Pros: + Price-budget 8 core CPU (especially when on sale got mine for $164+ 2yr warranty) + easily OC to 4Ghz for a moderate OC & a default 8350 speed (stress tested mine up to 4.3 Ghz stable but likes to drink electricity) with custom cooler + multi-tasks like a beast (tab out of a game on steam,watch a MP4 movie & have 10 tabs open in Firefox at the same time) + gaming- hang's in there with the Intel big boy z, paired with the right GPU of course + Temps on the CPU with my Cooler master hyper 212 plus on this CPU have never gone above 22C (idles at 14 C) with the 4Ghz OC

Cons: - the fan/heat sink that came with it, is one of the tiniest little pieces of junk I ever did see, scrap it & turn it into a beer coaster - not an I5 or I7, but hey if your reading this your like me on a budget (cheap skates gotta represent) -Don't trust another mans thermal paste, I personal don't know what brand they used on the heat sink. But go with the goo of your preference, mine is Artic Silver 5 the only goo I trust

Overall Review: Coming from an old budget AMD quad core (amd 645 3.1 ghz). I m glad AMD hasn't lost it touch. Supplying great value for the dollar. Specs: CPU: AMD 8320 Black Edition 8 core3.5Ghz 4Ghz turbo / 4Ghz OC Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 plus +Artic Silver 5 Goo Mobo: Gigabyte 970A-D3P AM3/AM3+ RAM: Gskill Ripjaws X 16Gbs-2x8GBs 1866Mhz GPU: MSI Radeon HD7870Ghz OC Edition 2GBs GDDR5 GPU 1050Mhz Memory 1200Mhz OC: GPU 1150Mhz Memory 1450Mhz PowerControlSettings+20% Hdd: Sandisk 128GB SSD boot drive 2x1Tb Hitachi 7200RPM Hdd 2Tb WD MyBook 7200RPM external Hdd PSU: Rosewill Hive 650W 80+Bronze Full Modular Case: Rosewill Challenger USB3.0 version Mid-tower OS: W7 64bit Home premium

Pros: pros good performance (lowered VRM temps by 5c on my motherboard) rgb light can be turned off (unplugged) Quiet

Cons: Cons Did not fit my PC case (cooler master haf xb evo) Delicate (the fan blades are so thin you could accidentally break it, be-careful) Color (its white and the rgb makes it look like the light in the dentist office they shine in your face)

Overall Review: I did end up getting this to work with my case. By installing it with zip ties on the outside top of the case. Couldn't fit inside due to my CM hyper 212+ cooler. Going to buy some aluminum mesh screen, paint it black, and modify my case. Might paint the fan black while I m at it. Did not take off any eggs because it's performing so good and its more so my PC case is the problem.

Pros: Great 1080p performance out of the box 16nm finfet + 6GB vram GPU boost 3.o (bumps up the core clock speed) Overclocking headroom +10-15% (MSI AB or precision Xoc) Power 120w single 6pin molex Thermals 55-64c (ultra in Games with Vsync On[60fps], 55%fan) Length 9.85” fits almost every mid tower case (insert pun) 1 year warranty/life time when registered on PNY website Geforce experience software (shadowplay, drivers, ect) Faster than RX480 @1080p in 95% of current games (I think I made the internet angry) Light weight 2.9 lbs, wont sag on mobo (no need for backplate) Looks sexy XD

Cons: Cons Lacks Async compute built into the GPU hardware (handled through software, Time will tell if it hurts this generation of GPU's) DX12/Vulkan performance compared to RX480 No SLI support on gtx1060 series (only on gtx1070 & up) Memory Bus Width 192bit (low for 1440p or 4k) G-sync monitor's are expensive (if that's your thing) I'm pulling at strings....... this is a good card

Overall Review: Well it's time to retire my old faithful HD7870. You served me well old girl(3 years). And upgrade to a next gen GPU. This gtx1060 has some insane performance @1080p. GTA5 & Witcher3 are my favorite games. So I'll leave you with this comparison between my old card & the GTX1060. Rig: FX8320 oc4.4Ghz 16Gb ram 1866mhz. GTX 1060 6Gb Overclocked -core1700-mem2083 boost1903 ( in game boosts to 2050-2085Ghz) Witcher 3: 1080p hairworks off, Ultra settings HD7870 19fps (playable medium 32-40fps) GTX1060 64fps GTA5: Ultra/very high, Fxaa, 2x Msaa HD7870 ?? (can't vram cap 2Gb) very-high/high setting Fxaa 64fps GTX1060 88fps (on Ultra with my CPU bottleneck lol)

