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Daniel K.

Daniel K.

Joined on 12/27/04

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 13
Most Favorable Review

Great Little CPU

Intel Core i3-3220 - Core i3 3rd Gen Ivy Bridge Dual-Core 3.3 GHz LGA 1155 55W Intel HD Graphics 2500 Desktop Processor - BX80637i33220
Intel Core i3-3220 - Core i3 3rd Gen Ivy Bridge Dual-Core 3.3 GHz LGA 1155 55W Intel HD Graphics 2500 Desktop Processor - BX80637i33220

Pros: Clocked at 3.3 GHz Hyper threading Runs cool Has kept up with all the games I've thrown at it so far

Cons: No overclocking

Overall Review: I don't see why people hate on the boxed coolers. Sure they are cheap, but they do a fine job of cooling. This chip runs at 32C idle and 45C full load. I did replace the included compound with some Arctic Silver 5 i had lying around. I had no problems with the plastic clips to install the cooler.

Most Critical Review

It Works

Rosewill RX-C200 2.5" SSD / HDD Aluminum Mounting Kit for 3.5" Drive Bay
Rosewill RX-C200 2.5" SSD / HDD Aluminum Mounting Kit for 3.5" Drive Bay

Pros: Does mount two 2.5" hard drives Fits in the 3.5" bay Solid made out of aluminum Comes with all necessary mounting hardware Nice plastic layer on bottom to keep drive from contacting aluminum

Cons: Disks are mounted almost right in top of each other. There is only ~1mm in between drives. If you are worried about cooling, do not get this. Also if using angled SATA cables be warned, they will not fit. You need straight cables to hook up your drives as they are right on top of each other. Had trouble lining up the holes for 3.5" bay. Had to mount in the external bay, as the holes would not line up in the other bays.

Overall Review: Have a Crucial SSD for OS and an old 5400 rpm laptop drive installed for data. I'm not that worried about cooling at all. Drives do not get above 28C. Unsure if the mounting issue was because I'm using a Micro ATX case or not. It still fit in the external bay, not the internal ones though.

Decent Filters

Masscool FFT-2P-120MM 120mm ABS plastic foam fan filter (2-pack)
Masscool FFT-2P-120MM 120mm ABS plastic foam fan filter (2-pack)

Pros: Work great as a fan filter. The outer cover snaps off and you can clean the foam filter material. The fan filter works great at capturing fine dust. They are easy to clean due to the snap off design.

Cons: Screw holes were almost too big. I tightened up a couple screws and they went right through. You just have to leave the screws a little bit looser than expected.

Overall Review: Works as intended and definitely worth the price. ABS is an easy plastic to modify. I had two fans directly nest to each other and i just cut of a small strip on the top of one of the outer covers. It still snaps on and contains the foam.

Work as expected

StarTech.com TX3SPLITTER 6.1 in. TX3 Fan Power Splitter Cable Female to Male
StarTech.com TX3SPLITTER 6.1 in. TX3 Fan Power Splitter Cable Female to Male

Pros: Connect one end to motherboard, then plug in two fans to the connectors. Simple as that.

Cons: Expensive for what they are, but these little adapters tend to be expensive. Only about 4 inches long, but fans should have long enough cables to reach wherever they are mounted

Overall Review: Make sure you check with motherboard manufacture on the capacity of the fan headers. Most will only support up to 1 amp. I have two fans plugged into this splitter, and both are rated at .2 amps for a total of .4 amps per header. I made sure when shopping for fans that I did not get high power ones.

Works well enough

MSI N660 TF 2GD5/OC G-SYNC Support GeForce GTX 660 2GB 192-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
MSI N660 TF 2GD5/OC G-SYNC Support GeForce GTX 660 2GB 192-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Pros: -Great frame rates in all games I play. Can usually turn up the detail all the way at 1080p and games are still playable. -Only requires 1 PCIE connector -Runs very cool (maxes out at 60C in demanding games) -Very quiet fans. Have only seen them at ~45% at the highest. At 100% they are a little noisy

Cons: Fans do not exhaust out the back. Didnt realize exactly how much heat this thing dumps into the case. I bought several more case fans to keep my components cool. It was the best deal at the time though. I am also using a mATX case so there is not that much airflow.

Overall Review: -Have not tried overclocking yet as I can get good enough frame rates in all the games I play. No reason to overclock yet. -MSI afterburner software is great and allows an OSD in games -If buying again i would purchase one that exhausted out of the case. I tend to like heat reduction over noise when it comes to graphics

Awesome Drive

ASUS USB 2.0 6X External Slim Blu-Ray Re-writer Combo with BDXL Support MacOS Compatible Model SBC-06D2X-U/BLK/G/AS
ASUS USB 2.0 6X External Slim Blu-Ray Re-writer Combo with BDXL Support MacOS Compatible Model SBC-06D2X-U/BLK/G/AS

Pros: Works as advertised. Used to watch my Blu-Ray collection on a HTPC. Does not lag at all and loads up videos very fast. CD and DVD burning also works.

Cons: Vibration when at full speed. Could be a disk issue also, but it has done it with several discs. Does not run at full speed when watching Blu-Ray movies, so this is a non issue. Bright green led activity light. Would be easy to block out with some tape. For a HTPC it is slightly annoying.

Overall Review: Would definitely recommend. Got on sale with 20 MIR. Great price for a great drive.