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Alex M.

Alex M.

Joined on 06/09/12

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 11
Most Favorable Review

Beautiful

EK-Vardar EVO 140S BB (500-1150rpm)
EK-Vardar EVO 140S BB (500-1150rpm)

Overall Review: These look great, are very quiet, and don't have a ton of over design to them. I have no need for having my computer look like a lamp or a transformer, just keep it classy. These are solid, good quality fans. They simply do not include all the fluff other companies include. I just wanted fans that work and look clean and won't go out of style next year when the next color or craze comes out. There is a really nice clean look to these that I really respect. Keep it up EK!

Most Critical Review

Raid creates boot issue

ASUS P8Z77-V DELUXE LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
ASUS P8Z77-V DELUXE LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Fast and smooth sailing for over a year then Raid1 issue started.

Cons: After 1 year Raid1 started failing, programs freeze, and boot time 3 times longer. Did tons of research and tuning. Updated bios and did clean install to correct issue in the end. This was the end of my ability to set the bios to Raid. Setting to Raid creates boot failure and loops until I reset bios to non raid setting. In turn, all my bios and settings get deleted. RMA suggested by Asus and returned with same issue and no description of work performed. Also usb3.0 ports stopped working. Contacted Asus again and they want to RMA again. I think I will just same the time and money and get an MSI board and move on

10/20/2013

Great, but check fit.

EKWB EK-M.2 NVMe Heatsink, Black
EKWB EK-M.2 NVMe Heatsink, Black

Overall Review: Used for a rear mounted M.2 on a ITX Z390 MB. The socket cannot fit the rear backplate. Best you look up what height sockets you have so you can see if it can clear any projections on the motherboard. There seems to be slot 3 heights and you need the tallest to work. It looks great, and comes with everything you need to install. The clips are a bit hard to get on. I used some pliers to pull them open as I pushed it over the side. Its is tough to install, but if you focus it will work. Taking off an egg because it should have an option to install without the back plate, and fix the clearance issue. The clips could easily be installed on the front, maybe with the logo on them instead of the heatsink. I love their products, but this one just didn't work out for me.

Tricky Case

Phanteks Enthoo Evolv Shift PH-ES217E_BK Satin Black Anodized aluminium panels, Powder coated steel chassis, Tempered glass side panels Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case Support SFX, SFX-L Power Supply
Phanteks Enthoo Evolv Shift PH-ES217E_BK Satin Black Anodized aluminium panels, Powder coated steel chassis, Tempered glass side panels Mini-ITX Tower Computer Case Support SFX, SFX-L Power Supply

Pros: - Looks great. - Good build materials.

Cons: - Demanding build. - Limited fit. - Horrible wire clearance as PSU.

Overall Review: Well packed/no damage. Stealthy black logo on the all black version. Panel thumb screws are hard to turn without screwdriver. My GPU bracket came out of square, so the GPU could not sit in both the bracket and riser cable at the same time. This was fixed by unscrewing the PCI-e and sliding 2 radiator washer behind it and reinstalling. That allowed the PCI-e to sit at an angle (a noticeable angle). I was upset by this, but it works. Almost zero wire clearance if you run monitor, mouse, peripheral cables down the back and out where the power supply cable is. Not due to interior space, but due to there being about 1/8" slot opening at the exit point for the cables. This is a shocking design flaw based on how well the rest of the case is designed. It took 20 minutes for the panel to slide on with 2 pretty thin HDMI cables, and a few other thin peripheral cables coming out the back. I almost gave up and just let them come out the larger top hole, but was able to lay each cable flat against the back and get it to slide down and lock. Also, HDMI cables hardly fit in the back of the GPU with top panel closed (buy very short and flexible ones). Cable management is really challenging, and you will find yourself uninstalling components to redo others as each component overlaps the next. I found the build to be fun, but some with less control may want to through it out the window. Use a true SFX PSU, you need the extra space. I used an H55 cooler with 120mm push/pull intake at bottom, and x2 140mm fans as intake on side. The radiator really only fits in one location with the 140mm side fan installed. It really has to be mounted right next to the PSU, so what looks like a lot of adjustment at the bottom is really not usable, but it does work and fit very well. I removed everything not required in the case for improved air flow including the interior flip down wire cover (it can be removed carefully) and grommets. The front panel does have a divider/shield between the fans so if you do intake at bottom and exhaust top you should be pulling in cold air. There is room for M.2 heatsinks on the back of the motherboard. The GPU is quite far from the MB tray (my 2070 GPU fans are facing in), and the cut out was large enough for my Z390 MB. My EVGA GM650 PSU cables were way too stiff to comfortably hide the cables behind the little fold down plate, but still looks good in the case. Very hard to hide the case USB3 cable behind the plate as well. Temps are fine, but I am not doing anything crazy with this machine. My Vader Evo SS fans look great and never really spin up too much. I went into this with an open mind about the air choke points in this case. In all I am very happy with the case. It looks great, and doesn't have a lot of over design fluff. The egg was lost due to the cable clearance issue, and angled GPU bracket. This is my 3rd build, 1st ITX build.

