cover
Matthew D.

Matthew D.

Joined on 05/04/05

0
0

100%
Top 1000 Reviewer
Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 90
Most Favorable Review

Trendnet TEW-811 good product

TRENDnet TEW-811DRU AC1200 Dual Band Wireless Router- 4 Gigabit port, Broadcom Chipset, DD-WRT Open Source support
TRENDnet TEW-811DRU AC1200 Dual Band Wireless Router- 4 Gigabit port, Broadcom Chipset, DD-WRT Open Source support

Pros: 1.) Price 2.) Small footprint 3.) Strong signal and good speeds 4.) Dual Band 2.4 and 5Ghz ranges 5.) Easy setup 6.) Easy to see LED's 7.) 3 year warranty

Cons: Not very many cons, but if I had to be picky I would say 1.) Would be nice to have more than 4 ports 2.) Would be nice if it came with a 5Ghz USB adapter

Overall Review: When I first got this unit, I saw that it was packaged nicely. It comes with a utility CD, instruction booklet, Ethernet cord and power adapter. The router itself has a nice black finish with a WPS button and USB port on the back. The LED's are easy to read and understand. To me this is actually pretty important (some routers don't have any indicator that the 5Ghz range is working and so I always wondered if I'm on a 2.4 or 5Ghz range). Overall its a good looking router, easy to understand and get working. I'm comparing this unit to my other router (Edimax BR-6478AC) which so far is a great product also. Both are priced similar and both are 2.4 and 5Ghz ranges. My home setup is a two story house with 2 wireless Blu-ray players that are constantly streaming video, 2 computers (desktop and Ultrabook). One player is wired to the router and the other is wireless about 60 feet and 2 walls from the router. My desktop and laptop are both wireless. All but one of my devices got a 5 bar signal which is the highest it can get. This was at ranges from 10ft to approximately 50ft. The Blu-ray player that is 60ft and has two walls between got a 4 bar signal. Still, 4 bars is nothing to worry or complain about and actually had a little better signal than my Edimax which uses external antennas (my Edimax gets 3 bars on that Blu-ray player). In the past I have had wireless issues with some routers and their streaming ability. The Edimax I currently have has never had any issues though, so I thought it would be a superior solution compared the Trendnet unit. To my surprise, the Trendnet TEW-811DRU worked great. Video was constantly good quality with no lag or hang ups. I was able to watch Netflix programs in HD with no lag or quality of video issues. I wanted to see if it had similar speeds to my Edimax so I ran speedtest on them both. I got a ping of 47ms with the Trendnet vs 51ms on the Edimax. I had a download speed of 9.31Mbps from the Edimax and 9.24 from the Trendnet unit. These numbers show its on par with the Edimax and are constant with the ISP I currently have. So, it can basically get me the speeds I need without issues. Overall its a really really nice router. You get a 3 year warranty that will cover you if you have any issues with it. Its a nice looking unit that is easy to understand and setup. Its speeds at 2.4 and 5Ghz are comparable to others in its class. Although, it would be nice if it had more than 4 back ports and if they threw in a USB adapter but its not a deal breaker if its not included especially considering the price. So, if your in the market for a competitive priced wireless dual band 2.4 and 5Ghz router; that get good speeds and is easy to setup this might be the perfect product for you.

Most Critical Review

Coil whine

ASUS P7P55D-E LGA 1156 Intel P55 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
ASUS P7P55D-E LGA 1156 Intel P55 USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Good design. Plenty of ports for upgrading and adding. Looks pretty.

Cons: I too have the coil whine that is on these boards. It is a high pitch screech expecially when just browsing the net, or mainly when I start crysis. It will sometimes just crash my computer while starting crysis. Very weird issue as I have never had this problem, but it is apparent here.

Overall Review: nice board, but look elsewhere. Plus Asus RMA sucks!!!!!

Fantastic Card, good upgrade from a GTX970

EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 SC GAMING ACX 3.0, 08G-P4-6173-KR, 8GB GDDR5, LED, DX12 OSD Support (PXOC)
EVGA GeForce GTX 1070 SC GAMING ACX 3.0, 08G-P4-6173-KR, 8GB GDDR5, LED, DX12 OSD Support (PXOC)

Pros: Very quite Super fast (slightly faster than 980ti) One 8 pin power connector New die size on the GPU DX12 Low power consumption Runs cool (<73c) Comes with white LED's & a backplate! Current EVGA promo gives you a free powerlink Current Nvidia promo gives you GOW 3 8GB of VRAM

Cons: Not really a con but like most GPU's when there isn't a frame limit in a program, the card will experience coil whine. No whine under load. Not the cards issue, but Nvidia's current promo gives you GOW 3 and makes you download it from Windows store, which is terrible. Not dinging the card at all for that, just be aware if you're buying this card for the game, its not a fun experience. Price - we all know the price thing with Pascal has been a disaster so far and Nvidia is to thank for that. I mean, who sets and MSRP at $380 and makes the founder editions (which are inferior to this) sell for $460? Yep, this card's price is inflated, but when you factor in the price drops recently (got this for $409) and the free game, its not that bad of a deal.

