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John D.

John D.

Joined on 01/02/08

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 9
Most Favorable Review

Perfect and Feature Rich

ASUS M3A78-EM AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
ASUS M3A78-EM AM2+/AM2 AMD 780G HDMI Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: Worked perfect. Tons of options. a ridiculous amount of ports available on it. Completely WILD motherboard best I have ever bought. I wont hook it up to HDMI but it is nice to know if in the future I do want to move this box around I CAN. Came with plenty of accessories worked with my AMD x2 7750 Black Edition and G-Skill PC2-8500 ram perfectly. Assembled the PC the first time with ZERO problems good price.. well reviewed.. solid performer. plenty of space for being the small ATA form factor. The 8.1 sound is completely wild. I didnt use the onboard video i dropped a 8800GT in that I had previously so I cannot comment on onboard video.

Cons: The express gate thing is pointless to me. I would like to remove that totally. Having this pc boot up and be a internet station is pointless. I actually dont like that feature at all. I dont like it sitting there for 3 seconds waiting for me to bypass something I dont like. Whatever.. that is the ONLY thing I dont like about this board. That may just be me not finding the jumper to turn it off. It should be a setting turn it off all the way.. or turn it on..

Overall Review: paired with Item#:N82E16820231166 G-skill 2x2gig ram I was able to get it running on this board at 1066. CONFIRMED in bios. all I had to do is set the ram voltage up to 2.0. And.. it screams.. So one of the things I was researching when buying this board was that. RAM compatibility seems to be an issue. It works.. trust me.. So this combo M3A78-EM G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 AMD Athlon 64 X2 7750 2.7GHz Socket AM2+ 95W Dual-Core black edition paired with the Thermaltake 500 watt was PERFECT.. ran at published speeds and gives an incredible Vista 64 experience.

Most Critical Review

Cheap Plastic Junk with short cords

COOLMAX CU-500B 500 W ATX 12V V2.2/EPS 12V V2.91 Modular Power Supply
COOLMAX CU-500B 500 W ATX 12V V2.2/EPS 12V V2.91 Modular Power Supply

Pros: Provides Power. Modular power (plug in what you need) which was a feature that sounded cooler on paper.

Cons: Comes with 4 SATA connectors on two cords. That is it. They are short too. if you have an average size case and the PS is mounted anywhere but at the top. The cords wont make it. The Motherboard big power connector was not long enough so I had to use this big ugly extension cord that was white. Everything else is black. Not the extension and it really stands out. Have to go more than 6 inches from PS to your MB? You are going to need this big bulky connector. Remember the SATA connector? Yea. I broke it the connectors are made of really cheap plastic and they broke off right at the connector end. Contacted support on Friday. takes about 36 hours to get an answer from them. I am on the third go around. This power supply is going in the trash and I ordered a new one I am going to stay away from Coolmax going forward. I think it is too cheaply made to put in a new machine I actually care about.

Overall Review: Ive never used such a cheap sata connector. the plastic is EXTREMELY thin and of course broke.I was surprised when the first connector just fell off. I tried to use the second one and that one snapped too. With only 4 total sata connectors in the bunch on two cables, it has rendered this supply worthless. Now the UPC code is gone for the rebate and the box is tossed. Hopefully Ill get my rebate and this wont be a complete loss. The cords are way too short as well. I had to use the big mb connector. That feature sounded cool but in practice I started thinking of having more than one connection for every cord and the value of the plug in cords really became nil at that point. In the future I will just take the power cords soldered into the power supply for reliability.

12/29/2013

Gorgeous Power supply

PC Power & Cooling ModXStream Pro Series 600 Watt 80+ Semi-Modular Active PFC Performance Grade ATX PC Power Supply (OCZ600MXSP)
PC Power & Cooling ModXStream Pro Series 600 Watt 80+ Semi-Modular Active PFC Performance Grade ATX PC Power Supply (OCZ600MXSP)

Pros: Nice looking,silent. Great lengths on cables.Good quality connectors.

