Pros: Demagnetized - extremely important to not damage any parts. Price is great and quality is much better than expected - have been using to build/repair and such for 3+ years and every tool is still in great shape, they do not feel cheap at all. Even comes with an anti-static wrist strap which I love since I prefer to not have to remember to touch a case every now and then to discharge myself. Leather-like case it comes in looks professional and feels like good quality, no problems with zip or anything.
Cons: None for the price - doesn't include a flashlight and a few other things, but for the price the amount and quality of things this kit comes with is amazing.
Overall Review: One of the very few toolkits I feel are perfect and am not disappointed with, would highly recommend!
Pros: Amazing price for a quad-core at the time. 3+ years of use and this CPU is still a solid performer - still more than enough for what the build is used for, can compete with some more recent CPUs and should last quite a few years more. Great gaming performance even to this day. Still useable in AM3+ socket.
Cons: No L3 cache but doesn't impact performance too much (comparable to a 2.6GHz Phenom 2 Quad). Stock cooler it comes with isn't the best (loud) but good enough for stock.
Overall Review: One of my favorite CPUs i've used in a build - solid price to performance ratio at the time of purchase.
Pros: Good price at the time (compared to DDR3), works well with good performance and no problems.
Cons: Consumes a little more power and slower than DDR3.
Overall Review: From my experience, Adata makes good quality RAM and SSDs, wouldn't hesitate to go with them again for future purchases - very reliable products.
Pros: Okay card with satisfactory basic gaming performance for the price and time. Put this in a friends build who rarely games, but it runs dual monitors nicely and is perfect for their needs. Great temps even when stressed.
Cons: none
Overall Review: Powercolor makes great cards, would highly recommend them - they're competitively priced and each card i've owned from them have amazing temps/cooling.
Pros: All connected PCs still working great after 3+ years. Great shape, offers tons of outlets (8) unlike most of your regular flat surge protectors. Good price and protection insurance puts my mind at ease.
Cons: Shape really a love it or hate it thing, if you stick it fully in a L shaped corner you won't be able to use one or two outlets but if you're going to stick it under a desk or something much better than having a regular protector that would need to be around twice their normal length to have so many outlets.
Overall Review: Not a UPS :( so don't expect protection from brownouts but I knew when purchasing.
Pros: It works, no crashes or anything yet.
Cons: Horrible temps all over the board - surprised motherboard hasn't caught fire yet. Not doing anything that would cause this - running supported CPU without overclock, other parts running very cool, just the motherboard temps that are not normal.
Overall Review: I have other Gigabyte boards and they're great, but this one I wouldn't recommend unless you wanted to cook bacon on your computer (maybe I just got unlucky though).
Pros: Handle is strong - no worries of it falling apart while carrying. Looks fairly good in person. Front/Top USB ports have cover that can be opened close so prevents it getting dusty.
Cons: Side panels flimsy - they're fine if you treat them normally, but a punch or a drop could dent them whereas better quality cases can take more.
Overall Review: Could use an extra fan for cooling... I added one.
Pros: Price, not 80 plus but reliable - surprised that it's still going strong (3+ years of use), no PSU related problems.
Cons: One of these I own makes noise sometimes when computer is shut down. I wouldn't be afraid to use one of these in a tight budget build (when this PSU goes on special) - there are certainly much worse PSUs out there.
Pros: Fairly good build quality overall (see cons), works well for gaming and general use. Software is decent. No noticeable jitter or anything.
Cons: The side buttons feel a little cheap when pressed - move a little side to side, instead of just in and out. This mouse is built for large hands - my hands are average size for a guy and I find it a little uncomfortable at times.
Overall Review: Looks great - not too flashy and goes well alongside my sidewinder x4 keyboard.
Pros: Works most of the time, can't really complain for the price.
Cons: Has dropped connection very rarely - no more than once a month. Not 802.11n so if you have a faster internet connection it can be a bottleneck.
Overall Review: Satisfied with Rosewill's range of networking products, would recommend them for home use without hesitation.
Pros: Cools okay in a build that needed just a bit more air movement.
Cons: After a while started being noisy at times. Bearing on it's way out I believe.
Overall Review: Color is nice. I'd personally go with another fan unless you get a really good deal since the quality of these isn't amazing.
Pros: Durable - still works fine after 3 years, no problems reading smoothly/burning, just works.
Cons: Can be a little loud at times, but for the price can't really complain.
