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David L.

David L.

Joined on 04/27/02

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 18
Most Favorable Review

Solid Power Supply So Far

Athena Power AP-U1ATX30A 1U 300W Server Power Supply
Athena Power AP-U1ATX30A 1U 300W Server Power Supply

Pros: Cheap, Cool, Quiet. I purchased 2 of these to replace failed power supplies in some ASUS RS100-E4/PI2 machines. They are slightly longer than the default power supplies, but they fit with enough space to spare.

Cons: Not much a con, but I wish the fans were faster. It is a server power supply, I wish it would push more air. oh and it dropped $10 in price soon after I purchased it :(

Overall Review: I hesitated at first because other reviews complained about this power supply getting very hot. I can tell you that this was not the case. So far so good!

12/29/2011

Great Small Card

MSI  R9 270X GAMING 2G ITX 256-Bit  GDDR5  PCI Express 3.0 x16  HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card
MSI R9 270X GAMING 2G ITX 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card

Pros: Small, Quiet, Fast... I was hesitant because of only 1 fan, and the card uses so little power only requiring 1 six pin power connector. At full load, I can't hear the card over my other system fans. It also runs cool and doesn't heat up my system nearly as much as my 660 GTX. I'm using using it in a mini-itx case, but it would be awesome for that application. As some have noted, it is a little bit tall, so keep that in mind.

Cons: none

Overall Review: great card, tempted to buy another and run them in Crossfire. From benchmarks, I think that'll put me up into R9 290X territory.

11/19/2014

Great for Price

ECS H61H2-M2(1.0) LGA 1155 Intel H61 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
ECS H61H2-M2(1.0) LGA 1155 Intel H61 HDMI Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: So far so good. Not a lot of frills on this board but it seems to get the job done. Was also very cheap after rebate.

Cons: As other have mentioned, 2 of the SATA ports are covered and unusable if you install a large video card. The onboard 10/100 ethernet was VERY slow. Not even approaching 100bT. So I popped in an Intel 1000bT nic and all was well.

Overall Review: I paired this motherboard with a Celeron G530 and 2 2gig sticks of Corsair Ballistics DDR3 1600. A great system for so little money.

Great little enclosure

Vantec NexStar CX 2.5" SATA to USB 2.0 External Hard Drive/SSD Enclosure (Supports 7mm, 9.5mm, 12.5mm HDD/SSD) - Model NST-200S2-BK
Vantec NexStar CX 2.5" SATA to USB 2.0 External Hard Drive/SSD Enclosure (Supports 7mm, 9.5mm, 12.5mm HDD/SSD) - Model NST-200S2-BK

Pros: Cheap, Lightweight, Stylish, Compact, is easily powered off of one USB port on my laptop.

Cons: The blue led is really bright :)

Overall Review: I've owned multiple Vantec 2.5" aluminum enclosures and they always been great. I paired this unit with a Western Digital Scorpio WD3200BEVT 320GB 5400 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s Notebook Hard Drive. Oh, and you might need a small philips screwdriver to secure the screws.

A decent card, but not the best ATI card I've owned.

PowerColor Radeon HD 3870 512MB GDDR4 PCI Express 2.0 x16 CrossFireX Support Graphics Card AX3870512MD4-PH
PowerColor Radeon HD 3870 512MB GDDR4 PCI Express 2.0 x16 CrossFireX Support Graphics Card AX3870512MD4-PH

Pros: A decent card for the price. Not quite as speedy as an 8800gt, but at the time I purchased this, it was quite a bit cheaper.

Cons: Because of the fan design, the card does not vent hot air outside the case, thus is can get extremely hot inside your case -- especially if you run 2 in crossfire. With no overclocking and my current fan configuration, the cards will overheat and freeze playing very demanding games. Excellent cooling is a must.

Overall Review: I ordered two of these cards to run in crossfire mode. One arrived in perfect condition. The other was missing plastic wrap on the box, the seal on the bag holding the card was already ripped open, and packing material used to securely hold the fan during shipping was missing. I can only explain this as newegg selling an open box product as new. Shame on you newegg.

So far so good...

hec HP585DB 585 W ATX12V Power Supply - Power Cord Included
hec HP585DB 585 W ATX12V Power Supply - Power Cord Included

Pros: For such a low price, this PSU really does deliver. It's not heavy by any stretch of the imagination, but it seems to work just fine. I have it powering an Athlon X2 5000+ plus an 8800gt without any issues. Hopefully it won't die on me in a month.

Cons: The 6-pin PCIe connector is just an adapter which fits over a 4pin molex connector. Seems kinda jank but it works fine.

Overall Review: Great for anyone building a power hungry gaming machine on a budget. (I was)