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Samuel A.

Samuel A.

Joined on 10/03/01

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 13
Most Favorable Review

Works fine.

ASUS M5A97 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
ASUS M5A97 AM3+ AMD 970 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX AMD Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

Pros: - seems well made - easy bios overclocking - had every every feature I needed - Run 4GB in all for slots just fine with my DDR3 1866 memory

Cons: - value, seems like you are paying more to have the Asus brand - missing DIGI+ VRM which would have made overclocking even easier that the EVO version of this board has - adjusting voltages in the Asus AI utility in windows caused my machine to complete freeze. Overclocking in the bios worked fine though. - for some reason it didn't correctly read the timing table for my DDR3 1866 memory, but for some reason after I maually set the timing and voltage, it did.

Overall Review: I gave -1 egg just because it doesn't feel like a great value, but it is ASUS' cheapest 9XX board so I guess you should expect some corners to be cut as compared to their more expensive models. You can get cheaper brand MBs with the higher end 990FX chipset for $25 more, but I never plan to run more than one video card. I would probably buy this board again in spite of the "cons".

12/29/2011
Most Critical Review

works as advertised ... with work

Patriot Viper Xtreme 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1866 (PC3 15000) Desktop Memory Model PXD38G1866ELK
Patriot Viper Xtreme 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR3 1866 (PC3 15000) Desktop Memory Model PXD38G1866ELK

Pros: - I was able to get it to run as 1866 with my Asus M5A97 MB with the AMD 970 chipset - I haven't benched marked it, but it theory it should be fast - cheap price

Cons: - It was auto configured to 1333 - My first several attempts to manually set it to 1866 the speced timings were failures - timings of 9-11-9-27 aren't the best around - The patriot tech support *incorrectly* told me I would have to just run it at 1600 because I am not using a P67 chipset

Overall Review: I gave three eggs mainly because of the poor customer support. The problem didn't turn out to be insurmountable, I just think the guy didn't want to help. It would have been 1 egg if I didn't eventually get it to the advertised speeds. - I was fairly annoyed with the Patriot tech support telling me that without a P67 MB I would have to run it at 1600 - eventually I got it to work at 1866 after I correctly the memory voltage to 1.65 :) - after I manually fixed the stetting in the bios, the ASUS AI tool could all of sudden correctly read the memory timing table - patriot probably will not be my first choice next time

12/29/2011

it was perfect

Lenovo ThinkVision S27q-10 27" QHD (2560x1440) 4ms IPS Monitor, Black
Lenovo ThinkVision S27q-10 27" QHD (2560x1440) 4ms IPS Monitor, Black

Pros: - Even though it was refurbished, the product looked new. The box was used though. - the panel looks good - 1440p

Cons: - the stand is not adjustable and wobbly - at 27", it looks almost the same as my old 24" 1200p monitor

Overall Review: I would buy it again.

worth $10 for sure

Star Wars Force Unleashed II Collector Edition Xbox 360 Game
Star Wars Force Unleashed II Collector Edition Xbox 360 Game

Pros: fun game free 2 gb flash drive

Cons: none yet

Good for the money

LIAN LI PC-7FN Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
LIAN LI PC-7FN Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: - aside from the blue LED fan in the front, the design is classy - well made through out - bottom PSU - mostly tool-less - all aluminum constructoin - lian li build quality fit and finish - nice size, not too big, but big enough for a full size rig

Cons: - skimps on extras like VGA holddown brackets, external esata - panels can rattle when DVD and HD spin up, but it looks like there were little pad stickers I was supposed to use - could use some top fans

Overall Review: At this ~$100 pricepoint, I think this all aluminum case is a good value. This case shares many of the same features of lian li's more expensive models. To get to that price point, you don't get a lot of extras you would get in similarly priced steel cases from other brands like cool master. I think it is a fair balance of value and quality.

okay

ASUS My Cinema-U3100Mini/ATSC/QAM/PLUS Digital TV Stick
ASUS My Cinema-U3100Mini/ATSC/QAM/PLUS Digital TV Stick

Pros: It seems to be able to tune ATSC and Clear QAM with their in-box software just fine.

Cons: I wanted this to work with Windows Media Center in Windows 7, but it doesn't out of the box. I will need to do some more research, but it looks like it might be possible to get this to work with some registry hacking.

Overall Review: Since my goal for this tuner was to use it with Windows Media Center and I couldn't out of the box, I give it two stars. If you are fine with using the included tuner software, then this device will work fine for you.