Joined on 05/16/06
It's all about the cache
Pros: An excellent processor that goes well with my Foxconn N570SM2AA-8EKRS2H AM2 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI Motherboard. It has L2 2x1MB cache as opposed to L2 2x512K cache! It includes a OEM heat sink. I have read reviews where people grumble about the heat sink, the included heat sink works just fine for me and the fan is quiet. The heat sink even had a thermal pad installed, so I didn't have to go digging around for my Artic Silver. I have been unable to choke this processor and Lord knows I have tried. This CPU should keep me happy for the next three or four years.
Cons: None, Zip, Nadda!
Overall Review: "Ward, I'm worried about the Beaver"
Production Issues
Pros: Good board lay out, Five SATA connections, Excellent BIOS for overclocking a Black Edition chip, Redundant BIOS, Four memory slots.
Cons: HUGE Complaint: No thermal compound on the north or south bridge heat sinks. SMALL Complaint: If using a long video card, the SATA 5 connector will be covered. Use of a 90° SATA connector on SATA 5 is pointless because it makes the 90° elbow turn into the SATA 3 & 4 connectors
Overall Review: I built my rig and noticed right away that the temperature readings were off the scale. After a few system lockups and unexpected reboots, I tore the system down. I checked the mountings of the north and south bridge heat sinks and noticed the were sitting there all loose and sloppy. I decided to remove them and remount them. That's when I discovered that Gigabyte had not put any type of thermal compound on the heat sinks. I added a touch of Artic Silver to each heat sink and that helped with my heat problems. Sloppy manufacturing / quality checks Gigabyte. Ward I'm worried about The Beave
AMD nails it.
Pros: It's as fast as all get out and is certainly a more cost effective solution than the Intel I-5 or I-7. Very easy to overclock, though it's so fast at it's base settings, I didn't see a need to overclock it. The retail heat sink had copper pipes and was of far better quality than expected.
Cons: This mother runs HOT!, I was shocked to see the heat of the cores at idle and under stress, Maybe that heat sink was not all it was cracked up to be? I added two more 60MM fans to a case that already had three (not including cpu and psu fans). Doing that took my idle temps from 44° Celcius to 34° Celcius and stopped under stress temps from 66° Celcius to 56° Celcius. Yea....add some extra fans to your shopping cart now if your getting this processor.
Overall Review: Again...if your getting this processor, think about case air flow and consider a better heat sink and/or more fans for your case. This chip is fast but runs hot. Ward, I'm worried about the Beave
ASUS makes a great DVD unit.
Pros: Very quiet, opens quick, no stupid on the chip just advertising (I really hate that, I'll pay the extra $10 to avoid it) It came with Nero...sweet.
Cons: Bubble wrap packaging, but it worked so I shouldn't compain. I knew it was OEM and not retail when I ordered it.
Overall Review: Remember to order a SATA data cable for it. It's OEM and does not come with one. Ward, I'm worried about the Beave
I love this card!
Pros: Great Price. Decent size, not too big. Well built with that nice card shroud, that's not over the top. I run everything on max settings and it takes it, though I believe that paring it with a quad core 965 AMD helps in that area. Card had been very quiet and had not had any real heat issues. Ph and did I mention the great price?
Cons: I wish it Came with a game, you know like they used to do eight years ago. When you got a new video card, there was a game in the box. But alas, considering the price I should not complain too much.
Overall Review: Ward, I'm worried about the Beave
Cheap!
Pros: Poor build, No pros for you today Seagate.
Cons: While plugging in the SATA power cable, the plastic SATA mount on the hard drive, just broke off. Worthless! No excessive pressure was placed on the plug, I was just connecting it to the power supply. Seagate, I believe that you have taken your cost cutting measures on your build supplies too far.
Overall Review: Ward, I'm worried about the Beave