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Winston S.

Winston S.

Joined on 12/03/06

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 15
Most Favorable Review

Neat technology

Plextor M5M 128GB Mini-SATA (mSATA) MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) PX-128M5M
Plextor M5M 128GB Mini-SATA (mSATA) MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) PX-128M5M

Pros: Small form factor SSD. Works with my Asrock Z87E itx mother board perfectly.

Cons: None that I have seen.

Overall Review: Took advantage of a clean OS SSD install to minimize clutter in my build. No, you can't see it since it is under the mother board. Love it.

Most Critical Review

Decent board with quirks

MSI 760GM-E51 AM3 AMD 760G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
MSI 760GM-E51 AM3 AMD 760G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: Nice layout, and headers are smartly located. Decent Bios options. Runs fairly cool in my cube case with 2 external fans. Dull blue led on board is ominous at times.

Cons: The audio locks up my screen periodically (with multiple video streaming), and cannot be fixed with updates. Other than this, it has been reliable, but that is a pretty big issue. The ram hits my heatsink, but nothing an abrasive blade can't fix.

Overall Review: I will be upgrading to a 880 GMA-G55 series mATX soon, due to the issues with the audio. I am pretty loyal to MSI, but this board has shaken my faith in them. I have yet to successfully use the OC switches without a BSOD, but would have like to see it work.

Not for everyone

SILVERSTONE SX500-LG 500W SFX-L 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply, Silent running 120mm fan with 18dBA minimum (SX500-LG V2.0)
SILVERSTONE SX500-LG 500W SFX-L 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Full Modular Active PFC Power Supply, Silent running 120mm fan with 18dBA minimum (SX500-LG V2.0)

Pros: SFX form factor, low noise, full modular, decent power output

Cons: I am not overly impressed with the "ribbon style" cables as they have shown to be a bit quirky, but they do tend to hold their arrangement after bending them a little.

Overall Review: Would have liked 2 PCIX cable outs from unit instead of single out with a Y adapter. It is 500 watts after all. I am also curious about multi-out plug points on PSU's in general. Since the typical install of a SFX PSU is on a small chassis, I am sure that a extra $40 would cover the cost of associated manufacturing. Or even a "internal slip joint" plug for the PSU's, heck, even a 90 degree plug would be awesome for many given the designs of many chassis out there putting the GPU close to the plug point on the PSU.

Works Great

CORSAIR Hydro Series H105 Extreme Performance 240mm Liquid CPU Cooler, CW-9060016-WW
CORSAIR Hydro Series H105 Extreme Performance 240mm Liquid CPU Cooler, CW-9060016-WW

Pros: While not quiet, the fans are not bothersome at 2-3 feet away. Depending on intake versus exhaust, this unit can be a desktop fan if your chassis allows. Temps are only a few degrees above ambient at idle, and low intensity programs. Feels solid. My first time with a AIO (coming from a Noctua nh-d14) and so far so good.

Cons: If I had a gripe, it would be outside the scope of this review.

Overall Review: Corsair radiators are not fin dense, which affects surface area. However, it is a decent compromise to exhaust internal chassis air versus a more dense fin array. I am sure over the next 10+ years density will go up (affecting cost), and fan technology will continue to be affordable.

Its a 770

EVGA 04G-P4-3778-KR G-SYNC Support GeForce GTX 770 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Dual Classified with EVGA ACX Cooler Video Card
EVGA 04G-P4-3778-KR G-SYNC Support GeForce GTX 770 4GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Dual Classified with EVGA ACX Cooler Video Card

Pros: Looks cool, dominates case area, stays cool and dissipates heat well. Appears to run good.

Cons: I keep seeing "tearing" or rather some line across the center of the screen (kinda flickers) during game play. I guess this is normal. Does it streaming video as well, but maybe HDMI isn't all it is cracked up to be. Overall, upgrading from a 550ti to this was not what I expected after shelling out over $500.

Overall Review: I am not a technical wizard, but I chose this card as a means of future proofing within my budget. The flickering areas are somewhat of an annoyance, so when I finally get irritated enough, I may just toss it in "File 13" and write off this line/company.

Works for me

ASRock Z87E-ITX LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel I217V Lan 802.11ac WiFi Intel Motherboard
ASRock Z87E-ITX LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI USB 3.0 Mini ITX Intel I217V Lan 802.11ac WiFi Intel Motherboard

Pros: Newer tech in a small form factor.

Cons: Two fan headers, but I knew that before I bought it.

Overall Review: I build my system every few years, and this time I decided on a MITX build. I could not be more pleased with the build. Motherboard gave me features that I can use for how I use a PC. Specs are: 4670K, Samsung 22nm RAM 8GB, EVGA 770 4GB Classified, Plextor 128 SSD (mini), Noctua d14 cooler, all packed into a Node 304. Loaded W7, the free game with the GPU, and a few office products and it all works well.