Joined on 04/09/14
Worth Every Penny!
Pros: -First of all, the build quality is superb. The shroud is made of metal with carbon trim. You can feel the weight comparing to it competitor that used plastic material. -The card handle really well and cool. I OCed mine and got a temperature of around 75-80C max with fan around 60%-80%. Even so the card remain pretty quiet. Comparing OC potentials, I manage to achieved a stable clock that is rivals in benchmark review of EVGA SC and MSI gaming X varience from reviewer such as Jay2cent and awesomesauce. In Fire Strike/Extreme/Ultra, I achieved a GPU score of 20339, 9603, 4709 respectively. -Overall, a great purchase.
Cons: -The FireStorm Utility that come with the product is outdated and require download from Zotac Website to use advertised features.
Overall Review: -I used the FireStorm OC Utility to overclock mine. Let me say that the offset is much different than what you would you in MSI afterburner. It is an easy utility to use but overclock beginning approach is different. But you will get use to it. It do lacks some features comparing to other Utility. Feature such as the Custom Fan Curve is not advance as the other I have used. The system monitor is limited. Even so, I used GPUZ to monitor my OC anyway. It is still a pretty solid software. -Note that some other OC sofware like EVGA precision wouldn't recognize the gpu for some reason. It would probably fixed soon. -Know that the silicon lottery still exist so your mileage can varies.
Amazing Quality w/Flawed software
Pros: -extremely rigid and sturdy -one of the best build quality -Powerful to be this thin -Snappy
Cons: -Included software is something to be desire. No shame in uninstall everything -fan profile are loud. Undervolting the cpu would help slightly. -Major problem with battery drainage on my unit, that 94wHr feel like a 57wHr battery. -Control Center is a mess. It would occasionally not launch and have to attempt multiple time to launch it. Drivers versions of other components latest update are completely hit or miss and did not match with any official version on Gigabyte website. -The price does not reflect on how much you have to mess around just to get it running. -*OCD* I primarily uses white lighting on keyboard and I can tell you it is not the same white as the power button. Should of just make the power button RGB too Gigabyte.
Overall Review: -As stated above, out of the box the battery life can barely hit 4 hours from just using Word doc and Chrome. I'm seeing my battery percentage going down 1-2% every minute. I'm in the process of updating all bios and drivers. Nothing was in the background. I will update regarding to this issue i'm experiencing after tweaking around. -If you're updating drivers, avoid using it through control center and just use the one on Gigabyte website. -Install official verison of Nvidia drivers through Gigabyte. As far as I can tell, this might be one of the contributing factor in the optimus issue where the dedicated GPU constantly turn on and off. UPDATE: -After tweaking around, I manage to get 7-8 hours of battery life with screen brightness at 75%. I manage to undervolt to -0.150mv. The rest are drivers issue. I would recommend installing official driver from gigabyte website instead of through the Control Center App. I have increase the review score but will not be perfect due to the hassle of messing with the product.
Questionable quality
Pros: Ran like a typical 240mm AIO
Cons: The radiator quality is what I consider questionable. It’s like they took a bunch of old rad out of a dusty bin and refurbished it and cover it with some metal. The fins on the rad are bent not too bad (I notice them before installation so I know I didn’t bent them). It seem like they do quality testing in a dusty warehouse. There were dust in all the fin crevices, didn’t realize it until I accidentally shine my phone flash light through it. Though it was some metal reflection but nope blew on it and dust popping out. Haven’t even turn on yet in pic.
Overall Review: Nothing special about this, quality of rad does not reflect the price for this. Was expecting better from lian li. Guess I was wrong. Metal looks nice though, it still have scuff on the edges though.
Great motherboard!
Pros: - Amazing aesthetics! - Reasonable price for the features you get - Layout is easy to understand
Cons: - Navigating BIOS is a bit clunky but it is no big deal
Overall Review: Definitely recommend this! Because the manual was comprehensive and the layout was easy, building the PC was a breeze for the first time I did it. Works as intended. This review for ASRock review rebate program.
Pros: Beautiful, nice, and smexy. Built quality was really good not just cheap plastic. No problem with clicking sound or anything yet. Customize-able where you can change some of the button and color to your profile. Came with everything in the box. The mouse of great with a minor cosmetic and button placement i will mention below.
Cons: The placement of the back and forward button are ridiculous I have already found my self accidentally pressing it not to mention the scroll knob below it to change profile which trigger different dpi setting. Another thing i was wondering whether or not they ship me a new mouse is that the package itself feel like it have been opened before. The logo sticker that glue the 2 flap on the main box is half loose with black residue behind on the glue bent like someone finger. Once open and check the mouse it look brand new with zip ties and such but carefully examine there were sign of this been used before where the bottom rubber at the bottom of the mouse is scratch like it was rubbing against a surface nothing too major. The paint job on top have little scratches on the gloss small but noticeable if you're a very aware person like me, or extra OCD. The one of the scratches felt like it crack a glass or something texture. At first i thought it was just those sticky stuff residue but it was not. beside that nothing too noticeable. I understand shipping might open it for inspection. Overall it might have been just the manufacturing fault nothing too major unless you're extra OCD.
Overall Review: As i wrote this review i press that back button like 4 times already.... but i'll change the macro for that button later nothing too hard :). I'll planning to keep this mouse because it's pretty sleek and adjustable. It did it's job as a mouse better than a normal one.