Standard Mouse Pad

Corsair MM250 Champion Series Mouse Pad - X-Large
Corsair MM250 Champion Series Mouse Pad - X-Large

Pros: - Large size. - Thick padding. - Comfortable on the wrist.

Cons: - Large logo. - Does not lay flat!!!

Overall Review: In general this is just a really big standard mouse pad. The edge is the same as any other cut pad, but the foam base is nice and thick. It stays put on the desk. One issue is it will not lay flat after being rolled in the Corsair box it came in. After 48 hours with books on it, and a week of use it still has an unrolled look to it, and the end from the center of the roll is more pronounced. Bit of a bummer for the cost.

Its a Keeper

Corsair Carbide Series Air 540 (CC-9011030-WW) Black Steel High Airflow ATX Cube Case Support ATX Power Supply
Corsair Carbide Series Air 540 (CC-9011030-WW) Black Steel High Airflow ATX Cube Case Support ATX Power Supply

Pros: Plenty of space. I like the matte black plastic finish, it does not leave finger prints. Doesn't look as dorky as other cases do in person. All Black is nice. It fits a H110, as long as the hoses are mounted towards the front, which looks sleek in my opinion. I switched to this case from a Corsair 550D. Wiring is really easy to get a clean looking case. Air movement is much better now, and temps dropped. Dust is not an issue in this case with "logical" fan layout. I have five 140mm fans running at full speed (3 stock, 2 Quiet Ed) and it is pretty quiet in my opinion. Just as quiet at my old 550D, but with much better cooling. With my bios i can get it pretty close to a whisper.

Cons: I get some vibration noise from the two HDD hot swaps. I wish the front fit three 140mm fans. I intended to use different fans, but after using the stock 140mm fans for a while they are not that bad. I notice an rpm flutter when I tweak them in my bois, which I don't get from the Corsair 140 Quiet Editions I have on my H110. They sometimes show a zero rpm reading, where the others run pretty dead on. I feel cases should just stop including fans. I do not like the SSD holder, but it does work as intended. I just feel they could do something to increase the storage capacity in the PSU compartment. The hot swap cables under the PSU are a bit of a missed detail, but it all works. I don't like how the SSD and 5" bays are too far apart for me to use a single power cable. I think this could all become one piece in the next go-a-round. They could make the case a smig thinner if they wanted to. Why do they not include a cover for the opening at the bottom? Maybe ventilation? Wish they included an optional cover for that one, or at least made it smaller holes to not show so much of the PSU compartment.

Overall Review: You will need an extension cable for your audio cable if you have an MSI Z77 Mpower board. The front panel cable included is a bit too short if you have to reach the far left corner of the board. The Bitfenix Alchemy Cables worked great for me. I switched to all SSDs and got rid of the vibration issue. Check the dimensions, its a bit blocky, but nice to look at. I do highly recommend this case even though I have some small issues with it. I think the all black version is much better looking than the other colors. Very sleek looking.