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Ross R.

Ross R.

Joined on 01/08/04

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 15
Most Favorable Review

Linux 1080p gaming powerhouse

ASRock Radeon RX 6600 Challenger D 8GB GDDR6 PCI Express 4.0 Graphics Card RX6600 CLD 8G
ASRock Radeon RX 6600 Challenger D 8GB GDDR6 PCI Express 4.0 Graphics Card RX6600 CLD 8G

Pros: *Performs like a champ at 1080p in Fedora Linux *Similar performance to PS5/XBSX *Runs very quiet and cool *Rarely burns more than 100w

Cons: *Most of the price advantages that were there when I bought the card aren't there anymore *The included Last of Us code was not a Steam code

Overall Review: If you game in Linux this card is a monster. I cannot speak for the quality of the drivers in Windows but the Mesa 23.1.1 drivers installed by default in Linux work extremely well. Just an overall joy of a card to game on, would recommend this card all day for Linux gaming.

Most Critical Review

Good fans hobbled by a baffling design decision

XIGMATEK XOF-F1256 120mm FCB (Fluid Circulative Bearing) Cooling System 120mm Golden Yellow Case Fan 2-Pack
XIGMATEK XOF-F1256 120mm FCB (Fluid Circulative Bearing) Cooling System 120mm Golden Yellow Case Fan 2-Pack

Pros: Moves quite a bit of air. Completely silent. Has fluid bearings for long life (theoretically, anyhow).

Cons: Hamstrung by a one-way mounting scheme.

Overall Review: These are really nice fans, moving a good amount of air silently. It is just a shame that Xigmatek went with a one-way mount, making this fan only good for exhaust. If this fan used a traditional mount, this fan would be a 10 out of 10, easily. I would only recommend this fan if you can get it for pretty cheap.

11/12/2014

The best case for the money, hands-down

Fractal Design Define R4 Black Silent ATX Midtower Computer Case
Fractal Design Define R4 Black Silent ATX Midtower Computer Case

Pros: Great airflow, with a lot of fan mounting ports. Extremely spacious. Very solid construction. Quiets down a noisy PC extremely well. Great wiring options which makes it really easy to have a tidy build. Completely disassemble-able with screws for easy modding.

Cons: A little pricey, unless you get it on sale. Water cooling options are a little limited (no hose mounts going out the back of the case).

Overall Review: I have bought three of these cases so far, and will recommend them for all of my builds for the foreseeable future. You simply won't find a better case than this for the money. I literally cannot recommend this case enough (unless you want a crazy exotic water-cooling setup, anyhow).

11/12/2014

Keys started dying after a month

Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 2000
Microsoft Comfort Curve Keyboard 2000

Pros: Cheap Ergonomic design feels great for long typing sessions

Cons: Cheap Keys feel really mushy, and get mushier and mushier with use until they bottom out and die.

Overall Review: Get a mechanical keyboard instead. They cost a bit more, but you will get years of use out of them.

11/15/2011

Very nice gaming keyboard

AZIO KB588U Levetron Mech4 Mechanical Keyboard
AZIO KB588U Levetron Mech4 Mechanical Keyboard

Pros: *Every key has Cherry Blacks, widely considered the best switch for gaming. *Very solid build quality. *Extra macro keys that you can put over your F keys, in addition to the 5 macro keys on the board already. *Spill holes, for us clumsy gamers. *USB hub that works for powered mice. Sounds minor but this is a hard feature to find in keyboards.

Cons: *Micro-sized backspace button. Gets aggravating after a while. *No backlighting. *Pad-printed keys. This is debatable as a con, cause it helps keep the cost down. But they will definitely start to rub off after a while.

Overall Review: Very solid construction, very nice feel to the keys, and a powered USB hub. All for a very good price. This is definitely worth consideration if you are in the market for a new gaming keyboard.

11/11/2011

Very solid selection for a GTX 570

ZOTAC GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 SLI Support Graphics Card ZT-50203-10M
ZOTAC GeForce GTX 570 (Fermi) 1280MB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 SLI Support Graphics Card ZT-50203-10M

Pros: Absolutely a beast in games and benchmarks. Stays cool, never seen it go above 61 degrees celsius in a Rosewill Thor case. Relatively quiet. Mine came with a certificate for a free Assassin's Creed Brotherhood.

Cons: Nvidia's drivers leave a bit to be desired. More of a problem with Nvidia over the actual card, but it is a con nonetheless. Just had a price increase, and no more free Batman: Arkham City. Comes bundled with some useless software. Just download the driver package from Nvidia and throw the Zotac disk away.

Overall Review: When I got mine, it was $300 with a free Batman: Arkham City and Assassin's Creed Brotherhood. That deal was crazy good. But now that the price went up and there is no more Batman, the deal is not as sweet as it was. It is still an awesome card though, and definitely worth consideration.