Pros: -Showed up in my GAX58A-UD3R motherboard BIOS as a hard drive without having to change any settings -Windows installed on it just like it was a SATA drive -Fast -I now have a fast SSD drive in my old X58 motherboard that does not have full SATA 3 ports -It is visually appealing and came with a case sticker

Cons: -Price per gigabyte is too high -Performance is not better than two SATA 3 drives in Raid 0 -Gets a little warm but has not been an issue yet

Overall Review: I really like this drive. My X58 motherboard doesn't have full speed SATA 3 ports, so this drive saved me from having to buy a new motherboard and processor! I was expecting to have trouble getting my BIOS to show this PCI Express card as a hard drive, but I didn't have to change any settings to get Windows to install on it! This drive is actually two SSD drives in RAID 0, but this is already set up internally so I didn't have to do anything. The RAIDR showed up as a single hard drive in the BIOS. I've heard that you can use it as two 120GB drives instead and even RAID multiple RAIDR Express cards. Two SATA 3 drives in RAID 0 can provide higher performance than a single RAIDR Express card at a cheaper price. CrystalDiskMark - Read/Write (MB/s) Seq: 698.6/490.1 512K: 639.2/467.4 4K: 29.53/72.10 4K QD32: 195.7/303.8 ATTO Disk Benchmark - maximum Read/Write (MB/s) = 824/806

Pros: My 5960x is running at 4.3 GHz and I feel like it will go higher no problem. I will try to go higher whenever I need some more speed. SLI is working great. There are plenty of fan headers, and I have lots of fans. However, I’m currently using my fan controller, but if it breaks, I can just use the motherboard! I really like that the motherboard comes with a wireless adapter with Bluetooth, it saved me from having to install one in the PCI-E slots. I have had pretty reliable connections with it. I also like that the antenna is magnetic so I can stick it to my case. I haven’t had any Blue Screen of Deaths! (I have had some issues, but no crashes after Windows is loaded) The Realtek HD Audio Manager lets me adjust the pitch of the sound output, which is really fun to do. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw that that was included in the audio manager

Cons: Before I updated the EUFI BIOS, I couldn’t use a keyboard or mouse in the EUFI unless I cleared the CMOS. After updating the BIOS, the keyboard and mouse worked in there fine. However, sometimes Windows will not detect the keyboard (Corsair K70) on startup and I have to switch USB ports, and if I switch either the mouse or keyboard from one port to another, when the system is powered down, Windows has to search for device drivers to get the keyboard and mouse working. I couldn’t get the XMP profiles to work with my Corsair LPX 2800 memory, but I was able to manually set it When the computer is booting up, the ASUS logo is scrambled now. It looked fine after many boots, but now it looks scrambled. Re-flashing the BIOS again would probably fix it, but I haven’t tried it. I have a ROG PCI-E SSD installed in the bottom slot and it is hitting my USB 3.0 motherboard header and making the card bend up toward the fan on my secondary GTX 770. It is working though.

Overall Review: I plugged my Corsair H80i water pump into the motherboard’s internal USB 3.0 port instead of the USB 2.0 header by using an adapter, but it doesn’t work in USB 3.0. I had to plug it into a USB 2.0 port for Corsair Link to recognize it. I just leave it unplugged now that I have programmed it. Overall, I like the performance and features of this board. I’m hoping for another BIOS or driver update to fix my remaining USB issues. The BIOS update helped my keyboard and mouse detection issues in the EUFI, and made this board useable. I saw a lot of hype for this board and was sort of let down by the issues, but I’m hopeful that I will eventually get them straightened out. Windows 7 64bit i7 5960X H80i Cooler X99-DELUXE BIOS version 0801 Corsair LPX 2800 4x4GB 2x SLI GTX 770 ROG RAIDR Express 240GB SSD Seagate Barracuda 2TB HDD ASUS BC-08B1ST BD-ROM AFT USB 3.0 card reader Corsair K70 keyboard Logitech M-UAE96 mouse

