Joined on 10/24/04
...in-freaking-credible!!!!!!!!!!!
Pros: I purchased the 2TB version... performance is nuts... (remember to go to the Samsung site and download the NVMe drivers to get the proper numbers stated in the item description) This is my first system that I've had the honor of having a M.2 2280 SSD chip... let along an SSD drive in-general... My last PC had a traditional 7200RPM 1.5TB drive... and well... forget that! Window's loads in seconds, basic workload applications like Office/Photoshop and games load instantly... it's ridiculous this thing even exists.
Cons: Only con I have (and will not drop an egg) is the lack of documentation indicating the NVMe driver is even needed... it doesn't install itself and the provided drivers with whichever board you choose to go with will not have the sufficient bandwidth you're looking for in your product... :) Here's the link, not sure if Newegg allows linking other sites but this is souly for the 970 EVO https://www.samsung.com/semiconductor/minisite/ssd/product/consumer/970evo/
Overall Review: Intel i7-9700K (OC'd @ 4.6GHz) Corsair H100i RGB Platinum (Cooler) MSI MAG z390 Tomahawk (Motherboard) 4x16GB Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro DDR4 2666MHz (64GB of RAM) Samsung 970 EVO SSD M.2 2280 (2TB) Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 2070 Extreme 8GB GDDR6 EVGA SuperNova 1000 P2 (1000W Fully Modular) Corsair Crystal Series 570X (Case)
Didn't work...
Pros: 4 ports.. (if they ever work or install properly.
Cons: One thing I've noticed throughout the years of building, modding and servicing PC's is that mostly all VIA chipset's are garbage... Easiest part is installation, that's it. Once installed you go through many hoops looking for this thing to work. Drivers on their VIA Lab's website are mainly for Win7 and below... I didn't notice the compatible OS list that was in the description but mostly all 2+ port PCIe USB cards state this. Once I got the conflict with the motherboard's drivers to stop messing with the PCIe card drivers Device Manager stated everything was working fin BUT none of the ports functioned nor read the installed USB device. In the end I RMA's both the cards, unfortunately.
Overall Review: Intel i7-9700K (OC'd @ 5GHz) Corsair H150i Pro RGB (Cooler) MSI MAG z390 Tomahawk (Motherboard) 4x16GB Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro DDR4 2666MHz (64GB of RAM) Samsung 970 EVO SSD M.2 2280 (2TB) Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 2070 Extreme 8GB GDDR6 EVGA SuperNova 1000 P2 (1000W Fully Modular) Corsair Crystal Series 570X (Case)
Prospect but...
Pros: -The concept looked good BUT they need to pay attention to that small oversight on their cables.
Cons: -Cable management issues with the furthest fan from the connection hub.
Overall Review: I went with this AIO to try something new on a build I was/am doing for my son rather than using my "go-to" Corsair rad setup. These cooler was going to go on the front of Fractal Design Meshify C... Funny thing is, the provided fans (was going to replace with their RGB fans but for the meantime, as I waited I was going to use their non-RGB fans for testing the rig.) The furthest fan's cable didn't reach without stressing the cable directly to the connection hub, meaning, I would not be able to cable manage that one fan... all 3 fans have the same length of cabling. I ended up returning it and picking up Corsair's iCue H100i since the 150 was out of stock... I initially went with the Celsius because the introductions of daisy-chaining the RGB fans through the hub was/is better for cable management and will remove the needs of a controller/RGB hubs etc like corsair has which creates a huge amount of clutter just for 6 PWM/RGB fans.
Disappointed...
Pros: -Boast a lot of possibilities... -Fireware is solid, similar to older routers (comprehensible). -Merlin Supported
Cons: -Inadequate speeds on both 2.4Ghz/5Ghz -"Next-Gen" Tech not ready (Wifi 6) -AiMesh needs a lot of work, very inconsistent.
Overall Review: I purchased two of these to create an AiMesh ecosystem within my home. My house isn't huge but I always have issues reaching my step-daughter's room on the second floor. Figured why not go all out even with "next-gen" tech to pretty much future proof the house for the next couple of years. These routers would have replaced my old Asus RT-AC87R (currently, still in use)... the AiMesh was not stable from the node upstairs and it seems that many of the devices preferred connecting to the main router (these were from stock setup settings.). I did some tweaking but to no avail, similar issues continued to occur. Dropped or hanging connections the wifi would still be connected but no stable internet to be had. I removed the node and ran one router, everything seemed fine ran well but I never could achieve higher than 100Mbps over any of the bands on any of the devices upstairs and at times even right next to the router I would get a poor connection on certain devices. An example would be my step-daughter's iPhone Xs Max... she would get 50Mbps upload and 15Mbps download (I'm paying for Xfinity's Gigabit service 1Gbps up and 50Mbps down). She was sitting close to the router with those numbers and my Note 10+ would get 230Mbps up and 41Mbps down... now, here is the strange thing at her father's house she got waaaay optimal speeds 300+ up and 20 down... *shrug*... must be some sort of interference with her phone specifically? Regardless, I ultimately returned both routers back to newegg... and I'm currently looking into something new. I might even stray away from Asus for the first time in a loooong time.
