Shane S.
Joined on 03/20/05
- 7
A Better Deal

Pros: Priced well. Comes with fans for all slots (except for the side panel). For the extra $15.00 over the standard model, you get two 120mm LED fans as well as the 140mm being an LED. The 120's alone will cost you another $30. Wire management is FANTASTIC! The wires tuck nicely behind the hard drive bays and route back out to keep excellent air flow. I also cut a small hole at the top left corner for my CPU power on my 680i board by running the cable out the hole behind my PSU, behind the motherboard tray and back in through the cut hole.
Cons: A bit smaller from front to back and will probably not fit some of the longer double slot vid cards without being creative on hard drive placement. Wish this came with a clear side panel but it probably wouldn't be priced so nicely if it did.
Overall Review: Didn't get a fan for the side panel but found that the side panels can be swapped to the opposite side so air is moving from front to back without blowing out the side. Ie. The motherboard tray resricts the air flow out the side panel holes.
Ouch!

Pros: Sound is great! I've been told I sound fine when using the mic too.
Cons: I own the previous version (fatality) with the cloth head pad and ear covering. I found that set up to be FAR more comfortable than this one with sound that is just as good. I used this headset just about every night for roughly two hours in the past month. Right now I have a dent on the top of my head which has not gone away in the past week since I have switched back to my old one and I have regular headaches. The ear coverings are more like fake leather which causes them to become wet after prolonged use. Not too hot on the flexible mic versus the older style. It doesn't bend as easily and stay bent where you want it.
Overall Review: I bought this headset because I thought they would cover my ears more than the first fatality version but found they did not. I would highly recommend the older version.
Another Logitech Fail

Pros: Was handy while it worked but really, anything similar gives the same results.
Cons: Failed after two years. Manufacturer was less than apologetic and continuosly cited the 1 year warranty. Sorry, but in todays day and age if a product doesn't last longer than this, it doesn't deserve a revisit.
Overall Review: I'll find another manufacturer to do business with. Logitech has really dropped off the map from where they were 5 years ago.
ARBS, Huh??

Pros: Heh. Yeah, right.
Cons: The first RMA of this board for me didn't bring anything extra with it, except more headaches. After having two of these I've decided that it's just a bad piece of equipment. Not actually XFX's fault. I assume they buy them from China. XFX's downfall lies in their service. A 2 1/2 day turnaround? I think not. That sort of thing only happens if you live next door.
Overall Review: 5 stars on an RMA? Please! The product failed!! Give us a break! What a blatently shamless plug for XFX. Sounds a little too "Rainbows and Butterfies" if you ask me. You know, I've heard rumors of companies doing ghost postings before. Hmmm...
XFX = Terrible CS

Pros: None
Cons: XFX is a bunch of finger pointers. "Nothing could possibly be wrong with our board. The problem has to be..." Yeah, I understand trouble shooting, but two months of it and I'm still getting static when I ask to RMA the board. Like I'm excited about the idea of having to tear my rig apart and wait for three weeks to get it back?? Finally had to blow my stack to get anywhere and was told I'll likely get the same (serial number) board back. When I asked about my problem updating the BIOS, the guy said I should NEVER have used the BIN file with winflash. Gee, you might want to remove that from the read me then there buddy.
Overall Review: I won't touch another XFX product again. If you can't back it up, get out of the way and make room for someone who does. Eventually, people figure that stuff out on their own anyway I guess.
Mixed Feelings

Pros: It does seem to smooth out gameplay. The game "feels" like it's running better. When on my favorite COD4 server, I notice a lot of people complain about lag when I am not experiencing it. I also don't notice lag as much as I did so I would have to say that it works, just not as well as advertised.
Cons: Did not show one increase in frame rates and did not lower my ping. I called the tech and he told me that the COD code was written so well that you would typically not see gains in those areas for that game. (Didn't see that on the box) I plan to play some of my other games after a reformat and then see what this does after I install it. As far as I'm concerned, the proof is in the pudding (numbers) so if the tech was telling the truth, I should see it then.
Overall Review: In case anyone wants to know if it's compatible, I'm running Vista 64 bit. The only issue I seem to have is that I need to configure the app before gaming which requires a restart. Not the end of the world, but a little annoying.