Pros: This fan has decent airflow and is quiet at full RPM. The fan blades have a clear frosted look, which refracts the red LEDs. The LEDs are a true red color, and they are a medium-high brightness at full RPM. This fan works well for a top exhaust fan (see other thoughts)

Cons: The fan is slightly audible compared to some hydraulic bearing fans, but worked much better as a top exhaust fan in my experience (see other thoughts)

Overall Review: I replaced a Cougar hydraulic bearing fan with this one because it would make a rattling noise when operated above ~60% full RPM. The hydraulic bearing fan had a tendency to get a oscillation motion inside its housing when it was oriented as a top exhaust fan. I moved the Cougar fan in front of my hard drive bay and it no longer rattles in that orientation. I'm glad that I don't have to hear my top exhaust fan rattling anymore!

Pros: I have two of these 6-feet cables and they look nice and work perfectly.

Cons: none - no problems

Overall Review: I have a USB 3.0 card reader attached to these cables. I went with 6ft cables so I can rout them around the back of my motherboard tray. 3ft cables would have worked fine though if I routed them in front of the motherboard.

Pros: - I have three of these running at 1750MHz 8-8-8-24 @ 1.65V, and they have been flawless. (I run at 1.65V because my older memory that is also installed requires it) - The modules have Blue and Orange LEDs (see other thoughts) - The brightness and LED pattern can be changed using the MOD utility

Cons: Potentially, the heat spreaders could be too high if you have a CPU cooler or something that is right over the memory banks. These heat spreaders aren't excessively tall, however; they just barely come above the PCB.

Overall Review: Each memory module comes with: -Running LEDs -Activity LEDs. The Running LEDs glow underneath the module, and the Activity LEDs blink along the top of the module between the two heat spreaders. The Activity LEDs react to load. If the computer is mostly idle, the activity is slow; if the computer is accessing the memory aggressively, the activity is fast. When I first installed the memory modules, they were factory set to have Blue running LEDs and Blue activity LEDs. The LED pattern, brightness, and color are set using the Ballistix MOD utility. This utility allows you set each memory module independently (if you have more than one module). The pattern options are: -Stereo: the activity LEDs blink rapidly and are dim when mostly idle; the intensity increases when the memory is accessed more -Inside Out: the activity LEDs activate near the center and then travel outward; the travel speed increases when the memory is accessed more. -Lava: this pattern is similar to Inside Out, but it is more aggressive. The LEDs also create an effect that looks like the module is filling and then starting over; the speed increases when the memory is accessed more. -Streamer: the activity LEDs light up such that it appears there is a line of LEDs traveling from the bottom of the motherboard to the top; the travel speed increases when the memory is accessed more. The brightness of the LEDs can be dimmed pretty low if needed. On each module, the running LEDs can be set to either Blue or Orange. Also, the Activity LEDs can be set to either Blue or Orange. Each module can only have its Activity LEDs set to either Blue or Orange; it cannot be set to blink both colors. The Running LEDs can be set to the opposite color of the Activity LEDs if desired, though. I currently have three of these Ballistix Tactical Tracers paired with three older Ballistix Tracer modules that I already had in my X58 system. I have these set to have blue running LEDs and blue activity LEDs. This has a nice look paired with my older Ballistix Tracer modules with red LEDs. I really like this memory A computer has to have blinking lights doesn't it?

Pros: -The fans have pretty good airflow -The red LEDs make the fans look nice (the LEDs are a true red, and are not too dim or super bright)

Cons: -The fans are not too silent -One of the fans came with the sticker not centered very well

Overall Review: I was hoping these would be silent, but they are sort of loud. At low RPMs ~40% speed, the fans are quiet except for a buzzing sort of noise, which is not loud but irritating. Overall these do the job, but they are not as quiet as I was hoping.