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Brennan Y.

Brennan Y.

Joined on 03/19/06

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 9
Most Favorable Review

Very good product

Accelero Twin Turbo Pro VGA Cooler
Accelero Twin Turbo Pro VGA Cooler

Pros: What I was expecting was a nice cooler to replace my XFX stock cooler in which the fan bearing was going out, and I didn't feel like sending my XFX 5870 back in for the 5th time (2nd time for a cooler-related issue.) Instead, I opted to get an aftermarket HSF cooler. This one ranked high on my list for it's price and user reviews. It promised cooler temperatures and a better cooling solution. Mission Accomplished. Not only does my card run about 3-4C cooler at idle and 7-10C cooler under load than with the stock cooler, but the fans at 100% are nearly silent. There's almost no difference in sound between 30% and 100% fan speed. At first, this concerned me, but after monitoring the temps for a little while, it's a non-issue; the fans work perfectly fine. I also like that the fans are controlled by the card. It's stuff like this that makes me a believer in aftermarket cooling solutions all over again.

Cons: It's a 3-slot cooler, so it takes up the 2 slots that my 5870 takes up, plus an additional slot for the fans. I can't see myself needing that slot anytime soon, so it's really no big deal for me. Just keep that in mind if you have a lot of add-in cards plus a big video card... This cooler does take up additional slots. Also, installation can be a bit tricky. There are 4 black stand-offs you have to use in order to properly mount the cooler. While it is necessary, it would have been better if you could have attached them either to the cooler itself, or instead, used a backplate as a guide. I'm not saying it doesn't work, but it could have been designed better. You'd better have 4 hands and a flashlight if you want to install this cooler correctly the first time.

Overall Review: VGA Cooler works as advertised, and it does so unobtrusively. Job well done Arctic Cooling. I am indeed a fan.

Most Critical Review

Untimely Death outside of warranty

D-Link Xtreme Gigabit Router (DIR-655) Wireless N300, USB SharePort, Gigabit
D-Link Xtreme Gigabit Router (DIR-655) Wireless N300, USB SharePort, Gigabit

Pros: Router worked great for our 8 devices that we had connected to it, both wired and wireless.

Cons: It died after 14 months of use, just outside of the warranty period. I'm not happy since I payed $75 for this and expected it to work for years, not just a year.

Overall Review: Don't buy D-Link. This is the second "gaming" router from them that has died on me just outside of the warranty period. There are better routers out there that will last much longer for roughly the same price.

Completely overbuilt!

GIGABYTE WINDFORCE GeForce RTX 4090 24GB GDDR6X PCI Express 4.0 ATX Graphics Card GV-N4090WF3-24GD
GIGABYTE WINDFORCE GeForce RTX 4090 24GB GDDR6X PCI Express 4.0 ATX Graphics Card GV-N4090WF3-24GD

Pros: I've seen some complaints about this 4090 being one of the most basic 4090's you can buy. While this is true, this card is still completely overbuilt. The cooler is MASSIVE, and it keeps the card very cool. Even overclocked to the max, it never breaks 70c, and in normal operation, it gets to the mid-60s. That is very cool compared to my 3 previous GPUs. It's very quiet, it's solidly built, and it comes with a GPU bracket so you can support it. It's fantastic. Make sure you have a 4K display for this monster. If you don't, you will be leaving performance on the table. It's crazy fast.

Cons: It's HUGE!!! Be sure your case case fit it inside.

Overall Review: I would easily recommend this. It's stupidly fast and very well built.

Massive!!! Excellent Case!

Fractal Design Pop XL Air RGB Black TG ATX High-Airflow Clear Tempered Glass Window Full Tower Computer Case
Fractal Design Pop XL Air RGB Black TG ATX High-Airflow Clear Tempered Glass Window Full Tower Computer Case

Pros: +Huge!!! +Tons of room for cable management. +Lots of room for fans. +Great air flow. +Side of case is glass. +Easily fits an RTX 4090... any RTX 4090.

Cons: -Not very quiet. I guess that's what you get with an open case. -Fan cutouts for PSU are only for smaller PSUs. Larger PSUs with the fan further away will be slightly obscured.

Overall Review: If you're getting an RTX 4090 (or bigger in the future), look no further. Great case, especially for the price.

10/18/2022

Beast of a card!

MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Founders Edition
MSI GeForce GTX 1070 Founders Edition

Pros: -Fast -Beautiful -980 Ti performance for a lot less money -low power usage (single 8-pin PCI-e power connector)

Cons: -Expensive for what you get

Overall Review: I told myself I wouldn't buy into the hype... but I definitely bought into the hype and bought a Founder's Edition GTX 1070. I'm not disappointed either. Overclocks fairly well for a reference cooler, and remains cool/quiet in all but the most demanding situations. This card is right at home on my 3440x1440 monitor. I definitely recommend this card for anyone who games @ 1440P.

Great Card with KILLER overclocking capabilities!

EVGA 02G-P4-3664-KR G-SYNC Support GeForce GTX 660 Ti FTW Signature2 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
EVGA 02G-P4-3664-KR G-SYNC Support GeForce GTX 660 Ti FTW Signature2 2GB 192-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Pros: I was nervous getting this card. Everyone I know suggested a HD 7950, but I decided a little piece of team green. Since my wife already had an HD 7870, I decided to get a 660 Ti. This is one of the fastest, if not THE fastest GTX 660 Ti's you can buy. If you overclock this sucker further, you will overtake a stock GTX 670 with ease. -It runs fairly cool under load. -At stock, fans are quiet -Max boost clock is 1230mhz at stock... THAT'S INSANE!!! -GTX 680 PCB means very good power delivery. Framerates: BF3: Maxed, 1920x1200 - 55 fps average in 64-man server (caspian border) Starcraft II: Crank it up. This card slaughters SC2. Far Cry 3: 40 fps average at max settigns, 1920x1200. Crazy. Metro 2033: Pretty close to max settings, 30-40 fps average. Everything runs great

Cons: I will not subtract an egg for drivers, but the drivers on this card have been hit or miss. Some of them work phenomenally, while others are not so great. On the 310.xx drivers, Battlefield 3 had constant frame stutters and Unigine Heaven benchmark had artifacting. Also, the overclocking potential was cut down as well. -If you want to keep this card at max boost, you will have to create a custom fan profile that will make the card audible under full load. -Don't touch the card under load. It gets HOT!!! -The card is long, and the cooler is a tad bulky. -This card is HEAVY!!! It must have a massive chunk of aluminum on it. -Keep the AA at 4x or less. This card lacks the memory bandwidth to handle 8xAA at a decent framerate on recent titles.

Overall Review: I will be the first to admit that the HD 7950 is a better value, especially when you're using high levels of Anti-Aliasing. That being said, if you want something from the nvidia camp that competes with the HD 7870 or HD 7950, this card can hang with them in most situations. It's a safe buy, if that's what you're looking for.