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Mitchell B.

Mitchell B.

Joined on 06/16/07

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 8
Most Favorable Review

Love At First Sight!

NZXT Phantom 410 Series CA-PH410-R1 Red Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
NZXT Phantom 410 Series CA-PH410-R1 Red Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Pros: This was all around the best looking case with all the right features: It can support most form factor Mobo's with an opening on the mobo tray for easy installation of CPU coolers. The width and length of the case support large video cards, especially with the removable HDD/SSD bay. Overall I feel like it is on the larger end of a Mid-Tower. All 3 included fans are high quality, with room and jumpers for many more, plus water cooling amenities. The LED fan is very bright. Most of the installation was toolless. Native USB 3.0 support and jumpers. It also included a lot of hardware for the few things that are not toolless, so no matter what you pair with it, you'll have screws. The list can go on, I'll finish up this by saying I got it from newegg.com when it was much cheaper than it is now, and they had released newer NZXT phantom cases. I was willing to pay more for a better product, but in the end I picked the older model because of the better (IMHO) exterior aesthetics and the internal features were almost identical for less $$.

Cons: There are only a few things I have to say about this case that I wish were different: First, the only LED fan is the top 140mm fan. In addition to that, no matter what color case you get, the LED is blue, not white, not red, but blue. With the other colors of the components of my PC it looks like Mario, for real. Secondly, this is a compatibility problem with the Asus Maximus VI Hero mobo. It has a weird insulation buffer on the backplate. the standoff placement had no forgiveness in the case and I had to pull the insulation off. Another problem with combining this board and case was the placement of the CPU power. The board had it at the very top corner, I had to remove the fan from the case and use leverage from another tool just to get it secured in that tight place. These are minor inconveniences, and if you plan on adding more fans to the case or changing brands of fans to one you trust, the first one is an aesthetic issue that is out weighed by the rest of the features in this case.

Overall Review: Like the title says, I fell in love with this case the moment I laid eyes on it. I don't just rush in to purchases either. (I get buyers remorse when the items are just in my cart) I did so much research and kept coming back to this case. I've been using it for months now and I am over pleased. Putting my rig together was a breeze with the design of the case. There is plenty of room in this case for a second Video card and many more HDD/SSD and optical drives. You will not be disappointed by any of it's amazing features.

Snazzy and RED!!!

G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBXL
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBXL

Pros: They are the perfect color red for my set up, first off. Work at advertised speed with no tweaking. The heat spreaders are low enough to clear most CPU coolers. They look cool and work well. 'Nuff said!

Cons: I would say none really, except for the pricing. If you are running a dual channel setup, it is more effective and cheaper to buy 2x4gb dimms than 4x2gb dimms like this package. That is only if you want more ram and if you plan to OC, stick with just 2 dimms.

Overall Review: However, not all rigs need 8gb of ram. Mine is running most newer games amazingly, but I would still like that extra comfort of knowing it is overkill. When I upgrade, I will get 2x4gb dimms instead of adding another 4gb dimm to my dual channel setup for heat and stability reasons.

Pretty cool, pun or no pun, your call.

Thermaltake NiC C5 (CLP0608) 120mm Untouchable CPU Cooler
Thermaltake NiC C5 (CLP0608) 120mm Untouchable CPU Cooler

Pros: -Looks Great -Easy to install -Moves some air -Not very loud at all -Clears my ram

Cons: -The fans aren't labeled as to which way the air flows. You can figure it out, but I was expecting an arrow on the side like most fans. -This cooler does clear most ram, however, during the install it tells you to take the fans out of the shell. In order to put them back in, I did have to take one DIMM in and out to pop the fan back into place. -The manual fan control is silly, it needs to be bypassed.

Overall Review: I installed this cooler with no problems onto a Z87 board, socket 1150. I've read a lot of the reviews from this site about this item and numerous people have complained about how insecure this cooler is. YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG! The plates and all the pieces were immovable at a hand tightened level and the actual plate that secures the cooler to the surface of the CPU can be tightened down so much. I used a screw driver to give it the extra half turn and you could pick up the whole board by that cooler. It doesn't sag or anything. It's also just the right size to fit into the NZXT phantom case.

