Pros: The performance of gtx 560 ti is definitely good.
Cons: I usually don't write reviews, but this is too much... Went through 2 RMAs. First RMA after 6 month due to fan grinding noise for couple minutes when starting up. RMA'd second card due to starting to error out of 3D apps and even throwing device errors on desktop screen. Anyway, I got a used card back today and was pretty happy about it.... but.. I noticed 2 things: 1. The box contained an RMA paperwork for some other customer. 2. The fan went up to 100% and temp of 90+ on BF3. I turned my PC off and as I was pulling out the card, I noticed the heatsink was somewhat loose. I said, oh well and tried to tighten the screws on the back, but it was already tightened all the way. No wonder the temps were so high... I called customer service 3 times, where each time I waited 5 minutes then forwarded to answering machine. Very disappointed.... but I did learn one thing... do not buy products based on good early reviews. I'd say wait a few months.
Overall Review: Btw, for MSI reps. I already left a message and also used the online customer support form so no need to reply to my review.
Pros: I was looking for the following in my new case: 1. Thermal performance 2. Quietness 3. Compact, since I only had one DVD R/W and max of 3 HDDs. Although 1 & 2 are both competing quality attributes, I took a chance after reading online reviews. First thing I realized is that these cases are quiet. You can hear the fans running, but they are magnitudes quieter than mesh cases. The top PSU vent worried me a little about noise escaping, but that was not the case. My HDDs used to make irritating rattling noise in my previous 690 II Advanced case, but the silicone HDD bracket provided with the Solo eliminated the noise for my 3 HDDs. I was also pleasantly surprised with the thermal performance of the Solo having 2 in and 1 out fans. I would say it is about 1-3C warmer on the GPU. I didn't see a noticeable difference in the CPU. Third, this case is "compact" for an ATX case and makes use of all the spaces available and also eliminates the "dead space" at the bottom
Cons: Coming from 690 II Advanced, I would say cable management required more work. It's hard to get lazy with cable management in this case, but if you have an empty 5.25" bay, you can get a little bit lazy and hide all extra PSU cables in there instead of using the cable routing hooks. But having said that, if you're re-routing or replacing your PSU on a monthly basis, this really isn't an issue.
Overall Review: The new Solo II current has the following equipments: - MSI GTX 560 Ti - Corsair 650TX PSU (Air intake from top of case) - Thermalright MUX-120 CPU Cooler - 2x7200RPM HDDs - 1x 5400RPM HDD - 3 x Noctua NF-S12B FLX Fans (replaced TrueQuiet OEM)
Pros: Good reviews.
Cons: Stock card running on both latest and previous driver, I get the following symptoms: - random red screen (RSOD) on idle. - crashes out of BF3 after few minutes. - crashes out of Unigine after few minutes.
Overall Review: Found others having same issues as I am on 600 series.