Pros: Price is amazing for what you get: Amazing Quality for a rubber dome board - 3+ years of heavy use (Starcraft player here, so you know these keys have taken a beating), 0 problems/performance change - not even with a single key. Unless you spill something or get crumbs into this keyboard it's not going down, and even then you can probably save it with a good clean. My main issue with generic dome boards was their limit to how many keys can be registered at one time in games, no issues with this board in hundreds of games tested. Even comes with keycap puller and extra keycaps. If you're on a tight budget and want a gaming keyboard without features like backlit, macros and such as a keyboard collector I believe there is no better bang for buck keyboard than this one. One of the few dome boards that left me as satisfied as some of my mech keyboards.
Cons: not a huge con, but uses ps/2 so can't use with my laptops.
Pros: -was cheap -okay for everything besides gaming
Cons: -caused crashes in multiple AMD systems when gaming, RAM passed all kinds of tests so I doubt they are faulty (when RAM was changed, the systems gamed fine). Either they do not play nice with the motherboards I have (I recommend checking the manual if they are listed before buying these) or they need their settings tweaked which is an unnecessary headache.
Pros: -DPI not too low -cheap -good customer support
Cons: -bought 2, and 1 has started to have a double click issue with the LMB where when I click once it registers two clicks (tried troubleshooting it but it is definitely a goner)
Overall Review: -Okay even for basic gaming, though I personally didn't find it great for extremely intensive competitive games. Nice, affordable option to have with you on the go for laptops if like me you can't stand their touchpad.
Pros: -still works after 3 years of use -okay speeds
Cons: -LEDs flashing on side can get annoying -needs a power adapter - not powered through USB -pain to open
Overall Review: -uses a WD green drive I believe
Pros: -3 years+ of use, still works -Windows shortcuts listed on keys, good for the people who don't know them by heart like the person I bought this for
Cons: -don't bother trying to game on this, many 3+ keypresses at the same time do not register so FPS or racing games aren't fun on it
Pros: -have 2, both still running great 3 years+ after purchase, reliable -fast -fair price
Cons: -not caviar black, still have to wait for players in games to load at times so don't really see the point spending more for the gaming I do
Pros: -still runs 3 years+ after purchase -room for 2 gpus/crossfire -works fine with the Athlon II 240 I put in it, though it cannot push it very far -140W cpu support is decent
Cons: -can't really push hardware too much with this board -one gpu lane is x4, not that I plan to crossfire with the CPU I have though
Overall Review: -for the cost this mb is okay, though more sata connections, better cooling etc. would be nice.
Pros: -still works great 3 years after purchase -fast -no compatibility issues with the many systems i've tested them in -low profile
Cons: -expensive at the time I bought it, boy have RAM/DDR3 prices gone down since then, but at least I got a quality product
Pros: -I use this dongle for my competitive gaming since it has never failed/disconnected me, whereas some other dongles from more famous brands have, excellent connection
Cons: -Windows does not automatically work with it, need to get the driver from rosewill's site, not taking off an egg since this is just me being picky because some other rosewill dongles I own automatically work with Windows -not n
Pros: -still running fine after 3 years -colors, contrast and all are great
Cons: -19" and low resolution, personally I wouldn't go below 1080p and 20" if I were to buy a monitor these days -not LED
Pros: -still running 3 years after I got it -can handle close to the advertised wattage -modular helps with cable management
Cons: -was expensive and though my unit is still running fine, there usually are better quality units for the price out there. If on sale, then it may be worth considering -no option to turn off LEDs, though most PSUs with them probably don't have that either
Pros: -Can still run many modern games maxed at 1080p, most that it can't will do fine on high (this is 2 and a half years after I got the card) -Runs cool, never saw it go into dangerous temperature range
Cons: -not really a con since I got more than my money's worth, but slightly expensive when I got it. A 7850 can beat it at stock these days and won't hurt your wallet as much as this card did back when this was released
Overall Review: Surprised how amazing this XFX card is, i've heard some good things but far more horror stories with the brand. I wouldn't be afraid to go with an XFX card again, chose them at the time because of their warranty.
Pros: Great cooling performance for the cost. Runs very quiet. Weight is fair - not too heavy. Thermal compound comes in a syringe instead of just a clear ketchup packet like some other ones.
Cons: Mounting is a bit of a pain, could be better. Have been using this for 3+ years, be warned plastic fan clips wear away if taken on/off heatsink a few times - my fan can move up and down freely - no problem in my case, but if you have a case where the motherboard is mounted flat instead of on its side the fan would drop off onto the motherboard. Wish the fan clips were made of metal or something to prevent this.
Overall Review: Overall satisfied for the price. Included