Pros: - Been working for 18 months without trouble - Board allows a modest OC, 4.4-4.5ghz - UEFI bios (easy to use) - USB 3.o rear & front headers - nice layout, everything labeled - compatible with am3/am3+ cpu's - gigabyte @bios software for updating bios (recommend using) - XMP recognizes1866mhz ram (oc's to 2000mhz) - heatsinks on Mosfets - can save 10 bios profiles for OC'ing - Great for single GPU solutions

Cons: - Board has a small v-droop when OC'ing cpu - Only 1 16x pcie 2.0 slot & 1 4x pcie slot - no SLI or CF - software on the cd if rubbish except for @bios - Mosfets get hot when OC'ing & throttle system over 4.5ghz - Gigabyte boards power up & down test before booting up PC, adds 6 seconds to bootup time (but it's normal)

Overall Review: Overall I m happy with this mobo. Was easy to OC cpu & ram. Just F12 on bootup. Go to cpu options check "enable" on unlock cpu. Then "DISABLE" turbo boost. Then change your mutilplier & voltage. Ram, check enable xmp profile 1 or 2 & your set for 1600-1866mhz.. (2000 you need to manually oc ram) CPU: Amd FX8320 [email protected] oc 1.44v Cooler: CM Hyper 212+ (Artic Silver 5 Goo) Mobo: Gigabyte 970A-D3P am3/am3+ RAM: Gskill RipjawsX 16gbs(2x8gb) 1866mhz GPU: MSI R7870-2GD5T/oc 17.5% core1175 mem1475 Hdd: Sandisk 128Gb ssd boot drive 2x1Tb Hitachi 7200rpm hdd 2Tb WD MyBook 7200rpm external hdd PSU: Rosewill Hive 650W 80+Bronze full Modular Case: Rosewill Challenger USB3.0v Mid-tower OS: W7 64bit Hp Keyboard: MS sidewinder 6x Logitech K400 wireless Mouse: Weyes 6D 2000 DPI Controller: xbox360 wired Monitor: 23" Dell 1080p 60Hz LED-backlit LCD 50" Sceptre 1080p 60Hz LED HDTV Headphones: Turtlebeach X12 Speakers: Dell AX210 USB Stereo

Pros: + this was dirt cheap $150 + rebate winter 2013 + Overclock-able... did you see that the GPU just winked ; ) + performance/price vs re-brand r270 is about 6% less, OC your 7870ghz MSI to gpu-core1150 memory 1450 PowerControlSetting+20% & set fan to 45-50% with MSI afterburner or CCC. And you'll be about = for $50 dollars cheaper. (all depends on luck with OC performance) + plays all games I tested (steam 125games) on 1080p, Ultra shadows, High to Ultra Textures,& mixed AA settings (8xAA-Fxaa)@45-70FPS + Temps stay at 25-35C idle 54-59C Under Load with MSI Afterburner automatic fan control 30%pwr-40C slope 45%pwr-50C-65C 50%pwr 65C+

Cons: - Check your GPU for dust, I didn't when 1st installed it. I OC'd it & started getting artifacts. Turned OC off didn't help much. Then took a can of air... & man my GPU coughed up a hairball. MSI must have cats in their factory's. - driver disk included is always garbage, ALWAYS download your drivers from Manufacturer MSI or AMD directly web site (you'll see up to a 15-30% FPS increase) - GPU automatic fan control threw CCC wasn't working correctly. Card was overheating to 75C for the 1st couple hour's. Till I set up MSI afterburner's fan control. - wanted a gtx 770, but being poor on a budget is my personal Con...lol - not really a con but didn't know where to stick this info, @ 50% fan speed is when you say to yourself "I think my GPU is angry" it's loud from there on up.

Overall Review: Overall I m really happy with this GPU & think it'll last me 2-3 years. If I can fight off the urge to build another PC. MSI is a sexy company with great products & AMD didn't disappoint with this soon to be legendary GPU. I really want to give this GPU a viking burial when it dies. = ) Specs: CPU: AMD 8320 Black Edition 8 core3.5Ghz/4Ghz turbo/ 4GhzOC Cooler: Cooler Master Hyper 212 plus +Artic Silver 5 Goo Mobo: Gigabyte 970A-D3P AM3/AM3+ RAM: Gskill Ripjaws X 16Gbs-2x8GBs 1866Mhz GPU: MSI Radeon HD7870Ghz OC Edition 2GBs GDDR5 GPU 1050Mhz Memory 1200Mhz OC: GPU 1150Mhz Memory 1450Mhz PowerControlSettings+20% Hdd: Sandisk 128GB SSD boot drive 2x1Tb Hitachi 7200RPM Hdd 2Tb WD MyBook 7200RPM external Hdd PSU: Rosewill Hive 650W 80+Bronze Full Modular Case: Rosewill Challenger USB3.0 version Mid-tower OS: W7 64bit Home premium

Put off buying a laptop cooler for so long. Been complaining about the heat for years. This solved all my problems. very happy.