Joined on 09/24/12
Product Well Under Price Range
Pros: Overclocks well. I have my at 4.5, keeps cool with stock cooler and didn't even have to touch voltage meaning it can go some much higher. Insanely low cost for the stock speed and multicores. Runs cool even under load (and by load, I mean stress testing with Pi, 52 celcius.
Cons: When going over 4.5, I had to increase my voltage from 1.38 to 1.45 before I saw a stable system at 4.6. Didn't want to go any higher because the heat started to increase past my comfortable zone.
Overall Review: I wish I had bought it when that 15 coupon was out...
Weak 12v rails lead to it's death
Pros: I got it on a sale and it looked pretty. Powered my system for as long as it was alive.
Cons: Worked for a few months then died a smoky death. The 12v rails are rated at a low amperage. I didn't know what rails were when I bought this. Had I known, I would have stayed away. Also, if you're gonna overclock, expect to not have this PSU for very long. However, it's fine to make a basic PC looks pretty.
Overall Review: A combined 31 amperage isn't much especially considering most CPU's also draw from the 12v rail now and can go up to nearly 200 watts if I understand correctly. Along with a GPU that's already drawing nearly 250 from a single v rail, it can quickly overdraw what it takes leading to a short life span.
Eh.
Pros: Cheap Did it's job for a year Was quiet when it worked No real power fluctuations Plenty of cords that were threaded for stability and cooling efficiency Semi-modular Nice blue glow
Cons: Fan started dying in under a year Raidmax brand name
Overall Review: Raidmax has had a very iffy reputation for ill power supplies. They tend to be competitive in their pricing, but their quality seems to lack because of it. I purchased it against my better judgement, and the yar I owned their power supply, it worked fantastically. Until the fan starting clinking against the internal heatsink. Would do this off and on. Eventually, the fan got to the point where it would rattle and smash against the metal pieces, creating a horrible ruckus. Had to turn off my computer and leave it off for a weekend to ensure it didn't destroy anything in the process. I've purchased another Raidmax PSU in hopes that I just got a clunker from the bin. If this one dies on me as well, I can kiss Raidmax good bye. I'll be sticking to Corsair.
Completely Unacceptable
Pros: It was stupid cheap. Got it on sale for 60 bucks. It has decent 4K read and write speeds which is essential for fast file access which deals with booting, shutting down and other operations.
Cons: COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE PERFORMANCE. I CANNOT explain how furious I am with this. Kingston has ALWAYS had above excellent quality and performance. I was always reaching for their flash memory, storage and the such. They were the first to come out of my mouth when I worked retail at sellers. However, this... This is outrageous. I am beyond infuriated with how shady and low cut this was. I'm not going to rant, but this doesn't even deserve one egg. Stay away from this product. It is no longer worth the price you pay.
Little Package Big Surprise
Pros: This little guy is a devil driver. It's small and compact, but still sports the 6gb/s SATA3 we've all come to love. It runs cool (around 35 idle, 40 under load with everything else around it putting out heat) and it's AM3+ port is simply awesome. I have it set up in my old Emachine case (planning to get a Z11 soon) and it really can pack a punch. The Bios also allows for easy overclocking. :D
Cons: It only comes with one PCIe port and because it's so close to the other PCI slots, my graphics card ended up eating my SATA slot and PCI next to it. Not a big deal because I knew that there was going to be fitting issues, so I didn't take an egg from it.
Overall Review: I got this about a two months ago. No problems at all other than the things listed.
Insane Value
Pros: This card is a monster. Yes, it is a mid-range card, but what games are out there that cannot fully utilize DirectX 11 and the power of this beast? So far, everything I have tossed at it has been maxed with 30 FPS or higher. For 170 dollars, it's hard to beat the price. The card is about 10", but even with an M-ATX case, it was easy to slide in and fit.
Cons: I can't figure out what games to play! D:
Overall Review: Most games will run this card up to 70 degrees celcius. But, they will be running max. To be honest, if you're on a budget, get this. If you have about another hundred bucks to blow, think about stepping up that way you won't have to upgrade within the next few years.