Pros: Stock speed plenty fast, K-series so it has unlocked multiplier for easy OC, LGA 1155 platform which has become well established, most binned chips can reach in excess of 4GHz and above

Cons: Cheap TIM, necessitates de-lidding just to get the best temps possible

Overall Review: This follow-up to the Sandy Bridge i7 2600K and 2700K is well worth it, it sells for the same price while giving a 10% performance improvement clock-for-clock. It' not much of an improvement when compared to Nehalem to Sandy Bridge jump but it's pretty much a free upgrade for those people who held out, they could easily charge more for this silicon but they don't, improvements are only modest because because of the lack of competition (tsk tsk AMD). It can also utilize faster memory a lot better with the improved memory controller compared to Sandy Bridge so if you have 2000MHz+ memory, it might be better to go IVB. That being said there are some downsides to this compared to the Sandy Bridge series. More towards the whole IVB line rather than this specific model but cheaper TIM makes de-lidding something people have to do now to get optimal temps, also runs a tiny bit hotter than SB at similar clock speeds. But otherwise it also runs faster so it kind of makes up for it. Also if you don't do a lot of video editing or such and just plan on using it for gaming, I would recommend you check out the i5 3570K Ivy Bridge or the newer Haswell 4670K/4690K variant. Both have less cache than the i7 line and no HyperThreading function but otherwise they are essentially the same chip for $100+ less. If you don't need HT (a lot of people don't, even a lot of i7 power users disable it cause it causes conflict with some apps and benchmark apps) I recommend going the i5 route, much more economical and makes a lot more sense (plus you can put the money saved towards a better GPU). Only bought this cause I had the extra money and for bragging rights ;) Overall recommend it, two thumbs up!

Pros: Very large, has built-in camera that works in both PS3 and PC, has a ton of input options, built-in speakers and a AUX-out option is much appreciated for using external speakers with your console

Cons: Maybe I was just unlucky but my display has issues with digital connections, it does not work. Connecting an HDMI or DVI device just shows nothing on the display and connecting through VGA or component, the brightness and color reproduction is very off compared to my other monitors.

Overall Review: Looks like a great display on paper but it was a very different experience for me when I got it. Was planning to use it with my PS3 and Xbox 360 through HDMI but had to resort to Component and it even through that it looks horrible (Component HD can look great, just as good as HDMI if the display can handle it well, which this can not). It's a three years old display but displays (LCD) usually last very long and for something this recent I didn't expect issues like this especially at something with this class-calibre and high end brand name (ASUS). Very disappointed

Pros: Hi-res Full HD 1080p display, great size, built-in speakers are handy

Cons: Smaller size than normal 22-inch displays but nothing too big, no DVI cable included in the box (in this day and age Viewsonic?)

Overall Review: High-resolution for a 21.5-inch display, most come with the standard 1680-by-1050 resolution whilst this one has the full HD 1080p display panel which looks very nice in this panel size display. Works and looks great on my Xbox 360 and PS3 through HDMI (using the HDMI to DVI cable) Also has built-in speakers which is great for those who want to do console gaming (and not have to use a separate speaker, just need to have a RCA audio to 3.5mm adapter) or for those who want to do a quad speaker setup (configured in Windows as a third and fourth speaker).

Pros: Greatest Intel overclocking chip, temps are just beautifully low, can get up to 5GHz on this thing without a hiccup, forget about what bin your chip is all you have to worry about is if you're cooler can handle the heat it will be putting out, and chances are any $50-$100 cooler will do that job

Cons: None, none at all. Well except that stock fan, that stock fan is truly horrible for anything past stock clocks and even at stock clocks, it can get very hot when doing serious work, which is what this i7 was meant for.

Overall Review: This processor single handedly destroyed AMD for years to come. It cannibalized sales of Intel's own Extreme processor line by eliminating its whole point of existence with the introduction of K-series processors, it brought great value to dollar-per-performance ratio with the unlocked multiplier allowing over-clockers to set it to any frequency they like eliminating the FSB wall that once only-premium paying Extreme edition owners were able to experience, all at a fraction of the price. Future generations of Intel Core i processors just brought minimal performance improvements for desktop users and worse overclocking performance and temps. Clock-for-clock IB is 5-10% faster but also overclocks a lot worse, same goes for Haswell which is 10-15% faster at most, plus the cheaper TIM they used makes temps when overclocking a horrid experience if you plan on shooting for frequencies SB was able to achieve. If you have a K series SB, stay with it and don't upgrade like I did :)

Pros: Runs extremely fast even at stock speeds, however this is a K processor so it is designated for those who want to over-clock, stock speeds mean nothing since you can scale it to whatever speed you like. I was able to get mine up to 4.4GHz at 1.23v voltage which is just insane!

Cons: Not much improvement coming from a Sandy Bridge i7 (i7 2600K), mostly because of lack of competition probably. Also doesn't over-clock as well as SB but it makes up for it by being 10-15% faster clock-for-clock, nonetheless most SBs can over-clock a lot further than the average Haswell can

Overall Review: If you're planning on spending anywhere past $180 for a processor, I totally recommend steering away from AMD and just looking at the Intel options only. Clock-for-clock Intel is just way faster, AMD's current generation of FX processors are now only catching up to Sandy Bridge processors meanwhile Intel is just sitting pretty making 10% improvements to the original platform that launched them into an overclocker's market dream success. The K series is still, up to this day, worth every penny. It is worth way more than it's asking price and has ultimately cannibalized what was once the whole selling point of the Extreme series line (now it just relegates to it being the higher-performance and higher-binned four or six-core variants of the current generation i7). Nonetheless for the asking price you can't ask for any better. You can go for the i7 variant but they are essentially the same chip with the i5 having 2M less cache and no HyperThreading. For video gaming HT almost never contributes to any increase in performance and the 6M cache is already more than enough, so it is better to go with the i5 and put the extra money you save towards a better GPU. Nonetheless if you have money to spend on an i7, there is no harm in getting that too but it is not as big of a performance difference as the name nomenclature suggest.

Pros: Runs DDR2 800 perfectly, haven't tried pushing it past that but for what its advertised for it runs it great. Never overheats.

Cons: 2GB capacity is not a lot. Otherwise no complains at all

Overall Review: Still running great after four years use. Have four of these 1GB modules running in one of my PCs (two black AMPX and two silver ones, don't know the difference but both run great)