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Adam L.

Adam L.

Joined on 01/20/12

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 6
Most Favorable Review

Snappy

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: This is a fast processor... In comparison to Intels offering, there is no contest. Sure you can pay +$400 for an Intel offering, or you can pay $200 for a beast of a processor. 4.0GHZ with eight cores? At the rate of $25 per core this should be an easy choice

Cons: None that I've found

Overall Review: This chunk of silicone is also very cool. Ive gotten it down to 10 degrees Celsius idle with stock cooler. Under load it averages between 20 and 40 degrees Celsius. The AMD overdrive utility also adds some very useful information and capabilities to this product. Though i hate that i have to accept that stupid popup every time i open the software, considering its setup to start with the computer

Price vs Power

ASUS DirectCU II Radeon R9 270X 2GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 CrossFireX Support Video Card R9270X-DC2T-2GD5
ASUS DirectCU II Radeon R9 270X 2GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 CrossFireX Support Video Card R9270X-DC2T-2GD5

Pros: This card cooks games alive while still staying under 30 degrees Celsius. All games following are set at max settings. Call of Duty Ghosts: 60fps, Metro Last Light: 45fps Minecraft w/ 128 bit texture pack: 150fps Portal 2: 80fps Payday 2: 70fps Sure this card is not the most powerful on the market, but at this price point that's not what people should be looking for. As far as an Nvidia equivalent goes, the GTX 760 matches this frame for frame. The price difference is as much as $200 depending on manufacturer.

Cons: It doesn't make me a sammich. Honestly this card is top of the line for the price point

Overall Review: Price vs Power, there is no contest. The price of this card brings it into the range of the average budget while providing the power of a much higher priced card. Plus being Asus it looks amazing and supports Digi+ power... The potential is limitless

Motherboard

ASUS TUF SABERTOOTH 990FX R2.0 AM3+ AMD 990FX + SB950 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
ASUS TUF SABERTOOTH 990FX R2.0 AM3+ AMD 990FX + SB950 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

Pros: Excellent motherboard. Temperature, speed and build quality exceeded my expectations for this price point. The motherboard never exceeds 25 degrees Celsius even during heavy long term gaming. Motherboard will easily allow the 10GB/s from the RAM and makes my 8350 zoom

Cons: Software... I would like to know why Asus would include software that is as buggy and slow as this... temps for any component are as much as 10 degrees off with the Thermal Radar software. The AI Suite ll software that comes with the motherboard is so agonizingly slow. It can take up to 5 minutes to get the tool bar open. Now this is on a machine that can open any game or program almost instantly. Payday 2, Portal 2, Call of Duty Ghosts all open with just a 10th of a second black screen. Either the software provided by Asus is very complex and powerful (Its really not) or its just as buggy as they come (a much more likely explanation). This was why i deducted an egg. Also i couldn't figure out how to get Daemon Tools Pro to install. Im sure this is my fault and is not really a reason to deduct another egg

Overall Review: The motherboard as a motherboard is one of the best AMD boards out there. The Digi+ power control excels at controlled and easy overclocking of any and every component. It runs cool and has a 5 year tuf warrenty included. The capacitors are all 5k and the board has plenty of PWM fan connectors. Software is worthless though. Thermal radar is touted as one of the major features of this board, but it falls flat in its sad excuse for application

Price is everything

MSI Radeon HD 7770 1GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 Video Card R7770-PMD1GD5
MSI Radeon HD 7770 1GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 Video Card R7770-PMD1GD5

Pros: Well built card. Sufficient for all my gaming needs. Plan to put this one in Crossfire just for the little extra oomph

Cons: A bit loud. As in not completely silent.

Quite Content

XION AXP-850K14XE 850 W ATX SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80+ Bronze Modular Power Supply
XION AXP-850K14XE 850 W ATX SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80+ Bronze Modular Power Supply

Pros: Silent, quiet, and Darn smexy. This power supply not only provides an unreal amount of power, it also is nigh on silent and has some excellent blue lighting. My old power supply sounded like a small jet taking off compared to this... and that was only a 400W

Cons: I can't tell if the machines running when i take a step back or turn around... Not really a Con... at all

Overall Review: An excellent price for a worthwhile purchase.

11/16/2013

Worthwhile Buy

PLANTRONICS Marque M155 Black Bluetooth Headset
PLANTRONICS Marque M155 Black Bluetooth Headset

Pros: good sound/call quality, high quality feel, good response time, easy setup

Cons: cannot get hands free answering to work.