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Kevin J.

Kevin J.

Joined on 01/14/04

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 8
Most Favorable Review
OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1600LV6GK
OCZ Gold 6GB (3 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Low Voltage Desktop Memory Model OCZ3G1600LV6GK

Pros: Great price, no reason not to install 12 GB in your system. Rock solid, no problems OC'ing my i7 920.

Cons: None.

Most Critical Review
LIAN LI PC-A05B Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
LIAN LI PC-A05B Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: Incredibly light weight. Nice, clean design with rolled edges and tight fitting parts all around. Large enough for a GTX280. Rear intake fan hits CPU directly, but see Cons below.

Cons: The fans are large and quiet, but the airflow inside this case is problematic. The product description says otherwise, but the rear fan is actually the intake and air is exhausted from the front. The power supply also exhausts from the front, so there is not really any sensible way to reverse the front fan. The power supply and front fan blow into a plenum behind the front of the case which redirects the air to the sides and bottom. Unfortunately, if you do not have something filling your 3.5" bay and the bottom 5.25" bay, the exhaust air also blows back inside the case and things quickly heat up. In the meantime, there is nothing exhausting the hot air at the very top of the case. I solved these problems with a cheap card reader to fill the 3.5" bay, and some cheap slot fans to exhaust the top of the case.

Overall Review: With some sort of separator between the power supply airflow and front fan airflow, and also a fan at the very top of the case, this could be a great case. Have to take a couple eggs off for seemingly boneheaded recycling of hot air.

AOC FC-2000 PCI Slot Case Cooler
AOC FC-2000 PCI Slot Case Cooler

Pros: Cheap, moves a good amount of air. Very quiet even at full speed.

Cons: None.

EVERCOOL SB-F2 Case Cooling Fan
EVERCOOL SB-F2 Case Cooling Fan

Pros: Moves a lot of air. Cheap.

Cons: Blower is not balanced, causing a lot of noise and vibration. I can touch the back of the vent and feel the vibration.

CORSAIR TX Series CMPSU-650TX 650 W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply & New 4th Gen CPU Certified Haswell Ready
CORSAIR TX Series CMPSU-650TX 650 W ATX12V / EPS12V SLI Ready CrossFire Ready 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC Compatible with Core i7 Power Supply & New 4th Gen CPU Certified Haswell Ready

Pros: Excellent price for a PS that can run an i7 @ 3.4 Ghz and a GTX280 @ 715Mhz. With both distributed.net OGR-27 and folding @ home CUDA running full tilt, system draws 475 watts. Ample power connectors. Very quiet.

Cons: None.

Intel Core i7-920 - Core i7 Bloomfield Quad-Core 2.66 GHz LGA 1366 130W Processor - BX80601920
Intel Core i7-920 - Core i7 Bloomfield Quad-Core 2.66 GHz LGA 1366 130W Processor - BX80601920

Pros: Overclocked easily to 3.4Ghz with stock intel cooler changing only the base clock. Voltage and everything else left alone. Absolutely punishes everything thrown at it. Have been running distributed's OGR-27 while away from desk at 220+ Mnodes/sec.

Cons: None.

Overall Review: The 920 is the one to get. Trivial to OC to 3.4 ghz. Not sure why anyone would buy the 940 or 965 fro $300 or $600 more. Combo deal with the Intel SSD made a good deal even better.