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Jody I.

Jody I.

Joined on 03/01/06

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I've been building high end PCs for gaming since 1999 and while I've moved on to server and cloud infrastructure, my passion for PC building still remains.

Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 6
Most Favorable Review

The best RAM I've ever used!

HyperX 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR 400 (PC 3200) Desktop Memory Model KHX3200AK2/2G
HyperX 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR 400 (PC 3200) Desktop Memory Model KHX3200AK2/2G

Pros: Besides my awesome looking Thermaltake case, this is probably my favorite thing about my new gaming system. This low-latency RAM is some of the fastest RAM I've ever seen at 400MHz. Above all else, I recommended Kingston HyperX RAM for gaming systems anyhow. It's a good bit more expensive than the Value RAM, but it's worth every penny of it.

Cons: None.

Overall Review: I love the blue heatshields.

Easy to apply, keeps you cool

Arctic Silver Ceramique Thermal Compound
Arctic Silver Ceramique Thermal Compound

Pros: I'm going to start applying this stuff on a regular basis. This compound keeps my AMD processor cool, at around 35 degrees on average. Even though I'm not over-clocking, I really appreciate the fact that I could at any time.

Cons: None that I can think of.

Awesome card

DIAMOND Radeon X1600PRO 512MB GDDR2 PCI Express x16 CrossFireX Support Graphics Card X1600PCIE512SB
DIAMOND Radeon X1600PRO 512MB GDDR2 PCI Express x16 CrossFireX Support Graphics Card X1600PCIE512SB

Pros: For the gaming system I built, and the price I spent on this card, I am very satisfied. While playing very graphic intensive games, this card really makes a difference in the display of graphics. With cross-fire compatibility, I highly recommend this video card to anyone.

Cons: None.

Cool, quiet, and quick!

Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive Bare Drive
Western Digital Caviar SE16 WD2500KS 250GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive Bare Drive

Pros: A very quiet and fast harddrive. Lots of harddrive space and truely a good deal. Windows XP flew onto my system once I had this thing installed. I'm planning on buying another to RAID.

Cons: None.

Fast

AMD Athlon 64 3500+ - Athlon 64 Venice Single-Core 2.2 GHz Socket 939 Processor - ADA3500BPBOX
AMD Athlon 64 3500+ - Athlon 64 Venice Single-Core 2.2 GHz Socket 939 Processor - ADA3500BPBOX

Pros: This processor ended up being a lot faster than I originally thought it would be. For high-end gaming, it really made a difference. This heavy, socket 939 chip, is a must have if you're looking to upgrade or build a new gaming system.

Cons: The processor is flawless, but I did have a hard time getting the heatsink on my motherboard. I don't really blame the actual heatsink though, but the motherboards (mine and others) that have a large L2 cache heatsink. They just tend to get in the way.

Excellent high-end motherboard

ASUS A8R-MVP 939 ATI CrossFire Radeon Xpress 1600 ATX AMD CrossFire Motherboard
ASUS A8R-MVP 939 ATI CrossFire Radeon Xpress 1600 ATX AMD CrossFire Motherboard

Pros: For building a gaming system, this motherboard had it all -- high speed, dual channel RAM modules, PCI-express slots, support for cross-fire, and a high front-side bus. The motherboard, being jumperless, went in with no problems at all in my Thermaltake case. This is a great buy.

Cons: None that I can think of.

Overall Review: I agree with someone who mentioned this before -- for running a single video card, you can only use the bottom PCI-E slot instead of the top. So for those that have larger video cards, it's a bit harder to get those PCI expansion cards in with it. But I dealt with it just fine.