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David C.

David C.

Joined on 08/10/08

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 3
Most Favorable Review

Short and Sweet Review

Intel Core i7-920 - Core i7 Bloomfield Quad-Core 2.66 GHz LGA 1366 130W Processor - BX80601920
Intel Core i7-920 - Core i7 Bloomfield Quad-Core 2.66 GHz LGA 1366 130W Processor - BX80601920

Pros: Excellent speed! Windows Vista 64 Enterprise edition boots in about 15-20 seconds. I have paired this with 3X2GB corsair at 1333 in triple channel mode. Because of this, my rig has HD caching set to 512MB (for the sake of legacy apps only). In ugrading from a 2.2Ghz dual core AMD, I even noticed that my net connection is faster... and I havent even tweaked anything in windows yet aside from the VMEM/cacheing.

Cons: The multiplier is locked on the chip. The only difference (as far as I have seen) between this chip and the 940 is the multiplier. I am weary of over-clocking with the stock heat-sink even though it is pretty fircking big. If you have the ability to go to a store and check MOBO's physically I would advise that. The stock heat sink actually touches other things and I personally HATE that. It works fine though so I suppose I shouldnt complain.

Overall Review: In retrospect, I should have waited until the prices came down a bit. This is, however, an outstanding processor!

12/15/2008
Most Critical Review

OK, but a lot of compromises

Lenovo Miix 2 11 Detachable 2in1 Tablet- Intel Core i5 4GB Memory 128GB SSD 11.6" Touchscreen Windows 8.1 with Dock (59413201)
Lenovo Miix 2 11 Detachable 2in1 Tablet- Intel Core i5 4GB Memory 128GB SSD 11.6" Touchscreen Windows 8.1 with Dock (59413201)

Pros: -Good price for feature set and included keyboard dock -Performance is OK. I got the following games to run in a playable manner: Civilization 5, Deus Ex, Second Life (was jerky, but usable),

Cons: -Screen is quite dark. Deus Ex, while playable, was hard to see. Even Civ 5 had models lose detail because of this. -The keyboard dock does not hold onto the tablet. My cat jumped onto the table and that little bit of jarring caused the tablet to fall out of the dock. When I left the table to make dinner, I came back to find that the tablet was still on the dock, but had tipped back just enough to disconnect from the dock. -The keyboard itself is poorly designed. The keys have very little feedback, even less travel, and the keys are cramped. It's a bit odd because there is a little over an inch of extra width Lenovo could have used to get bigger keys, but they didn't.

Good product with a few drawbacks

MSI X58 Platinum LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard
MSI X58 Platinum LGA 1366 Intel X58 ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: -Ultra-fast! Vista 64 Enterprise Edition boots up in about 15 seconds. It shuts down even faster. If you have 6GB or more in triple channel, consider setting your windows page file to 512MB for min and max. This forces Windows to utilize your copious amounts of RAM. -Overall I like the product itself. My problems (and the low rating) stem from the lack of supporting features covered below.

Cons: -The Manual awful. On one page, there is a picture and a diagram of the same thing. The problem is that the two images have different pin number maps. Which one is correct? -Technical support has limited hours. They usually have you leave a message and wait a few hours for a call back. In one instance the guy was down-right rude. I called to ask about a problem with the Vista installation in which the BIOS erroneously reports that a USB device is the isntallation disk. I asked if MSI had a preferred workaround or resolution and got the following response: "People who buy stuff like this are supposed to know what they are doing." I suppose all my consulting work for the likes of Federal Reserve Bank and Pepsi Co. dont count? -The website is a pain to navigate. It is often slow and usually difficult to find what you want. Even getting an updated manual is a chore! -The BIOS is clocking down my RAM. This is 2008. Plug-n-play should be just that. No excuses.

Overall Review: Core i7 920 6GB Corsair DDR3 1333Mhz (running at 1066.... for now). GeForce 7950 SoundBlaster Audigy Platinum NetGear Wi-Fi N card 2 X 250GB 7200RPM 8MB cache Western Digital HD's in JBOD configuration. SATA. 650W OCZ power supply

12/10/2008