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Paul D.

Paul D.

Joined on 05/19/04

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 12
Most Favorable Review

Much better than the 320MB version

EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Support Graphics Card 640-P2-N821-AR
EVGA GeForce 8800 GTS 640MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Support Graphics Card 640-P2-N821-AR

Pros: 640MB of video memory! Overclocks to (almost) 8800GTX performance and is a solid match for the 2900XT when overclocked.

Cons: Size. Heat, but to a lesser extent than the 320MB card (see below).

Overall Review: I upgraded to this after 3 months with my 320MB 8800GTS and boy am I happy. Oblivion ran well before, but now it runs amazingly smooth on higher settings. Surprisingly, this runs 5 or 6 degrees Celsius cooler than my 320MB version. That, I figure, is due to the lower clock and memory settings. This makes me happy since I'm not even overclocking it and getting better performance. However, I did test it overclocked and the temps did get upwards of 70 degrees Celsius. For the price, can't beat the results. Drivers are finally coming around and I'm definitely seeing better performance. Who knows what it does in DX10, but, frankly, at this point, I don't care.

Most Critical Review

Overheating Junk

SAPPHIRE Radeon X1950PRO 512MB GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Graphics Card 100171L
SAPPHIRE Radeon X1950PRO 512MB GDDR3 AGP 4X/8X Graphics Card 100171L

Pros: It looked good when it ran. The most powerful and fastest card from ATI with an AGP connection.

Cons: Already overclocked to the max, which means the card runs extremely hot. Takes up a ton of space, so check the specs and see if your case can fit it. Power consumption. Make sure you have enough power to run the card and the rest of your components. Bottom line is a 450w PSU, but you really need a 550w PSU to run it correctly. Check your rail ampage.

Overall Review: I'm selling my card after a couple months and moving up to a PCI-E motherboard. This card has too many issues to make it worth your money to extend the life of your AGP MB. You're better off saving your money here and buying a new MB, processor, VC and RAM.

6 months out and no problems

GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 SLI Support Graphics Card GV-N460OC-1GI
GIGABYTE GeForce GTX 460 (Fermi) 1GB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 SLI Support Graphics Card GV-N460OC-1GI

Pros: Slight overclock and the pricing make this a great model. The dual fans keep it nice and cool.

Cons: None on my end.

Overall Review: Apparently Gigabyte has had a bad batch of cards and I wanted to chime in and say that I bought my card in early August 2010 and it's still running great. No graphical errors or BSOD. So, don't let all the negative reviews scare you off. If you get a busted card, Gigabyte will take care of you and after some hassle (shipping, waiting, etc.) you'll still end up with a good card.

Perfect for an Antec Three Hundred

GIGABYTE GA-MA78G-DS3HP AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-MA78G-DS3HP AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: Price, performance, ease of use.

Cons: The cpu socket faces top/bottom, not front/back (not necessarily a con, see below).

Overall Review: I haven't had the board very long and it worked right out of the box without a hitch (except manually changing the ram timings, but that's every board). Along with having to replace my burned up Asus (I'm done with them) I decided to get a new case and settled on an Antec Three Hundred. I just wanted to point out that since the cpu cooler mounts facing from top to bottom instead of front to back, this might cause air flow issues for people who don't have an exhaust port on the top of their case, like the Antec Three Hundred does. For me, it was perfect as my cpu cooler is pushing hot air right out of the case, but without the top exhaust port it would just be pushing it up into the case.

Rock . . . er Rubber Solid

CORSAIR Flash Voyager 4GB Flash Drive (USB2.0 Portable) CMFUSB2.0-4GB
CORSAIR Flash Voyager 4GB Flash Drive (USB2.0 Portable) CMFUSB2.0-4GB

Pros: Good transfer speed. Best I've seen with USB flash drives. Incredibly tough. Quick install on computers (15 seconds or less).

Cons: Looks like my 1gb drive, but it does say 4gb on it if you look close enough. Price.

Overall Review: I ran over mine with a chair by accident and it still works fine, though the connector is a little flimsy now. If you have a 1gb or 2gb flash drive and can wait, then I wouldn't recommend the 4gb version as prices will continue to fall over time. These Voyagers are the only flash drives I'll use thanks to the combination of speed and physical protection.

Great Alternative to the Usual

SanDisk Sansa e200 1.8" Black 8GB MP3 Player Sansa e280
SanDisk Sansa e200 1.8" Black 8GB MP3 Player Sansa e280

Pros: 8 gb of space plus 2 gb addition expansion. Video. FM radio. Voice recording. Looks good. Loooong battery life. Easy drag and drop. Don't need iTunes. You DON'T need iTunes.

Cons: Cost. MicroSD slot is only expandable to 2gb. Playlists are a pain to create.

Overall Review: I use to have an e260, but I lost that some time ago. I finally plunked down the money for a new Sansa, but I don't like the e280 as much as the e260. It actually feels cheaper. The balancing of the weight feels different (though specs say it weighs the same) and the backplate is nicer than the e260, but smudges extremely easy and just doesn't feel as good to me. Scroll wheel doesn't feel the same. The I am being picky and I am happy with the Sansa, but this just isn't as good as the my old one, but I'll take the extra space.