Joined on 06/04/08
Very Pleasantly Surprised!
Pros: Got a great deal for it... made it definitely a good buy. Still a deal at 39.99 with MIR and FREE SHIPPING. Runs real quiet. It's a little bigger than you might think, but nothing to be worried about. I bought this mainly as a spare basic video for my new builds or tech work... but it plays games real well! For grins, got COH on it and benchmarked ave 58 fps on 1024x768 all high with 2x AA... nice! Also 3dmarked my test rig with this little card (e7300 stock with 2gb pc 6400, winxppro) and got a surprising 7000+ 3dmark score... hehehe (nvidia 9600 GSO 384 DDR3 gets 9000+ and 9600 GT 512DDR3 gets 13000+, for reference). Gonna do Crysis benchmark later today just for laughs... who knows... at the low res of 1024x768, I might be pleasantly surprised again. Vista is definitely no problem for this card.
Cons: None that I can think of. Better get it! Too bad the MIR is good for only 1 purchase, else I'd get two of them.
Overall Review: Newegg took a little long to get me the card... but it was ok since not my main rig.
Not too bad!
Pros: Small footprint. Glossy front face panel.
Cons: Finish was a little off here and there; some screw holes don't match up just right, rear panel is easily warped if not careful - but even as it came out of the box, it was already warped so the i/o panel didn't fit nicely. * optical door is a little off, so I had to slightly mod my bd tray to come out right * eject botton lever didn't touch button on bd player, so had to glue some xtra plastic to it I'd rather not have the floppy and usb/mic up front (maybe to side) to make room for 80mm intake fans in the front... don't mind a little noise to keep insides breathing right - all the cables make good airflow impossible (but that's to be expected). Knocked some eggs off this item because of build quality, not cramped space.
Overall Review: study it well before you start install; tight space requires components to come in specific order else you won't get to the cables etc on the mobo. 1. take off psu 2. install mobo (w/ cpu, fan and ram) 3. connect all cables to mobo (sata, spdif, fans, front panel, etc); organize cable nicely so it is accessible as you install other components 4. connect mobo/cpu power then reinstall psu 5. install fan cables and fans onto case cover (vent holes on side match 80mm fans perfectly for 2 - i have two installed pushing hot air out to one side) 6. install HDD 7. install bd player 8. install pcie grfx card if using one (uplink with spdif) 9. test boot before you seal it all up! *required low profile fan (max 1U); new smaller intel stock cpu hsf is perfect fit, but bad cooling - e7300 @ 3.2GHz w/ 1.232v loads @ 71C
Amazing little i3
Pros: Nice dual core with decent stock speed; but the real magic comes out when you OC! Paired with a ggbyte h55m-s2h, i was able to hit 4.8Ghz @ 1.5v on Air. That sounds like high voltage, but the temps were well within acceptable ranges (35C idle; 70C on prime95 100% load for 4 hrs). I eventually went back down to 4.2Ghz simply to stay below 70C on load... but wow!
Cons: None. I honestly don't know why *ntel chips OC soooo much better than *MDs, but this little guy further reminds me to go this route. Keep in mind cpu speed isn't the only factor - but for pure OC goodness, this is the ride!
Overall Review: HT is a nice bonus! Wish it had more cache, but hey - it still is plenty fast! 4.2Ghz with 4GB DDR3 @ 1600 - screeeeaaams! good gaming cpu for a solid budget build with a 5770!
AWESOMENESS
Pros: Complete chaos, in a fantastic life and death, buzzing bullets, mission mayhem kind of way. Graphics are world class with a sick twist of humor to balance it all out. Still trying to figure out the best spots, weapons and tactics - but I think I have some serious work to do for a looonng time. RECOMMENDED for any fps fan + multiplayer fan. Buyer beware - strong visuals and language!
Cons: None so far.
Overall Review: core i7 oc to 4.2Ghz H20 Cooling w7 HP 6GB DDR3 @ 1600 GTX 260 NICE!
Fantastic Value
Pros: Great value, seems to be good quality, nice looks... but most importantly - works great! Runs at nice voltage and can handle OC speeds to allow decent overclock with my Core i7 920. A must buy at this value.
Cons: None.
Overall Review: I was able to get my Core i7 screaming at 4.2Ghz (D0) with this set. As stated by most, your board may not recognize it as 1600, so go into bios and set. My EVGA 757 only ran it initially at 1066, but that was easily upped to 1600 along with my OC settings... PERFECT!
Highly Recommended
Pros: I love this thing. It's quiet, good install and works great. I would recommend this model over any low-profile alternative there is. I've had mine for a long time and over the year, it's cooled an e2200, e5200, e7400, Q6600 and a q9300 (all oc'd) - all to great idle & load temps. Even after I've scratched up the base plate - it still cools like it was new. Fan is still going strong too!
Cons: Nothing major. I don't use the included speed controller?
Overall Review: My main pc is now on liquid (not low-profile), so I'm retiring this until a new HTPC build - the best low-profile cooler for the money...! This model is destined to be a cult classic among low-profile builders!