Top Notch
Pros: I haven't been able to fully test this card but I was able to load a "simple" game to see what it was made of... ran DOOM on ultra with some higher settings and it ran perfectly. No struggle nor problems. The RGB software provided by Gigabyte is lacking and can get tedious but that really isn't much of a con... i suppose. The card runs smooth and cool, lets see how it handles dust in the future. *UPDATE* So last night I managed to give DOOM a hardcore go, loaded up the last level where there are swarms of demons coming at you... the card never stuttered nor image tearing. FPS were between 150~180 at ultra/max everything @ 1080 (don't have a 4K monitor yet) The card without any water cooling, case has a total of 6 fans and as you see the card itself has 3 fans never passed 55C. Tempted to try a newer game. By the way I do have that free Battlefield V that came with this but Origin isn't letting me install the client for some reason... tried googling did what EA states is the remedy but nothing... boooooooooo. BEAST of a card...
Cons: None so far.... ***Update*** So far after owning this card for more than 2 months, I have experienced many RGB software conflicts. One sure way to avoid this is if you're building a new system install RGB Fusion 2.0 first, set your colors as you want it then either completely remove the software using Revo Uninstaller or have it that rgbfusion.exe and check_kill.exe are not running this will conflict with mystic lights or icue (my personal conflicts) by doing this the hardware on it's own will remember the colors and effects you picked BUT it'll have to stay like that unfortunately. I experienced a lot of issues with Dragon Center (MSI), iCue (Corsair) and RGB Fusion... once I updated Dragon Center it forced my CPU's to work at max load on random processes like malware or a virus. Had to reformat to remove this... so, now I'm staying clear from both dragon center and rgb fusion this includes the AORUS APP too... The card though runs/performance as it's suppose to... never passing 68C on full load max settings. OC'd to +120 GPU core = around 2000MHz+ *I took off an egg because of the software issues and conflicts it's caused me...
Overall Review: Intel i7-9700K (OC'd @ 5GHz) Corsair H100i RGB Platinum (Cooler) MSI MAG z390 Tomahawk (Motherboard) 4x16GB Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro DDR4 2666MHz (64GB of RAM) Samsung 970 EVO SSD M.2 2280 (2TB) Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 2070 Extreme 8GB GDDR6 EVGA SuperNova 1000 P2 (1000W Fully Modular) Corsair Crystal Series 570X (Case)
Clean, Sleek and Modern.
Pros: This case replaced my Corsair Obsidian 750D for my new build (which is in my "other thoughts" section). I must say, I loved the tempered tinted glass look, very modern and sleek... matches my house decor as well. The glow from the Corsair SP/ML fans through the tint creates an intimate feeling, nothing over bearing or too bright (which depending on your lighting software you could dim if it's deemed too bright). There is more than enough space, except up top (as mentioned before about water cooling and radiators exceeding 240mm) ***Update*** So far going on 3 months with the case and still solid... did some changes here and there with cable management, added 6 LL120 Fans + Commander Pro + 4 RGB LED Strips + removed the H100i Platinum and replaced with a front mount H150i RGB Pro.
Cons: HEAVVVVVVVVYYYYYYYYY!!! 30LBS without anything inside... I have a EVGA 1000 P2 PSU and that on it's own is about 5 to 8LBS... imagine with everything installed... easily weighs more than my 5 y/o daughter. The pre-installed Corsair RGB hub is limited to SP line fans... can't mix match which will cause things to be interrupted. I installed a H100i RGB Pro Platinum which is a 240mm radiator and two ML120 fans (which caused issues with the stock RGB hub) any other radiator bigger than 240mm you have to place it in front where the 3 fans are... 280mm+. Static can be an issue when removing the protective film from the tempered glass and be carefull removing the screw's and re-tighten be careful not to over tighten. Finger prints is an issue so be aware to have tons of smudging. ***Update*** Still heavy, probably heavier with that 360mm rad but I can't gripe about that, it's a beautiful case!
Overall Review: Intel i7-9700K (OC'd @ 4.6GHz) Corsair H100i RGB Platinum (Cooler) MSI MAG z390 Tomahawk (Motherboard) 4x16GB Corsair Vengeance RGB Pro DDR4 2666MHz (64GB of RAM) Samsung 970 EVO SSD M.2 2280 (2TB)+(1TB) Gigabyte Aorus GeForce RTX 2070 Extreme 8GB GDDR6 EVGA SuperNova 1000 P2 (1000W Fully Modular) Corsair Crystal Series 570X (Case)