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Timothy V.

Timothy V.

Joined on 12/28/01

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 4
Most Favorable Review

Came for the features, stayed for the features

Phanteks Eclipse P350X PH-EC350PTG_DBK Black Steel / Tempered Glass Compact E-ATX Mid-Tower Computer Case with Integrated Digital RGB LEDs
Phanteks Eclipse P350X PH-EC350PTG_DBK Black Steel / Tempered Glass Compact E-ATX Mid-Tower Computer Case with Integrated Digital RGB LEDs

Pros: - Lighting. I wasn't looking to go overboard with unicorn colors flashing crazylights all over the place, and the P350 case is fantastic in that sense. Simple crisp light lines in the front and side make it look classy and stylish, and there are built-in options (and Corsair cabling) for more effects. - Front panel. Protruding bevel provides good airflow. Contact pins instead of cabling for lighting. Easy pop on/off, filters come out easily for cleaning. - Shrouded power & drive bay. No PS heat in main case! Comes with 2 pull-out trays. Good place to tuck cables. Bottom filter. - Price. Wow.

Cons: - Top filter. I like the large filter area (300mm) and magnetic mesh cover, but the screwholes for fan mounting need a little more counter-sinking. Regular screws or fan pins are far too tall, and the filter will visibly bulge at them. I dug around my shop and got the lowest profile screws I could find (1.5mm), and they are still not quite flush with the filter area (but don't show bumps).

Overall Review: Finally dumped my turn-of-the-century Enermax plexi blowhole case (lots of love to that beast), and selected this piece of awesome as my next choice of big things to sit by my desk for years and years. Didn't want to list this as a pro/con, so FYI ... motherboard is very close to top of case. If you wire over the top for mboard power connections, you can't get a second 140mm fan mounted. Pretty sure a radiator up top won't fit either (front is fine).

The I/O shroud top can be removed

MSI Z370 GAMING PRO CARBON LGA 1151 (300 Series) Intel Z370 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 ATX Intel Motherboard
MSI Z370 GAMING PRO CARBON LGA 1151 (300 Series) Intel Z370 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: - See other reviews for all the bells and whistles

Cons: - See other reviews for complaints

Overall Review: Just want to drop a review so if people are looking for this issue, they might find it. The plastic 'carbon fiber' GAMING PRO piece on top of the I/O ports can be removed. When I installed this in my Phanteks 350, I installed a 120mm rear exhaust fan next to the I/O ports, and it wouldn't fit in the case because of this piece of flash. It's not the whole I/O cover (black & silver), just the top black carbon fiber print piece with text on it. It's snapped in with 4 plastic pressure latches and can be removed carefully by pressing the latches with a small screwdriver and pulling of the piece. After I saw that it was just an extra bit, I put it back and tried to remove it LESS carefully with a larger screwdriver, just popping it while holding onto the I/O mount. That worked also, so if you're not super duper careful, no worries. Hope this helps.

Very Satisfied

MSI P67A-G45 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
MSI P67A-G45 (B3) LGA 1155 Intel P67 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Everything works. :-) Good value.

Cons: The audio (Realtek) is junk. After getting it set up, I listened to music which I had played a day earlier on my old system with a decent 5.1 speaker setup. Moved the speakers to this computer, and whaaaat?!? Tinny hollow, and distorted in the back. Same music, same speakers ... different audio & drivers. I turned that nastiness off, threw in my old Audigy, and things were back to normal. Minus half an egg for that!

Overall Review: The case header plugs were a nice touch (you do all the case cable hookups to a plug in your hand, then just put the plug into the motherboard). No pliers or tweezers necessary. POST codes ... does anyone know what all that beeping is about? I've no hardware conflicts, but this thing sounds like a phone ringing when I turn it on.

Sweet upgrade

Asus VH238H Black 23" Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor w/Speakers 250 cd/m2 ASCR 50,000,000:1
Asus VH238H Black 23" Full HD HDMI LED Backlight LCD Monitor w/Speakers 250 cd/m2 ASCR 50,000,000:1

Pros: Racing games (Need For Speed series) look fantastic on this monitor. No ghosting. The size of this makes my photo work easy. I upgraded from a dual monitor setup, and the real-estate on this screen is sweet!

Cons: Nothing special ... activating the power switch requires pressure enough to move the monitor on my desk. I will probably weight something on the base to alleviate this minor inconvenience.

Overall Review: I gotta figure out how to mount my webcam. It sat just fine on top of my old CRT, but can't really mount to this thin monitor.