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Andrew M.

Andrew M.

Joined on 08/23/05

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 12
Most Favorable Review

Great on budget, if lucky

AOC 52 Series e2752She Glossy Black 27" HDMI Widescreen LED Backlight Slim Monitor 300 cd/m2 DCR 20,000,000:1
AOC 52 Series e2752She Glossy Black 27" HDMI Widescreen LED Backlight Slim Monitor 300 cd/m2 DCR 20,000,000:1

Pros: Decent viewing angles. Good color, if tuned. Can't beat specs for sub-$150 category at 27" Average bezels, so don't expect it to be thin and you won't be disappointed. The stand is fine. No dead pixels, so I guess I got lucky on "panel lottery". I believe the other reviews, but feel it's worth the gamble as their is always a chance when buying online as opposed to in-store to get better price/performance.

Cons: Color feels below average for TN panels. After tuning, slightly above at best, so be aware that the wash out is real, I belive this could be addressed if it wasn't such high contrast ratio. This the only reason for a 4egg rating, considering the price.

Overall Review: Overall really pleased at $144 OTD for size and specs. Just hoping it lasts for more than 2 years, and will definately report any evolving issues.

11/27/2016
Most Critical Review

Good board but out of date M.2 QVL

ASRock ASRock Fatal1ty Gaming Fatal1ty 990FX Killer AM3+/AM3 AMD 990FX + AMD SB950 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Gaming Motherboard
ASRock ASRock Fatal1ty Gaming Fatal1ty 990FX Killer AM3+/AM3 AMD 990FX + AMD SB950 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Gaming Motherboard

Pros: Good board for the money.

Cons: BIOS interface can be buggy and not the most energy efficient overclocker. Also have had 3.0 front port usb consistancy and Sleep/Wakeup issues and it's not the connector as I have tried the board in multiple cases. Sometimes windows won't even detect the 3.0 ports upon a fresh boot up. I've tested using 4 different versions of drivers and the problem persists. Hoping the "changes USB function" note on the 1.60 BIOS addresses this. Keeping my fingers crossed and flash from 1.50 -> 1.60 tonight.

Overall Review: Overall pleased with this purchase as far as AMD boards go. However, I'm considering purchasing an M.2 SSD with NVME but can't tell if it will support some of the newer ones or boot from them etc.because the BIOS note and QVL lists on their site are very limited. The M.2 support list is always out of date. http://www.asrock.com/mb/AMD/Fatal1ty%20990FX%20Killer/?cat=Storage Unless they stop selling this board and EoL it out, they need to keep testing and showing "partial/full support" test results for hardware compatibility. Something that ASUS is always on top of.

If it weren't for the Bios

MSI B250M PRO-VDH LGA 1151 Intel B250 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
MSI B250M PRO-VDH LGA 1151 Intel B250 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: The specs you get for the money. The durable design. Compatible with Intel 7th gen out of box. I bought the G4560. I also bought MyDigitalSSD 240GB M.2 and it's smokin' fast for the money with this board.

Cons: Needs 1 more 3-4 pin fan out, but I knew what I was getting into. BIOS is terrible. I knew MSI bios in general isn't the best and the compatibility is good, but when I flashed to the most recent (A.2) the menu system practically freezes in bios, it is so slow... Hard to tweak to optimal settings when it takes 3-4 seconds for a click or keyboard command to register. Otherwise 5 Eggs.

Overall Review: Going off the general BIOS update schedule, I would either a. Wait 1 more month and hope they address any known bios issues with A.3+, or b. make sure that all hardware you're combining with is fully compatible before purchasing and just stick with the shipped BIOS.

Meh

COOLER MASTER R4-S2S-124K-GP Silent Case Fan (4-Pack)
COOLER MASTER R4-S2S-124K-GP Silent Case Fan (4-Pack)

Pros: They spin for cheap, are barely adequate for a non over clocked system. I had an old case with noisy dying fans. They pushed twice as much air though.

Cons: Definitely don't push an acceptable amount of air, even at the price. Since they aren't PWM, you'll need to manually bios adjust speeds, and believe me you'll want do because they have a weird hum and and vibration pattern at or above 70% speed.

Overall Review: Just find a better $7 ish fan.

10/20/2016

Front panel USB "Kiss of death"

ASRock 990FX Extreme3 AM3+ AMD 990FX + SB950 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
ASRock 990FX Extreme3 AM3+ AMD 990FX + SB950 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

Pros: Inexpensive

Cons: After owning for 2 years, have had ongoing front panel USB issues. When I touch the front panel, skin or usb device, it shorts out and freezes the system, followed by a very unpleasant static-snow sound through speakers. Thought it could be grounding or case issue but it must be a motherboard manufacturing defect. Newegg was kind enough to send a different case to see if the problem persisted and it does.

Overall Review: Wish I would've been more proactive in determining the source of the issue, but haven't had the time and I don't use front usb that often but BOY WHEN I DO! Guess I have to buy a new mobo, that stinks.

Poor longevity

Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler, 4 CDC Heatpipes, 120mm PWM Fan, Aluminum Fins for AMD Ryzen/Intel LGA1200/1151
Cooler Master Hyper 212 Evo CPU Cooler, 4 CDC Heatpipes, 120mm PWM Fan, Aluminum Fins for AMD Ryzen/Intel LGA1200/1151

Pros: Great heatsync design. Single or double fan capable. Very quiet.

Cons: Fan died after 1 year - fortunately it's under warranty...right? You builders know how inconvenient it is to replace a heatsync. Which is the only option you have when their CS phone number hangs up on you EVERY TIME, their online support doesn't respond (waited 1 hour) and their online RMA system takes 2 days for approval then at least 7 additional business days to ship a replacement. Yes I understand their non-sense disclaimers of "availability" and such- but PLEASE, this is one of their most popular selling items of this type. That's just poor support. I hope mine is an isolated case as I and many others enjoy this item.