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Thomas H.

Thomas H.

Joined on 09/17/05

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 14
Most Favorable Review

Way better than Scythe

GELID Solutions Slim 12 PL 120mm Blue LED Case Fan
GELID Solutions Slim 12 PL 120mm Blue LED Case Fan

Pros: Just got these guys installed on my Corsair H100 (not the H100i.) Previously I had two scythe SY1212SL12H slim fans installed. In their current configuration they are pulling, and I also have two regular size blue LED GELID fans (with the nanoflux bearing) pushing. Both sets of fans are horizontally mounted. I require the slim fans on the top because of clearance issues with my motherboard, and I don't want fans mounted outside of my case. Temps on my Intel 3930K are around 27 - 29 C idle. (I don't have it overclocked), and 43 - 44 C under full load. Previous temps with the scythe fans were 32 C idle, and 46 C under load. Not a huge difference, but What's really nice is the noise level. They feel like they're moving a lot more air than the scythes as well, despite the grating along the radiator mount. I honestly can't hear these or the other GELID fans while my computer is on. Now granted I have about 16 fans on my setup, not counting the video card, but The scythe fans used to really let me know they were there. They had a high pitched whining noise that was unbearable unless you made them sit at 75% or less, even then, they weren't completely without that whine. The blue LEDs are nice to look at, but if you don't like them you can turn them off with a switch on the fan (I believe that's what it's for). I didn't try this as I just mounted them straight from the box to the top of my radiator. After getting these, and using other GELID fans for about 8 months, I have found my new favorite brand.

Cons: Haven't owned them that long, but no cons so far. If I find any I'll write another long winded review stressing my discontent. :P

Overall Review: If you're like me and don't have the room for a full size fan, or just like a slimmer profile, you'll love these fans. They don't quite have the static pressure or CFM of the regular models, but for what they offer, and how slim they are, they are more than worthy. I'm convinced if I had slims on the bottom my performance would still be pretty good. When I get the itch to start overclocking, I can be sure I'm in as good a place as I can be. (You know, without donning the gloves and pulling out some liquid nitrogen.) Props go out to GELID for thinking of those who need slimmer fans, and then delivering them with unparalleled performance.

12/20/2012
Most Critical Review

Seemed like a good card...

SAPPHIRE NITRO+ Radeon RX 470 4GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 Graphics Card 100407NT+4GOCL
SAPPHIRE NITRO+ Radeon RX 470 4GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 Graphics Card 100407NT+4GOCL

Pros: -When it works, it works well. Fast Framerates. Pretty much on par with the RX 480. -Fairly Quiet I never heard it over my case fans. -Sexy looking

Cons: -Constantly crashes to a blank single color screen Sometimes it's black, sometimes another color, but it always requires a hard reset. -When it didn't crash it would sometimes only show 1/4th the screen Required a reset of display settings, which wasn't easy to achieve with only 1/4th the top left screen. -Random graphical anomalies between resets Strange bands or other artifacts that distorted the screen requiring another reset. -3 different drivers all had no effect on the stability of this card The same issues were present on all 3 of the latest drivers I tried. Earlier drivers than that don't seem to work with this model. This suggests to me there may be something inherently wrong with the card I received.

Overall Review: Overall I really liked the card, but it just didn't have any stability. I am returning it in favor of an RX 480, which I know first-hand from someone else doesn't have the problems this 470 had. Whether or not you will have the same experience, I don't know, but I can't game like this. If it's just a driver problem, Sapphire should have worked with AMD before releasing the product, because none of the available drivers work.

Lightning fast, but needs cooling.

PNY CS2030 480GB M.2 2280 PCIe NVMe Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - M280CS2030-480-RB
PNY CS2030 480GB M.2 2280 PCIe NVMe Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) - M280CS2030-480-RB

Pros: -Very fast: Sequential read/write on CrystalDiskMark 5.2.1 x64 is showing 2772 MB/s read and 1461 MB/s Write at 33% full (only after adequate cooling. See below.) Close enough to rated specs for me and honestly it'll probably vary a bit -Loads up windows pretty fast. Once my motherboard finishes its checks I'm at the windows screen in no time -This drive has true MLC NAND, not TLC with a cache like the similarly priced 960 EVO -Stable -Good PTP -Got it exceptionally cheap.

