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SEAN T.

SEAN T.

Joined on 08/12/08

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 10
Most Favorable Review

PITA to build in, but worth it

SilverStone RAVEN Series RVZ01B Black Reinforced plastic outer shell, steel body Mini-ITX Desktop Computer Case SFX Power Supply
SilverStone RAVEN Series RVZ01B Black Reinforced plastic outer shell, steel body Mini-ITX Desktop Computer Case SFX Power Supply

Pros: Layout makes excellent use of limited airflow. High quality and quiet case fans that move plenty of air even with the dust filters installed. Everything is safely secured, and there's even a little bracket with some rubber to hold the graphics card in place. All the materials from the metal chassis to the plastic shroud and aesthetic bits are very high quality and very sturdy.

Cons: As should be expected with SFF builds, actually building inside this case is quite a process especially since everything is isolated. DO NOT forget to plug anything in before final assembly, or you will bash your head against the wall. Even the power switch for the PSU is impossible to get to after full assembly. It also takes quite a bit of planning to route cables. There's very limited room to stuff the excess, and you must be very careful not to leave anything in the path of any fan blades.

Overall Review: System specs: i5-4570S Gigabyte GA-B85N-WIFI ITX motherboard Powercolor Radeon R9 270 (OC'd to 1050/1500) Crucial 1 x 8GB DDR3 1600 low profile Crucial M500 240GB Silverstone RVZ01 Silverstone 450W Bronze PSU

Most Critical Review

Cool idea, sloppy game.

Alpha Protocol Xbox 360 Game
Alpha Protocol Xbox 360 Game

Pros: It's a fairly fresh idea in the gaming world. Not entirely original, but this type of gameplay being applied to espionage is definitely an interesting concept. You can fine tune your playing style to your liking. I personally like to sneak in and complete my mission without sounding any alarms. You could just as easily go in guns blazing.

Cons: This game just isn't complete. It's very obvious that they rushed it out unfinished to meet some sort of stupid deadline, which is typical of Sega lately. The story gets kind of stupid after a while, and the shooting system just doesn't satisfy. One thing that bothered me to no end is the fact that when you buy a scope for an assault rifle, it appears as an ACOG with a holographic right in front of it. It makes NO sense whatsoever and just goes to show that Sega really didn't take their time with this game at all. Lots of graphical aspects seem very unpolished, and the enemy AI is the worst I've seen since Black. If you do it right, you can sit right in front of somebody and shoot him in the face without him seeing you.

Overall Review: All in all, very interesting idea, VERY flawed game. I hope they make a sequel and actually take their time with it, because this game has lots of untapped potential.

A fine choice if you don't install Gigabyte's software

GIGABYTE GA-B85N-WIFI LGA 1150 Intel B85 HDMI USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-B85N-WIFI LGA 1150 Intel B85 HDMI USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Makes efficient use of space. With some planning you can fit a pretty decent sized cooler without affecting the memory (although I suggest going with low profile sticks). Integrated audio gets the job done, and the WiFi is a nice touch. It's not Intel like the LAN chip, but it's sufficient for most.

Cons: My only REAL qualm with this is Gigabyte's utilities. For whatever reason my FPS in several games including Titanfall was dropping to 5-15 consistently. I noticed some of the settings in EasyTune or whatever were a bit weird, so I uninstalled the AppCenter and the problem was gone. I'm also not a huge fan of the BIOS. I know they're not Asus and it is a low end chip, but some more complex fan controls would be nice especially since I'm recommending against using their software.

Overall Review: System specs: i5-4570S Gigabyte GA-B85N-WIFI ITX motherboard Powercolor Radeon R9 270 (OC'd to 1050/1500) Crucial 1 x 8GB DDR3 1600 low profile Crucial M500 240GB Silverstone RVZ01 Silverstone 450W Bronze PSU

Flawless gaming at 1080

PowerColor Radeon R9 270 2GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 CrossFireX Support ATX Graphics Card AXR9 270 2GBD5-DHEV2
PowerColor Radeon R9 270 2GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 CrossFireX Support ATX Graphics Card AXR9 270 2GBD5-DHEV2

Pros: Runs everything I throw at it, including BF4 and Titanfall at max settings and 1080p. Dual fan cooler is quiet yet powerful. I've got it overclocked to 1050/1500 and it doesn't get any louder than it was at stock.

Cons: None.

Overall Review: System specs: i5-4570S Gigabyte GA-B85N-WIFI ITX motherboard Powercolor Radeon R9 270 (OC'd to 1050/1500) Crucial 1 x 8GB DDR3 1600 low profile Crucial M500 240GB Silverstone RVZ01 Silverstone 450W Bronze PSU

Great CPU for a SFF gaming build

Intel Core i5-4570S - Core i5 4th Gen Haswell Quad-Core 2.9 GHz LGA 1150 65W Intel HD Graphics Desktop Processor - BX80646I54570S
Intel Core i5-4570S - Core i5 4th Gen Haswell Quad-Core 2.9 GHz LGA 1150 65W Intel HD Graphics Desktop Processor - BX80646I54570S

Pros: Ran Prime95 for several hours, and with all four cores loaded up the turbo stayed at around 3.2GHz (the "advertised" turbo under full load). Without a bunch of threads it does go up to 3.6GHz. Hottest I've seen it running is 55°C but that's rare. It runs every game I've thrown at it without a hitch.

Cons: None really. I would recommend replacing Intel's thermal paste with something like Silver 5 but that's just me being picky.

Overall Review: System specs: i5-4570S Gigabyte GA-B85N-WIFI ITX motherboard Powercolor Radeon R9 270 (OC'd to 1050/1500) Crucial 1 x 8GB DDR3 1600 low profile Crucial M500 240GB Silverstone RVZ01 Silverstone 450W Bronze SFX PSU

GREAT sound quality for the price.

TRITTON TRIAX-720 Digital Optical Connector Circumaural AX 720 Gaming Headset
TRITTON TRIAX-720 Digital Optical Connector Circumaural AX 720 Gaming Headset

Pros: The sound quality trumps Turtle Beach and is comparable to Astro. Positional audio is top notch. You really can hear the faintest sounds clearly, and know where they are coming from. It sounds pretty good in movies as well, but I usually use speakers for that. The mic is a little on the quiet side, but that's actually an improvement over Turtle Beach's over sensitive mics that pick up everything within a seven mile radius.

Cons: Not much. The build quality is a bit lacking, but what do you expect from a great sounding $120 surround sound headset? There is a strange "twinkling" sound (best way I can describe it) in the background, but it's only noticeable when you don't have any sound playing. It starts to hurt your ears after about an hour, but I guess it does discourage you from playing for too long.

Overall Review: I am about to build a gaming PC to supplement my 360, and I plan on using this headset for that as well. It may be broken and held together with duct tape, but it still sounds just as good as it did when I got it. Plus, the optical connection will eliminate the need for a good sound card.