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Nini W.

Nini W.

Joined on 07/09/05

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 5
Most Favorable Review

A Sapphire in the rough

SAPPHIRE Toxic Radeon HD 3870 512MB GDDR4 PCI Express 2.0 x16 CrossFireX Support Graphics Card 100225TXSR
SAPPHIRE Toxic Radeon HD 3870 512MB GDDR4 PCI Express 2.0 x16 CrossFireX Support Graphics Card 100225TXSR

Pros: Excellent price/performance/cooling/bundle, low power consumption. (I am able to run 2 in Crossfire on a 700w power supply.) Single slot doesn't suffocate in Crossfire, remarkably cool. I am able to run Crysis @ 1680x1050(no AA, no AF), very high in XP(yes, I had to hack the cfg files to do it) and I average 22-32 FPS. Runs everything else I have (Orange Box, B&W, Oblivion) maxed (8x AA, 16x AF) and I average ~60fps w/VSync on. My monitor's refesh rate is actually a bottleneck at this point.

Cons: Single slot cooling means all the heat goes to the front of the case, but if you set up a fan in the front to suck the hot air out, you should be fine. Don't buy it now, the Radeon HD 4870's are due to come out June/July of this year, so wait and get them, or get this once the price goes even lower after the new cards come out.

Overall Review: If you want the most performance available, then get Nvidia. Their high-end/flagship cards trump this one, but their price to performance ratio is lower and they use more power. If you want the most performance available for less than 200$, this card is the way to go, just wait for the price to drop even further once the 4870 comes out.

Mixed Blessing

XION Solaris XON-403 Black with Green LED Light Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
XION Solaris XON-403 Black with Green LED Light Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: Light. Quiet fans, very bright green LED's in the front and in the side fan. Front CD Drive covers will work for almost anything. Floppy drive has got a pop-open cover. Front USB ports are sturdier than my last case.

Cons: If you plan on wrestling with this case, I would advise against it. It is as unstable as Jack Nicholson. Also, space can get a little tight, but unless you have a raid array and SLI, you probably won't need to worry about it. Full ATX's can fit rather snug, but Micro ATX's don't have any problems.

Overall Review: This case should be a little bigger and a little denser, but if you just move the HDD's, then you should be good. System: MSI K9A2 Platinum Mobo, AMD Athlon X2 4800+, 2Gb of Wintech AmpX @ DDR2 800, Sapphire TOXIC HD 3870, 250Gb SATA-II HDD

Performance for le$$

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ - Athlon 64 X2 Brisbane Dual-Core 2.5 GHz Socket AM2 65W Processor - ADO4800DOBOX
AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ - Athlon 64 X2 Brisbane Dual-Core 2.5 GHz Socket AM2 65W Processor - ADO4800DOBOX

Pros: Very Fast, cut my boot time in HALF, can run Firefox, Thunderbird (e-mail client), and WMP while still whisper quiet w/stock cooler. Best value of the X2's.

Cons: I don't want to overclock it, cause then it would be smarter than me. I get the feeling it already is....

Overall Review: Enable Cool'n'Quiet ASAP if your mobo supports it. I can't even hear the fan unless it's under max load. System: MSI K9A2 Platinum Mobo, 2Gb of Wintech AmpX @ DDR2 800, Sapphire TOXIC HD 3870, 250Gb SATA-II HDD, all in a XION Solaris case.

Platinum quality

MSI K9A2 Platinum AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard
MSI K9A2 Platinum AM2+/AM2 AMD 790FX ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: 4 Pci-E 2.0 slots, Phenom/Athlon support, above average audio, plenty of USB and SATA connectors and cords, best AMD Northbridge on the market, cheapest mobo that supports 4-way CrossfireX, and great driver support. The 16x slots are spaced apart, and this means that 2 slot coolers don't choke each other.

Cons: Ummmmm...it boots so fast that its almost hard to get into the bios?

Overall Review: the crossfire connectors that it comes with are needed to span the distance between the 2 16x slots, so get a retail version, not an open box.

Works WELL!

Rosewill RCW-902 - 10-Foot DVI-I (24 + 5-Pin) Male to DVI-I (24 + 5) Male Digital Dual-Link Cable with Ferrites Cores
Rosewill RCW-902 - 10-Foot DVI-I (24 + 5-Pin) Male to DVI-I (24 + 5) Male Digital Dual-Link Cable with Ferrites Cores

Pros: great price, works well with my HN199D Hanns-G 19" LCD

Cons: none...great price