Cons: None I can think of. Has been a very solid performer

Overall Review: Built two new gaming rigs. My son got this power supply as we did his first. Went in smooth. Great quality connectors. Just a high quality good power supply with all the features you are going to need on a budget gaming PC.Nice Job OCZ I will buy YOUR power supplies with no reservations.

12/29/2013

Surprisingly Nice

Rosewill REDBONE U3 - ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Black SECC Steel, USB 3.0, eSATA, 3 x 120mm Fans
Rosewill REDBONE U3 - ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Black SECC Steel, USB 3.0, eSATA, 3 x 120mm Fans

Pros: Well made. screwless drive mountings USB 3 Good looking. 3 big case fans. Plenty of space

Cons: Nothing really. The motherboard I have doesnt have usb3 so I cant use the front panel usb ports.(No biggie)

Overall Review: When I bought this I got it on a good deal from newegg. I bought this case about a year ago and just put a new computer together today. I popped the box open and installed the new pc.I thought "Rosewill" Ugh.. that is garbage right? No, I was very surprised at how nice it looked and how well it made a home for my newest "budget" old man gaming rig. Very satisifed. Thanks NewEgg and Rosewill.

12/27/2013

Perfect. If you are debating using an old IDE drive in your new system or buying this.. Read on

SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model SH-S223F
SAMSUNG 22X DVD Burner 22X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 16X DVD+R DL 22X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model SH-S223F

Pros: Great Price. Faster performer. MANY firmware revisions to have but works fine with the default version too. No brainer for getting a good SATA DVD burner.

Cons: The front is not gorgeous it is sort of plain. That is the only thing i could come up with bad to say

Overall Review: As per the title. If you are on the fence as to whether or not to upgrade your DVD burner to SATA.. is it worth the 25 bucks? JUST DO IT.. I debated.. (ahh.. Ill just run my old IDE.. I mean it works fine) Dont do it.. having an all sata system has a lot of cool plusses. Inside the case.. no ugly IDE cables. no big power connectors.. just CLEAN SATA. and the speeds.. well the speeds are great.. faster than IDE and well better. If you sorted by price and said.. well I am considering adding a SATA DVD drive to my new homebuilt. Just do it.. you will love it. Hands down. RETIRE THAT IDE stuff it served us well but it is time to go. Enjoy this drive. I love mine.. burns ALL kinds of stuff perfectly. NOTE: the firmware that came with mine is a version 1 firmware there are 5 updates to the firmware AFTER that.. the latest at time of this posting is out there.. grab it and update. It worked fine regardless but firmware tends to do nice things to burners. This is no exception.

Perfect fit

Thermaltake Purepower W0100RU 500 W ATX 12V 2.0 Power Supply
Thermaltake Purepower W0100RU 500 W ATX 12V 2.0 Power Supply

Pros: Perfect fit in a cooler master case.. plenty of old school power connectors. Good fan inside. attractive paint job on the case. like a gloss black

Cons: 4 sata connectors.. I THINK it came with a white 4 pin to 2 SATA power converter thing which gave me enough SATA power adapters. just know that the 4 connectors are in 2 pairs and the pairs are really close together so if you have a big case and your drives are in 3 different places it is going to be tought to get power to them without using the adapter that has that cheapo white plastic plug in you know where the metal pins move. whatever i am being picky but seriously.. why do I need 20 old school power connectors arent most new things ALL sata powered?

Overall Review: Minor complaint. I had some concern buying this power supply over other ones. I know this brand is a good name but i was concerned about running my 95 watt AMD 7750 black edition and it having enough juice to power my 8800GT too.. but.. it handles it.. is quiet.. etc. the price was unbeatable too Did I need a 700 watt power supply? Nope.. this one fit the bill perfect. 5 stars.. and new egg shipping speed makes it worth it.