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Brannen P.

Brannen P.

Joined on 12/23/08

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 20
Most Favorable Review

Great CPU

Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 - Core 2 Duo Wolfdale Dual-Core 3.16 GHz LGA 775 65W Processor - BX80570E8500
Intel Core 2 Duo E8500 - Core 2 Duo Wolfdale Dual-Core 3.16 GHz LGA 775 65W Processor - BX80570E8500

Pros: Best bang for your buck if you're going with a dual core. Overclocks easily to 4.0 with active cooling.

Cons: None

Overall Review: Great buy for the price.

Most Critical Review

Great Fan

Thermaltake A2018 Blue LED Case Cooling Fan
Thermaltake A2018 Blue LED Case Cooling Fan

Pros: This looks great with the factory fans on the M9. Good intake if you set it up correctly.

Cons: I couldn't get the thermal control or the manual control to work on mine, but I just wanted the auto speed anyway. Also, the power connector is fairly short. With the adapter, though, you can get it to reach a molex from your PSU. I don't see how it would ever reach a Mobo connection.

Overall Review: Pleased overall

Great Board

EVGA Z68 SLI 130-SB-E685-KR LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Intel Motherboard
EVGA Z68 SLI 130-SB-E685-KR LGA 1155 Intel Z68 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Intel Motherboard

Pros: I am incredibly impressed with this board. There are too many little things to list all of them here, but one that really stood out was the foam padding on the inside of the IO plate. Who does that? EVGA really does put out quality prodcts. Everything was packaged very securely in the Mobo box. Came with EVGA Frostbite thermal paste included, saving me some money there as well. About 3/4 the size of a normal tube. Very spacious motherboard. PCI slots are well placed, and the vents around the CPU are a plus as well. 755 cooler holes were greatly appreciated as well, I can keep using the same hybrid cooler I had in my old setup.

Cons: With a full size video card, the two sata3 slots will be behind the gpu. Not a major issue, just be sure to connect them to the motherboard first. Would be a real pain to undo them without taking the gpu out first.

Overall Review: For ~$130, this is an absolutely amazing buy. This is the reason I go for EVGA.

Fantastic Buy

CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9
CORSAIR Vengeance 16GB (4 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ16GX3M4A1600C9

Pros: 16g DDR3 1600 at just around $100. Nice heat spreaders. Packaged very securely.

Cons: Comes at 1333, but easily adjusted in bios.

Overall Review: I switched to Corsair in my new build due to their support of Dota2. Very pleased with their products so far.

Great Buy

Rosewill Anti-Static Wrist Strap ESD Anti Shock Wristband Bracelet (Packaging May Vary) - RTK-002
Rosewill Anti-Static Wrist Strap ESD Anti Shock Wristband Bracelet (Packaging May Vary) - RTK-002

Pros: I didn't kill any components when building my rig, so... there's that.

Cons: None, long cable, easy to use band.

Overall Review: You can never be sure if these things are doing their job or not, but in a typically high-static environment I didn't fry any components on my new build. I'd recommend it to others, especially over the high priced mats. Make sure you install and plug in your PSU when building to help even more with static.

Great Monitor

ASUS VW224U Black 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor w/ HDCP Support 300 cd/m2 1000:1 (ASCR 5000:1) Built in Speakers
ASUS VW224U Black 22" Widescreen LCD Monitor w/ HDCP Support 300 cd/m2 1000:1 (ASCR 5000:1) Built in Speakers

Pros: Great price on this monitor. Mine arrived via UPS with no dead pixels at all, with very good protection for it within the package. Setting are easy to adjust as well.

Cons: None.

Overall Review: So big! I'm really loving the widescreen display.