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RICHARD M.

RICHARD M.

Joined on 05/12/06

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 6
Most Favorable Review

Outstanding hard drive enclosure

LIAN LI EX-34A Aluminum Expansion HDD Kit
LIAN LI EX-34A Aluminum Expansion HDD Kit

Pros: Fit perfectly into my Lian Li G70 case, but because it's secured by screws in the 5.25" expansion bays, I would bet this could fit any case with 3 empty bays which doesn't use slide rails. It comes with a 120mm fan (which I changed out for a Scythe so I can't comment on it's noise). The stock fan is a 3-pin and it comes with a Molex adapter. Includes a dust filter which can be easily replaced. There's simply a narrow slot that you can drop a new one into, but I think this one can be cleaned and reused. I'll find out in a few months when it's dusty. The HDD enclosure itself is made of the same thick aluminum as the rest of my case and sports rubber pads where the fan connects to the enclosure which eliminates noise. Also the screw holes for the drives themselves are rubber-ringed. Special screws are included so you can connect your drives through these rubber rings. I have two 10k rpm drives attached and they don't make a squeek or a rattle. Totally silent.

Cons: Takes 3 of your 5.25" expansion bays, so this probably isn't an option for someone with less than a Full Tower case. The screws for the HDDs are unique. I've never seen the like and if you loose them...

Overall Review: I have two Raptors in mine, each with their own HDD cooling fans attached. Combined with the 120mm fan in front, my drives stay very cool. Never get more than 'warm' even under heavy data transfer. The black version of this would likely match any black case, so if you have the bays, and need/want a great HDD enclosure, pick one of these up!

Most Critical Review

Average

Scythe SCSMZ-1000 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler
Scythe SCSMZ-1000 92mm Sleeve CPU Cooler

Pros: It fit, it works, no sharp edges, quiet

Cons: It's basically the same thing as the stock heat sink, but with a larger fan (92mm as opposed to 80mm). It does its job, but I don't think I can OC my CPU reliably with this. Also, it *barely* fit on my Asus A8N32SLI Deluxe mobo. One of the levers actualy scraped some of the Asus logo decal off the mobo's heatpipe as I was installing it. It was that tight of a fit. :(

Overall Review: If I could do it over, I'd get a Zalman 9500.

Good bang for buck, but loud!

EVGA 256-P2-N563-AX GeForce 7900GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card
EVGA 256-P2-N563-AX GeForce 7900GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 SLI Supported Video Card

Pros: Great FPS and OC potential for your dollar

Cons: Fan is extremely loud and THERE IS NO FAN THROTTLE/CONTROL! Even a registry hack that has worked to unlock fan control on other cards doesn't work on this cause the fan is simply fed power w/o any kind of physical chip to control it's speed.

Overall Review: Not eVGA or nVidias fault but, Arctic Cooling doesn't make a cooler for this card and as they're the only manufacturer that I've found to make VGA coolers that don't overlap your other PCI slots, I'm basically left with two choices: Stick with the stock fan, or get a huge overlaping Zxxxan or something similar.

Not recommended

Scythe S-FLEX SFF21D 120mm Case Fan
Scythe S-FLEX SFF21D 120mm Case Fan

Pros: Silent, comes with a 3pin to molex adaptor

Cons: Low CFM (find it hard to believe its 33CFM...), expensive for a fan, doesn't move the air with any force which makes it worthless if you install a filter

Overall Review: I got several of these cause I wanted a quiet air solution. Installed these with some filters and yes it was quiet... and extremely hot. 65°C under load. Lockups from heat. Bad stuff. Removed the Scythes and replaced with the stock fans that came with my case (put filters on too). 50°C under load. If you really want some quiet fans just get a controller. The only reason why the Scythes are so quiet is cause they spin so slow. A controller will make stock fans do the same.

Excellent so far, but PSUs take time to show faults

OCZ OCZ600ADJSLI 600 W ATX12V 2.01, BTX, EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Power Supply
OCZ OCZ600ADJSLI 600 W ATX12V 2.01, BTX, EPS12V SLI Certified CrossFire Ready Power Supply

Pros: Many long cables, 2x PCIe cables, LED indicators lights, lots of power, ADJUSTABLE RAILS!

Cons: Only 2x SATA power cables (yes, I can and did use an adapter cable but still...), bit pricy

Overall Review: BE VERY CONSERVATIVE WHEN ADJUSTING THE RAILS! When turning the screws that adjust the rails you only need to turn a *tiny* bit. We're talking just a few degrees. I can see someone seriously damaging their system by overturning the screws.

Insurance against death by heat

MASSCOOL 4B02S4 Hard Disk Cooler
MASSCOOL 4B02S4 Hard Disk Cooler

Pros: Affordable, quiet, easy to install.

Cons: Adds about 1/2 an inch to the thickness of your HDD so if your case's bays or enclosures have no extra space expect to do some modding or get a new case.

Overall Review: Had two HDDs die on me w/in a year and a half of building my first computer. Thinking it was the drives I ordered new ones. When I went replace them the one that was failing but not yet dead was so hot it burned my hand. Picked up a pair of these coolers for my new drives. Been 3+ years, no failure, no problems. I'm convinced heat killed my first drives and these coolers have saved my replacement HDDs.