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William S.

William S.

Joined on 09/11/06

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 8
Most Favorable Review

Just One Additional Thought

ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
ASRock Z77 Extreme4 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: See my earlier review.

Cons: None.

Overall Review: Just one additional thought--After reading a number of the negative reviews here, I have to agree with one of the commentators who noted that almost all of the problems listed are easy to fix for someone with more tech experience. If you are buying ANY motherboard, it is presumed that you are going into it understanding that "some assembly is required" and have the basic technical skill and knowledge to accomplish the task. Don't buy into the negative reviews of a bunch of hacks who don't really know what they are doing. Especially troubling are the negative reviews from people who can't even write in coherent sentences with proper spelling and punctuation (e.g., the guy who claims to have 30 years of computer building experience and repeatedly misspells "heatsink" as "heat-sync.") If you really DO have a board with a defect (and this goes for all manufacturers, not just ASRock), don't complain about the lack of customer support when you aren't even willing to make the effort to reach out to them. The number of people on here who have complained about bad boards and made no effort to contact tech support is simply astounding.

Smooth and Fast

AOC G2770PQU 27" Gaming Monitor, FHD (1920x1080), TN Panel, 144Hz, 1ms, Height Adjustable, DisplayPort, HDMI, USB
AOC G2770PQU 27" Gaming Monitor, FHD (1920x1080), TN Panel, 144Hz, 1ms, Height Adjustable, DisplayPort, HDMI, USB

Pros: 144 hz refresh rate; 1 ms response time.

Cons: None

Overall Review: I bought 2 of these monitors to compliment an Acer 27" G-Sync monitor I bought a few months back (Acer XB270H) for surround gaming. These replace two 60 hz monitors that have been repurposed to other computers I support. The biggest benefit is being able to now run all three monitors at 144 hz when operating in surround mode. And all I can say is WOW!!! The difference in clarity and smoothness for surround gaming is simply incredible. I managed to get these when there were on a good sale here at Newegg and hope that they offer it again. But even if they don't, the current price is well worth the upgrade for anyone currently operating on a 60 hz monitor. These work particularly well with the Acer G-Sync center monitor I have because of the ability to get all three dialed in with exactly the same contrast, hue, depth and screen height. All three monitors have height adjustable pedestals which allows you to put them all at eye level for best viewing, making your gaming experience totally immersive. Once you try these, you will not want to use a 60 hz monitor for gaming ever again.

G-Sync Is The Bomb

Acer XB270H Abprz Black 27" 1ms (GTG) 144HZ Widescreen LED Backlight LCD G-SYNC Monitor, 300 cd/m2, USB Hub, 1000:1
Acer XB270H Abprz Black 27" 1ms (GTG) 144HZ Widescreen LED Backlight LCD G-SYNC Monitor, 300 cd/m2, USB Hub, 1000:1

Pros: G-Sync. 1 ms GTG response time. Black piano finish. Solid color and contrast ratio. Great screen size for 1080p.

Cons: None.

Overall Review: Seeing is believing. I heard and read a lot about G-Sync and even downloaded the demo that Nvidia has available on its website. None of that truly prepares you for the buttery smoothness that you get with any and all motion that occurs on the screen. In games, there is just simply no comparison between this monitor and my 27" 60 hz 1080p Samsung that it replaces. Higher frame rates plus the G-Sync technology makes any and all motion look completely natural. Recent upgrades to my setup include a pair of MSI GTX 970s in SLI. With 1080p, the SLI pair is easily able to handle any game I throw at it with all of the settings cranked to the max. Far Cry 4, as an example, cranks out this monitor's max frame rate with all settings turned up to Ultra. These cards would likely also handled the higher resolution G-Sync monitors offered by both Acer and Asus. Both are in the $800 range, however, so I opted for 1080p to save a few bucks, still have G-Sync, and maximize my frame rate. After reading several of the reviews here and elsewhere about quality control with this product, I opted to buy it at a local brick and mortar store so I could return it easily if I needed to. To my surprise, my local micro center actually has this monitor for $100 less than here on Newegg. Usually Newegg has the best pricing, but for this item, they don't. My monitor is also spot on perfect, corner to corner, with absolutely no dead pixels, flaring, white spots, etc., that others have mentioned. Regardless, there is a 3 year warranty on it, so no worries if problems do develop. Bottom line, this monitor is the perfect compliment to my recent video card upgrade. And seeing truly is believing. Once you jump in, you will never go back to a non-G-Sync monitor.

