Joined on 03/15/07
Excellent Small-ish Case, note for Sabertooth builds
Pros: I was a bit nervous purchasing this case as I could find no reviews. I knew I wanted a light, small case that fit and ATX motherboard. One thing that really struck me is that despite having smaller dimenions than the other small ATX aluminum cases from lian li, this case was significantly heavier. My hope was that this indicated a sturdier case (one of the most common criticism of the smaller lian li case is flimsiness). Though I can't compare side by side, I am really impressed with the sturdiness fo this case. The case just exhudes quality. The side panels seem very thick to me. No rattling.
Cons: Not really a con, but- Modular power supply is a must. There is not a ton of space to hide cables. Possibly a con- The psu exhausts out the front about 4 inches below the 140mm intake. I don't suspect this will be a problem with modern power supplies, but I made sure I got a gold certified psu just to be safe (looked at the platinum Seasonic, but it won't fit (to long). There are 3 120mm exhausts, plus gpu exhausts (if your's exhausts externally) vs. 1x140mm intake. PSU intakes from bottom, and, as mentioned exhausts out front. I'm pretty sure then, that in the stock configuration, that you'll have negative airflow. the Pci-e slots have intakes, as does the bottom of the case if you don't mount hard drives. All in all, a possible dust concern.
Overall Review: Because of the tool free pci-e slots and the thermal armor of the Sabertooth Z77, I was unable to install my HD 6870 (10.3" x 4.4" x 1.5"). I had to take the motherboard out, install the card, and then slide the board into place. If you want to install all four fans to motherboard headers, you will need at least one fan extenstion cable. Actually... maybe 2. I'm using 2, but you may be able to get away with one (I've got the back fan plugged into the bottom port as the manual suggest I do so for extra GPU cooling. My 8 pin cpu cable barely reached.
Best Palm/FingerGrip Mouse but Worst Software
Pros: The is the only palm contoured mouse I've ever used that funtions equally well with a finger grip. Compare this to say, the SteelSeries Ikari. The ikari fits your hand "like a glove" (the usual descriptor for a contoured mouse. However, because of the bulging contours on the left side of the mouse, you cannot move your hand back into a finger grip. With the NAOS's contours (which are perfectly spaced for my medium sized hand), on the other hand, the finger grooves continue throughout the length of the body, allowing you to grip it with your finger from almost a 1/4 a way towards the base.
Cons: The worst software I have ever used. It's worse than any alpha or beta I've ever used. You must run it in admin mode, your browser cannot (according to forum trouble shooters) be open while making changes. You cannot move your mouse while the software is accepting changes. All that, and it still crashes for me over 1/2 the time. The Software is over 2 years old. Assigning "switch profile" to the buttons works only intermittently for me. They released a patch since then, but then retracted it. The only saving grace is that it truly is software, and not a driver. The mouse is driver-less. Theoretically you could install the software, make your changes, and then uninstall the software. Theoretically. Regardless, this mouse is not for someone who is put off by buggy software.
Overall Review: I purchased this after test driving the following: Logitech G9X SteelSeries Ikari Corsair Vengeance M60 Mionix Naos 5000 Logitech M500 On the following mousepads: Razer Scarab SteelSeries 9HD SteelSeries Experience I-2 FYI You can't go wrong with the Scarab or the 9HD
Excellent- FYI possible networking issues
Pros: Great Board. There's plenty of reviews and info- I'm writing this for one particular reason. If, after installing this board, you find that other computers on your network can't access your new comp at normal speeds, or if your uploads are sluggish, try turning of "Network iControl" in the "Asus Suite II" software. As soon as I disabled that, all as well. And as soon as I renable it, all is not well. Cause and Effect.
Cons: none so far
Overall Review: If installing this in a lian-li pc-v700, you may have to install your gpu before you mount it to the backplate. This is due to clearance issues with the thermal armor and the tooless pci brackets.
FYI Re: CD burning
Pros: The cdrlabs review states that this ODD supports accurate stream, caching, and C2 pointers. My copy of dbPoweramp also indicated C2 support.
Cons: None so far