Joined on 03/30/04
Works after some issues
Pros: - Cheap - Aluminum case helps heat dissipation - Fast speeds once it's working
Cons: - short USB 3.0 cable - Beware of driver issues
Overall Review: I installed a 2TB Samsund HDD in the case and at first it would not recognize the drive in Windows 7 on an USB 3 port. Plugging it into an USB 2.0 port was working fine. I did some research and it turns out that USB 3.0 is enabling some fancy power saving feautures by default which prevented things from working with my Gigabyte MB's built in USB 3.0 ports. I had to disable the 'USB 3.0 power management functions' in the Renesas USB 3.0 Host controller Utility to make it work. Since then everything works great and the USB transfer rates are as fast as my internal SATA disks!
Good for the price
Pros: - quiet - decent CPU - 8GB memory - wireless AC built-in - USB-C front port - 300W power supply
Cons: - only one USB3 front port - mechanical HDD - Slim DVD drive does not support Blu-Ray - 2nd HDD option only supports 2.5'' - M2 slot does not have a screw!! (seriously??) - won't fit full length graphic cards
Overall Review: I got this a s a bare-bone replacement for my aging desktop and I'm fairly happy with it. In order to make it a bit faster I also ordered a M2 ssd and a GTX 1050 graphics card. A word of warning, case will not fit a full length graphics card but the 1 Fan short cards should fit. Also it does not have any 8PIN power connector to support 'beefier' cards. Make sure you get one that gets its power from the PCI slot only. Honestly if you plan to use a RTX2080ti this is obviously not the computer to buy! Also adding in a M2 drive is a serious pain since you have to disassemble the front panel and remove the DVD drive. And guess what the M2 slot does not have the safety screw, neither had the M2 drive i ordered. Since these screws are a funky size I had to apply a drop of superglue instead... Also there is room for a 2nd HDD and it does have 3 SATA connectors on the board. But the drive bay will only fit a 2.5 inch HDD. In order to get 2 * 3.5 inch drives in I had to change the orientation and only 1 screw will line up. Not ideal, but since I am not planning on moving it around a lot, should be OK All in all I do like the computer and for the price you get a very decent piece of hardware. Recommended 'as is' for tinkerers and users that plan a lot of upgrades I'd look elsewhere
Good Bang for the Buck
Pros: This baby is fast and I was even able to overclock it to 825/975 with no stability issues. Compared to my pair of NVIDIA 9600GTS cards in SLI its not even a competition.
Cons: Card used 2 full slots and needs 2 6 pin power connectors. Most PSU and cases won't be able to pair these with SLI. Fan is very noisy but keeps the GPU real cool (56C idle)
Overall Review: Make sure to install the ATI Tray Tools and lower the FAN speed to like 12% under 63C. This keeps it quiet and the idle temperature at 61C, whic is still lower than most reference designs. Memore OC'ing can probably be pushed even more.