Awesome Card

MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G
MSI GeForce GTX 970 GAMING 4G

Pros: Silent at idle; extremely quiet even at full load; runs cool; great bang for the buck; an overclocking beast; MSI tuning software and utilities; MSI and NVIDIA support.

Cons: None.

Overall Review: After thoroughly researching the choices, I choose a pair of these cards over a single GTX 980. A pair of GTX 970s will cost you little more than a single GTX 980, but in SLI will yield about 70% better performance than a single 980, according to professional reviews and benchmarks. The pair also has double the VRAM of a single 980. As one reviewer put it, "The GTX 970 is just begging to be bought in pairs." Well, he was right. So I did. Regarding the supposed "coil whine" and "3.5 Gig" memory issues, please take the time to find and review PROFESSIONAL discussions on these topics. There are plenty of them out there. This IS a 4 Gig VRAM card with ALL 4 Gigs being fully accessible by the card and the OS. The concerns raised by hacks who have posted negative reviews here, as well as across the web, either don't care to actually learn how the card is built or simply don't understand it. Either way, you are buying a 970, not a 980. The architecture is slightly different, but the price differential is huge. And the benchmarks are the benchmarks. With the 970 configured as is, the professional benchmarks put it only about 10% slower than the 980 in single card configurations, for almost half the cost. Bottom line, I just flat out love this card. It is a huge step up from the GTX 570 that has served me well for the past 4 years. And in SLI mode with two cards, they just scream. Yes, I get that there will always be something better later, but I've waited long enough for an upgrade. And a pair of these hit the price point and performance boost I was after. Very nicely done, NVIDA. BTW, if this turns out to be a duplicate, I apologize. I attempted to post a similar review a few days ago that still hasn't shown up.

Rock Solid

Thermaltake Toughpower Grand TPG-1050M 1050 W ATX 12V v2.3 & SSI EPS 12V v2.92 SLI Certified CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Active PFC Power Supply
Thermaltake Toughpower Grand TPG-1050M 1050 W ATX 12V v2.3 & SSI EPS 12V v2.92 SLI Certified CrossFire Certified 80 PLUS GOLD Certified Active PFC Power Supply

Pros: Tons of modular connections. Plenty of power for a big gaming or video editing rig.

Cons: None.

Overall Review: I ended up getting this PSU as a replacement for a Rosewill unit that died in just under a year of use. I couldn't be happier with this unit. It has held up well in 3 years, so far, of very heavy use. It currently powers an ASRock LGA1155 mobo with an i7 3770K overclocked to 4.8 Ghz, a Corsair H100i CPU cooler, twin GTX970 video cards, 32 Gigs of G.Skill 2400 Mhz RAM, a Samsung SSD, 2 Seagate drives, 5 WD drives, a BluRay drive and 7 case fans. Sounds crazy, I know, but this PSU is a workhorse and it keeps all of my system components very happy. I love the modular flexibility as well. It allows me to power what I need without having extra unused cables to deal with in the case. Bottom line, this is a rock solid unit with plenty of power and flexibility for any build you have in mind.

Worked Well

Rosewill LIGHTNING-1000 Continuous 1000W & 50 Degree C Power Supply
Rosewill LIGHTNING-1000 Continuous 1000W & 50 Degree C Power Supply

Pros: I bought this as part of build I was doing in the Spring of 2011. I loved the modular design and the plethora of led lighting. Plenty of connection options for all of my accessories.

Cons: It died less than a month before the 1 year warranty expired. Unfortunately, because no more were available at that time from Newegg, I opted for a full refund and bought a competing model locally.

Overall Review: I would have preferred to stick with this unit if that was an option with Newegg at the time of my RMA. I ended up with a Thermaltake PS from a local brick and mortar store instead and have never had any issues with it. While the Thermaltake doesn't have the cool led lighting this Rosewill unit has, it is every bit as flexible at the Rosewill unit and has stood the test of time in 3 years of continuous hard use.