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Merrick E.

Merrick E.

Joined on 06/30/10

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 14
Most Favorable Review

Amazing.

SPARKLE Calibre Series GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) 1GB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 SLI Support Graphics Card X550 Ti DFL
SPARKLE Calibre Series GeForce GTX 550 Ti (Fermi) 1GB GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 SLI Support Graphics Card X550 Ti DFL

Pros: Has to be the best value for any card, ever. I am extremely surprised that this does not have more reviews. -Extremely quiet -Never passes 50C, even under extreme maximum load -Very flexible in clocking -Looks amazing -Comes with mini-HDMI to HDMI cable, included -Packaged with much care -Reinforced PCB This card also runs about as well as a GTX 460, considering the factory OC. Got Crysis on max with 2xAA at 1360x768 resolution, solid 40 FPS. Can't beat that.

Cons: The only real con is that Sparkle only really makes nVidia cards. Would love to see some Radeon soon. Also, my motherboard doesn't support SLI, only crossfire. I will still use my old GT 220 for PhysX, though, so not all is lost.

Overall Review: Sparkle seems to put a lot more effort into their cards than anyone else, and their aesthetics are top-notch. Would recommend this to anyone who wants great performance for median prices.

10/28/2011
Most Critical Review

Meh.

Rosewill RK-7300 Black 105 Normal Keys 7 Function Keys USB Super Slim Unique Curved Design Multimedia Full-size Keyboard
Rosewill RK-7300 Black 105 Normal Keys 7 Function Keys USB Super Slim Unique Curved Design Multimedia Full-size Keyboard

Pros: Really comfortable, light, moderately durable. Lasted a decent amount of time. Cheap.

Cons: Died after a solid 9 month's use- can't complain, so cheap that it was paid back by work done in a few hours, so... Didn't completely brick- the three bottom rows of keys work :)

Overall Review: Good for a solid, cheap keyboard. Doesn't feel bad just for typing or even light gaming- just don't expect it to last eight years.

10/26/2011

Raw

ENERMAX OSTROG ECA3253-BW Black / White SGCC / SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ATX 12V (Optional) Power Supply
ENERMAX OSTROG ECA3253-BW Black / White SGCC / SECC ATX Mid Tower Computer Case ATX 12V (Optional) Power Supply

Pros: Pretty spacious for a midtower, wider than a lot of them, with a ton of space for cabling in the back. Overall comes with a lot of higher price point features. The window is pretty sturdy and perfectly clean. The fan the case comes with is decent. The tool-less design is very secure. The headers are neat, the front panel looks quite nice, the top plug-ins are practical and attractive. There is a lot of space for fans.

Cons: All that space for fans leaves a lot of empty space without mesh. If you have a lot of dust and no fans to keep the air pressure, you WILL have to add mesh or face computer death. Only comes with one fan. CFM probably isn't that good. That one fan also isn't the quietest. The metal on the chassis is pretty sturdy, but the drive cages aren't the best. The back panel (not the door, the panel the motherboard attaches to) could definitely be thicker. That's probably where the money doesn't go for such a cheap case. The punch-out expansion bays are a pain. Pretty hard to get the front panel off. Only comes with one fan. Major inconvenience.

Overall Review: Despite my griping, this case is INCREDIBLY nice. Rare to find windowed cases at such a low price. The overall look of the case is incredibly attractive, far more so than my old midtier case (the most popular one on the internet market at the moment). The metal isn't as thick and for people who need a computer they have to be able to move around a lot, this case wouldn't be at the top of my list, but you trade the steel thickness for all sorts of other useful features. It's also not out-and-out flimsy or anything. Just not as strong as it could be. The only real complaint I have is a lack of fans and/or mesh. Be prepared to add your own of both.

Amazing Little Thing

AMD Athlon II X2 240 - Athlon II X2 Regor Dual-Core 2.8 GHz Socket AM3 65W Processor - ADX240OCK23GQ
AMD Athlon II X2 240 - Athlon II X2 Regor Dual-Core 2.8 GHz Socket AM3 65W Processor - ADX240OCK23GQ

Pros: -Extremely powerful for how much it costs, 6.8 in WEI and notable increase in speed in every single program, including games. -Runs cool. -Runs cool. -Did I mention it runs cool? Full load is 42*C with an Arctic ACALP64 cooler. ($15) -Overclocks like a beast for being a little Athlon. -I ordered the last one before it went out of stock, I think. -Supports DDR2 and 3, plus virtualization.

Cons: -It took me 3 years to upgrade from a 4400+ @2.3 ghz. -Haven't ventured above 3.3 ghz yet.

Overall Review: If you are in the market for a nice budget proc, this is your stop. The only budget proc that can do more than this price/performance ratio is the Rana, but that's more $$. This proc trashes anything up to the Rana, and any Intel proc up to the mid-i3's. No joke. If you want a little comparison of power, in my words= Regor > Celeron, Pentium Duals, i3's Rana/Propus > i3's, lowest i5 Callisto > mid i5's, highest i3's Deneb > all i5's, all i7's below 950 Thuban (overclocked) > all intel procs except 980x That's my break down. Most people will disagree, but whatever.

Blazin'

OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2RPR10664GK
OCZ Reaper HPC 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model OCZ2RPR10664GK

Pros: Crazy fast although 1066 isn't a normal speed. Good heatsink. Looks beast. Loads every app 2 or 3 times as fast (I added it to an extra 2gbs for 6).

Cons: My PCB isn't black, although you can barely see it anyways. My mobo only supports 800 cause of the odd speed, but I planned on getting another one anyways. Can't lower the voltage from factory or it gets all fritzy- but that's okay.

Overall Review: Still sexy, and you just feel awesome when you have ram with the name REAPER. You kill stuff with this ram. Lots of stuff.

Good card, despite other reviews.

ASUS GeForce GT 220 1GB DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Low Profile Ready Graphics Card ENGT220/DI/1GD2(LP)
ASUS GeForce GT 220 1GB DDR2 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Low Profile Ready Graphics Card ENGT220/DI/1GD2(LP)

Pros: Decent graphics, amazing buffer, good heat dissipation(see other thoughts). Looks weirdly awesome.

Cons: Not that powerful for price, was a bi*** to get working. Drivers on CD work better than the newest drivers. I'm an ATI fan, and this was the only card they had in the store... Sold out all the ATI cards XD

Overall Review: The problem with heat people are having is not because of the bad fan (aside from the severe cavitation effect), but because of the case airflow. I'm running a Rosewill CHALLENGER case with 3 fans, and under severe load (running games that this card shouldnt; Borderlands, Crysis and Warhead, etc.) it only gets at most 52* c. My sys- AMD Athlon II 4400+ This card Jetway MA-3 Motherboard 6gbs 800 mhz ddr2 (4 reaper, 2 samsung) 320 gb Toshiba SATA Lite-on disc drive Rosewill CHALLENGER