Joined on 03/03/01
ASUS does it again
Pros: ASUS has become my Mobo of choice. I have built with Abit, Gigabyte, DFI, MSI, ECS, Tyan. ASUS is always reliable. Never had a DOA, never had a no-POST. No wacky settings to get a system up and running. Stable BIOS's and frequent updates. Great overclocking. Took my i5 750 to 4.4 GHz on air in less than an hour with lower than expected voltages. No memory issues with Corsair DDR3 1600.
Cons: Like every other mobo, the BIOS settings are inadequately explained in the manual and you have to look them up online to have any understanding. Enabling USB 3.0 and SATA 6.0 cuts PCIe bandwith in half for video. (-Pro board fixes that issue)
Overall Review: I have heard that the auto-overclocking features are horribly buggy, but I never use them. Always overclock manually. On this board I had one of the easiest and smoothest overclocking experiences ever.
Decent monitor, touted features dont work, no support at all.
Pros: Nice size monitor with a decent feature set...if they worked. Decent price...assuming features work. Great stand. Matte finish reduces glare.
Cons: - Will not run on any low latency settings and high refresh rate. Maximum is 120 Hz, not 144 Hz. When set to 144 Hz and low latency settings severe screen tearing artifact. - ZERO response to multiple requests for tech support. - VA Panel seems a bit less vibrant than my prior IPS. Might have gone with IPS had I known.
Overall Review: I spent about one year contemplating my monitor upgrade. I finally found something which I felt would be a good value and checked off all of the features i was looking for (except g-sync, but not still not worth the upcharge for that). I was psyched to see a 32" curved, 144 Hz, 1ms latency for $399 (shell shocker). Weeeelll....turns out too good to be true. You cannot run low latency at anything higher than 120 Hz, which is fine I guess, but not as advertised. I am okay with running at 144 Hz but it should have been marketed as a 120 Hz monitor and not 144 Hz, which it clearly is not...with all features enabled. If someone...anyone from Pixio had contacted me to discuss this and not leave me wondering if my monitor was defective, I probably would not be here telling you all about this, but after a week and two emails there has been nothing at all from them. So, I am assuming that the monitor was designed this way. If you buy, be aware that the features are limited to EITHER low latency or high refresh.
Five years and still perfect.
Pros: Quiet Reliable Outstanding air flow for the sound rating
Cons: Don't offer 200mm size. They hurt if you stick your wang in them.
Overall Review: Guys... I just don't write reviews. My system is now about 5 years old. I leave it on 24/7. I just tore the whole system down to check out the fans. All of my fans with sleeve bearings were toast - noisy or not working. I bought two of these Cougars for my H80 and they are still running like new 5 years later. They still have among the best noise:performance ratios I could find. The fluid bearning are no joke. If you buy these you will never have to replace them.
Mine lasted 4 months
Pros: Great while it worked.
Cons: As you can see from numerous reviewers here and elsewhere, this card design was clearly defective - hence it being discontinued. When I called ASUS tech support they tried to tell me it was an nvidia driver update that caused the problem - clearly already knowing that was not the case. Now they will not give me an advanced replacement because the card is no longer in production. That means either I buy a new card or be computer-less for however long it takes for them to repair it...and then do I really want this card back, even repaired?
Overall Review: I'm an ASUS fanboy. I pretty much have ASUS everything and no problems before this. Hardware sometimes fails. That doesn't bother me so much. I am very disappointed in the deceptive CS rep who obviously knows these cards are failing but tried to make other excuses for the problem. Also they should be replacing failed cards with functional models rather than rejecting advanced replacement because they had to discontinue the defective design. Not the way to retain your loyal customers, ASUS. It's really not that hard to be decent to your customers and do the right thing, is it?
Can't believe the difference
Pros: Incredibly quiet and fast. Superb value.
Cons: It is not an SSD.
Overall Review: I got this to replace my old Raptor 150gb drive that I was using as a boot drive. Boot times, game loads...pretty much everything feels snappier now. You literally can not hear this drive running. Seek times were much quicker on my Raptor but I honestly can not think of a single thing that does not seem faster with this drive. I partitioned off the 1st 100mb (short stroked) as the boot partition for faster operation and it really seems to work.
Nice Case
Pros: Roomy, excellent cooling, attractive. Top access buttongs and USB/audio ports make it good for under-the-desk installations. Tool-less drive bays make swap-outs a cinch. Mobo tray cutout for rear access to CPU HS retention mechanism for easy swaps.
Cons: I had a few problems with the side panels. The screws do not line up correctly and require some jimmying to get in. Also the patterned cut-out on the side panel for the fan is bowed inward so that the fan hub scrapes against it with certain fans. I had to try a few before I found one with the hub recessed enough to not rub.
Overall Review: This is the best bargain case out there now for the overclocker. It is really an amazing looking case. Beware, though, as it is bigger (Wider and deeper) than it seems in the pictures.