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Daniel P.

Daniel P.

Joined on 05/29/10

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 10
Most Favorable Review

One of the best video card

XFX HD-597X-ENFN Radeon HD 5970 BLACK 4GB 512 (256 x 2)-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 CrossFireX Support Eyefinity 6 Edition Video Card
XFX HD-597X-ENFN Radeon HD 5970 BLACK 4GB 512 (256 x 2)-bit DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 CrossFireX Support Eyefinity 6 Edition Video Card

Pros: - 4GB (2GB/GPU) - Eyefinity 6 - 850mhz speed (without overclock) - ONLY 2 slots of space used. - VERY nice packaging with a quality bag that you can keep - Fan illuminated with a red light - Stay very cool at the same temperature on both GPU even at 100% load. - Fan sound is not so bad at low speed. - Come with 6 video adaptors and lots of stickers + a nice case badge

Cons: - Fan can become rather noisy at 100% load. (Don't let that stop you because it won't happen often that you find any application being able to ask 100% load anyway). - The card is very long so remember to measure your case before buying. - Even with 6 video adaptors included, the DVI adaptors are only DVI-D adaptors... They should have been DVI-I. It is important to verify your connections on your monitor(s) if you are pluged in DVI because a DVI-I (or even DVI-A for that matter) can NOT plug into a DVI-D (Because 4 pins hole are missing with a DVI-D). Maybe thay have done that because the signal going out is only digital (or not... i didn't test it) but, even then, they should have been DVI-I adaptors for versatility so, obviously, they cut the budget here, which is rather odd for a video card of that price and quality. - Can't be overclocked too much. (If it is what you want to do, go for the ARES instead).

Overall Review: - It is true that the heat is exhausted at both end of the card but, i don't know why, the temperature of both GPU is alway the same no matter the load. You normally would expect with that type a dual GPU card with a fan in the middle that the one closest to the back is significantly cooler. But those are always equal and rather cool. Which is a very good indication of the quality of construction of this card. - If you want one, don't let the few cons stop you, you won't be disapointed. It still worth 5 eggs by far.

12/12/2010
Most Critical Review

Very fast memory

G.SKILL Trident+ Turbulence II 24GB (6 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7T2-24GBTDD
G.SKILL Trident+ Turbulence II 24GB (6 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL7T2-24GBTDD

Pros: - Timings (7-8-7-24) - Speed (1600) - Reliability (No errors whatsoever on Memtest) - Nice look - Come with fans

Cons: - No cons with the performance of the memory itself. - Fans rack could be a little more solid to hold better in place. - First problem i ever had with something comming from NewEgg. (See "Other thoughts:"...)

Overall Review: - I put these cons here because i don't know who is responsible: The manufacturer or someone at NewEgg. I was very disapointed when i opened the box because it obviously had already been opened and the content been tempered with. First, I had to glue back in place 1/3 of one of the fan sticker because it had evidently been pulled off. Second, one memory had scratch on the metal of the heat spreader. Third, and the worst, one other memory had half of his warranty sticker completely ripped off... Nowhere to be found even in the box. The first thing i have done is to memtest all the memory extensively to see if there was some internal damage done to them. But they worked perfectly and still do. So i decided to keep them instead of taking the chance to exchange them and find myself with another set with errors on it. So i remove 3 eggs because of the 3 problems they had on it and give back 1 to be fair because i can't be sure the manufacturer is responsible for this.

The Ares

ASUS Radeon HD 5870 X2 4GB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 CrossFireX Support Graphics Card ARES/2DIS/4GD5
ASUS Radeon HD 5870 X2 4GB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 CrossFireX Support Graphics Card ARES/2DIS/4GD5

Pros: - Run at 850mhz by default. - 4gb of memory (2gb / GPU). - Not so loud under low load. - A card built with VERY good quality materials. - 2x8 pins + 1x6 pins of input power for plenty of overclocking potential. (Way better on that aspect than the Black Edition Limited). If you want to overclock a lot, this card is the one for you. - VERY unique and nice look. - Nice 100mm fan - VERY big copper heatsink on each GPU to keep them cool. - Come with good quality gaming mouse. - Come with with a nice little badge. - Come with a nice case that you can keep. - Both GPU stays cool under 100% load.

