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Justin M.

Justin M.

Joined on 09/13/04

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 10
Most Favorable Review

fast

Western Digital RE3 WD7502ABYS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive Bare Drive
Western Digital RE3 WD7502ABYS 750GB 7200 RPM 32MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive Bare Drive

Pros: Fast drives. I set two of these up in a RAID 1 array on a linux file server. hdparm reported file transfer rate of about 108MB/sec. Not bad! I also tried in a RAID 0 array, and it reported 200MB/sec. Phew....

Cons: None so far.

Most Critical Review

Loud power adapter

TP-Link 8-Port Gigabit Ethernet Easy Smart Switch | Unmanaged Pro | Plug and Play | Desktop | Sturdy Metal w/Shielded Ports | Limited Lifetime Replacement (TL-SG108E)
TP-Link 8-Port Gigabit Ethernet Easy Smart Switch | Unmanaged Pro | Plug and Play | Desktop | Sturdy Metal w/Shielded Ports | Limited Lifetime Replacement (TL-SG108E)

Pros: Cheap

Cons: There's a high pitched whine coming from the power adapter. I saw another review that said the same thing, and assumed he had a defective adapter. It sounds like they might all do this! Very annoying.

Many flaws

DIYPC Silence-BK Black Dual USB3.0 ATX Mid Tower Silent Computer Case w/ 3 x 120mm White Fans (Pre-installed), Fan Controller
DIYPC Silence-BK Black Dual USB3.0 ATX Mid Tower Silent Computer Case w/ 3 x 120mm White Fans (Pre-installed), Fan Controller

Pros: - Works with EATX

Cons: - Most motherboard standoff holes were not threaded (I had to tap them myself) - Doesn't work with 140mm fans (the motherboard is too close to the top of the case) - PSU vent filter very difficult to line up (have to remove PSU, and it's still difficult) - Not much room behind PSU, so hard to plug in connectors - HD and PSU access on the wrong side of the case (the back side of the MB) - MB tray rubs against bottom of MB and could cause a short (I covered it in electrical tape)

Overall Review: The reason I bought this case was that it supports EATX motherboards, is cheap, quiet, and got good reviews here. To my surprise, the case is really poorly designed. I really question whether some of the reviews are legitimate. But... the case was cheap, and my motherboard fits (barely), so I'm going to keep it.

SPARKLE GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Graphics Card SFPX95GT1024U2H
SPARKLE GeForce 9500 GT 1GB GDDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Graphics Card SFPX95GT1024U2H

Pros: Card works as expected in XP and OS X (it's a hackintosh). I get great framerates in iRacing with low detail.

Cons: No issues so far... but not the most powerful card. You can probably do better for the money these days.

Fine

NETGEAR 24 Port Stackable Gigabit Smart Switch w/ 2 Combo ports - Lifetime Warranty (GS724TS)
NETGEAR 24 Port Stackable Gigabit Smart Switch w/ 2 Combo ports - Lifetime Warranty (GS724TS)

Pros: I have a couple of these installed at clients. No problems so far.

Cons: My main gripe is that the web interface can be slow. The fans are also a bit loud.

Overall Review: Hard to beat for the money.