cover
Brian S.

Brian S.

Joined on 09/26/06

0
0

Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 8
Most Favorable Review

Great card for a great price!

SAPPHIRE DUAL-X Radeon R9 280 3GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 CrossFireX Support Graphics Card 100373-2L
SAPPHIRE DUAL-X Radeon R9 280 3GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 CrossFireX Support Graphics Card 100373-2L

Pros: Runs super quiet. Great performer for the price. Will handle anything I throw at it.

Cons: None so far

Overall Review: When I was building my first PC in 10 years, I was really digging in to which card would be best. There was the 280, 280x, 290x, gtx 960, but I had to step back and think about how I'm not a HARDCORE gamer that needs 4k and to max every single game out that's coming out in the next few years. the standard 280 was at my price point, with the others being $50-$150 more, but had to keep saying that this is a budget build. I was not disappointed. Thought about switching it out for a 290x, but I don't think the extra couple of frames is worth the price.

Most Critical Review

Buyer beware!

RAIDMAX HYBRID 2 RX-730SS 730W ATX12V V2.2/ EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular Power Supply, New Version with Build-in LED Fan On/Off Switch
RAIDMAX HYBRID 2 RX-730SS 730W ATX12V V2.2/ EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Modular Power Supply, New Version with Build-in LED Fan On/Off Switch

Pros: The LED looked nice for the few minutes it was on.

Cons: The sata power cables that were included melted when I powered up my system after installation. So I popped my CX600M back in and it worked fine, so concluded that it was the power supply. Don't cheap out on a power supply :\

Great monitor.

AOC G2460PQU 24" 1ms Black/Red Extreme Professional 144 Hz Gaming LED Monitor, 1920 x 1080, 80000000:1, 350 cd/m2, 16:9, HDMI, VGA, USB, DVI-D, Display Port, Tilt, Built-in Speaker
AOC G2460PQU 24" 1ms Black/Red Extreme Professional 144 Hz Gaming LED Monitor, 1920 x 1080, 80000000:1, 350 cd/m2, 16:9, HDMI, VGA, USB, DVI-D, Display Port, Tilt, Built-in Speaker

Pros: Super fast refresh rate! This is my first 144hz monitor and it's a such a treat playing games above 60fps. Things just seem so smooth, even when just on the desktop or browsing the internet. I love the height adjust on this monitor. I don't see myself using the rotation for portrait orientation at all (don't do any photo editing or anything like that) but it's still a nice feature to have. I'm digging the color scheme with the nice red finish on the bottom. It has the whole range of inputs. HDMI, DVI-D, VGA, and Display Port. Plus a number of USB ports that I haven't really had the need to use, but they're nice to have.

Cons: Speakers are garbage, but that's to be expected. I never planned on using them as I have gaming headsets and standard speakers, but I thought I'd test them out. I'm sure anyone interested in this monitor is going to have either a headset or good speakers already, so this con is not really a big deal. The colors are not as vivid and accurate as an IPS panel that I have, but that was also already expected, but it still looks darn good. I'm no expert with video calibration with all the tools and whatnot, but you can find some decent settings that you like that will satisfy you.

Overall Review: Great 144hz monitor for the price. Great adjustment features. Lots of input options. Nice USB ports. Great adjustment features.

Works like it should.

Rosewill Apollo RK-9100xBBL - Blue LED Backlit Mechanical Keyboard - Anti-Ghosting Capability, 4-Level Backlighting, Built-In Headphone & Microphone Pass-through Jack
Rosewill Apollo RK-9100xBBL - Blue LED Backlit Mechanical Keyboard - Anti-Ghosting Capability, 4-Level Backlighting, Built-In Headphone & Microphone Pass-through Jack

Pros: Great keyboard for the price. I chose the cherry MX Black switches since I like to rest my fingers on my keys and don't want to accidentally push them. This is my first mechanical gaming keyboard so it's something I'll have to kind of get used to.

Cons: The only problem I have had is the extra "w" key cap kept popping of when I would be holding it down when playing games. Maybe it's just a bad quality key cap, but it seems like it has a lot of wiggle, but I guess that's just what happens with mech keyboards.

Overall Review: Kind of regretting my purchase. It's a great keyboard for the price, but I should have paid the extra $30 and got a corsair.

It's nice.....

UtechSmart Venus RGB Gaming Mouse, Wired 16400 DPI High Precision Laser Programmable MMO Computer Gaming Mice
UtechSmart Venus RGB Gaming Mouse, Wired 16400 DPI High Precision Laser Programmable MMO Computer Gaming Mice

Pros: -Tons of programmable buttons which is good for any MMO or game that will use a lot of the number keys. -Very nice tactile click for the lmb and rmb. -The weights are a nice addition, but not really necessary for me.

Cons: -It may just be me, but the part that feels awkward is my thumb placement. It rests on the mouse so that my thumb is on the 456 by default. -The braided cable is a little too stiff. -Takes too much force to push the side buttons. If I need to push the side buttons I don't want my mouse to move while I'm doing it. -Scroll wheel is too loose and doesn't have good "lock" positions. -Software is "meh."

Overall Review: It's good for the price. There are other, more expensive options, like the naga or the g600, but for the price, you can't really beat it. I may just stick to my deathadder for normal games and use the Venus when I switch to an MMO.

Just what I needed.

Patriot 4GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3L 1600 (PC3L 12800) Memory Model PSD34G1600L82S
Patriot 4GB 204-Pin DDR3 SO-DIMM DDR3L 1600 (PC3L 12800) Memory Model PSD34G1600L82S

Pros: Perfect for what I needed. Needed a DDR3L with 1.35v to add to the already 4gb DDR3L that's in the Alienware Alpha, and this fit the bill perfectly.

Cons: None