Joined on 01/28/05
A wolf in sheep's retail packaging
Pros:Β The i7's are the fastest, most efficient commercially available processors in the world right now. There is really no debate on this. But, don't be fooled. Of the three offerings right now (the 920, the 940, and the 965 Extreme Edition), this is, by far, the best bang for your buck. After purchasing a good aftermarket cooler (Thermalright Ultra 120 Extreme), I easily overclocked this processor to a stable 3.8GHz!! Yes, 3.8GHz--on air cooling! You can real 'Other Thoughts' for details, but this processor has a tremendous amount of headroom. I even got a 4.2GHz stable on a water system from a similar batch chip. So, don't waste your money on the more expensive 940 or 965 Extreme unless you really want to go above ~4.0Ghz, or need an unlocked multiplier. This processor will meet your needs without stealing your wallet.
Cons:Β It failed the razor test. The processor was slightly uneven on the top, but not enough to justify lapping. I just had to use more Artic Silver than I'm really comfortable with. This is a common problem with all processors from both manufacturers, so I can't count it against them. Come on guys. If an enthusiast can level these by a simple lapping procedure, surely you (Intel/AMD), with your state-of-the-art facilities and resources, can develop a process to ensure a nice, smooth finish before it hits my retail box. =/ Those dips cause heat dissipation issues, you know.
Overall Review:Β Here's my setup (for the visual people out there): *Case - Antec 1200 *MB β Asus P6T Deluxe/Palm OC *CPU β 3.8GHz Intel Core i7 920 CPU (Batch#3842A555) @190x20 @1.25V w/Ultra120 Extreme running two 120mm "Slipstream" Fans @ ~85CFA -- Max load temps are 51-48-52-49 and idles are 30-29-32-26 after 12 hours of prime *RAM β Corsair Dominator 12GB (6 x 2GB) DDR3 1066/1333 @ 1520MHz 9-8-8-24T *VGA β SLI β (2) ASUS GTX295 *PSU β Tagan BZ1100 Modular *HDD β Western Digital Velociraptor 300GB (System Drive), and 3 Seagate 750GB Storage Drives *BIOS Settings* AI overclock β Manual CPU Ratio Setting β 20 BCLK frequency β 190 (Temps were high 70s @ full load for 200, so I brought it down to 190.) PCIE frequency β 100 DRAM frequency β DDR3 1523MHz UCLK frequency β 3047MHz QPI frequency β 6857MHz Cpu voltage β 1.25v CPU PLL voltage β 1.96v QPI-Dram voltage β 1.35v DRAM Bus voltage β 1.65v DRAM REF voltage β Auto CPU Differential Amplitude - 800mV *Remaining entries
Terrible. Use a cardboard box instead. It will function better.
Pros:Β There is a completely unintelligible instruction manual included.
Cons:Β Horribly flimsy. Power supply died after only 1 month. Called Broadway since it was still under warranty. (The number is hidden in the manual.) Guess what? The service rep told me in broken English that they do not manufacture computer cases or power supplies. Funny. Their name and number are in their manual and here on Newegg. After several minutes of broken conversation including insults about my computer knowledge and an argument that there is no vendor named Newegg.com (!!!???), I un-politely informed him of my dissatisfaction, his level of ignorance, and his (in)ability to fake English. I then called Newegg, who, without an ounce of hassle, offered an RMA on the case. I thanked them, but decided to smash it with a sledge hammer instead.
Overall Review:Β This has been the worst piece of computer junk I have ever owned. Period. I hope Newegg decides to drop it and Broadway Corp soon. They only frustrate customers.
Fits 2007 F-150 perfectly
Pros:Β - Fits a wide array of Ford vehicles - Easy to install (10 minutes start to finish) - Fair price for the part
Cons:Β - Whatever engineer at Ford that designed this deserves to be flogged.
Overall Review:Β - Do a little googling before purchasing. Several sites will say this only fits a Lincoln or Mercury. It fits pretty much any Ford in a several year period that has this design. All of the major auto parts site says this is incompatible with my truck, but it matched the old one perfectly.
Rebate is a scam
Pros:Β It functions. For the price, that's about all you can really expect. 2 stars because it works, -3 stars for what follows.
Cons:Β The rebate offered is a scam. The company is currently being investigated by my state's Attorney General for Fraud. They reject submissions claiming wrong UPC, wrong paperwork, etc., while attaching the paper work showing you had everything in order. The rebate was the only reason I went with this card as there are better options at the unrebated price. Sapphire Customer doesn't seem to care that they are involved with a scam company either.
Overall Review:Β Check the unrebated price against other options. You will find a better card. Bet on not getting that rebate.
Amazing USB Drive
Pros:Β Size (59.7 in FAT32) Read Speed (~30-35MB/sec) Write Speed (~25-30MB/sec) Durability (I've dropped this thing from a height of ~4ft no less than 20 times, and I've had 0 issues. It's been through the washing machine once. I put it in a bag of rice for 24hrs, took it out, plugged it in, and it didn't lose a single byte of data.)
Cons:Β The cap! Please, Patriot, address the issues with this model's cap. I've 'lost' it several times because it fell off at some point, and I didn't notice until later. I'm mulling over buying the 128GB version of this drive because of the great experience I've had with the 64Gig, but the cap is a hold up.
Overall Review:Β Short of the cap being loose and offering little protection, this has been the best USB Stick I have ever owned--hands down.
Great RAM. Even looks good.
Pros:Β The timings are slightly slower than a couple of other competitors, but so is the price. If you're not a competitive benchmarker, then you'll probably never notice the difference. The heatsinks on these badboys, not only look good, but they work well, too. Temps were noticeably lower with this RAM than with the OCZ and Crucial sets. There is also a RAM cooler designed for this RAM, if you are concerned about temps, that is relatively inexpensive. It works as advertised up to 1600 with acceptable timings.
Cons:Β Slightly lower timings than the competitors, but I didn't count off for it since the RAM is reasonably priced, and the performance difference is negligible.
Overall Review:Β Here's my setup (for the visual people out there): *Case - Antec 1200 *MB β Asus P6T Deluxe/Palm OC *CPU β 3.8GHz Intel Core i7 920 CPU (Batch#3842A555) @190x20 @1.25V w/Ultra120 Extreme running 2 120mm "Slipstream" Fans @ ~85CFA -- Max load temps are 51-48-52-49 and idles are 30-29-32-26 after 12 hours of prime *RAM β Corsair Dominator 12GB (6 x 2GB) DDR3 1066/1333/1600OC @ 1520MHz 9-8-8-24T *VGA β SLI β (2) ASUS GTX295 *PSU β Tagan BZ1100 Modular *HDD β Western Digital Velociraptor 300GB (System Drive), and 3 Seagate 750GB Storage Drives *BIOS Settings* AI overclock β Manual CPU Ratio Setting β 20 BCLK frequency β 190 (Temps were high 70s @ full load for 200, so I brought it down to 190.) PCIE frequency β 100 DRAM frequency β DDR3 1523MHz UCLK frequency β 3047MHz QPI frequency β 6857MHz Cpu voltage β 1.25v CPU PLL voltage β 1.96v QPI-Dram voltage β 1.35v DRAM Bus voltage β 1.65v DRAM REF voltage β Auto CPU Differential Amplitude - 800mV *Remaining en