Pros: The pros are simple, even with my 9950 BE Phenom running with multiple cores at 100 percent activity for several hours the CPU temps stay in the high 20s and low 30s on the Celsius scale.
Cons: Tall cooler will be too big for smaller cases. Fan is loud on maximum setting.
Overall Review: I purchased a Xigmatek HDT-D1264 as a cooler for my 9950 BE Phenom build, and that horrible heatsink couldn't keep the Phenom cool unless the CPU was just running idle. Once a single core jumped above 30 percent load the CPU temps started to rise ... and rise ... and rise until the temps reached above 100 degrees Celsius and the computer auto shutdown. I tried removing the cooler, cleaning everything, using different type of thermal paste, and all the results basically stayed the same (+ or - a few degrees). I replaced that horrible Xigmatek cooler with this ZEROtherm Nirvana cooler and the difference is like night and day. This cooler keeps the CPU ice cold. I'll never have to worry about overheating again.
Pros: Excellent game performance and DVD playback. No fan means one less noisemaker in my case that already has three fans pumping air in and out. I've been playing Sims2, KOTOR, KOTOR2, Vampire Bloodlines, and Tomb Raider Legends at high detail levels with perfect performance.
Cons: I can't get the GPU core temp to drop below 68 degrees Celcius at idle and it jumps up into the 80s after only about 45-55 minutes of playing a 3D-intense game. Not horrible, but I figured the temps would be better since I have a case fan blowing directly on the card. I imagine the temps without a case fan blowing on the card are even hotter.
Overall Review: This might not be the card for you if you play games at the maximum video performance level for hours and hours without stopping. I bet some gamers could probably reach the core slowdown temp of 125 degrees after a few hours of hardcore gaming.
Pros: Near perfect color. Excellent brightness and contrast yet blacks are very good. Screen uniformity is as good as my old CRT and much better than my LCD at work. As for the 8ms response/latency, it works very well for games and video though I'm not sure I like this monitor's video performance as much as my old CRT. No dead pixels.
Cons: Monitor stand isn't great. Default brightness was a bit too strong.
Overall Review: I'll probably buy a second one of these so I can have a dual monitor setup.
Pros: Low price High Performance Looks good
Cons: NewEgg sells two types of this RAM (one with a plastic logo on the front and one like what you see pictured here). You won't know which you're going to get until it shows up
Overall Review: Despite the fact that OCZ makes two types of this RAM both versions perform equally well ... they just look different. Buy this RAM if you're looking for PC 3200 and you'll be happy.
Comments: The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is an amazing book, and the movie is pretty great ... but it needed some stonger comedy actors/actresses in order to do it justice. Don't Panic. Just rent the movie and enjoy. ;)
Comments: I've been using this enclosure with an old 80GB HD for about three months and have been so happy with it that I bought a second one for a 120GB HD that had a faulty external enclosure. This is a GREAT 3.5" USB 2.0 external enclosure. It works and looks great. The enclosure WILL heat up after a few hours if you leave it on and have heavy HD use, but that is the same for ALL 3.5" external enclosures that don't have a fan or fans to cool the drive. So, if you want to use external drives all the time you NEED to consider an external enclosure with a built-in fan ... or find an alternative way to cool the enclosure. These enclosures work the way they are supposed to ... and they work VERY well.
Comments: Straight out of the box and into my computer's PCI slot ... it immediately was recognized by XP MCE, drivers loaded themselves without need for CD, and I was immediately able to plug in USB and firewire devices are get down to business. The very definition of "plug and play." If you need a PCI card for USB and Firewire this is what you want.
Comments: This is a very good fan, great air flow, solid performance, nice and bright, but not as quiet as my old case fan. That said, my old case fan didn't cool my case temps as much as this fan does.
Comments: I've only played this game on one of my two PCs and the PC I'm playing it on is my "budget" system (Athon64 3400+ 2.4GHz, 1.5GB of 400MHz DDR, 550W PSU, and X550 256MB card overclocked to 12% above default clock and memory). The game runs virtually flawlessly at 1280x1024 resolution, but whenever the characters are standing next to water the waves of the water "bleed" into the edges of the character models ... which looks ugly. I'm not sure if it's because of the cheap video card I'm using or if it's a game bug. Other than that, excellent game.
Comments: My last two systems used on-board audio instead of PCI soundcards and I thought there was no real difference. Well, after a friend's suggestion I bought this card (since it was so cheap but so highly rated) to see if there was a difference. Well, the sound is MUCH better on my system since adding he card. Games sound more realistic and I hear things in my music that I never new was there! Anyway, unless you have reason to believe for a FACT that your onboard audio is great, you need to spend the pocket change required for this card. I don't think I will ever go back to trusting the audio on my motherboards from now on.
