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Lewis B.

Lewis B.

Joined on 07/25/01

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Product Reviews
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product reviews
  • 11
Most Favorable Review

Terrific LGA-2011-v3 Motherboard

GIGABYTE GA-X99-UD3P (rev. 1.0) LGA 2011-v3 Intel X99 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-X99-UD3P (rev. 1.0) LGA 2011-v3 Intel X99 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: This motherboard provides a very good price/performance ratio. Some professional reviews ding this board for having only 4 DDR4 slots, but if we're honest it's only a make or break feature for a small number of users. I purchased 32GB of 2800MHz DDR4 memory (ADATA) because it was on a helluva sale and it's working great. I bought an i7-5820K CPU with this board and I'm overclocking it at 4GHz on air without issue. The overclocking app didn't work well for me; it has been a few months so my recollection here may be imperfect. Anyway, I first got the memory running at the desired 2800MHz for which it was rated, which required changing the BCLK. Once that was done, I change the multiplier and increased the voltage just a bit and let the BIOS adjust other settings based upon its AI, and 4GHz worked so well I stopped mucking with it. It has been dead nuts stable ever since. Feature-wise, the only things the board doesn't have that I could have wished for would be Firewire and USB 3.1, but I added a PCIe card for the former and I'm not going to worry about the latter for a couple of years. The board supports NVME but the M.2 slot is only x2 PCIe which is also non-ideal. But since I went with a standard SATA SSD anyway (didn't want to go TOTALLY bleeding edge), it hardly matters.

Cons: Potential cons are mentioned above, but they're hardly cons; just features the board doesn't have.

Overall Review: My previous system was based upon a Gigabyte GA-EP45-UD3P motherboard and Q6600 CPU running at 3GHz, and it's still a surprisingly fast system that has been reliable as hell. So far I'm glad I went with another Gigabyte motherboard.

Nice Motion-Sensitive Lights

2 Packs--Mpow Solar Powerd Super Bright 8 LED Wireless Security Motion Sensor Light
2 Packs--Mpow Solar Powerd Super Bright 8 LED Wireless Security Motion Sensor Light

Pros: Considering the price, these are good motion sensor lights. They don't have the traditional settings to vary the sensitivity and duration, but for my usage that's not a problem at all. In one of the modes, the light stays off until motion is detected, then it turns on; in another mode, the light stays on at a very low level then brightens after motion detection. I haven't been awake long enough at night to see if the battery holds out in that second mode which is the one I'm using. The solar cell doesn't get full sun all day but so far it's been enough for the lights to light a couple of dark spots on my stairs until midnight or so which is good enough.

Cons: Someone might consider the lack of sensitivity/duration to be a negative, but I don't.

Overall Review: I will purchase another pair of these or perhaps a similar model with a remote solar cell to cover a spot in my side yard that doesn't have access to AC power.

One Of The Better Adapters Out There

Mushkin Enhanced MKNSSDBRKT2535 2.5" to 3.5" drive adapter bracket
Mushkin Enhanced MKNSSDBRKT2535 2.5" to 3.5" drive adapter bracket

Pros: Drive mounting position on bracket puts the SATA connectors in the same location that they would be in with a 3.5" drive, which is important in many small form factor cases.

Cons: The tray could use a small cutout where the SATA connectors. I almost had a conflict in a Dell small form factor system, but just squeaked by.

Nice, Quiet PSU

EVGA SuperNOVA 850 GS 220-GS-0850-V1 80+ GOLD 850W Fully Modular EVGA ECO Mode Includes FREE Power On Self Tester Power Supply
EVGA SuperNOVA 850 GS 220-GS-0850-V1 80+ GOLD 850W Fully Modular EVGA ECO Mode Includes FREE Power On Self Tester Power Supply

Pros: Powerful, very quiet, nice modular cables. Made for a clean system build in my Fractal R5 case.

Cons: Nothing of importance to complain about with this PSU.

Great Drive, With One Caveat

WD Desktop Performance WDBSLA0040HNC-NRSN 4TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Retail
WD Desktop Performance WDBSLA0040HNC-NRSN 4TB 7200 RPM 64MB Cache SATA 3.5" Internal Hard Drive Retail

Pros: The drive is nice and fast, reasonably quiet, and has gobs of storage space. WD support was terrific - see below.

Cons: The SATA connectors on this drive are completely unsupported mechanically. I have a 2TB WD Black drive and there is a plastic surround that takes some strain off the thin plastic of the connectors, but WD got rid of it. How do I know this? I broke the SATA data connector. Totally my fault, but this wouldn't have happened to the 2TB drive in the same circumstances.

Overall Review: After breaking the SATA connector, I contacted WD support to find out if there was any way to get the drive board replaced. They instead cross shipped me a replacement drive. As usual, it is "recertified" and the warranty went from 5 years to a few months, but they replaced the drive without cost which I wasn't expecting.

Great CPU

Intel Core i7-5820K - Core i7 4th Gen Haswell-E 6-Core 3.3 GHz LGA 2011-v3 140W Desktop Processor - BX80648I75820K
Intel Core i7-5820K - Core i7 4th Gen Haswell-E 6-Core 3.3 GHz LGA 2011-v3 140W Desktop Processor - BX80648I75820K

Pros: I bought this six-core CPU for my first high-end system build in six years. Bought a Gigabyte GA-X99-UD3P to put it in, added 2800MHz memory and a good Noctua cooler and I have it overclocked to 4.2GHz rock solid stable. Overclocking was not as simple as using the Gigabyte software; that failed badly. Instead I used the BIOS to make the adjustments for memory speed then adjusted a few parameters to get the 4.2GHz speed. It worked so well I didn't bother trying to push the envelope any further.

Cons: I have nothing to complain about on the CPU. It's expensive but the comparable Devil's Canyon quad-core CPU wasn't any cheaper, just a little faster stock frequency.

Overall Review: My build went really well, everything worked first time, and only a little bit of fiddling to get the overclock set up. Super fast and super quiet; now just waiting for the next generation of GPUs to round out the build.

seller reviews
  • 1

Good computer, good experience

I was skeptical about buying a six-year old computer that was listed as being in top-notch condition, but I have to say the unit was in perfect condition. The 250GB WD Blue hard drive had been wiped (sticker on drive itself indicated so) and Windows 10 installed. All devices had drivers loaded, so no hunting around on the HP site to finish the setup. The hard drive had many years of power-on hours but the spin up count was very low so it clearly was turned on and stayed on for most of its life. Very clean inside, no strange noises from the fans. I replaced the hard drive with an Adata SSD and it improved system responsiveness a lot. The unit arrived packaged in a box that uses a nice system to trap the computer under a strong plastic film when some cardboard flaps are folded over, so no additional packing materials were required. I considered it to be well-protected and there's minimal hassle recycling the box. The mouse and keyboard included are brand new but very cheap wired models. They would do the job but I'm using nicer ergonomic wireless units instead. No complaints, I didn't expect anything better. Overall, very pleased.

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