cover
Chrisopher W.

Chrisopher W.

Joined on 02/27/05

0
0

Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 13
Most Favorable Review
BIOSTAR Radeon HD 5670 1GB DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 CrossFireX Support Graphics Card VA5675NHG1
BIOSTAR Radeon HD 5670 1GB DDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 CrossFireX Support Graphics Card VA5675NHG1

Pros: DX11, CrossfireX, price. Runs L4D2 Source engine 1680x1050 max settings @ about 40-50 fps. Bump AA and Anisotropic filters down to 4x each and you double up to 80-100 fps.

Cons: For the price, you're probably better off grabbing a 57xx for $40-50 more.

Overall Review: I think you'd be hard pressed to find a game this thing CAN'T run playably. Might not be on the highest settings (you'd be hard pressed to tell the difference in 4x and 8x AA at the pace of most games today anyway), but it would get it done.

Most Critical Review

Never again

CORSAIR XMS 4GB 240-Pin PC RAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M1A1333C9
CORSAIR XMS 4GB 240-Pin PC RAM DDR3 1333 Desktop Memory Model CMX4GX3M1A1333C9

Pros: Came with the combo that had the processor I wanted.

Cons: Bought two of these in combos for two systems to be used for light gaming, Netflix, homework, ect. In both systems, these memory sticks went out in the exact same way on both systems about 45 days apart. Systems crashed with blue screen error, stop code indicated shut down to prevent damage. Ended up RMA'ing the processor in the first system thinking it was a heat problem, which put me past my 30 days on the memory, so I just had to eat another $50 on both systems.

Overall Review: Had never tried Corsair brand before, and never will again, I would probably go so far as to avoid items that had Corsair p00p as freebies.

GSkill to the rescue

G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB 240-Pin PC RAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9S-4GBRL
G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB 240-Pin PC RAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9S-4GBRL

Pros: GSkill has been my go to memory brand for my last 5 or 6 systems I've built. Never had a memory issue in any of these systems, with the oldest coming up on about 6yrs now.

Cons: none, nada

Overall Review: I bought two of these sticks as replacement sticks for the Corsair p00p that came with the last two combos I got from here. Used in AMD APU systems for light gaming and video streaming.

SilverStone Argon Series AR02 CPU Cooler with 92mm Fan for socket LGA775/1155/1156/1366/2011, AM2/AM3/FM1/FM2
SilverStone Argon Series AR02 CPU Cooler with 92mm Fan for socket LGA775/1155/1156/1366/2011, AM2/AM3/FM1/FM2

Pros: Nice and quiet, the rubber anti-vibration connectors used for attaching the fan to the heatsink are awesome. It is a large heatsink, mostly tall so it shouldn't block ram slots, ect. unless you have an extremely tight board. I had no problems on the microATX board listed below. I did have to remove a fan shroud from the case that was positioned right above the processor.

Cons: Installation is a bit more involved than other heatsinks I've had. You will need access to the back of the mobo to install properly. Not an issue for me since I was building the system from parts anyway, but if you're planning to upgrade a system that's in operation, you will need to extract the mobo to get it in.

Overall Review: Used on two systems I built for light gaming/Netflix/Facebook. AMD A8-5600K Trinity ASUS F2A55-M LE FM2 AMD (Hudson D2) HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

ASUS F2A55-M LE FM2 AMD A55 (Hudson D2) HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
ASUS F2A55-M LE FM2 AMD A55 (Hudson D2) HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

Pros: Cost, pretty bios, plenty of fan connectors, decent manual that diagrams all the little jumpers/headers correctly.

Cons: None so far

Overall Review: Bought 2 Combo deals to build systems for my wife to Netflix/Facebook and my daughter to Netflix/Facebook and play older steam games. AMD A8 5600K trinity 4GB Corsair DDR3 1333 Runs TeamFortress2 1920*1080@40-60fps, AA off, bilinear filtering, model texture high, lighting/shading low/med, would expect similar performance for other source engine games.

Rosewill RNWD-N1501UB USB Wireless Mini Adapter N150 Wi-Fi Adapter
Rosewill RNWD-N1501UB USB Wireless Mini Adapter N150 Wi-Fi Adapter

Pros: Cost, size and performance. Very modest blue led, will not light up a dark room.

Cons: None so far.

Overall Review: Installed on Win7 pro with provided drivers, no problems. Was watching Netflix and playing steam games in minutes.