do with this tablet and it's fast, did I say fast, yea. Wireless screams on my GHz network. Refurbished? look brand new, not a scratch and like I said before it functions, perfect!

Cons: It's a tablet. Also, see other thought

Overall Review: It's not a PC. For those thinking it's going to replace your notebook, think again. It can do about about 70% of what your standard PC can do, that's it. No ultra fast program speeds. Speaking of programs, minimal. Limited storage other than external. The real downer for me was without converting my entire movie collection on my NAS I'm left returning to my PC to watch them. But than for $299 and Netflix I'm ok with it.