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PAUL J.

PAUL J.

Joined on 11/05/05

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 8
Most Favorable Review

Good Case with a couple shortcomings

Antec Performance One P180B Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel for durability through the majority of chassis
1.0mm cold rolled steel around the 4 x HDD area ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Antec Performance One P180B Black 0.8mm cold rolled steel for durability through the majority of chassis 1.0mm cold rolled steel around the 4 x HDD area ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: +Mostly nicely constructed (see below) +3 120mm fans included +HDD bays are PERFECTLY done +Front door closes magnetically. No clip to break. +Case sides are acoustically shielded. HDD and PSU are acoustically isolated. +Doesn't look like something the Power Rangers would fight.

Cons: -Orientation of PSU and mainboard means you DEFINITELY NEED long PSU cables. NO KIDDING. -Power supply mounting cage is sharp and unfinished -Hole where PSU comes through the back of the case is sharp and unfinished. -Connections on the bottom of the motherboard are very difficult to get to. -Very subtle high-pitched whine from 120mm fans on low setting might disturb some people (Not me.)

Overall Review: Take my advice and mount and hook up the motherboard FIRST. Snaking the PSU cables through the case is slightly more difficult this way, but doing the PSU wires first makes it nearly impossible to get to some motherboard headers later on. Western Digital Caviar SE WD3200JS 320GB AMD Athlon 64 X2 3800+(65W) Windsor 2.0GHz DFI INFINITY NF ULTRAII-M2 Socket AM2 NVIDIA nForce4 Ultra EVGA 256-P2-N615-TX GeForce 7600GT 256MB FSP Group (Fortron Source) ATX400-PA SAMSUNG 18X DVD±R CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) Antec Performance One P180B Black

Most Critical Review

Would be fine if it worked right

ASRock N68-S UCC AM3/AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 7025 / nForce 630a Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
ASRock N68-S UCC AM3/AM2+/AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 7025 / nForce 630a Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: Cheap. Compatible with older and newer processors. Overclocking and core-unlocking features (although I wasn't planning on trying them). Size and general layout.

Cons: Quality control. Documentation.

Overall Review: DIMM slot 1 is bad on mine. It won't POST at all with slot 1 populated. There are only 2 slots total, so I'm out 1/2 of my RAM (bought in pairs for dual-channel functionality). It wasn't detecting my RAM correctly (it's Corsair XMS2 PC5400, detected as PC4200), so I fiddled with manual settings, updated the BIOS, and tried different RAM (known good pulls from a machine at the office) Before deciding that the DIMM slot was bad. I might try returning it, but they're sold out now, so it seems I got the last one. Return shipping cost might make it cost-prohibitive. I thought QA was supposed to catch things like this. Oh well. Never buying anything that says 'asrock' on it again.

Does what it says

Rosewill RFA-120-K - 120mm Computer Case Cooling Fan with LP4 Adapter - Sleeve Bearing, Silent
Rosewill RFA-120-K - 120mm Computer Case Cooling Fan with LP4 Adapter - Sleeve Bearing, Silent

Pros: Moves air. Does it reasonably quietly. Cheap.

Cons: There is an audible drone - these are not silent by any means, but it is low enough to be easily ignored.

TOSHIBA MK3263GSX 320GB 5400 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 2.5" Internal Notebook Hard Drive Bare Drive
TOSHIBA MK3263GSX 320GB 5400 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 2.5" Internal Notebook Hard Drive Bare Drive

Pros: Good price for the size. Hasn't died yet.

Cons: None so far.

Overall Review: Replacement for laptop drive that died. So far, so good.

Fantom Drives G-Force 1TB USB 2.0 / eSATA 3.5" External Hard Drive GF1000EU
Fantom Drives G-Force 1TB USB 2.0 / eSATA 3.5" External Hard Drive GF1000EU

Pros: Cheap, big, reasonably fast. Looks nice. Compact. Does exactly what it's supposed to. Cheap. Did I mention cheap?

Cons: Doesn't come with eSATA cables (but I didn't expect it to at this price). Abnormally slow to spin up out of sleep mode. You could signal aircraft with the activity LED on the front that is always on. Opening it voids the warranty.

Overall Review: Newegg is awesome as always.

Great PSU w/ a couple shortcomings

FSP Group ATX400-PA 400W ATX12V     Power Supply
FSP Group ATX400-PA 400W ATX12V Power Supply

Pros: Stable, Quiet, Quality. 2 Separate 12V rails! This is my go-to PSU for builds.

Cons: Cables are shorter than some other PSU's in this class. Won't be a problem unless you have a case with a non-standard layout. A little skimpy with the amount of connectors.

Overall Review: Powers: Athlon X2 3800, 7600GT, 320GB WD HDD, DFI UltraII M2 with room to spare. I built in an Antec P180B and had to get extenders for the 20+4 and 4-pin ATX power blocks. Just so you know if you're using a case with the PSU mounted at the bottom.