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Luke H.

Luke H.

Joined on 10/23/12

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 9
Most Favorable Review

Cheap 3.0 awesomeness

ADATA 16GB S102 Pro Advanced USB 3.0 Flash Drive, Speed Up to 90MB/s (AS102P-16G-RGY)
ADATA 16GB S102 Pro Advanced USB 3.0 Flash Drive, Speed Up to 90MB/s (AS102P-16G-RGY)

Pros: Bought it mostly cause it was $7 and I wanted to have a USB 3.0 flashdrive just for the sake of it. I really dont use it very often, but when it do, its usually for very large files and it transfers them like a dream. I LOVE the metal casing, it is sooo nice! Write ~ 20-25 MB/s Read ~ 75-100 MB/s If the file is one big video, then it is about 100 MB/s but if it is about 4,000 little files (like linux) it will take longer. I suppose this is common knowledge but some people forget that.

Cons: The cap isn't really all the great, I always forget to snap it on the back end when im using it.

Overall Review: A great overall purchase. For < $10 you can't go wrong. I really dont know why I bought it, but it definitely works up to all of the hype.

12/19/2013
Most Critical Review

Curse the Fans!

Rosewill Gaming Computer Case - ATX Mid Tower - Top HDD Dock, Side Window Panel, 5 Preinstalled Fans - BLACKHAWK
Rosewill Gaming Computer Case - ATX Mid Tower - Top HDD Dock, Side Window Panel, 5 Preinstalled Fans - BLACKHAWK

Pros: Almost everything about this case is great! For $100ish this thing competes with the $200 monsters very well. It has a great set up, its big, the HDD slots are cool, the dust filters are cool, the fans are quiet. It has cool cable management that almost no other cases have (in at the same price). I think its really the only good case less than $100.

Cons: The fan connecters... suck. The molex plugs have two wires in them and any tension applied to the plug will cause the wires to come out. Its not a big deal for me because I can solder them back on, but for other people, it sucks! One of the fans came broken off and Ive tried to get them replaced with no avail. Thus far, two of the fans broke off (120mm front and 140mm top) and I don't think I can get them replaced. I still have one, two pin molex fan that hasn't broken but, give it a week or so and it will be broken (im in the process of building it so anytime I move it, it gets that much closer to breaking).

Overall Review: If the service for replacing the fans was better, I'd give it 5 eggs hands down. In fact, I really do want to give this 5 eggs, I just cant put up with cr*ppy fans on a case that costs $100.

11/16/2012

Wow!

Thermaltake CLW0217 Water 2.0 Extreme/All-In-One Liquid Cooling System
Thermaltake CLW0217 Water 2.0 Extreme/All-In-One Liquid Cooling System

Pros: I'm SUPER impressed by this cooler. I got it for a steal ($50) during black Friday week and boy, am I glad I got it. The performance is through the roof (5.0 GHZ on an 8350!) and the software is pretty nice. Luckily the software now monitors the core temp (VIA openhardwaremonitor) so it can throttle the system accordingly. The first time you start it up it makes lots of strange water sloshing noises but it quickly subsides after a few minutes. The pump is silent once it is broken in. This thing keeps my temps 20+ C colder than my 212 EVO.

Cons: The fans. Boy they really suck, but who uses the stock fans anyways. The ones they come with dont have great static pressure (or CFM) and are really loud. Luckily the solution is easy, get some new fans. I'd recommend either Corsair SP120 PWM high performance, or some 1875RPM gentle typhoons. The installation is really a two person job, this makes it much easier and better overall. I'd recommend installing the rad first, then mounting the cpu block, this is much easier than what the instructions say.

Overall Review: I got my fans in a pull set up (cause my case is huge and has room for it above the rad mount). The thing looks really nice, especially in the pull setup that I have going. Strongly recommend, it's a little less popular than the h100(i), but it performs just the same, if not better. Good job thermaltake!

12/19/2013

All I need and then some

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-1866C9D-16GXM
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 1866 (PC3 14900) Desktop Memory Model F3-1866C9D-16GXM

Pros: I've had my RAM for about 8 months and it continues to work flawlessly. My MOBO broke somehow, but the RAM has continued to work fine. It looks mighty fine and works mighty fine at that. I really shouldnt have gotten this much RAM because I never really use more than 8GB if I try, but it does pair really well with an SSD. I can have every program in the world open at the same time and switch between them perfectly. The RAM is nice and fast and has some tight timings. This RAM does fit under the 212 EVO if you put in slots 2 and 4 (on most motherboards)

Cons: Not very great at overclocking. Not really a con because it's not really made to, but I tried and it wasnt very good. Pretty much changing any timing will cause Windows to BSOD unless you increase the voltage a lot (1.6v+) which I didnt feel comfortable doing. I suppose the frequency works fine if you are NB overclocking, but you'll need to up the voltage quite a bit remember.

Overall Review: Really happy with this RAM. Luckily I got it while the prices were starting to rise (~$115) although I would have loved to have purchased it when it was at $70 two years ago.

12/19/2013

Great card for the price

XFX Double D Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 CrossFireX Support Video Card FX-787A-CDFC
XFX Double D Radeon HD 7870 GHz Edition 2GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 CrossFireX Support Video Card FX-787A-CDFC

Pros: I've had this card for about 8 months and it has worked great. It plays everything on max or close to max settings @ 1080p. Honestly this is one of the best ~$200 cards out there. I always recommend it to my friends when looking for a powerful, but cheap build. The card looks SUPER sexy (the pictures dont really do it). It runs as quiet as I could really ask for. I got a liquid cooler (for my CPU) and my build stays silent, even when gaming.

Cons: Unfortunately it's not voltage-unlocked but it can be overclocked past 1.1 GHz on standard voltages.

Overall Review: I really want to get another one of these for a crossfire because it will get better performance than the 280x for a fraction of the cost. Especially now since AMD's drivers are a TON better, cross-firing is almost at the same level as nVidia. Overall, great, solid card and I definitely recommend it.

12/19/2013

Well done NZXT

NZXT Phantom 630 CA-PH630-G1 Gunmetal Steel / Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case
NZXT Phantom 630 CA-PH630-G1 Gunmetal Steel / Plastic ATX Full Tower Computer Case

Pros: The engineering on this case is outstanding. Comming from someone who is mechanically minded, this is one of the most practical, well thought out cases on the market. It has a fan controller, modular drive cages, removable dust filters, awesome cable management, a slick sophisticated look, and more. The build quality is great. NZXT uses sturdy (and let me say light) metal. It weighs so much less than some other cases of the same size. Its not super flashy or agressive looking but that's a pro for me. I think that the simpler, more sophisticated cases are better long term investments (they never get sore on the eye). This thing is built to last me a good 10+ years. It has too. for everything I'd ever hope to fit in it.

Cons: One con is price, not a huge con because its so well engineered, but it doesn't really feel like a $160 case to me. The blades on the fans are a little bit delicate, be careful with them. The front pannel is a little hard to get off (as well as the dust filters). These are very small con's that don't affect the rating at all, I'm just saying these things because I know that NZXT does a great job of listening to feedback.

Overall Review: I could not be happier with my purchase, I got it on sale for $145 which I think makes is a very reasonable deal. Keep up the good work NZTX.