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Rusty L.

Rusty L.

Joined on 03/08/05

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 6
Most Favorable Review

Awesome

ASUS AC5300 Wi-Fi Tri-band Gigabit Wireless Router with 4x4 MU-MIMO, 4 x LAN Ports, AiProtection Network Security and WTFast Game Accelerator, AiMesh Whole Home Wi-Fi System Compatible (RT-AC5300)
ASUS AC5300 Wi-Fi Tri-band Gigabit Wireless Router with 4x4 MU-MIMO, 4 x LAN Ports, AiProtection Network Security and WTFast Game Accelerator, AiMesh Whole Home Wi-Fi System Compatible (RT-AC5300)

Pros: The user interface on this thing is a dream next to every other router I've owned. Looks awesome Fast Easy to set up Good Signal Strength I love the QOS features and all the monitoring and auditing options.

Cons: It was a lot bigger than I expected. This makes it look awesome but might make it difficult to place. Make sure you have room for it.

Overall Review: I bought a "AC Infinity MULTIFAN S3, Quiet 120mm USB Fan" which fits perfectly over the top vent and plugs conveniently into one of the 2 USB ports for power. Should keep it cool and rock solid.

Most Critical Review

Unstable I/O, Not compatible with common GPU coolers

ASUS ROG Strix Z690-A Gaming WiFi D4 LGA 1700(Intel® 12th&13th Gen) ATX gaming motherboard(PCIe 5.0, DDR4,16+1 power stages,WiFi 6,Intel 2.5 Gb LAN,Bluetooth v5.2,Thunderbolt 4,4xM.2/NVMe SSD and Front panel USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C connector
ASUS ROG Strix Z690-A Gaming WiFi D4 LGA 1700(Intel® 12th&13th Gen) ATX gaming motherboard(PCIe 5.0, DDR4,16+1 power stages,WiFi 6,Intel 2.5 Gb LAN,Bluetooth v5.2,Thunderbolt 4,4xM.2/NVMe SSD and Front panel USB 3.2 Gen 2x2 Type-C connector

Cons: * Chipset runs hot * Peripheral I/O has been unstable. * The white (plastic?) shroud and MOBO layout limits placements of GPUs. I can only use one slot for my GPU and it covers most of the NVME slots. It was really difficult to get my GPU inserted and it's very difficult to remove.

Overall Review: EDIT: Suggestion to any owners, specifically while writing this review, I noted the cooling layout on the product images and that the chipset heatsink is right under the GPU. I cranked up my gpu fans and my chipset has dropped 10 degrees C. GPU is not under heavy workload rn. This may help people. It seems the Chipset expects to get a cooling boost from your GPU cooler. If you are using a liquid cooled GPU, or if you are running your GPU fans on a very quiet setting, the chipset will likely run hotter. The first problems I ran into were slotting the GPU. I initially had a 3090 with a liquid cooling mod on it and it had a slim profile but I couldn't fully seat it in the top slot. It conflicted with the shroud. I then later swapped that for a 3090 TI because I didn't want to deal with liquid cooling, and that one also had issues fitting into either slot. This is the first motherboard I've had with I/O stability issues. The chipset runs hot , Idk if that is related. The chipset heatsink is right under the massive aircooled GPU so maybe that's part of the problem. I swapped over all my same peripherals to this new motherboard. I've got the same HDDs..etc. But I've noticed a lot of situations where my keyboard and mouse will stop working (USB), or my speakers (USB), or my externally attached HDD (USB). Recently even my internally attached HDDs were dropping out (SATA). The NVME drive I picked seems stable enough so far and I don't notice issues with the GPU or network interface. I use the computer pretty heavily. It's maxed out on RAM most of the time so my HDD issues may be resulting from a lot of swap i/o. I'm not sure. But the USB drop outs have been really frustrating. I suspect the issue is cooling of the chipset. I think going forward I'll want to make sure that the board I purchase has decent chipset cooling.

I will buy a few more.

AC Infinity MULTIFAN S3, Quiet 120mm USB Fan for Receiver DVR Playstation Xbox Computer Cabinet Cooling
AC Infinity MULTIFAN S3, Quiet 120mm USB Fan for Receiver DVR Playstation Xbox Computer Cabinet Cooling

Pros: You can chain them so you don't loos a USB Port. This is key for setting this on top of electronics with limited USB ports.

Cons: The cable is a bit cluttered with the control switch and the USB adaptor.

Overall Review: I purchased this to sit on top of my new ASUS RT-AC5300. Routers I've owned seem to drop more when they run hot. This fit perfectly over the upper vents and sits stable. Plugs into the USB port on the router so I don't need to wire it tot a power outlet. I plan to buy a few more.

Best build case I've had ever

Phanteks Eclipse P400S PH-EC416PSTG_AG Silent Edition Anthracite Grey Tempered Glass/Steel RGB ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
Phanteks Eclipse P400S PH-EC416PSTG_AG Silent Edition Anthracite Grey Tempered Glass/Steel RGB ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: Good component isolation Excellent cable management Good Air Flow Plenty of Room Easy HDD install Clean look Clean accent lighting Building in this case was just easy.

Cons: Don't like the brand name....

Overall Review: YES

Everything I expected and more

Microsoft Kinect w/Kinect Adventures for XBOX 360
Microsoft Kinect w/Kinect Adventures for XBOX 360

Pros: Seeing menus fly by with the flick of your wrist is awesome. I didn't actually expect the system to be as responsive as it is. I could stand there all day just swiping back and forth between menus... I could see this providing for some really fun spell casting games.

Cons: Um sore muscles..?

Overall Review: Experience varies a bit from game to game as they all seem to use their own gestures for navigation. Some are faster and more entertaining to use than others.

No Quality Control

APEVIA X-Dreamer ATXB3KLW-BK/420W Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ATX 420W power supply for AMD/Intel Power Supply
APEVIA X-Dreamer ATXB3KLW-BK/420W Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ATX 420W power supply for AMD/Intel Power Supply

Pros: Assuming it was all in one piece its a beautiful case

Cons: Case arrived in terrible shape. The entire front pannel was ripped off. And the case had numerous scratches cracks and dents. I can't imagine that happened during shipping. The box an packageing was flawless, no bends or bulges.looking.

Overall Review: If your willing to risk the return process then this may be a good case. Otherwise keep looking.

11/15/2006