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JOHN S.

JOHN S.

Joined on 05/19/07

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 6
Most Favorable Review

I almost gave it a 5.

EVGA GeForce 8600 GTS 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Support Graphics Card 256-P2-N761-AR
EVGA GeForce 8600 GTS 256MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Support Graphics Card 256-P2-N761-AR

Pros: Can run Gothic 3 at 1440x900 with 16x AF with fod+bloom and all settings(except the low detail long distance view option..its on medium)with an average of 50fps. In big cities it gets down to about 25 or so. Still very playable. I have no problem running BF2 maxed (shadows off..they are fugly anyway and alot waste of gpu power) even if there are 63 other players running around the darn screen haha. The only thing that probably stresses this baby out is running Nexuiz (an open source game) with 16xAF, all settings high, HDR, and bloom at 1440x900. 19-50fps during DM when everything is hectic with people firing rockets and all. regardless, fear, cod 2, coh, farcry, oblivion, and the whole gang will work wonders with this card provided that you don't crank up AA and your resolution too high.

Cons: A slight con would have to be that it doesn't do well when playing games well with AA on. I really don't give a rat's caboose if AA is on or not. Its hardly noticeable when you're playing at high resolutions. the fan kinda sounds weird but its not a biggie. This would have gotten a 5 were it not for the fact that EVGA really had to throw in a free copy of quake wars 2 weeks after i bought the 8600gts. on their site, they are only giving it out to people who bought it sept 28 and onwards and refuse to give it to people who bought it before that. when you think about it, atleast ati still allowed me to download a free game on steam for buying a radeon card... which i got 4 months ago. its pretty much effed up. they should allow ALL buyers of any 8 series cards to get a copy of quake wars.

Overall Review: this video card is a godsend if you're a gamer on a budget. if you want to prepare for dx10 and want to play modern games with good quality, buy it! if you have a low budget card or an integrated 6150(ugh) go buy this card..or the xfx 8600gt. hehe. if you currently have an x1800-x1950 league card or something in the high performance 7 series (7800-7950) save your money. for those who are debating on whether or not they should get the superclocked one or this, get this one. there is NO difference between the two.. just the stock speeds. they didn't even bother to replace the stupid stock fan. hahahaha. both cards can be pushed up the same core and memory speeds. save yourself $20 and go with this one. you can overclock the thing yourself with riva tuner or ntune. =] ------------------ e6300 @1.86ghz, stock multiplier 1gb generic ddr2 @800mhz, stock evga 8600gts @770/1175 300 watt psu. yep, not kidding. this works on a 300 watt psu. =]

Most Critical Review

Decent Product but have had boot issues.

Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 2.5" 60GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) SV300S37A/60G
Kingston SSDNow V300 Series 2.5" 60GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) SV300S37A/60G

Pros: I've had this SSD running for about 2 months now. Was a steal when I bought two of it each at around $49.99. I probably would not buy it again at the current price. Rated speeds are about accurate.

Cons: Have had a few problems booting up a month and a half in. Really doesn't bother me much since I have these installed on mining rigs that run 24/7 but it can be a pain when having to reboot my rigs.

Overall Review: I would suggest the Samsung 840 series. A tad bit pricier but the build quality is better and they are more reliable.

Durable and comfortable.

Creative Fatal1ty Gaming Headset
Creative Fatal1ty Gaming Headset

Pros: Headset is suitable for extended use and is extremely comfortable. Instead of your typical faux leather, the head portion and ear cuffs are velvet-padded. In addition to this, the headset is big enough to fit somewhat large heads for people who are stocky.

Cons: The mic leaves a lot to be desired. I only paid about $28 for it but I would have been sorely disappointed if I paid the full $49.99. The mic quality is pretty sub-par but I knew that before I made my purchase.

Overall Review: Also, to make the most out of the 40mm drivers, you would have to have a pretty decent sound card. Don't bother with this headset if you're using onboard sound. After plugging it into my Creative X-Fi Pro, however, I could really notice the difference and it really utilized the amazing range and bass this little headset has to offer.

Excellent Cost-Efficient Product

TP-LINK TL-WN727N Wireless N150 USB Adapter, 150 Mbps, w/ WPS Button, IEEE 802.11b/g/n, WEP, WPA / WPA2, Plug & Play in Windows 10 (32 bit & 64 bit)
TP-LINK TL-WN727N Wireless N150 USB Adapter, 150 Mbps, w/ WPS Button, IEEE 802.11b/g/n, WEP, WPA / WPA2, Plug & Play in Windows 10 (32 bit & 64 bit)

Pros: Cheap. Efficient. Plug and play. Didn't need to use the software that came with it. Best bang for your buck and works as advertised.

Cons: None.

Overall Review: I haven't tried the WPS feature but I haven't needed to. Best cost-efficient device of its class when I bought it for $11.99.

Good KVM Switch

IOGEAR GCS24U 4-Port USB VGA KVM Cable Switch
IOGEAR GCS24U 4-Port USB VGA KVM Cable Switch

Pros: Plug and play functionality allows for ease of use. LEDs allow users to know which computer it is currently connected to. Device does not require an AC adapter and is powered by the two USB cables used to connect KVM to the computer. Good features for the price.

Cons: Slight delay in detecting devices may bother some users but the time spent waiting is almost negligible.

Overall Review: Would buy again in the future.

Nice

GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-EP45-UD3P LGA 775 Intel P45 ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Offers an excellent amount of options for overclocking. Northbridge runs at low temps which is a must if running at at a high FSB. It also has an option to stabilize vdroop which is helpful in overclocking to ensure proper voltage. Although the heatsinks are a bit flimsy, they look good and do their job well. If ever you put settings in your bios that cause a boot failure, the board has a quick bios recovery at start up which you can use; though it automatically reverts it to default settings which is helpful because it saves you from having to use the CMOS switch. In terms of accessories, tt comes with matching SATA2 cables and IDE cables as well & eSata adapters. Generally, the board has a pretty nice layout.

Cons: Don't set vcore to auto since it does a pretty job at estimating how much voltage the CPU needs. I forgot to turn off auto when booting. It set the voltage from 1.3 to 1.46 when I was testing @3.2ghz! I noticed this immediately and rebooted in order to avoid damage.

Overall Review: The minor gripe that others may have with this board is the Southbridge heatsink which is placed right next to the blue pci express lane. GPUs with large dual slot aftermarket solutions might have problems. Thankfully, I'm not one of them. In terms of overclocking, I don't know if I'll be able to go higher than 3.5ghz since I maxed my memory out @ 1000mhz. I can boot it at 3.6ghz but it fails Orthos @ 10s of testing lol. Putting memory bound problems aside, this motherboard does really well for what its worth. Although UPS delivered it in 2 days, they came at 7pm when I was at work and they just left it at my doorstep. I found it there when I got home at 9:30pm. Simply ridiculous. E6300 @ 3.5ghz, 1.37vcore Hyper TX2 4 GB PDC22G6400ELK @ 1000mhz, 2.2v, 5-5-5-12 Diamond 1GB 4870 @ 875/1000 Orthos & Prime stable.