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James J.

James J.

Joined on 01/12/08

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 9
Most Favorable Review

Amd Goodness

AMD Phenom 9600 Agena 2.3GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 95W Quad-Core Processor
AMD Phenom 9600 Agena 2.3GHz 4 x 512KB L2 Cache 2MB L3 Cache Socket AM2+ 95W Quad-Core Processor

Pros: It's a Quad core from AMD and has built in Virtualization. This is awesome and it's affordable

Cons: Note one

Overall Review: Some have complained about the CPU being Vista 64 incompatable. This shouldn't be an issue if you do your homework for the motherboard you're using and have an Up to date Bios. I'm not recommending you update the Bios on your own. I'm more that likely going to set this up with Open Solaris or PC-BSD as this would be a great use for this CPU

Most Critical Review

Deceent Board

Intel BOXDQ77KB LGA 1155 Intel Q77 HDMI USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard
Intel BOXDQ77KB LGA 1155 Intel Q77 HDMI USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Board supports up to Intel HD 4000 graphics and Display port. Plenty of room for expansion. Really excited about the Mini PCIe. Supports raid and HDMI. Nice board for an HTPC.

Cons: Have to use a Flex ATX/Mini ITX if you need power for internal Sata devices as the board only has one SATA power header/connector. You'd think Intel would have placed two on the board. Aside from that, Newegg is charging more than Intel's recommended price point of 134.99 - 137.99 while Newegg's original price was 149.99 and now 139.99.

Overall Review: I plan to use this board for an XBOX 360 white pc/hackintosh mod. It has all of the items I'd like to make an HTPC out of my dead XBOX which I can thank Microsoft for the RROD and had to buy a new one. There's also not much detail regarding where to find Flat Panel LCD/LED's that support EDP or LVDS and how to implement for a home brew, guess Intel wants to cater more towards Large Manufacturer's as opposed to customers with money to spend now.

11/18/2012

Decent RAM at a decent Price

Patriot Viper Steel 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 3866 (PC4 30900) Desktop Memory Model PVS416G386C8K
Patriot Viper Steel 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR4 3866 (PC4 30900) Desktop Memory Model PVS416G386C8K

Pros: Fast Speeds, low latency.

Cons: SK Hynix CFR, Not Micron E-Die or Samsung B-Die. Despite the advertised timings looking like Samsung B-Die, these are Hynx CJR modules. Bought two Kits in attempt to run unganged mode and Memory interleaved. One kit is failing Memory Training, and I'm sending it back. I tested the failing kit/module by removing the known working kit to confirm this and tested the failed kit in Channel 0 and Channel 1 without the other kit installed. The kit failed the same way in both channels and confirmed that RAM was properly seated.

Overall Review: The RAM is decent enough to run at 3866 XMP On my X470 Gaming wifi 7 from gigabyte with the F50 Bios and a Ryzen 3700x cpu. Not sure if any of these Kits has Samsung b-die, but that would be ideal. I'm shooting for a a clock speed of 3800 cl 16 to hopefully get up to a 30 percent bump in FPS in many games. If You get this kit for that purpose, you will need to spend a lot of time tuning your memory and as always YMMV with Your setup. Best scenario for this RAM is in a Minitx Board with x470/x570 and ryzen 3000 series or 5000 series with the latest bios. Always remember to check Your Motherboard's QVL before purchasing. itx boards have a circuit/size advantage when overclocking RAM. Great for VM, Databases, and Gaming. Side note: Channels are referred to incorrectly. A channel is the logical mapping of a memory bank with two slots and the memory controller alternates access between the two.

10/11/2020

Decent Product But still a bit high

CORSAIR Dominator Platinum 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4 3000 (PC4 24000) Desktop Memory Model CMD32GX4M4C3000C15
CORSAIR Dominator Platinum 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR4 3000 (PC4 24000) Desktop Memory Model CMD32GX4M4C3000C15

Pros: These modules are working without issues on my Gigabyte X470 Auros with 2700x in Intel XMP, however there only a minimal gain in tightening timings at 3000, unless you can manage 14-14-14-14-34. Hitting that 3200mhz mark would be ideal.

Cons: I have a current set of these and confirmed they are SK Hynix AFR or MFR though the the Odd timings and real world OC, they don't perform all that great beyond spec. You could get CL 14 OC'd to 3200 mhz with a good Memory/SOC clock and the luck of the draw on silicon lottery, though you'll need to compromise past the second two timings.

Overall Review: Would not recommend for overclocking purposes. This RAM, while somewhat lower timings, is not great, though YMMV. The sticks I currently own, are SK Hynix AFR or MFR, and didn't quite fit well into either category. I have overclocked these up to 3200 mhz CL14 16-16-17-36 at 1.42 volts, which is a bit high on the voltage. Would suggest looking for 3000 cl14-14-14-14-34 or 3200 cl 14 14 16 16-36 or something like that. Not sure if that second recommendation is a Binned sku for any of the major OEM's but faster to be sure.

Great PSU for the Price and Performance

SeaSonic X Series X-850 (SS-850KM3 Active PFC F3) 850W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS 12V v2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply New 4th Gen CPU Certified Haswell Ready
SeaSonic X Series X-850 (SS-850KM3 Active PFC F3) 850W ATX12V v2.3 / EPS 12V v2.91 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply New 4th Gen CPU Certified Haswell Ready

Pros: Great for overclocking on my Z170x Soc Force and plenty of power for 8 fans, 4 sticks of Dominator Platinum 3000mhz and dual GTX 1080 founder's cards.

Cons: Skylake power states - C-States not supported, so deal with it in the bios and don't use deep sleep.

Overall Review: I would definitely recommend for Haswell/Broadwell/Broadwell-E/ and Skylake in a pinch.

Decent Card for the Price

XFX Radeon HD 5450 (Cedar) 512MB DDR2 PCI Express 2.1 x16 Low Profile Ready Graphics Card HD-545X-YNH2
XFX Radeon HD 5450 (Cedar) 512MB DDR2 PCI Express 2.1 x16 Low Profile Ready Graphics Card HD-545X-YNH2

Pros: Bought from a retail store for a cousin. It posts and displays video as expected. Plays WOW.

Cons: Passively cooled.

Overall Review: If you write a review and rate your Technical Knoweledge as high, you should know what you're talking about. You may have to use compliance pattern testern or change PCIe latency settings in your bios. Some Bios' require the Onboard Video disabled or you may have to set it to autodetect. Make sure you have the latest bios for your Mother Board and Test Other Ports if one doesn't seem to work.