Overall Review: Built many a gaming PC's over the last 10 years and every time the hardware is better. This card is no exception. Coming from a GTX 970 SSC that I bought two years ago, this thing blows it out of the water as far as performance and efficiency goes. I play on a 2560 x 1440 monitor and my 970 would struggle with high settings with Wither 3 (especially in close up cut scenes). I can now play on max settings and haven't seen it go below 40 FPS in those same cut scenes, which is very playable. I'd recommend this card as a good upgrade for anyone with a 970 or a card that is inferior to it. If you already have a 980ti then an upgrade to this just isn't worth it, unless you want to do 4K, but then, you'll probably want the 1080. Either way, its a fantastic card and comes with EVGA's legendary support and active forums. If your in the market for a new video card, this is an excellent option!

10/16/2016

Great little Mini ITX board

GIGABYTE G1 Gaming GA-Z170N-Gaming 5 (rev. 1.0) LGA 1151 Intel Z170 HDMI USB 3.1 USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard
GIGABYTE G1 Gaming GA-Z170N-Gaming 5 (rev. 1.0) LGA 1151 Intel Z170 HDMI USB 3.1 USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Skylake 1151 socket DDR4 Qualitry parts Easy to use Bios (all are pretty much now UEFI) Easy OCing Good port locations X-fi option Killer network option Red LED can pulse, beat or stay on/off Built in Wi-Fi (but I use the lan) m.2

Cons: As my first mini ITX build, this mobo is way smaller than a normal ATX ( hard to build in) CD comes with many usless programs USB 3.0 should be right angled like a sata port

Overall Review: Had this mobo for about 2 month and I must say, its a great little board. Z170 chipset seems to work great, bios is easy to use and flash. The built in wifi and killer lan port both work great. If your in the market for a mini itx board, this could be the one.

Much better than expected

Cooler Master Hyper TX3 - CPU Cooler with 3 Direct Contact Heatpipes
Cooler Master Hyper TX3 - CPU Cooler with 3 Direct Contact Heatpipes

Pros: Compact design fits snugly in my Thermaltake core V1 mini case Cools better than expected Quiet Cheap Cooler Master Brand is quality No need to install a backplate

Cons: *Neweggs shipping is really getting slow (not to deter from the product at all), but took 2 weeks to arrive.... Not water cooling, but its not trying to be Uses the same style plugs that intel does on its stock cooler (yuk)...but its easy to install.

Overall Review: After reading all the naysayers out there that this wasn't even close the the 212 evo, I didn't expect much. I've owned many different cooling solutions over the years from custom water loops, to AIO water solutions, to 212 evo and many others. I recently did a mini ITX build and needed something compact that wouldn't make me switch out the big front fan in my Thermaltake Core v1 case. Ya, I thought about watercooling, but decided it wasn't worth the cost for my Skylake i5 6400. So, looking at what would fit in my small case, this baby popped up. As mentioned, I owned many other products and really liked the tower design of the 212 and knew this would be similar but on a slightly smaller scale. As it turns out, this is a great cooler! Don't let people who want a degree or more out of their cooling deter you from this item. This thing is quiet and cool. Keeps my cpu @ 25C idle and 40C load. Its actually pretty decent and considering the price (which is super cheap)...why not! Sure, its not a water cooling solution, nor does it have the other high end coolers specs, but hey, this thing is super cheap and gets the job done without having to remove the mobo.

Why buy the cheap Korean monitors now?

ASUS PB258Q Black 25" 5ms WQHD Frameless HDMI Widescreen LED Backlight LCD Monitor AH-IPS 350 cd/m2, 2560 x 1440, 100,000,000:1 Built-in Speakers
ASUS PB258Q Black 25" 5ms WQHD Frameless HDMI Widescreen LED Backlight LCD Monitor AH-IPS 350 cd/m2, 2560 x 1440, 100,000,000:1 Built-in Speakers

Pros: 2560x1440 is the sweet spot currently Quality company 0 dead pixels IPS Easy to use OSD Good stand 25" is great for smaller desks

Cons: Not G-sync (but its not in that price range so not really a con) Only 60hz 4K might be affordable soon?

Overall Review: I owned two different Korean 2560x1440 IPS monitors over the past 4 years. They were good monitors with horrible stands. One of them was able to OC to 120hz and worked well. However, you were getting a no name panel from Korea without a warranty... was always worried when I ordered one. This however, is an amazing monitor. The colors are bright due to the IPS panel, the res is amazing at 2K. Both of the Korean monitors (Yamakasi & QNIX) I owned were 27" which were HUGE! Don't get me wrong, if I had more desk space and didn't have my wife yelling at how big it was, I'd get the 27". However, I got a smaller desk and wanted a smaller screen so it wouldn't be so overbearing. This is prefect! Those 2 extra diagonal inches make a big difference, yet still has the 2k res. Love it. If you're in a similar situation as I was, you won't regret getting this monitor, especially considering the price for a 2k monitor now!