Joined on 11/25/05
It doesn't feel like an accessory but a quality piece of hardware
Pros: This keyboard is a Solid, well made piece of equipment I have been using it everyday for 2 years and it still looks and preforms like new. It doesn't feel like an accessory but a quality piece of hardware that is just as important as my video card or CPU because it is of such high quality. The macro keys are awesome for gaming. I find the 3 profiles very handy for configuring options for different games and working with apps. The RGB lighting has 4 levels of brightness or turn it off. Even though the software is not the best I still manage to change the lighting for each key, highlighting important keys for the game (or app) I am playing and again being able to save to my profiles and then reload the configuration with the press of a button when needed is more than convenient it's a must have for me. I love the feel of the keys and I am confident when typing or using the macro keys in a game that the key I am trying to hit is depressed thanks to the short actuation and the tactile response from the keys for me this is a very important feature as some of my older keyboards did not respond so well resulting in missed assignments.
Cons: The software is not the easiest to work with but in the end it does work. I think it's been unfairly slammed in other reviews but I can understand the frustration when you have to deal with software thats not straightforward. My personal gripe is really my own misunderstanding of the MX keys. I find the keys a little loud but I should have spoken to customer service before purchasing to find out which MX keys would be best for me.
Overall Review: I love this keyboard and after 2 years of use it has really stood up against all kinds of abuse including spilled coffee, soda, beer and with over 3,500 hours of run time the keys and lighting all work just as well as the day I took it out of the box. if you're looking for a keyboard to surf the web or play words with friends this is not really for you. If you are a serious gamer or need macros for your apps this is a great option. Yes you will need to take 30 mins to an hour to learn the software maybe find a YouTube video that explains it but it does work. I am getting ready to build a new system and I am purchasing all new hardware except for the keyboard which I will be keeping when I pass down my old system to the kids which is saying a lot. In the past I have replaced my keyboard every 6-9 months because I am really tough on them or I just get tired of the same old shi++y keyboard. I have to say this is hands down THE best keyboard I have ever purchased and I have spent more money on some of the others and gotten far less.
not worth the money
Pros: at 15' it's long It looks and feels like quality (but it isn't)
Cons: There were issues with the cable that caused my monitor to flicker on and off after replacing the cable my monitor is now working fine
Overall Review: look elsewhere for a good quality cable
it works, sort of
Pros: Low Price
Cons: The range listed is 164' but it's more like 30 at best. I get a lot of static even after troubleshooting. Doesn't support Aptx Not good for headphones
Overall Review: I have been using Tripp Lite surge protectors for years and they are usually high-quality reliable products but looking back the price should have been a clue to the quality (or lack of quality) I purchased this BT adapter to connect my new Sony - 1000XM2 headphones with my 3-month-old custom built PC. The headphones are the latest top of the line BT headphones and they work perfectly with my Samsung 6s edge plus with no static or range issues. I get about 40-50 feet connected to my phone with a direct line of sight in my backyard and the sound quality is outstanding but when connected to my Windows 10 x64 systems with this adapter the sound quality is horrible with static that gets worse the further you move away from it. I have tried it on both of my PCs. One system is a 2 years old (6700k MSI M7) and my new 3-month-old system (8700k EVGA classified z370) I have spent hours trying to troubleshoot and while I have been able to get it a bit better than when I first installed the adapter still has static that gets worse and worse the further you move away from it and the range is nowhere near the advertised range. the lack of Aptx support is also another letdown for a class 1 device. I would not recommend this product.
works as advertised, easy install a great deal at the price I paid
Pros: under 30 bucks! Very Easy setup. fast and stable connection.
Cons: I uninstalled the included software right after I checked it out.