Comments: Since the X550 is based on the X300 I wasn't expecting amazing performance, but I was impressed by this card at factory default settings. Straight out of the box with updated drivers it performed flawlessly with every game I threw at it (though not always at highest settings). When overclocked (14% increase on core and 10% increase on memory) I was even more impressed! If you don't need bleeding edge performance and just need solid and stable performance for a low price this is a GREAT card.
Comments: I had my doubts about this card, but now that it's in my Athlon64 3400+ machine I have nothing but great things to say about the X550 256MB card from Sapphire! Using ATITool 2.4 I've overclocked this card from the stock 400MHz core and 250MHz memory (500MHz DDR) to an impressive and stable 459MHz core and 276MHz memory (552 MHz DDR). Vampire Bloodlines, KOTOR, KOTOR2, Sims2, Freedom Fighters, Aliens vs. Predator 2, Advent Rising ... they all run perfect and with excellent performance (1280x1024 and 60fps easy). I don't see the point in paying more for cards that won't deliver much more performance. Excellent card!
Comments: My current desktop uses this motherboard. I'm using an Athlon64 3400+ processor with 1.5GB of PC3200, and a 550W Rosewill PSU. No motherboard-related problems in 2+ months of use. The onboard X200 graphics are ok for old games but don't waste your time trying to run any graphics-heavy games made in the last three years on the X200 chipset. The motherboard has a PCI-e x16 slot, so get a good video card if you want to play good games. I'm waiting for the Saphire X550 256MB card to arrive from NewEgg (they have been unusually slow in getting the video card to me). The onboard audio for this motherboard is fine for 90 percent of users out there, though I upgraded to a PCI soundcard because I wanted even better performance. Overall, if you need an AMD motherboard, can live with a max of 2GB of PC3200, and want onboard graphics for "some" gaming and the ability to upgrade, this is an great board.
Comments: They're ramsinks and they work. I'm not sure whatelse to say except they look nice on my video card and that I was able to get a nice increase when overclocking after installing them. I'm about to build a new Athlon machine with a budget X550 card that I will overclock to improve performance ... I will probably add these ramsinks to the X550 card on that machine to help with overclocking.
Comments: My friend and I are building our own Athlon desktops. I have a cheap x300SE card that is holding me over until I can afford a x700 pro card next month. My friend went ahead and bought this card and overclocked it. He can overclock this card to perform BETTER than the benchmarks for an overclocked x700 card I was considering!!! And it's stable without serious temperture issues. I'm now considering buying this card and overclocking it rather than spending the extra money on a X700 or X700 Pro card.
Comments: I first bought this PCI fan to help cool my video card in my old shuttle case. My shuttle was a LOUD system ... loud power supply, loud case fan, even a relatively loud HD. When I added this card fan to my shuttle it cooled the video card several degrees and only made the system louder if I turned the fan on maximum. My new desktop has a VERY quiet power supply, quiet case fans, and quiet internal and external drives. I decided to add this card fan to my new desktop to cool the video card ... bad idea. The noise from this fan was hidden by the loudness of my old shuttle system. Now that my new system is super quiet all I hear is this fan running ... even at the lowest setting. I need to test whether this fan cools my video card enough to make up for the noise. If it only drops the temp 2 degrees or less, I'm getting rid of this fan because of the noise.
Comments: It's an external HD enclosure as long as it works there isn't much else to say. My only comment is that the front red light looks ugly when combined with the side blue lights. I unplugged the red light and just have the side blue lights on ... and it looks MUCH better.
Comments: This is a great looking power supply, it's quiet ... quieter than my quiet dedicated video card cooler/fan. I've only had it in my Athlon 3400+ machine for a day, but I'm already a happy camper. This baby is much better than my stock 300W power supply. My one and only complaint is that there are a TON of cables and barely enough room in my case to fit them all.
Comments: Looks good and works great! No complaints. If you need PC3200 memory this is a GREAT value.
Pros: - Delivered without cracks - Conveniently stored in my fridge - Durable exterior
Cons: - Always out of stock - Available in only one color - Only three eggs per package
Overall Review: These apparently cage-free, grain-feed eggs are simply fantastic, but at the "bargain price" of $41.11 for three, you end up spending more than $160 for a dozen eggs. I haven't tested NewEgg's return policy on these, but I'm hoping I can at least get a store credit on the one I didn't open.