Joined on 07/27/10
After 2 years of use, I can say this is a good PSU
Pros: -Very quiet -Great efficiency -Plenty of cables -Plenty of cable shielding -Installation was incredibly easy for a non-modular PSU -Aesthetically attractive (although you won't see it much after you install it) -Most importantly, after 2 years of constant use, it's still running excellently; no hiccups, no failures! -550W is more than enough unless you're looking to spend more than $200 on a graphics card.
Cons: -Was a little more expensive than other products at the time that might have worked just as well at $70... -The cable shielding is a bit much for me, creates a lot of clutter and makes adding RAM a pain in the neck. The copious amount of shielding might actually be good for most people and certainly protects the longevity of the power supply, so take what I say with a grain of salt. -The rebate system is a pain in the neck as with other products. It's tantamount to malfeasance in the sense that the PSU is advertised with a rebate, but it's intentionally made difficult to take advantage of it. I don't see any reason why I can't just take the serial number on the PSU and claim my rebate online instantly.
Overall Review: 550W is probably not enough to use an NVidia GTX 770, so I might have to get a new PSU. That's my fault though for underestimating my necessary wattage. Use this website application to calculate how much power you will need, and on the capacitor aging category, select at least 35%. http://www.extreme.outervision.com/PSUEngine With 1 hard drive, a Core i5-3570k overclocked to 4.2GHz, and a Radeon HD 7770, I only consume ~350W.
Stay away from this thing, it's a fraud
Pros: (none)
Cons: -Feels light and flimsy -Cannot find drivers for the device anywhere on the internet -The device does not show up on my system. I tried putting my SSD into both slots, and it did not work. -The instructions were so full of bad spelling and grammatical errors, it's plainly obvious this thing is a cheap Chinese knockoff.
Overall Review: The AGPTek logo is nowhere on the product to even prove it was actually made by them and not a fake Chinese knockoff. Look out, this thing is garbage!
There is no arguing with the price/per
Pros: -I can run every game I have at a constant 60fps in 1920x1080 by lowering the graphical effects to medium. -I can OC to 1070MHz with the stock voltage, memory to 1150MHz. -Dual fan configuration keeps my overclocked temps below 65C
Cons: CANNOT OVERRIDE VOLTAGE CAPS! *I guess msi is afraid I might get my money's worth out of the card...
Overall Review: *The games I refer to are Mirror's Edge, Sonic Generations, and the Assassin's Creed series. *Still buying a 660Ti next month anyway. -I would recommend this card to anyone building a good mid-level gaming PC in the $600 range.
Speed enough and then some!
Pros: -Never breaks 60 Celsius on Prime 95 at 3.6GHz -I'm running on a mere 80W EXACT. -Very easy to work with if you just take the time to see how little voltage you can get away with supplying to the CPU.
Cons: -Intel still waste our money by bundling a limp-diggity heatsink when people who overclock buy vastly superior aftermarket heatsinks. -Installation on a Z68 mobo is a pain in the neck, no to mention a severe problem for those who didn't have an SB CPU before hand to download and flash BIOS updates with. I'm just lucky I had an old Celeron. This isn't entirely Intel's fault, though... -Instead of wasting resources on a limp-diggity graphics core, the same die area could've easily been used to give us 5 or 6 cores at $325.
Overall Review: -I still don't know how Intel deludes itself into believing Hyperthreading is worth $100 more when it slows most games down. Honestly, the company could make more money by selling 4core HT-enabled CPUs (w/ on-die graphics) at the $225 price point and 6-Core HT-enabled CPUs at the $325 price point from the massive spike in demand. It would more than offset the added costs...
Just what the Doctor ordered!
Pros: -Very good! I don't mind the noise; it's the sound of success keeping my i5 3570k cool. -Works great as the lead fan in a push-pull configuration. Since it pulls the most air, I put it closest to the outside -Came with a PWM to Molex adapter so I could use all of the fans in my case :D
Cons: -Won't freeze h311 over -Doesn't chop veggies with its blades -Not exactly packaged in the most glorified manner, but it's a $12 fan. I'm actually glad I didn't have to fight the packaging to get to the product on this one!
Overall Review: I am very happy with this purchase! If you have room for 2 CPU fans, GET A SECOND FAN! I even have a case fan right in front of this one, so I have 3 fans cooling my CPU!
Great deal, but trouble in paradise
Pros: -The Contrast is PHENOMENAL -1080p -Installing Drivers was no problem and greatly improved display quality -Got an outstanding deal- $140 -At 23" w/ widescreen aspect ratio, I can see EVERYTHING!
Cons: -DVI from my PC is not showing up, had to use analog VGA. -All buttons except the power button seem to do absolutely nothing. -Screwing the cables into the cheap DVI and VGA ports was a NIGHTMARE; it took 2 min of tinkering and pressing the cables firmly into the back of the monitor to make the screws actually screw into the slots.
Overall Review: 1. How can I get the DVI input to work? 2. Manufacturers should install better VGA and DVI slots with much more secure screws. My system runs on a Celeron G530, I use the integrated graphics.