Joined on 12/11/08
Fits the job exactly as needed.
Pros: - Adheres strongly without coming off providing the surface areas are properly cleaned prior to application and then heat cycled after. - The Thermal tape comes already applied for an effort free application. - Copper being soft as it is was a breeze to reshape 2 pins due to blocking a CPU power connection clip.
Cons: None that I can foresee really. They are heatsinks and serve the purpose compared to not having them in the first place.
Overall Review: If only they came with taller heights like that of the full length VRM solutions for specific boards such as the MST-66/88. The dimensions however were an exact fit for the VRM clusters on a Gigabyte 880GMA-USB3 v3.1 motherboard.
Can be problematic
Pros: - it works in a pinch when needed for a simple drive conversion if your board is lacking IDE headers. - Works on CD Drives for reading purposes well. - Works well enough for Hard drive usage. - Nice array of status LED's for troubleshooting purposes.
Cons: OPTICAL DRIVES: - Will not function with for disc Writing. The device will fail stating hardware error when attempting to do so with this adapter. - Causes long delays after a powerdown when reintializing the device upon access. - May cause detection issues on some motherboards after initial startup. Warm boots will result in device scan failures of the connected drive. *- Drive used in this was an IDE LG GCC-4120B CD/DVD Reader/Writer HARD DRIVES: - Will cause a BSOD when accessed for S.M.A.R.T. scanning - Max transfer rate is Multiword DMA Mode 2 based on windows detection despite DMA resets. *-Drive used was a Hitachi Deskstar 160gb PATA-Drive
Overall Review: Would have been beneficial to either have had a 90 degree cable included or a right-angled Sata header on the device as the adapter causes the cable to stick out far more. This results in the device not being able to fit in some cases.
Great size and perfect for any use case.
Pros: - High wattage, very compact. - Output seems stable and spot on with no droop. - Pcie 8pin power is wired using 7 wires instead of 6 with 2 thinner gauge wires branching off from the 6pin as typical on many 6+2 configurations. This is neither a positive nor a negative depending on one's outlook. The 2 Sense pins share the same return wire. - No bulky capacitors on the wiring.
Cons: - 20gauge wiring at the secondary pcie daisy chain link. It starts with 18 gauge up to the first connector and then branches off using 20gauge as shown in the last photo. This isn't so much an issue for most cases due to short length but it would provide more confidence if it continued using 18gauge. - CPU 8pin is not connected using 8 dedicated wires. This is a limitation of the "super connector" as seems common on SuperFlowers' universal connector series. This leaves the CPU/EPS 8pin to use only 3x 12v wires contrary to the typical 4. This leaves 2 of them sharing a single pin which can be a minor issue for those using 12VO motherboards such as myself.
Overall Review: I have not found any significant disappointments thus far. It is overall a good product but as a result of the aforementioned cons it will only be getting a 4 out of 5 egg review from me. Aside from that it is so far recommended. I've been a SuperFlower user for many years and quality is usually top notch from the majority of their products. This is my first experience into their modular offerings so have some mixed feelings. For those who need to know for custom cabling purposes; I have included a pinout diagram (as seen from the PSU side) for this supply used MSPaint. They are all colour coded for each of the 9pin universal and the 12pin/15pin motherboard connectors.
Decent board and hardy.
Pros: - Has a very high HTT stability. Been able to push it over 300 HTT during overclocks without any issues but VRM heatsinks are a necessity when overclocking. - Native SATA 3 support - Robust VRM layout compared to other offerings on the market for an AM3+ mATX board. - Best set of options and chipset for the form factor with an AM3+ platform. - Using a fan control manager such as speedfan, the CPU fan port can actually be run in dual fan control mode. It can control both voltage and PWM on the CPU port, allowing a 3pin fan to be controlled by voltage, and the 4th pin for PWM connected to a PWM fan or controller independently.
Cons: - No IDE support, had to resort to using an IDE-to-SATA adaptor for my CD drive but this was expected during purchase. - The BIOS is a bit buggy, causing poor stability after a recovery during overclocks regardless of settings unless defaults are saved and the last settings to what you had before recalled from 'last working settings'. - The F3 and F4e BIOS are very unstable at stock!!! Using the same settings used in the F2 bios, an F3/4e bios would cause issues booting and issues maintaining stability such as trying to save a copy of the bios settings to hard drive when it isn't selected and thus hang. Further, a couple settings were 'stuck' and unchangeable such as 'ProcOdt(ohms)' would always be set at 240ohm REGARDLESS of what it is set to which is likely why the board is unstable starting with the F3 revision bios. In the F2 revision this is usually at auto whereas setting to 240 manually would result in the same instability experienced in the F3/4e version and thus the likely culprit. Cannot update bios versions as a result of this. - The SATA port placement is a bit jerky with duel-slot GFX cards but can be worked around using a pair of left and right flat-angle cables to run them under the card. Don't expect to be able to manage using all 6 in this regard but instead only 4. - The mouse/keyboard port is wired only for only one of them not both with a splitter as the colour coding would have you believe. The second half is not wired for use of a splitter (the data pins are connected to +5vole instead it seems when split on the other port). As a result a user is forced to run either the keyboard or mouse over USB. Other manufacturers wire both halves to be used with a splitter unlike gigabyte in this regard.
Overall Review: Lacks a heatsink on the mosfets but can easily accomodate Enzotech's BMR-C10 over each cluster if overclocking it.
Decent - works out of box.
Pros: So far there has been no complaints in functionality as it works out of the box without issues. - The supplied cables were mostly sufficient. - Has the best feature/price ratio of a 3.5" bay PWM fan controller while providing ample power output per header. - Glossy black grill coating matches well with my Black Ultra Microfly Case.
Cons: - Does not come with a MOLEX splitter cable to supply power from the PSU rather than the Source Fan Header. - Would have been nice if it would enable one to control the overall PWM->Voltage power with the knob as well so as to set a hard min/max limit on the speeds. Would have provided far more flexibility in controlling fan speeds considering the controller is using only 1 PWM source header. - The foam pad on the PCB underside while a nice touch for as an insulating barrier would have been better if it were more easily removable rather than glued on with a strong adhesive. - Loses ~1.1v on the PWM outputs which is negligible but expected.
Overall Review: Though it's a nitpick - there should either have been a separate set of mounting holes to mount it upside-down in the drive bay. For most cases the External 3.5" bay is the bottom most bay right above a fan intake. Mounting it upside down would have exposed the heatsinks of the Rheosmart's MOSfets directly to the incoming air flow. In normal mounting position it is being cramped against the bottom of the drive above it which makes me wonder the effectiveness of keeping it cool with 3 or more high-cfm [Delta] fans attached. Nothing some mods can't fix when the time comes however.
Nice but fragile.
Pros: - Looks good and a cheap price - Easy to clean
Cons: - Fragile temperature knob made with a thin hardened plastic shunt connecting it to the burner control within. Snapped after the first 6 weeks of daily use.
Overall Review: While a good burner, its' Achilles heal is the turning knob shunt. The only fragile part of an already relatively solid product.