Pros: Stays cool Overclocks like a champ Performs very well

Cons: Price compared to original release Requires two and a half slots

Overall Review: I upgraded from a GTX 770 Lightning to this and I already notice an improvement in all the games I play ( mostly modern shooters). The 770 was watercooled, and I'll be doing the same with this one as soon as EK releases their block. So far, the temps rarely go over 75 C, which is amazing considering the design of the 290X. My clock speeds are 1150 core and 1625 VRAM, and on water I'll be able to achieve better with more stability. For now I'm using Catalyst 14.2 which is pretty good so far. Currently I game at 1080p with a 144Hz monitor, so performance is fantastic. I already have another 290X Lightning on order now so I can have Crossfire and upgrade to a new 1440p monitor with better power supply. If you have the room in your case and a good PSU, you cant go wrong with this card. System as of 3/17/2014 MSI Z77 MPower Intel 3770K @4.5GHz G.Skill Trident X @ 2400 (2x8 GB) Sound Blaster Z Asus PCE-AC66 NIC MSI R9 290X Lightning Corsair AX760 Platinum Samsung 840 Pro 256 GB (Boot) WD Red 4 TB ( 2 in RAID 1) 1 Koolance 120mm x 65mm Rad (Rear) 1 Koolance 420mm x 25mm Rad (Top) Koolance CPU-380I CPU Block Swiftech MCP655 Pump FrozenQ T-Virus Reservoir Rosewill Blackhawk Ultra Asus VG278HE 144Hz 1080p monitor

Pros: Tons of room for any build Lots of fans and mounting options Flexible for even dual socket boards Grommets everywhere Many hard drive bays Good airflow Space for radiators: triple 120 or 140 in the top, 140 rear, dual 120 or 140 in the front, and up to dual 120 in the bottom Fan headers for easy fan power and routing Very long graphics card will fit (GTX 690, HD7970, etc.)

Cons: Stock 140mm fans are garbage, don't move much air Side mesh is cheap and doesn't look clean Hard drive bays/sleds are cheap and can be difficult to remove or damage Side panels can be difficult and the limited space for cable management on the left side can prevent the panel from latching properly

Overall Review: This case has flexibility and is nice, especially for someone that wishes to install radiators. For a front radiator, the hard drive bays will need to be modified and cut to fit a dual rad. I replaced all the 140mm fans (5 total) with Xigmatek crystal series red LED and removed the side mesh for a custom window to optimize airflow and improve the look. For now the dual 230mm top fans are the only stock fans installed. In some areas, the metal isn't finished well and can have a cheap feel and appearance. If you can get this on sale, then go for it. Otherwise, pass and find a case better designed. For the front radiator, the HDD cage will need to be removed, but a 5.25 cage in the top for HDD's will compensate for this. However, tons of room for any installing anything you want.

Pros: Hyperthreading, 2 physical cores/4 logic 3.3 GHz Highly popular 1155 socket Can handle any modern game at high detail/reseloution Low power consumption Price

Cons: Limited cache Dual core (see other thoughts) Does not enable PCI express 3.0

Overall Review: Though this CPU is an Ivy Bridge, it will not enable the full bandwidth of PCI express 3.0. This is only slightly minor considering the performance. The hyperthreading allows this CPU to operate as a quad core, yet is cheaper. Temps on idle with a Corsair A70 heatsink is 25 Celsius and 43 Celsius maximum with heavy gaming. Games such as Crysis 2 and Metro 2033 can run at Ultra settings, but with minor performance lag/slowing due to bandwidth limitation. I will soon upgrade to the i7 3770K and use the i3 3220 in a HTPC. My System (as of 4/14/2013): Intel i3-3220 Corsair A70 heatsink, w/ 2 Xigmatek crystal series red LED 120mm fan Corsair XMS3 16 GB DDR3 1333 RAM Samsung 840 Pro 256 GB SSD (Boot) Samsung 840 Pro 128 gb SSD (storage) ASUS P8Z77-V LK motherboard Corsair AX760 Platinum PSU 2 ASUS GTX 660 video cards in SLI ASUS PCE A66 wireless network card ASUS DVD drive (optical) Rosewill Blackhawk Ultra case w/ six Xigmatek crystal series red LED 120mm/140mm fans and custom side window

Pros: I'm running these fans in a 2005 Micron PC, ClientPro 375, that I resurrected from death. My socket is LGA 775 with Pentium D 3.4GHz dual core. I was able to replace the stock (jet engine) CPU fan with one of these Nidec's and, by using a Rosewill splitter (RCW-FPS-401) I also installed one in the rear of the case. Now I have two fans running off one CPU mobo fan connector. Both fans remain very quiet during normal operations, and only rarely kick up when running games like Crysis or Skyrim. However, part of the cooling credit goes to a 140mm that I custom installed on the side for far better cooling and heat dissipation. I can't comment on my CPU temps since my CPU doesn't have temp monitoring. However, cooling efficiency is far superior than stock.

Cons: If unregulated by the CPU and installed on a CASE mobo fan connector, this fan will make you deaf and climb the walls.

Overall Review: CPU: Pentium D 3.4GHz SSD: Dual drives using Windows 7 and Ubuntu 12.10 in dual boot configuration Graphics: PNY GeForce GT 430 Fermi 2GB DDR3 RAM: Crucial 4GB @ 667MHz Fans: CPU and rear, Nidec Ultraflo 92mm. Side, Xigmatek 140mm