Joined on 10/11/04
Beautiful display!
Pros: 27"@1440p@144hz with Free Sync Fast TN panel has great color reproduction without sacrificing response time (1ms) Build quality excellent
Cons: I'm not a fan of the red accent on the bottom bezel, nor on the stand. Obviously I knew it was there when I purchased, so it's not a deal breaker, but would have liked it to just be black/brushed aluminum. The 'edge-to-edge- frameless design is accurate, sort of. The actual physical bezel of the monitor is very thin, only about 3mm. When powered off, this looks amazing.. something I hadn't seen in any other displays. Unfortunately, the panel itself has a black border around it that for all intents and purposes is just a bezel. It looks like something that could be resolved with software scaling, but it's a limitation of the physical dimensions of the panel. This border, plus that actual bezel, is about 9mm thick, which is just as wide as most mid-tier monitors' bezels. Because of these two things, 4 eggs from me.
Overall Review: All in all, phenomenal monitor for the value when on sale. I upgraded from 2x 21" 1080p TN panels and my only regret for the purchase is that I didn't buy 2! I've been using dual monitors for so long that I forgot what it was like to only have one, even a huge one at 1440p. I'll be in the market for another 27" 1440p monitor soon, probably not a 144hz one though since I won't be gaming on both.
Great quality for the price
Pros: Well built, considering the price. rubberized WASD and arrow keys lots of multimedia buttons Less than the cost of a couple gallons of gas includes 'normal' keycaps to replace orange ones includes a pretty handy keycap puller
Cons: Keyboard slides around, wish it had more/better rubber feet tiny backspace key full-sized return key Biggest complaint is the poorly designed space bar. Unless I press directly in the center of the bar, or press with above average force, the space bar will not register. The bar that connects the edges of the space key just isn't secured enough or sturdy enough to translate an average keypress on the left or rightmost thirds of the key. This slows my typing down quite a bit because I miss spaces.
Overall Review: All in all, it's hard to complain given the cost. If it wasn't for the space bar issue, I'd probably use this as my everyday keyboard at home (I've been using the same Dell multimedia keyboard for over 10 years, so anything is an upgrade at this point). Unfortunately, though, I'll probably just end up sticking this in the closet as a backup solely because of this issue. If i had paid any more than I did, it would get two stars. But given the price, I didn't expect any more than a 3 star product, so that's what I give it.
It's an HDMI cable
Pros: It's an HDMI cable.
Cons: It's not an R9 Fury.
Overall Review: It's an HDMI cable, does exactly what it's supposed to do, just like the dozens of other ones I have.
Great performer, but a little loud and hot
Pros: Great price:performance ratio, especially given AMDs recent holiday price drops Performs exactly as expected Free Sync support (although standard now) is a huge help on a 144hz monitor. Works as a space heater and white noise machine.
Cons: Reference cooler design leaves MUCH to be desired. Extremely loud, runs hot, and thermal throttles. Expected since I knew it was reference going in to the purchase, but I didn't know just how loud it would be.
Overall Review: Great bang-for-your-buck card, especially given AMD's recent price drops. I upgraded from a 2GB 270x and the performance increase is significant. Plays whatever I throw at it with Free sync on a 144hz monitor with no tearing on high/ultra settings. I'm going to debate swapping the cooler to a CLC one, I'm not going to even attempt to OC this card with the reference cooler.
My go-to PSU for budget builds
Pros: Budget friendly Solid build quality Great reliability Plenty of connector options Sleeved cables Lengthy cables
Cons: Absolutely none.
Overall Review: This isn't the first CX430 PSU I've bought, and it certainly won't be the last. This line of power supplies continues to be my go-to choice for budget builds. I purchased this one for a budget home backup server that I built, and as always, Corsair does not disappoint. Build quality is excellent, reliability is about the best you'll get in this price range (when on sale). Cables are plenty long, and plenty of connector options, sleeved is an added bonus. Fan is relatively quiet, yet moves plenty of air to keep the PSU cool. Every budget machine I build for myself, friends, or family has a CX line powersupply, many of them the CX430 specifically. I'll continue to recommend them until they stop producing them.
Solid motherboard for the price
Pros: Supports Ivy Bridge out of the box ITX Form Factor 4 SATA ports Onboard HDMI and VGA Priced extremely well
Cons: No USB3 No SATA3 16GB max RAM Of course, these are all limitations of the H61 chipset which I knew going into it. Only 2 fan headers (1x CPU, 1x additional) - Would have liked a third.
Overall Review: I bought this board to go with an i3-3240 that I picked up for a home server, primarily for backups and serving media. My only hard requirements were a budget board from a reliable brand that supported Ivy Bridge and had HDMI for when I re-purpose it as an HTPC later on. Build quality is excellent for the price, better than you'd find on a board from a competing budget brand like Biostar or ECS. All of the limitations on the board are due to the H61 chipset and the form factor preventing ASRock from implementing additional features, which helps keep cost low. I would have liked to see an extra fan header on the board, and a single PS/2 port rather than 2 to conserve space, and potentially add something like DVI. All in all, great board for a great price, I don't anticipate any issues from it, ASRock has always been a solid brand.