Joined on 05/24/10
Love it
Pros: Runs all of the games I play at great FPS with high settings. Playing BF3 at 45-90 fps on ultra is amazing. Crysis 2 on high at around 60fps. Eats through day-z at around 50fps with the game looking beautiful. Also extremely quiet, at 10% fan speed it idles at about 30C. Even when you ramp up the fan to 100%, its not nearly as loud or annoying as most other cards. Paired with a Hyper 212 Evo my system is nearly silent, I have no problem falling asleep with my system idling about 10 feet away. Only needs 1 6-pin to power it. Doesn't draw much as far as power goes, I'm able to run this plus a FX6300 and 2 HDDs with a decent 500w thermaltake power supply no problem.
Cons: Haven't even installed the free game yet, got some batman game but would have preferred metro. AMD offers better bundled games with its cards IMO, however that has more to do with NVidia and asus than this card. As far as the actual card is concerned, it's a bit long so make sure you measure your case. I have an ATX Mid tower and it fits with room to spare, so it's not really a con for me.
Overall Review: Really enjoy this card. Its quiet, powerful, and saying its a step up from my old 4650 I was gaming on is the understatement of the century. I purchased this along with a new FX6300 and 8 gigs of DDR3 and I went from barely getting 20fps on battlefield with the lowest settings possible to a silky smooth 45-90fps on ultra. It really breathed new life into my games and it was worth every penny.
Amazing keyboard!
Pros: MX-Black keys feel amazing to type on, makes writing papers a joy. Great response time, when you press a key your character moves right away. Also great for when you're typing papers, as the lag that is noticeably when you really get in your zone and start topping 100wpm isn't present with this keyboard. Really reduces fatigue of typing for me. Also super durable, has a steel backplate behind the keys so you don't have to worry when your mashing buttons out of frustration. Isn't flashy, but I like that simplicity in a keyboard. I mean, when your gaming you aren't really going to look down in the middle of a round and say "Oh look at that backlight, so pretty". It reduces distractions, and still delivers more performance than most of those flashy keyboards. Wrist rest is nice, has 4 pads on the bottom so it stays in place. Durable cord is nice.
Cons: Most of these cons are very minor, just some things I have noticed: - Durable cord is great, however I have noticed a few problems with it: A.) My ps2 (purple keyboard) input is on the top of my motherboard. The weight of the cord really pulls down on it, and having the adapter to add that much more length doesn't help the cause. Mine is slanted quite a ways, but it doesn't seem to affect it. B.) The reinforced part could end a bit earlier, kind of a pain to have to pull on the cords to get them in place. - My num lock key seems to stay on all the time, even when my computer is turned off/hibernating. Even when I turn it off then shut my computer down, it still remains on - The indicator lights (Capslock, Numlock,ect) are really bright. Projects a rather large and red circle onto my ceiling when I turn the room lights off. - My audio output on the keyboard distorts audio, however this was only tested with the cord from the keyboard plugged in my mobos audio out.
Overall Review: Really a great keyboard. The sheer awesomeness, performance and feel of mechanical switches makes the keyboard well worth the money. Unlike other keyboards that have bright, flashy lights and macros that you will probably never use, this keyboard will actually improve your game and help you enjoy it more. Kind of makes you wonder why logitech sells $150+ keyboards that aren't mechanical. All in all, a great keyboard. If you are a gamer, no matter serious or casual, someone who is tired of their fingers hurting after typing, or just anyone who uses a computer really, this keyboard is a must have. Makes starcraft 2 enjoyable, and I'm bronze in 4v4 and can't even win a 1v1 match.
Some issues, but great case.
Pros: Nice and big, plenty of room to work. The side panels are nice and sturdy, wont bend. Thumb screws on both sides is a nice touch, easy to take off the side of the case and do maintenance. The glowing red front fan looks sweet, but see other thoughts. Nice little flat area on the top to keep flash drives, headphones and the thumbscrews. Plenty of slots and a nice (When working) 5.25 drive bay and 3.5 drive bay tool less system. Once you get it locked, hard drives and optical drives don't move around much.
Cons: I broke one of the 3.5 bays plastic locks just by unlocking it. The bottom is a bit flimsy, the fans at least for me are really loud. I came from a case with one fan so I'm not used to so many, but you can definitely hear that side fan. Expansion slot tool less system for add on cards and graphics cards suck. You cant still wiggle your card and it can still get lose and disconnect from your motherboard. No tool less holders for external 3.5 bays.
Overall Review: About the front fan, it looks like a swastika. You can even see it in Neweggs pictures, the one where it just shows the front of the case. I don't care, but some might take offense. I didn't have the problem of the fan hitting against the top of the case. I also had no dead spiders in mine, so don't worry, that other reviewer must have gotten a one in a million case. Make sure you have long enough sata cords to reach drives. All in all, a good case. I would buy it again.