Joined on 08/26/11
Arctic Freexer i11 CPU Cooler
Pros: Simple installation to socket 2011 with clearance for RAM slots on either side. Under heavy video rendering CPU temps rarely get over 10-15 degrees over ambient. Heavy gaming does not phase its cooling abilities. No need for a water cooled system on this i7-4820K. Good cooling at a good price
Cons: It is a big block of aluminum fins and that may be an issue in smaller cases. I have .5 inches of clearance in my system. Not enough to knock an egg off for. More of a warning.
Overall Review: I did not use the heat sink compound that came with the unit but opted instead for Arctic Silver 5. I could not ask for better cooling for my purposes.
Frustration personified.
Pros: It arrived on time. otherwise nothing.
Cons: Attached the unit to a port on one of my radiators to check for leaks. Pumped and pumped and it never made it past the 2nd mark on the gauge. Check all my fittings for leaks to find the massive leak. Spent hours checking, retightening checking again.... Out of frustration I decided to remove the unit and filled my system with distilled water to physically find the leak that would not even hold a tiny bit of air pressure. It's been running for 24hrs now and not a drip. Reservoir levels are exactly the same as 24 hrs ago.
Overall Review: This unit failed right out of the box. I checked the O-ring and attachment to the pump. It looks fine. There is no sealant or tape sealing the gauge to the unit. This was a waste of time and money.
2018-2021
Pros: Easy to set up. Iron horse of a build. Been constantly running for years. Went through two separate routers and currently using Ubiquiti networks.
Cons: Not a thing. Excellent piece of hardware.
Overall Review: Yes I would recommend this.
Cooler Master V8 GTS
Pros: Excellent cooling over previous coolers. Easy to install, Very quiet for the size.
Cons: None that I can see. If you plan your build you should have fun putting together a machine with this as the cooler.
Overall Review: Easy to install if you plan your build. It fits nicely in the Cooler Master case. Ram installed after cooler was easy if you don't buy RAM with fancy long fins because they look cool. 4 Sticks of AMD Radeon 2133 Gamer series installed just fine with cooler in place in the closest ram slots. Easiest cooler I ever installed on a Gigabyte X79 Socket 2011 mobo. I saw one review that docked eggs because the contact plate was not polished but with a rough surface. DUH. The rough surface creates more surface area for your heat transfer paste. It is much more efficient than a "polished" surface.
Nice case
Pros: Solid build. Plenty drive bays. Excellent case and CPU cooling capabilities. Styling is very good.
Cons: The only con I came up with is that the entire front panel comes off pretty easy. With the way the cables are snaked through the chassis the connections to the front panel plugs they unplug and you have to open the case, unplug the onboard connectors and give yourself enough slack to plug them back into the front panel again. This should have a clip connector on it so it only comes off when you want to take it off (for cleaning)
Overall Review: This is not a micro sized case. It is a case for microATX boards. It has six drive bays are perfect for my MS Home Server RAID array. With the sound deadening construction and multiple cooling options makes it a good choice for this.
ASUS M5A78L-M LX PLUS AM3+ AMD 760G + SB710 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
Pros: None whatsoever.
Cons: Addendum to earlier review. This is for ASUS support. Made to fill out a pre authorization. After that told to call number with authorization number. 1 hour and 20 minutes on the phone holding before I hung up in disgust without ever speaking to a human. ASUS has the lousiest customer service I have witnessed recently. I will never buy from ASUS again. Not because their products sometimes fail but because their customer service is non existant. If they think they are so good at customer service ask them how come it is so hard to get.
Overall Review: Asus touts their customer service. Another fairy tail from a place that has NO direct contact with customer service and makes you jump through hoops to even get on a queue and wait and wait and wait...until you give up in disgust.