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Charles N.

Charles N.

Joined on 10/05/03

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 19
Most Favorable Review

Lots of Ports + Charging

Enermax ECR301 internal card reader w/ Super Charge USB Port (2.4v), USB 3.0 x1. 5-in-1 card readers: CF I/II/MD, Micro SD, SD/SDHC/SDXC/MMC/RSMMC, MS/MS PRO/MS PRO DUO, M2(MS MICRO)
Enermax ECR301 internal card reader w/ Super Charge USB Port (2.4v), USB 3.0 x1. 5-in-1 card readers: CF I/II/MD, Micro SD, SD/SDHC/SDXC/MMC/RSMMC, MS/MS PRO/MS PRO DUO, M2(MS MICRO)

Pros: Installed this in a new build running Windows 10.0.10586 64-bit Build 10586 and it works perfectly. Every port has been tested and all work as expected. The charging port is just that. Charging only. It only supplies USB power but does not connect a device to the USB port of the computer. Doesn't really state that in the information but make sense hence the Molex connector to power it.

Cons: USB ports are upside down from normal. Slots for SD, M2 and Micro SD are also upside down. So easy to get the card in wrong if you don't remember. Docking an egg for this design flaw.

Overall Review: Unlike another user, the mounting screw holes lined up exactly as they should to make the face plate exactly flush with the front bezel of the computer case. In this case a Rosewill Line OEM Micro ATX. Motherboard on this build is an ASUS Z170M-Plus with a Intel Core i7-6700K processor. So the latest Intel chipset and Skylake processor at this time.

Most Critical Review

Not So Good

Intel BOXDZ77GA70K LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
Intel BOXDZ77GA70K LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: None for this package. Get an Intel BOXDZ77GAL-70K Motherboard instead.

Cons: Get an Intel BOXDZ77GAL-70K Motherboard instead. The only difference is this package comes with a front USB 3.0 panel but the cable is to short to work in pretty much any ATX case and the supplied USB Bluetooth / WiFi adapter is no where near as good as other available options.

Overall Review: Beware, the boards shipping from Newegg have very old bios versions. You need to update to version 0057 (not 0060) or the two internal USB headers will not work correctly. I have found issues with the USB 3.0 headers not being compatible with Antec Three Hundred Two cases that have front USB 3.0 ports. Not sure if it is a fault of the case or the motherboard. Antec is not taking responsibility but I have both ports working with other components connected to them so leaning toward Antec as the problem.

Not so much!

WD Gold 8TB Enterprise Class Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM Class SATA 6Gb/s 128MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD8002FRYZ
WD Gold 8TB Enterprise Class Hard Disk Drive - 7200 RPM Class SATA 6Gb/s 128MB Cache 3.5 Inch - WD8002FRYZ

Pros: Lots of capacity. Hilum filled. Trusted manufacturer. Five year warranty.

Cons: Drive was noisy when it first fired up. Sounded like a fan scraping it’s housing in the computer chassis. After that it seemed to work but was the nosiest drive I have ever heard. Constantly making loud clicking sounds even though data was not being accessed. Ultimately, the drive failed in less than a day and was no longer seen by the computer even in the BIOS.

Overall Review: Will RMA this one but first experience with this model is not so good. Hopefully it was just a fluke. !!!Update!!! Second drive failed after a couple of weeks. This one was quiet and working as it should but started getting SMART errors. Copying data to it was get so slow it became totally useless. Tested a standard WD Black in the computer to make sure nothing was wrong with the computer and it worked as it should. Requested a refund and received an in store credit since Newegg told my I could not receive a refund now since it had been to long. Drive was replaced with a HGST Ultrastar He8. So far so good but HGST is owned by Western Digital so we will see.

Very Disappointed

ASUS Z170M-PLUS LGA 1151 Intel Z170 HDMI USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
ASUS Z170M-PLUS LGA 1151 Intel Z170 HDMI USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Runs well as long as everything is set to factory stock in the BIOS. Has most of the features one would look for in a Micro ATX motherboard.

Cons: This board will not overclock at all with the Intel i7-6700K! Even if only setting the memory to XMP it gets an overclock failure. Running the simple built in Tuning Wizard fails to overclock with default settings much less doing a custom overclock. Also has issues with secure boot. It must be disabled or it reports secure boot violations and Windows 7 pro 64-bit will not load. Running latest available BIOS 0704.

Overall Review: All the latest available drivers from ASUS for this motherboard are installed and Windows 7 64-bit is fully patched. Have built hundreds of custom graphics workstations for customers over many years. Used Intel motherboards exclusively for years without issues until they quit making them. Switch to ASUS and have had pretty good luck with them up until now with this new build that is very disappointing. May have to switch to another brand after this fail. ASUS Z170M-Plus motherboard Intel Core i7-6700K 8M Skylake Quad-Core 4.0 GHz CORSAIR Vengeance LPX 32GB (2 x 16GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) SAMSUNG 950 PRO M.2 512GB PCI-Express 3.0 x4 Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) PNY Quadro M4000 8GB 256-bit PCI Express 3.0 x16 Workstation Video Card WD Black 3 TB HDD CORSAIR CSM Series CS550M 550W Power Supply Enermax ETD-T60-TB CPU Cooler Rosewill LINE-M Mini Tower Micro ATX Computer Case Windows 7 Pro 64-bit

Good Specs But...

Pioneer Internal Blu-ray Burner, Black, Supports BDXL media, SATA - BDR-2209
Pioneer Internal Blu-ray Burner, Black, Supports BDXL media, SATA - BDR-2209

Pros: Has everything you would look for in this type of drive. Speed, compatibly, software to name a few.

Cons: This drive right out off the box will not read most of my software installation discs. Reads some but not other that read fine in other computers. Returning it and going with a different brand.

Great Motherboard

ASUS Z97M-PLUS LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
ASUS Z97M-PLUS LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Have built over 20 system base on this board without any issues at all using both Intel i7-4790 and i7-4790K processors. Graphics Bios is easy to use. Plenty of connections.

Cons: None

Overall Review: Intel Core i7-4790 or i7-4790K processorRosewill CORSAIR CSM Series CS450M 450W Modular Power Supply Crucial Ballistix Sport 16GB (2 x 8GB) DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Rosewill Computer Case - LINE-M - Mini Tower, Micro ATX