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Gordon P.

Gordon P.

Joined on 07/22/04

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 33
Most Favorable Review

RAM

Ballistix Tactical 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3L 1600 (PC3L 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model BLT4K8G3D1608ET3LX0
Ballistix Tactical 32GB (4 x 8GB) DDR3L 1600 (PC3L 12800) Low Profile Desktop Memory Model BLT4K8G3D1608ET3LX0

Pros: Low profile - no higher than the clips on the slots. Low voltage - runs cool Low CAS

Cons: None

Overall Review: Relatively inexpensive for 32 GB. Very inexpensive for low profile, low voltage, AND low CAS.

Most Critical Review

Poor quality

G.SKILL 8GB (4 x 2GB) DDR2 1100 (PC2 8800) Quad Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8800CL5Q-8GBPI
G.SKILL 8GB (4 x 2GB) DDR2 1100 (PC2 8800) Quad Kit Desktop Memory Model F2-8800CL5Q-8GBPI

Pros: Good looking. Nice heatsink. Does a much better job than the standard ones found on most memory.

Cons: Doesn't work at any speed. Two modules failed memtest86+. System restarts halfway through Windows startup with any number of modules in any slot on the board.

Overall Review: Would be great memory if it worked. I have a Rampage Formula with the latest BIOS. 4x2GiB of PQI DDR2-800 works just fine. G.Skill is the only memory brand I've ever had problems with in any board.

Typical Crucial SSD

Crucial MX200 2.5" 1TB SATA 6Gbps (SATA III) Micron 16nm MLC NAND Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) CT1000MX200SSD1
Crucial MX200 2.5" 1TB SATA 6Gbps (SATA III) Micron 16nm MLC NAND Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) CT1000MX200SSD1

Pros: Everything.

Cons: Nothing.

Overall Review: Too bad they don't come in 2+ TB sizes yet.

AMD FX-8350 Black Edition Vishera 8-Core 4.0 GHz (4.2 GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W FD8350FRHKBOX Desktop Processor
AMD FX-8350 Black Edition Vishera 8-Core 4.0 GHz (4.2 GHz Turbo) Socket AM3+ 125W FD8350FRHKBOX Desktop Processor

Pros: 8 cores significantly cheaper than equivalent Intel CPU

Cons: none

Overall Review: Way underrated. Certain well-known benchmarking applications are compiled with Intel compilers that turn off SSE support on non-Intel CPUs. Scores from such benchmarks are obviously totally inaccurate.

Pays for itself

CORSAIR AXi Series AX1500i Digital 1500W 80 PLUS TITANIUM Haswell Ready Full Modular ATX12V & EPS12V SLI and Crossfire Ready Power Supply with C-Link Monitoring and Control
CORSAIR AXi Series AX1500i Digital 1500W 80 PLUS TITANIUM Haswell Ready Full Modular ATX12V & EPS12V SLI and Crossfire Ready Power Supply with C-Link Monitoring and Control

Pros: At $0.15 / kWh, if your current PSU at its normal load gets you 84% efficiency, and this at the same load would get 92% efficiency, and you leave your system online 24/7, this PSU will pay for itself (plus an extra $80 that you save on top of that) within the warranty period.

Cons: Have to spend an extra $100 on a nice set of individually sleeved cables.

Overall Review: Several reviews (here and on other seller's sites) have complained about the power cord to the wall being "non-standard". They are wrong; it's a perfectly standard IEC 60320 C20 connector on the PSU end and a NEMA 5-15P on the wall end.

It's an SSD

Crucial M500 CT960M500SSD1 7mm (with 9.5mm adapter) 2.5" 960GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)
Crucial M500 CT960M500SSD1 7mm (with 9.5mm adapter) 2.5" 960GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD)

Pros: All the regular SSD pros: silent, fast, low power, cool, small...

Cons: Windows-based firmware update tool doesn't work at all. Had to use the bootable USB version.