Joined on 07/09/05
Good Stuff...
Pros: Great stuff. Lowers load temps about 3-5 degrees after full burn-in. Download a program like "CPU Burn-In" and run it in intervals. Arctic Silver instructions are 200 hours w/ alternate hot/cold cycles. Burn in for a few hours. Turn if off to let the processor go back to room temperature. Somebody said the burn in time is 2 months. No, its 200 hours. I do mine about 1 to 2 weeks. Good stuff. Only thing better is Liquid Metal. Only thing maybe even comparable is Thermaltake Nanofusion.
Cons: None really.
Overall Review: Just watch your burn-in times. People who do not burn-in Arctic Silver 5 do not really see a noticeable increase until sometimes weeks afterwards. 1 week to 2 weeks of solid burn in time is absolutely recommended.
BSOD issues. Would not recommend
Pros: If it ever works, it works well.
Cons: Bought two of these cards to place in a high-end ($4000) custom watercooling system, powered by a 1000W EVGA G2 PSU. Everything installed without a hitch. Drivers installed were 14.12. However, almost immediately, there were issues. Blue screening in games like Civ V, CS:GO. When placed through a benchmarking tool, the card BSOD'ed in the middle. Then the real issues started. BSOD's on the desktop just seconds into boot. Random BSOD's on desktop and just light browsing. Attempted to reinstall 14.12 drivers by first uninstalling drivers, then running DDU cleaner. Upon reinstall of these drivers, BSOD's in the middle of driver installation, followed upon BSOD's upon entering Windows dekstop. Could only get my computer to boot in Safe Mode, when all Catalyst drivers were disabled. Had to reinstall Windows, and only use one card. Seems like it's running more stable, but I'm how over $500 (2nd 290X + Watercooler). Would not recommend to anyone. My plan now is to use the single card for another year, then upgrade to 2x 980X's when they fall in price more. Never again Asus/AMD.
Golden Deal
Pros: Great fan. Silent. Keeps my 3800+ Venice at a nice 29 degrees C idle. Great overclocking potential.
Cons: None really... has a blue LED light. I would like it better if it didn't have it. But, its such a great fan and none others chalk up to it. Its really not a even a con... I don't have a side window. But some people might care... I dunno. Stop me if I'm rambling.
Overall Review: Pretty cool deal. The Zalman's are way too heavy and gigantic and can actually warp the mobo. This is much better. Cooling and size wise. My 2 cents.
Very Nice!
Pros: Very very nice graphics card for the price. I got mine on sale for 299 and it was worth every penny. It performs in benchmarks up to the flagship ATI card (I think its the X1800XT). Flies through F.E.A.R and HL2. The VIVO is also nice to those who need it.
Cons: None at all.
Good Experience
Pros: Excellent Case. All aluminum. Case fans are actually decent. Good configuration. Great heat dissapation.
Cons: This case doesn't have a opening for Floppys which are required for driver installation! Although there is a opening inside the case, there isn't an opening on the black part which is odd. Terrible design on that part!
Unbelievable Value
Pros: Extremely good. I ordered this during NewEgg's Thanksgiving sale. The product was $xxx w/ $xx of rebates. Extremely fast. I repartitioned Windows to boot off the Raptor's, fastest boot time I've ever experienced.
Cons: No cons.
Overall Review: Great Bang for the buck. Bought 2 of them to put into RAID0.