Runs What I Want and More!

ASUS GTX660-DC2O-2GD5 G-SYNC Support GeForce GTX 660 2GB 192-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card
ASUS GTX660-DC2O-2GD5 G-SYNC Support GeForce GTX 660 2GB 192-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card

Pros: -PCIe 3.0, if the board supports it, why not? -SLI compatable -Getting 60FPS on most anything running at 1440x900 -It looks very nice and matches my board and case :p -Runs pretty quite, it's not louder than my CPU cooler -The overclocking software is pretty cool, having it set on auto works better than I thought it would -Free $60 game

Cons: -It does take up two slots. This does not bother me, I like the look of beefy cards, but it is not low profile by any means. -It had a rebate outside of the pricing

Overall Review: I play a lot of MMOs and I've wanted to play newer FPS games with decent quality. This card can run less recent games at maximum settings and can do 'Very High' and 'High' on more recent games. Plus, if your system can support SLI, you can double this card up in your system and do really well.

Perfect Color Scheme

ASUS MAXIMUS VI HERO LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
ASUS MAXIMUS VI HERO LGA 1150 Intel Z87 HDMI USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: -This motherboard is SLI/Crossfire ready, which ever you choose, right out of the box. (It even comes with an SLI cable) -Very easy setup and testing with an on board start, reset, and diagnostic read out -Lots of rear connectors, including the SupremeFX feature on the board

Cons: -The motherboard back plate is padded. It took me several tries to get my mother board to line up with the right holes. It was practically impossible with the case I was installing it in so I ripped the padding off. The back plate went in naked and the motherboard fit in just right -The eight pin CPU power connector was not in an ideal place for those not thinking ahead with cable management.

Overall Review: I love the color scheme on this ROG board, I picked a case and after market CPU cooler to match. The board posted nicely and the UEFI was really easy to use and the start button on the board was amazing to use (for those of us that hook everything up and test it before we drop it into a case.

For more than just MMO's

Razer Naga Molten MMO PC Gaming Mouse
Razer Naga Molten MMO PC Gaming Mouse

Pros: I have owned this product for some time now and I've mainly used it for World of Warcraft, and a few RTS games. This device is a game changer, literally, easy access to abilities and macro software, GG. 17 Button mouse: -Mouse button 4 and 5 are in the best spot of all the razer mice. -The number pad configuration on the side is raised and easy to learn, it also comes with trainer nubs to expedite learning. -Amazingly ergonomic, fits my enormous hand like I submerged it in jello. -The left and right click buttons are swift, thin, and light, express spam clicking is possible. -The scroll wheel moves perfectly and clicks down when you want it to. -Overall it looks sleek and sexy like a sports car. -The pulsing illumination brings it to life Software: -Adjustable DPI -The macro software works on the fly, one is able to minimize the game, open the software and alter, add, remove a macro and go right back to playing. -The abilities of these macros are so intense, it sho

Cons: There are very few cons for me to write about, I did a lot of research on this product before I purchased one, however there are a few things that I would have liked to see in it: -The scroll wheel does NOT tilt, so you cannot macro a strafe or anything into tilting it. -The other Razer Naga mice have multiple colors in the LED's. I like the red, that's what my epic is set as, too, but having the option makes it a better product. -Also unlike the epic, it does not have interchangeable finger rests. I prefer the larger one with grooves for the ring and pinky finger, but it is still a great piece of equipment.

Overall Review: This mouse got me addicted to Razer and their product lines. I'm sure it's all of them, but I'll say most just to save suit, but most of their products work with the additional macro software. Which means on their keyboards and keypads they have extra buttons and let you change what the normal 104 keys do. Check out their site, look at all the cool stuff you can get cheaper on Newegg, like the mouse pads and head sets.