Overall Review: Great product at a great price. it was connected to our wifi within 60 seconds of plugging unit into usb port. I recently signed up for Fios gigabit connection but we have the PC in the living room connected to the wifi and it had always been a problem when we had comcast so when we finally got the faster Fios service I upgraded the wifi adapter to take advantage of the faster speed and I was not disappointed. Went from 150mbs to 700+ connect with actual download and upload speeds are 300-400 mbs. It's worth every penny
not as user friendly as other motherboards
Pros: *Nice clean design with minimal bling but has a couple of RGB headers to support it if you're into that. *Well laid out, it doesn't feel cramped at all. *I'm really enjoying the Creative Sound Core3D audio, it's the loudest and clearest audio I have ever heard from any motherboard and the software is great allowing you to tweak everything to find the best sound for you. The connector for the headphone port are really solid you can feel a click when plugging in letting you know it's connected and its a solid connection. This was a major deciding factor for me because my last system had really bad audio with real bad port that never seem to have a solid connection. *The 3 m.2 slots allow raid array configurations which may be overkill but I love the fact that the hard drive is no long a bottleneck in my system *plenty of USB ports on on the rear panel and 3 internal headers to support front usb and a AIO water cooler
Cons: **The bios... This is a big issue for me, its not as user friendly as other motherboards. There's a large learning curve and not as many options for tweaking not just overclocking options but even some of the most basic options like turn off the full screen logo I haven't found that option yet I am hoping to as the logo is ugly and I prefer to see the stats on boot up. *Creating a bootable raid array took a while. I had 2 intel 760p m.2 drives and while I was eventually able to create the array I forget how long it took in the bios because I could not get windows 10 installed at first even when feeding the OS the driver and it recognizing the raid controller properly. The issue I found was that I had another sata drive connected for file storage that I had to disconnect before windows would see the raid. Now I have created raid arrays on many other systems without this issue so I'm not sure what the issue was but it was a bit frustrating. The good news is that the drives preform better than any other array I have ever tested. *Overclocking this board is a bit confusing and I have only had the board a couple of days and only had a few hours to spend on it I hope to have it worked out in the next couple of days but the learning curve is a con for sure. * included accessories or lack there of. At this price they could at-least include a quick connect for the front panel header, there are 6 SATA ports but only 2 SATA cables, even the software CD doesn't include all of the software, you need to go to the site to down load the tuning utility which in my opinion is almost as bad as the bios . *Killer E2500 NIC with DoubleShot Pro, this another one of the reasons I purchased this board but it's all hype no substance. My old MSI m7 had higher connection rates. I have Verizon fios gigabit connection with 850-950 upload and download speeds with the MSI M7 but only 650-750. what a major disappointment. I had hoped it would allow me to download from 2 different sites at the same time but it doesn't work that way,
Overall Review: My build is almost all EVGA. I purchased this board to go with the DG-86 case, the 280 CLC AIO, and the 1000g+ PSU I purchased last week and a EVGA 1080 SC 2 video card I purchased last year. The video card has been great but I am not as impressed with the rest of the products. I will be spending more time with this board (and the rest of the build) this week and will update my review later in the week but as it stands I would probably send this board back and get something else even though the on-board audio is really good I could get an add-on card that would do just as good if not better
Update after 2 years of daily use I have to lower my rating
Pros: Two m.2 slots with raid support is awesome. I have two Samsung 950 PRO 256GB running in raid 0 and it's insanely fast. The AMI Click 5 BIOS is the best BIOS I have ever worked with, Period. It is very smooth going through all the settings from page to page and from easy mode to advanced. I have no problem using a wireless mouse in the BIOS which has been an issue in other systems Great overclocking options for any user no matter your experience level I don't overclock much, I would rather have my system run for 10 years than have it burn out quickly but I was able to get very stable overclocking using Game Boost I easily got my 6700k up to 4.5 GHZ and my ram up to 3200 using game boost level 4 and XMP. The system ran stable for weeks until I updated the bios (see cons) I love the ability to reset the bios using the button on the motherboard or the button on the rear I/O panel which means you don't have to open the case if you don't want to. The layout of the board is great there is plenty of room around the CPU for my Corsair H100i v2 it was easy to connect almost everything I needed. I also love the hardware monitor and the ability to tweak the fan control love the look of black and red on the board and the rear I/O panel.
Cons: Update after 2 years of daily use I have to lower my rating and would not recommend the board. The issues that started with the bios upgrade got worse and worse. After getting the bios loaded there were other problems arose. The over all speed of the system slowed then I could no longer create raid 0 with 2 m.2 drives. Each firmware upgrade seemed to create a new issue it's got to the point where it's no longer aceptable for my purposes. old review Because I am using the Corsair H100i v2 which uses one of the USB ports I can only have 1 set of USB ports on the front panel of my case. I'm not sure I can blame MSI for this issue but the board is made for gamers who overclock and use water coolers it would be nice to have another internal USB port to fully support us and round out the board. I am currently having Issues upgrading the BIOS. I was unable to get into the setup after the initial setup but windows seems to be running fine. I'm still waiting to hear back from MSI support but I mention this for full disclosure I'll update as things progress Those are my only issues
Overall Review: I am giving this system to the wife she's not a gamer and doesn't care about the PC she uses as long as she can play words with friends :)
as described
received item as described and within a couple of days of ordering. (USB LED Light Strip, Costech 5050 RGB LED Light 20 Color Selection 1M(3Ft) TV Background Lighting Adhesive Tape Dust and Humidity Proof Built-in Controller for TV LCD, Monitors)