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Robert M.

Robert M.

Joined on 07/01/05

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 6
Most Favorable Review

Best Chassis I've ever used

GIGABYTE 3D Aurora 570 GZ-FA1CA-ASB Black 1.0 mm Aluminum body ATX Full Tower Computer Case
GIGABYTE 3D Aurora 570 GZ-FA1CA-ASB Black 1.0 mm Aluminum body ATX Full Tower Computer Case

Pros: If you're considering ANY other chassis for your PC, disregard it now and buy this one. This chassis is amazing. The beautiful brushed-aluminum finish is looks very sharp, and it's extremely durable. The front door is made out of thicker, heavier metal. This thing will not damage easily. Fingerprints show up rather easily, but Gigabyte includes a microfiber cloth for taking care of these. The internals are massive. There is so much room in this case - more than any case I've ever seen outside a server box. It supports ATX, MicroATX, Express ATX, and other types that are rarely ever heard of. There is a corner bracket mounted on the inside of the lower left corner for added stability in the weakest point. The 3 fans push lots of air, yet NEVER become too noisy. Tool-less mounting systems are wonderful and easy. Toolbox is a nice bonus. Mesh window is very attractive and helps air flow. Comes with lots of extra accessories. Hidden clamps make for easy cable dressing.

Cons: Expensive, and doesn't include a PSU. But it will last you for years as long as mobo mounting standards don't change. Also, the power button on the front doesn't feel nearly as quality as the rest of the chassis, it feels kind of wobbily.

Overall Review: 6 out of 5 stars, this chassis is simply incredible. It's the Aston Martin of PC chassis.

Fast RAM, Fast Delivery

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400
CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-6400

Pros: Just recently built a top of the line PC, but only started with 1 GB of this RAM. I wanted to save money at the time, but after gaming with it, it became obvious that this was a bottleneck. I ordered 2 more sticks of the same stuff, and my PC is now unstoppable. Fast RAM, heat spreaders on both sides. Very affordable. If your building a new gaming rig, forget the 1 gig, go for 2.

Cons: It's not as flashy as a lot of the new sticks are becoming, and I haven't tried overclocking it, so I'm not sure how well the heat spreaders will do when it's under load.

Overall Review: I don't think I'll overclock this RAM, there's no need to. Very fast delivery, I ordered Monday morning, it was at my house on Wed. Newegg comes through in spades once again.

Forget the 6600, get this!

Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 - Core 2 Duo Conroe Dual-Core 2.13 GHz LGA 775 65W Processor - BX80557E6420
Intel Core 2 Duo E6420 - Core 2 Duo Conroe Dual-Core 2.13 GHz LGA 775 65W Processor - BX80557E6420

Pros: If you're planning on building a high-end gaming PC, look no further than this proc. I was planning on buying the E6600, but when this was released, I jumped on it. The 6600 is clocked at 2.4 ghz, where this one is at 2.14. There's your only difference. It still has the 4 meg L2 cache, and that's the most attractive part. This proc has an 8X multiplier. It's EXTREMELY overclock-able. You can push it to the speed of the E6600 on stock cooling with very little change in temp.

Cons: Stock heat sink isn't the greatest, but it gets the job done while overclocking, so I can't complain too much.

Overall Review: Buy this processor if you want a very fast sub $200 dual core. It's a better buy than the slightly faster clocked E6600, and if you OC it a bit, you'll have the same proc. for $40 less!

Gets the job done

TOPOWER X3 Series ZU-550W 550 W ATX12V Version 2.0 / EPS12V SLI Ready Power Supply
TOPOWER X3 Series ZU-550W 550 W ATX12V Version 2.0 / EPS12V SLI Ready Power Supply

Pros: Solid powersupply, main 20+4 pin is wrapped nicely in plastic mesh, and the two PEI-E 6 pins are wrapped in a beautiful translucent smooth plastic. Makes dressing the cables internally a breeze. Other cables are aesthetically pleasing with solid twists and nice red/orange/yellow colors. Boost button on the PSU's backside turns fans on maximum.

Cons: some connectors were just a bit too short in my massive Gigabyte 3D Aurora chassis - specifically the lines to the HDDs in front. No SATA connectors - you need to get a converter.

Overall Review: Nice PSU for the price, but the lack of SATA sucks.

Unstoppable

EVGA GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Support Graphics Card 768-P2-N831-AR
EVGA GeForce 8800 GTX 768MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Support Graphics Card 768-P2-N831-AR

Pros: The fastest single card solution out there. I typically love ATI's cards, but Nvidia just can't be beat in the DX10 market. Oblivion running at 1280X960 with settings maxed ran at a minimum of 70 fps (coupled with a E6420 Core 2 duo, gig Pc6400, Gigabyte mobo). All other games run just as impressive.

Cons: Expensive, turns your case into an oven. Make sure to have good chassis ventilation.

Overall Review: The card is huge, about as big as my head. Make sure your chassis (and PSU) can handle it.

Nice Mobo

GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 (rev. 1.3) LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-965P-DS3 (rev. 1.3) LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Very solid board. Has almost all the features needed of a non-SLI dream PC board. I've got a Core 2 Duo E6420 running on this board with an 8800 GTX and a gig of PC6400 RAM. Runs very fast. Nice layout. Nice overclocking options both in bios and in Windows. COM port on the back is great! Looks pleasant.

Cons: No 1394 input for on-case firewire ports. Only 1 IDE port. The South Bridge seems to run a little on the warm side, and it doesn't help that the 8800GTX is covering the small heatsink. That entire portion on my computer is an oven. But I've had no instability issues whatsoever, so I wouldn't let this concern you.

Overall Review: The board is slightly smaller than a standard ATX mobo. It fits on normal mounts, but the width from I/O ports to the far right side is slightly shorter than most.