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Thomas B.

Thomas B.

Joined on 05/22/04

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 8
Most Favorable Review

Works reliably and well

Sceptre E248W-1920R 24" 5ms (GTG) 1080P Ultra Slim Monitor, 1920 x 1080, 16:9, 5000:1, 230 cd/m2, HDMI, VGA, Tilt Adjustable, VESA Mountable, US Warranty
Sceptre E248W-1920R 24" 5ms (GTG) 1080P Ultra Slim Monitor, 1920 x 1080, 16:9, 5000:1, 230 cd/m2, HDMI, VGA, Tilt Adjustable, VESA Mountable, US Warranty

Pros: Resolves issue of an aging monitor not turning back on in a dual monitor set-up.

Cons: Power save mode actually turns monitor off, so you have to actually hit the power button to have it come back up instead of self-waking.

Overall Review: Good, clear picture. Suitable for use in a dual monitor set-up.

Most Critical Review

What Warranty?

MSI MAG Series CORELIQUID 240R, ARGB CPU Liquid Cooler (AIO): Rotatable Blockhead Design, 240mm Radiator, Dual 120mm ARGB PWM Fans LGA 1700 / AM5 Compatible
MSI MAG Series CORELIQUID 240R, ARGB CPU Liquid Cooler (AIO): Rotatable Blockhead Design, 240mm Radiator, Dual 120mm ARGB PWM Fans LGA 1700 / AM5 Compatible

Pros: For: [MSI MAG CORELIQUID 240R AIO Liquid CPU Cooler, 240mm Radiator, Dual 120mm PWN Fans, RGB Lighting Controlled by Software] Running this on an MSI motherboard: System Manufacturer: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. System Model: MS-7C75 BIOS: A.10 (type: UEFI) Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10700K CPU @ 3.80GHz (16 CPUs), ~3.8GHz Memory: 131072MB RAM Available OS Memory: 130918MB RAM Surprisingly easy to install. Cooling appears to work well and overclocking the CPU has been painless. Looks great. Light effects are great and the Mystic Light software make it easy to control. Putting the pump in the radiator instead of the CPU water block is brilliant. Reducing the number of cables draping across the motherboard keeps the build clean. Other AIO designers should take note. The rotating water block is a novelty but not a necessity.

Cons: No way to register ownership or create date of ownership for warranty purposes. MSI product registration site doesn't seem to know this product exists. Does NOT come with thermal paste pre-applied. All other competing products do. Big let down. So I ordered thermal paste. Guess what? It comes with thermal paste. Wish they would have mentioned that so I didn't have to buy something I didn't need. Pump runs at full speed regardless of CPU temperature. Mystic Light software has a fixed window size that makes it incompatible with a multi-monitor set-up with different screen resolutions. Fans are noisy, I was hoping to reduce noise but got the opposite.

Overall Review: All In One (AIO) liquid cooling solutions are single point of failure items. To not be able to register for warranty coverage is a giant failure.

Uh, Really Cool Look

CORSAIR Vengeance RGB Pro 128GB (4 x 32GB) 288-Pin PC RAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) Desktop Memory Model CMW128GX4M4E3200C16
CORSAIR Vengeance RGB Pro 128GB (4 x 32GB) 288-Pin PC RAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) Desktop Memory Model CMW128GX4M4E3200C16

Pros: These brought my build to a whole new level. I've never done a build with these type of lit RAM modules before. They really look good. Glad I got these. RAM speed automatically brought my: Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. System Model: MS-7C75 BIOS: A.10 (type: UEFI) Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10700K CPU @ 3.80GHz (16 CPUs), ~3.8GHz Memory: 131072MB RAM Available OS Memory: 130918MB RAM Up to full speed. Great performance so far. Tested running games from a RAM drive and it's a joy.

Cons: None.

Overall Review: BANG for the buck, go big or go home

Works Well So Far

MSI MPG Z490 GAMING PLUS LGA 1200 Intel Z490 ATX Intel Motherboard
MSI MPG Z490 GAMING PLUS LGA 1200 Intel Z490 ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: I got this because I wanted to play Death Stranding which I couldn't run on my first gen i7 - a motherboard that has served me well for many years. Hoping to future proof myself, I got this as a replacement. It doesn't disappoint. Death Stranding now launches and plays well - uh, as well as it plays in it's current iteration.... That's an unrelated software problem. Having 128gb of RAM is a novelty and overclocking is simplicity itself. System is stable and satisfactory. I've never set-up a board with these lighting features before, so I had a bit of learning to do. But easy to set-up and the effects are brilliant. I love the new look.

Cons: It says it comes with the M.2 8.5h securing screws, but I couldn't find them. So I ordered some. Then, after the build was complete, I did find them. Under the cardboard securing block holding the motherboard in the box. Seriously? You hid these teeny tiny screws UNDER the securing block? Wow! You couldn't put them with the other stuff in the box (the manual, SATA cables, marketing literature, etc.) but hid them UNDER the securing block. Wow! Long ago I got a Gigabyte motherboard. It came with all the cables I needed. Like the USB extension cable, SATA cables, power splitter cables, etc. This comes with two cheap SATA cables - nothing else. Just how Chinese can you get? The manual is worse than Spanglish. That goes for the MSI BIOS and supporting software as well. Do I lose some SATA ports if I use M.2 hardware? I don't know. I can't tell from the manual. Guess you just have to plug it in and give a go to find out. Not as professional an approach as I'd like.

Overall Review: Does what it says it does. Does it have value? Yes. Is it a good value for the money? That remains to be seen.

Good Value

CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M1A1600C10B
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M1A1600C10B

Pros: I like it when you can just plug it in and it works.

Cons: None so far

Overall Review: Lost my long running Linux server to a basement flooding, so I had to build a replacement quick - and cheap. This one memory stick matches my old server's max memory configuration. Got the 8gb stick so I can max out the new one - someday.