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Rich B.

Rich B.

Joined on 01/08/02

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 21
Most Favorable Review

Good for special needs

StarTech.com SATA18LA1 1.5 ft. Left Angle SATA Cable
StarTech.com SATA18LA1 1.5 ft. Left Angle SATA Cable

Pros: These are *awesome* for getting SATA cables connected in cramped places. These are left-angle, which means they're angled connection bends in the opposite direction as compared to most angled SATA cables. I needed these in order to use a few SATA ports that were hidden under my graphics card. These worked like a champ. Build quality is good too.

Cons: Nothing really. They're good cables.

Overall Review: Unless you specifically need left-angle cables, I would purchase right-angle cables. It's a bit hard to explain, but left-angle cables can actually be a pain in the rear end to use if you don't specifically need them. For example, if you have a hard disk in front of you label-side up, a 'normal' right-angle SATA cable will run down from the connector. A left-angle connector will run upwards.

Most Critical Review

Poor Design Choice

Cooler Master eXtreme RP-500-PCAR 500 W ATX12V V2.01 Power Supply
Cooler Master eXtreme RP-500-PCAR 500 W ATX12V V2.01 Power Supply

Pros: Lots of power, solid construction, nice matte black finish, quiet.

Cons: Big problem: It comes with three SATA power connections, and they're all on the same wire, which is about 6 inches long. If you have a SATA optical drive and a SATA HD, this cable might not reach between them. I had to move my hard drive up in my case so that I could power both my DVDRW and my HD. If you need flexible SATA power on multiple devices, do not get this product.

Overall Review: Such a nice product marred by a really terrible design choice. I'm happy with the one I have because I got it to work, but I wouldn't buy another one.

Works Great

Arctic Silver Arcticlean Thermal material Remover & Surface Purifier ACN-60ML (2-PC-SET)
Arctic Silver Arcticlean Thermal material Remover & Surface Purifier ACN-60ML (2-PC-SET)

Pros: Really actually does what it claims to do. It'll clean the most crusty thermal material off and make the die look like new.

Cons: I'm not so sure this isn't just rubbing alchohol and distilled water in little squeeze bottles, but I don't really care. Ignorance is bliss.

Overall Review: Take care with the material remover fluid. It tends to eat through anything porous and gluey. If you spill it you could end up unsticking something you didn't want unstuck.

I love these cases!

Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Antec Three Hundred Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: I've bought a bunch of these cases over time and put all kinds of different builds in them and they're honestly one of the best cases I've used in this price range. The construction is super-solid. There's lots of places for fans (the front fan mounting brackets have a particuarly cool design). There are tons of HDD bays. Comes with two nice 3-speed fans. Plus I think it looks nice too.

Cons: Very long video cards will bump up against an installed HDD. There are so many HDD bays, that I've never had an issue moving things around to get everything to fit, but if you have a LOT of hard disks in combination with multiple long video cards, you could run in to trouble. Even in that case, you can just flip the HDDs around and run the cables around the front. There are little conduits that you could run the power and SATA cables through if need be. You may lose the ability to install both front fans if you do this, though.

Overall Review: It's kind of heavy. Not extreme, but it would be notable if you frequently hauled it to LAN parties. The solid construction would handle the trips, but the weight might be an issue. With all the hardware installed, it can really get quite heavy. If you're specifically looking to build a light (as in weight) computer, you may want to look elsewhere.

Good, quiet

SilenX EFZ-120HA5 120mm Fluid Dynamic CPU Cooler
SilenX EFZ-120HA5 120mm Fluid Dynamic CPU Cooler

Pros: I bought 3 of these for 3 particularly loud systems I wanted to quiet down. The work wonders. They're basically inaudible and cool very well. No stupid LEDs.

Cons: Unless your case has a huge amount of space around the CPU, take your motherboard out to install this cooler (or install it before you install the mobo). It's very, very hard to reach the mounting screws while the mobo is in the case. I also have to say the rubber fan mounts suck. They work, but they seem really flimsy while simultaneously being really stubborn to install evenly. They don't really 'attach' to the cooler, they just kind of sit in a little groove that goes down the side of the cooler. Plus if you accidentally push them too far in, they tend to get stuck in the aluminum fins. Grrr! These rubber mounts were really the only source of prolonged frustration with the product. I didn't knock off an egg becuase in the end the coolers work great and I'm pleased.

Overall Review: Of the 3 I bought, one of them was destined for a socket C32 Opteron system. Socket C32 is not officially supported by this product, but the cooler DOES fit! The only issue is that the cooler rotated 90 degrees, so the airflow isn't as efficient without some creative adjustments.

Works great

ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS
ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS

Pros: Fast, reliable, inexpensive.

Cons: Not a big deal, but it does make a heck of a racket when I turn on my PC and there's no disk in the drive. SSssiizzz! Ssssiiiizzzz! ... It only does it a few times, so I can live with it.