Pros: It's an Ivy Bridge CPU, for a low price, and with a low TDP.

Cons: Not the fastest, but you knew that already. If used in a Plex media server, transcoding performance will be disappointing.

Overall Review: This CPU is in my home NAS, which uses a Linux mdraid RAID10. It keeps up just fine. Paired with a low-end discrete GPU, this would be perfect for an HTPC.

Pros: Seems, on the surface, to be a good deal.

Cons: Made a loud bang and popped the RCD on the branch circuit

Overall Review: Don't.

Pros: So far, this board has done everything I've asked of it. It's great if you're using it in an embedded system: it runs cool, and is probably fine with completely fanless operation in a well-ventilated case. It works great with Windows 10. It even has HEVC decode support, at up to 1080p50/8bit.

Cons: The included power adapter can only power two SATA devices, and there are no traditional 4-pin power connectors. The heatsink is a weird shape, so attaching a fan to it may be difficult.

Overall Review: An mSATA slot would have been nice. You will need to either slipstream the USB drivers (ASrock provide a tool to do this) or use a PS/2 keyboard to install Windows 7.

Pros: It's an Intel wireless card, with a great (but unusual looking) antenna. Good performance on both bands

Cons: The 2.4 and 5GHz antenna connectors are not labeled on the bracket.

Pros: If you are cost-conscious and are building an Ivy Bridge-based computer, this is the board to use. Everything you need, nothing you don't, and laid out in a logical way. Plenty of fan connectors, as well, and ASRock's software makes it easy to manage them.

Cons: No eSATA connector on the back, but there are eight SATA connectors, so this issue is rectified with a cheap adapter.

Overall Review: New BIOS updates fix many issues. Replacing the CMOS battery requires removing the card in the first PCI-E x16 slot.

Pros: Excellent value. It is also quite short, so it should fit in almost any case.

Cons: Because it's a 650 Ti, SLI support has been removed. This is NVIDIA's decision, not Galaxy's.

Overall Review: It uses a mini-HDMI connector. Use a mini-HDMI to HDMI cable instead of an adapter, because an adapter will likely hit your case.