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Dan L.

Dan L.

Joined on 03/11/21

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 6
Most Favorable Review

Wickedly fast SSD!

Kingston KC3000 M.2 2280 1024GB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe 3D TLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) SKC3000S/1024G
Kingston KC3000 M.2 2280 1024GB PCIe 4.0 x4 NVMe 3D TLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) SKC3000S/1024G

Pros: Super fast PCIe 4.0 Does it's rated speed consistently in my own testing. Left me more than satisfied.

Cons: The 1TB model does cost a fair amount but the extra money is worth it if you want one of the fastest PCIe 4.0 drives out there. It didn't cook me breakfast.

Overall Review: I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a top speed PCIe 4.0 SSD in 2022. It costs more than a base model SSD but the extra speed is worth it if that's important to you. Kingston is a brand that's been around for a long time and they usually have good quality. Spend a bit more and you won't regret it!

This board surprised me in a good way!

MSI MPG B550 GAMING PLUS AM4 AMD B550 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard
MSI MPG B550 GAMING PLUS AM4 AMD B550 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: Very easy to setup and seems to breeze along with a Ryzen 3600, 16 GB of 3200 Mhz RAM, a EVGA 1060 3GB (from my old PC), a Gigabyte 1 TB PCIe 4.0 m.2 SSD, 2 older 5 TB HDDs in a Lian Li 215 case with a EVGA 550 watt PSU. It's been rock stable and I'm currently running BIOS version 1.50. The board itself is quite heavy which I was not expecting. Lots of heat sinking on the VRMs and for the money is a great value!

Cons: The board shipped with BIOS version 1.40 which was fine stability wise. Version 1.50 showed fairly significant gains in Geekbench 5 which I was not expecting. Be sure to check your RAM speed after doing a BIOS update since it appeared to reset the XMP profile I had setup when I did the update!

Overall Review: I haven't used a MSI motherboard since the Athlon XP days and they've come a long way since then! I haven't had any issues with the MSI software but I'm only using Dragon Center so my RGB will reflect the CPU temperature and the MSI version of CPU-Z to occasionally check settings. I'm running Win 10 Pro and I have had zero stability or hardware issues in the 2 months I've had this machine running.

I've heard EVGA PSU's are good, so far I'm a believer.

EVGA 550 B5, 80 Plus BRONZE 550W, Fully Modular, EVGA ECO Mode, 5 Year Warranty, Compact 150mm Size, Power Supply - 220-B5-0550-V1
EVGA 550 B5, 80 Plus BRONZE 550W, Fully Modular, EVGA ECO Mode, 5 Year Warranty, Compact 150mm Size, Power Supply - 220-B5-0550-V1

Pros: Contrary to what some people believe you don't need a super high powered PSU for most PCs. That being said I'm pretty sure this unit is still overkill for my setup. However, I wanted something that was fully modular to help with cable management and I've heard good things about EVGA power supplies.

Cons: So far none that I've encountered with this unit!

Overall Review: It's a power supply. It appears to be well made. Was a good price but does not feel cheap in any way! Came in a fairly heavy and attractive box with plenty of little extras which I was not expecting. It's quiet and does what it needs to do. Being all black fits in with the rest of my build perfectly. Thumbs up from me!

Ridiculously fast for the money!

GIGABYTE AORUS Gen4 M.2 2280 1TB PCI-Express 4.0 x4, NVMe 1.3 3D TLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) GP-AG41TB
GIGABYTE AORUS Gen4 M.2 2280 1TB PCI-Express 4.0 x4, NVMe 1.3 3D TLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) GP-AG41TB

Pros: Like the title says it's ridiculously fast for the money. Is it the fastest PCIe 4.0 m.2 SSD out there? No, but it's also reasonably priced. Since it's a TLC based drive it doesn't suffer from some of the performance issues that QLC based SSD's do.

Cons: I don't see any cons. Performance is totally solid, installation was easy and it easily fit with the m.2 heatsink my motherboard came with.

Overall Review: While it may not be the fasted PCIe 4.0 SSD available it is faster than quite a few PCIe 3.0 based ones and it doesn't suffer from some of the performance issues that many QLC based SSDs do. For the price I paid for it I'm extremely happy with my purchase!

It's RAM, runs at rated speed, doesn't have gaudy RGB!

G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin PC RAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) Desktop Memory Model F4-3200C16D-16GVKB
G.SKILL Ripjaws V Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin PC RAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) Desktop Memory Model F4-3200C16D-16GVKB

Pros: It runs at the rated speed, looks good and was reasonably priced. It doesn't have RGB which for me is a plus.

Cons: I wish it would have been a little bit less expensive so I could have opted for 32GB instead of only 16GB but I can always add more later on.

Overall Review: Seems to be quality stuff. Runs at the rated speed and for me not having built in RGB is a plus. I'm not sure if the built in heatsinks are really needed but they do look nice when pared with my other components which are nearly all black as well.

Great case with one issue for my build.

LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 X Black Steel / Tempered Glass ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
LIAN LI LANCOOL 215 X Black Steel / Tempered Glass ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: A sturdy, relatively inexpensive case with awesome air flow! Cable management is quite good. The included fans are quiet and move plenty of air. All the screws and accessories I needed for my new build were included. It was easy to work with and looks awesome!

Cons: Only issue I had with the case was the fan controller included with the case. I couldn't get the RGB lighting to work the way I wanted it to work with my MSI MPG B550 GAMING PLUS motherboard despite the case manual or other info online stated. Plugging the fans directly into the motherboard allowed me to setup the RGB exactly the way I wanted it.

Overall Review: I would absolutely recommend this case to anyone building a new PC! Especially if you want a machine that has excellent air flow, good quiet RGB fans included and appears to be quite sturdy and well made. Sure it's may not compare to cases that cost $150+ but for the price it's an excellent value!