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Steven M.

Steven M.

Joined on 07/16/05

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 6
Most Favorable Review

Great PSU, inadvertantly am running in every PC I own

CORSAIR TX Series CMPSU-750TX 750 W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Compatible with New 4th Gen CPU Certified Haswell Ready
CORSAIR TX Series CMPSU-750TX 750 W ATX12V v2.3 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Compatible with New 4th Gen CPU Certified Haswell Ready

Pros: - Powers your stuff - Doesn't die - PSU bag is useful for misc things

Cons: - Not modular

Overall Review: I researched PSU's and picked this for my new build. When cleaning out my old, perfectly-stable build, I realized I had been using the exact PSU in my now 2+ year old rig. I am a man of good taste, it seems. Now both mine and my girlfriend's computers are running this PSU and it works perfectly. Intel i2500k (sandy bridge) Asus P8P67 GTX 470 8GB G-Skill X-Fi Titanium XD Wireless card 3x SATA HD 2x DVD 4x 220mm 6x 120mm Fan controller Rock solid!

Most Critical Review

Might be great, but not for me

Mushkin Enhanced Redline 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model 996805
Mushkin Enhanced Redline 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model 996805

Pros: Potentially low CAS ratings.

Cons: - heat spreaders come apart far too easily - Would not work with my i2500k/Asus P8P67 - It would be nice if the package contained information about the ram (CAS, voltage, etc.) for reference when doing a first-time BIOS configuration

Overall Review: In hindsight I should've tried to run memtest to see if the sticks were bad or if they just were not compatible with my setup. Either way, even lowering the voltage to appropriate sandy bridge levels, I couldn't run stable if the system got past POST to begin with. YMMV.

Fantastic fans, sold everything else in my case

Rosewill RFX-120 - 120mm Computer Case Cooling Fan - Black Frame with Red Fan Blades, 2-Ball Bearing, Silent, 2-Speed with PWM Control
Rosewill RFX-120 - 120mm Computer Case Cooling Fan - Black Frame with Red Fan Blades, 2-Ball Bearing, Silent, 2-Speed with PWM Control

Pros: - Nice extras (fan controller, molex adapter, grill) - Easily controllable - dB measurements correctly stated. Even when full-blast it's very tolerable (though maybe not if it's next to your head in a bedroom)

Cons: - Can get a loud whoosh-going when pushing lots of air, but that's why this fan is adjustable. Not louder than advertised and is what I expected.

Overall Review: Not sure why anyone would buy any other fan after giving these a shot. Don't be fooled by the low-dB ratings of more expensive fans that are measured at their lowest RPM output. They get loud at their advertised high-CFM just like every single other fan. Several of them get waaay louder than these Rosewills. I know, I tested them back to back. Unfortunately I can't list which due to the review policy, but lets just say I'll just never buy a Pan Face again. ;) Do you need a 120mm fan? This is what you want.

Runs as advertised and overclocks decently

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-8GBXL

Pros: - Works out of the gate with correct settings even on the factory bios - I don't overclock much, but it handled the small increase I gave it - Heatsinks didn't fall apart when installing (unlike some other RAM), seem to be solidly connected

Cons: - "Sandy Bridge" marketing hype pushes the price up

Overall Review: Works perfectly with my i2500k/Asus P8P67 without any configuration needed.

Great card, but too hot

EVGA 012-P3-1472-AR GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) SuperClocked 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
EVGA 012-P3-1472-AR GeForce GTX 470 (Fermi) SuperClocked 1280MB 320-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Pros: - Runs everything at max settings smoothly - Free Mafia II! -

Cons: - Wish the power connections were at the tip rather than the top, though I understand why it's made this way - Runs way, WAY too hot by default. My computer actually froze while I was typing this review the first time when I was double checking the numbers. 50% fan @ 80C, 58% @ 92C

Overall Review: Great card, just be sure to download EVGA Precision software and enable automatic software fan control. I'd recommend adding extra in-between steps at 75 and 85 degrees (you'll see what I mean). The fans are certainly loud when cranked past 80%, but it's better than the card dying a year after you shell out this kind of money.

Good for basics

ECS NFORCE 570 SLIT-A (V5.1) LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI ATX Intel Motherboard
ECS NFORCE 570 SLIT-A (V5.1) LGA 775 NVIDIA nForce 570 SLI ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Inexpensive, solid (just as every other ECS board I've owned has been), nice RAID options

Cons: This obviously isn't an overclocking board, but I tried to play with the settings some... Anytime ANYTHING was changed the computer would not be able to boot and I'd have to reset the cmos. The preloaded BIOS was the most current listed on the ECS website.

Overall Review: A great value board, just at the time I purcahsed there were some BIOS issues. Not really a large deal for anyone who doesn't plan on playing with FSB speeds, etc. Not to mention by the time I've written this, it may have already been fixed. 4 stars because the people buying these boards understand the problem and the machines using them dont suffer any from the issue. Stability rules all.