Cons: -Overheats doing menial tasks without additional cooling (runs around 60 - 70C most of the time). Hits its 75C cap (where it stopped for me) fairly easy -It's not clear how to get started with an M.2 NVMe drive and there isn't anything that would lead you in the right direction. There were no instructions in the box and nothing on PNY's website, so you're on your own! I had multiple issues that I had to go scour forums to learn the remedy to -PNY's software either can't find its own drive, or will not display it because it already has the latest firmware, but it will not tell you of either outcome. It just displays a blank screen

Overall Review: Neutral: -Dual-sided (apparently a problem for some users?) Other notes: -I set a high airflow 20mmx40mm fan blowing directly on the drive from half an inch away. The drive can now hit near its rated speeds fairly easy, with temps maxing around 57C. Before using this fan, the maximum write speed was 943 MB/s and the read was about 2400 MB/s, as it was overheating and throttling during the test -Cloning my existing SSD to the new drive would not work, I could only do a fresh install -If you have issues with Windows saying it cannot install to the NVMe drive, try unplugging all other drives (except your install source) and try again. This fixed the problem for me -I'm still perplexed as to why many manufactures have yet to offer any serious cooling solutions that will keep their drives from throttling

Advanced builders only

be quiet! DARK BASE PRO 900 ATX Full Tower Computer Chassis - Black/Orange
be quiet! DARK BASE PRO 900 ATX Full Tower Computer Chassis - Black/Orange

Pros: -Incredibly spacious. -Plentiful screws and other accessories to complete your build -Fully modular -Cable routing, tie points, etc ate all where you expect them to be. Designed by people who build, obviously. -Full tempered glass window is gorgeous -Great airflow with fans maxed out (didn't try it with just the stock 3 fans) -Quiet -Sexy as ****

Cons: -Does not contain any instructions on anything except a few components. There are no guides on disassembly or proper placement/mounting. This information is also absent from the website, so you're on your own! Hence the title. I would HIGHLY recommend against choosing this case if it's your first build -I still have no idea if I mounted the power supply correctly due to an inane layout. -Led strips only seem to fit onto included controller (not your motherboard RGB connectors) -Expensive as far as cases go

Overall Review: Neutral: -If you have a somewhat longer power supply, you probably won't be able to fit both fans on the bottom, or a radiator for that matter. -Orange LEDs on strips are kind of yellow -Assembly can take a long time if you are going to be tearing down a lot, so plan a good chunk of time for this

Make sure you've got room

AzenX Blitztorm BT-SC70BBL 70mm Red LED Blitztorm System Slot Cooler
AzenX Blitztorm BT-SC70BBL 70mm Red LED Blitztorm System Slot Cooler

Pros: Looks cool. Nice blue LED. The second fan twists however you want it. I couldn't hear it over my other components.

Cons: I can't really dock eggs for this, cause it's my setup that's causing the problem, but if you get this, make sure you have enough room between this cooling card and your graphics card. I only had a single card's width of space between them and the exhaust on this thing was fighting my MSI Twin Frozr III for air. Temps rose in response. Unfortunately my sound card was occupying the single regular PCI slot on my motherboard that was in the way and could not be moved to facilitate proper air flow. So I gave the cooler to my dad, and he says that with his setup(which has a lot more room between the cards), it is working flawless.

Overall Review: I ended up mounting two 40mm fans (for exhaust) on the outside of my case over the open card slots instead. Worked like a charm. I used two of the EVERCOOL FAN-EC4010M12CA. Newegg sells them for a lot cheaper than I paid at a local store, so I'd suggest getting them from here.

Corsair doesn't dissapoint.

Corsair Performance Pro Series 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) CSSD-P256GBP-BK
Corsair Performance Pro Series 2.5" 256GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) CSSD-P256GBP-BK

Pros: This drive is great. It runs exceptionally fast, and delivers everything you've come to except about SSDs. It just has this one, teensy little thing that many manufacturers (I'm looking at you OCZ) don't seem to care about: RELIABILITY. So far I've had zero issues. No BSOD, no write or read errors, no instability, nothing. It's like I'm using a mechanical drive that's on every illicit stimulant you can think of AND is a model citizen in every way. Marvel controllers for the win. The tests I've performed fall a little under the rated speeds, but I really don't care. Real world performance is what matters, and this drive delivers. Everything just happens so much faster.

Cons: I think it might just be my system, most likely some idiosyncrasy with my motherboard, but it doesn't boot as fast as my laptop does with it's Plextor SSD (also a Marvel controller). It does take about 45 seconds to get completely into windows. But that's still miles ahead of my old mechanical drive. After that it's lightning fast.

Overall Review: Overall a great drive with a very competitive price. Grab it before they're all gone and Corsair decides Sandforce controllers really are the way of the future. :P