Cons: - Fan can be rather loud under 100% load (Fortunately, that won't happen often given the power of this card). But if you push the fan to 100% just for the fun, you will swear there is a plane's tubine in your PC and it will start going to fly. - The biggest con is that it takes 3 slots of space by just a little. They should have either built it a little smaller to take just 2 slots of space or take the whole 3 slot of space by putting a 3 fans system that would have been far quieter under heavy load. Why they decided to choose between the 2 and take 3 slots of space by so little is a mystery to me. - Well... Everybody already said it and i will say it again: This card is VERY HUGE. In fact it's a monster. Even the Black Edition Limited seems like a kid's toy when you compare them. Take measures in your PC before buying and not only the lenght and height but also the width can be tricky in some PC. Be aware! - This card weight over 5 lbs. Try to support it to protect you mother

Overall Review: - Not really a con because both GPU stays cool anyway under 100% load but the second GPU (the one nearest to the front of the PC) tend to be always a little hotter than the first GPU (the one near the exhaust behind the pc). Which indicate that the flow of air is very good (because they both stays cool anyway) but not perfect like the Black Edition Limited where both GPU temperature are always the same. - This card is one of the best. If you want a video card that you can overclock like crazy, this is the card for you and go for it.

12/19/2010

The best HDD

Western Digital WD VelociRaptor WD6000HLHX 600GB 10000 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive
Western Digital WD VelociRaptor WD6000HLHX 600GB 10000 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 6.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Bare Drive

Pros: - Runs very fast for a hard disk drive. (10000 RPM) - Runs even faster in RAID 0. - Works in SATA 3 if you have both a SATA 3 connector available on your motherboard AND a SATA 3 cable. ( Most people forget the last one...) - 600 GB of space. (1200 in RAID 0) - You get 6.3 with that drive in RAID 0 in Windows 7. (Which is very good for an HDD) - It is VERY quiet for a HDD of that speed. You can barely ear it running. Even in RAID 0.

Cons: - None, you get what you pay for.

Overall Review: - Could have had a 64 MB of cache instead of 32 MB. - No SATA 3 cable or anything included... But it's why it is called "Bare Drive" so no surprise there but a good thing to remember. - Would love to see a 15000 RPM version of this going out one day.

Best 5870 you can get

ASUS ROG MATRIX 5870 P/2DIS/2GD5 Radeon HD 5870 Platinum 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
ASUS ROG MATRIX 5870 P/2DIS/2GD5 Radeon HD 5870 Platinum 2GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Pros: - Overclocked at 894 mhz (900 mhz for gaming). - Bigger and more efficient fan. - Exhaust hot air at the back. - Cool and original multicolor Matrix logo that change color following load charge. - Fan not too much noisy unless you ask 100% load. - 2 Gigs of memory.

Cons: - It's not a 2 GPU card like the 5970 but you already knew that, right?

Overall Review: By far the best 5870 card with single GPU you can find out there. I must admit Asus did a good job on that one.

10/26/2010

Great PSU

ENERMAX SGALAXY EVO EGX1250EWT 1250W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Compatible w/Core i7 Modular Active PFC Power Supply
ENERMAX SGALAXY EVO EGX1250EWT 1250W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Compatible w/Core i7 Modular Active PFC Power Supply

Pros: - Semi-modular (Even if they say modular... Complete modular is no cables attached to it at all. But it doesn't really matter in this case because you will probably use all those already atttached anyway. - 1250 watts. - 6 rails. - Working very stable and lots of power for everything you can think of. - Fan continue to run for 30 seconds when you turn your pc off. - Fan is VERY quiet and PSU keeps very cool. - Come with a cord holder to be sure it won't unplug accidentally. - Nice status light. - Come with the most complete choice of cables out there for any high end rig and/or expandability. - 6 nice velcro strap to attach your cables. (Very usefull) - Received mine with an extra fan in the box included for the anniversary of Enermax.

Cons: - Cables are sleeved only untill you reach the first connector. (which is only a minor thing, but a little odd anyway)

Overall Review: - The problem this PSU already had with some slow boot motherboard (Mainly Gigabyte and EVGA) was fixed by Enermax a long time ago and all the new models are fine and work perfectly. I use mine with a Gigabyte GA-X58-UD9 without any problem at all. This PSU is probably the best out there that you can get.

10/16/2010