Joined on 11/20/07
Unbelievable value
Overall Review: I replaced my old i7 6700 with it, without even changing the cooler (Noctua U9S). It runs very cool and quiet, supporting my 3060 Ti perfectly. I cant think of any better value for mainstream gaming usage.
Freeze 64-bit OS
Pros: Speed is good. Won't hesitate to eat up all 16Mbps of Comcast.
Cons: Hang Vista SP1 64-bit OS under network stress, usually within a few minutes after starting BitTorrent. This is motherboard-dependent (I am using ASUS P5Q Pro) so yours might be better, though. The external 100cm antenna might have better signal, but as my router is only a few feet away, I prefer to have a dipole one, or at least the OPTION to use either of them. Ralink's tool is ugly and has no option NOT to start with Windows. I had to use OneCare to disable it manually.
Overall Review: Don't know if all Ralink chipset would suffer from this problem. However, their driver has not been update for 1 year, well before Vista SP1 is released. To avoid another RMA I have to buy a Linksys WMP54GS which uses Broadcom. BEWARE - Linksys WMP54G still uses Ralink.
Unreliable wheel
Pros: Versatile (5 buttons and tilt wheel) and comfortable. Acceptable build quality and tracking accuracy. Good driver.
Cons: Wheel is not smooth after 1 year and 3 months, with wheel button not working for 50% clicks. I tried to repair by myself but it turned out to be very difficult, due to the weirdness of the wheel's structure.
Overall Review: Functionally, the mouse is actually pretty good - except the unreliability of its wheel. If I have to replace it with a new mouse every 1 year and 3 months, I would rather get a SideWinder...for lower cost/year.
Rejoice! (after somewhat painful installation)
Pros: I'm running E8400 OC to 3.6 with constantly 50%+ usage suited in a case where an HD4850 runs 100% constantly (both running Folding@Home). This heatsink keeps CPU temp in low-40s under "Standard" fan speed of ASUS P5Q Pro, with virtually no noise.
Cons: Installation is a bit painful, if not removing MB from case first. Mounting the fan via rubber suspension is even more painful. What's more, the manual did not tell the right direction of fan, making me pushing the super-tight LGA775 pushpins TWICE! Worth still, I still cannot figure out how to fits the "spoiler" in. Fortunately this does not really matter.
Overall Review: Bang of the buck, that's all. Installation is one-off, thanks goodness.
Beyond bang for buck...
Pros: Stunning color and detail Good dynamics even it is not 120Hz Easy to setup and use - without reading manual Speaker is impressive on speech Very low idle power consumption
Cons: VGA accepts 1280*1024 at most Above average frame design - much better than cheap VIZIO models sold in Costco, but not really fancy or fashionable Speaker is weak for serious music/movie purposes
Overall Review: 32" is a sweet size for non-TV-holic guys, sitting between mainstream TV and high-end LCD monitors. A 1080p 32" is a even more sweet spot - forget about monsters like Dell 3008WFP!
A good heat sink goes a long way
Pros: Surprisingly quiet - after manually setting fan speed. Comes with HDMI adaptor. Performance is definitely excellent.
Cons: Quality can be better - my heat sink is a little bit loose and slightly movable. There are a few non-solid capacitors on board, which looks weird among other solid ones. Fan speed adjust is manual, and only works after Vista is up. Too few documents in the box.
Overall Review: Most HD4850 cards are either cheap with a simple fan, or expensive with a turbo fan. Both are quite noisy. This card takes a different approach, like high-end CPU heat sinks: a big fan rotating at lower speed, plus plenty of heat pipes. The result is surprisingly good, and the price is still pretty friendly.