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Andrew T.

Andrew T.

Joined on 12/27/16

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 10
Most Favorable Review

Very Versatile Little Case

COUGAR QBX Black Steel Mini-ITX Ultra-Compact Pro Gaming Case
COUGAR QBX Black Steel Mini-ITX Ultra-Compact Pro Gaming Case

Pros: -Two 2.5' drive bays and a 3.5" bay and a spot for a thin optical drive -120mm radiator mount allows for great cpu cooling. -Ventilated sides and bottom allow GPU to breathe without choking on its sweat. -Included mini exhaust fan is a nice touch - ATX Power Supplies up to 140mm are supported (fit my 650w Seasonic Prime with almost no issue) -Full length GPU support (fits my EVGA 1080 SC with almost no issue) -Frame feels sturdy even with side panels removed

Cons: -Longer graphics cards in combination with a 140mm PSU really squeeze up against each other. I don't know if it would be better to use a non-modular PSU as all the cables would be coming out of one spot instead of the entire back, but I almost couldn't fit my GPU in as the cables coming from my modular power supply come out just enough to make you work for it. -Can be difficult to work inside if you try putting 2 SSD's, an HDD, and a 120mm AIO, but I only bring that up as a warning. It's impressive that it can fit all of that -not a lot of space to hide extra cable if you use a slim optical drive

Overall Review: This case is exceptional at its price point. If you want a relatively portable powerhouse then it has everything you need. I was able to cram an i7-7700k cooled by a 120mm AIO, 2 SSD's, a 3.5" HDD, a full sized ATX PSU, and a full-sized GTX 1080. None of the parts were made specifically for mini ITX systems, with the exception of the motherboard obviously, and they all fit together really well while operating at decent temps and relatively quiet. I'm super impressed that this case does all that while staying so small and being so affordable.

12/18/2018
Most Critical Review

Fantastic Budget Case WHEN ON SALE LOW ENOUGH

Rosewill NAUTILUS ATX Mid-Tower Gaming PC Computer Case, Supports: 240mm Liquid Cooler & 380mm VGA Card, 3 Pre-installed Fans, Steel Airflow Mesh, Side Panel Window
Rosewill NAUTILUS ATX Mid-Tower Gaming PC Computer Case, Supports: 240mm Liquid Cooler & 380mm VGA Card, 3 Pre-installed Fans, Steel Airflow Mesh, Side Panel Window

Pros: For the price I paid ($24.49) this is a phenomenal case. It comes with 3 fans, USB 3.0, and a very small amount of back panel space to hide wires. The 3 fans are relatively quiet and provide good airflow thanks to the perforated front panel.

Cons: Keep in mind you want to route your CPU power cable before installing the MOBO because there is no room to squeeze the 8 pin connector through once the MOBO is installed. The metal is very thin, but that's to be expected at this price point. The glossy plastic on the front also collects fingerprints like nothing else.

Overall Review: This case is cheap and the $60 MSRP is a joke. You can choose from a plethora of higher quality cases at that price point. Heck you could get a $40 case that's better than this one and use the savings to get higher quality fans. It regularly goes on sale for $25-$35 and for that price it's great, but otherwise I'd suggest looking elsewhere.

12/18/2018

Exactly what I was looking for in the 1k price range

GIGABYTE G5 KC - 15.6" FHD IPS Anti-Glare 144Hz - Intel Core i5-10500H - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU 6 GB GDDR6 - 16 GB Memory - 512 GB PCIe SSD - Windows 10 Home - Gaming Laptop (G5 KC-5US1130SH)
GIGABYTE G5 KC - 15.6" FHD IPS Anti-Glare 144Hz - Intel Core i5-10500H - NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Laptop GPU 6 GB GDDR6 - 16 GB Memory - 512 GB PCIe SSD - Windows 10 Home - Gaming Laptop (G5 KC-5US1130SH)

Pros: - Great performance for the cost - 144hz IPS screen has been great when I'm on the go - Connect to my 1440p monitor and it performs incredibly well in that resolution. I've mostly played Fallout 4 (heavily modded), Star Wars Squadrons, and Monster Hunter World and I've set all at High or Ultra settings and rarely dip below 60 fps at 1440p - I added a 1tb hybrid drive and love that I can still add another m.2 if I choose in the future - comes with 2 ram sticks installed to take advantage of dual channel - When propped up for better air intake thermals have been good, CPU still hits the high 90s but is boosting to just above 4GHz steadily while doing so The GPU has maxed out in the high 80s while holding just below 2000 MHz boost - The keyboard lighting is fun and it has a great layout while fitting a numpad which is a plus for me

Cons: - I haven't messed with the fan settings at all, and at stock they ramp up for anything and can get loud, but it's the loud of aid moving more than the actual fan sound and is not noticeable when wearing headphones - Battery life isn't exceptional even when using the iGPU instead of the 3060, but that's most gaming laptops

Overall Review: I would 100% recommend it to anyone looking in this price range. It's easily upgradeable as far as laptops go, and it performs incredibly well for the $1000-$1100 price range

Easy to navigate BIOS, decent overclocking

ASUS Z170-E LGA 1151 Intel Z170 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 ATX Intel Motherboard
ASUS Z170-E LGA 1151 Intel Z170 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.1 ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: -Can OC my 6700k to 4.7ghz before hitting the vCore limit, but anything further becomes unstable -Looks great while still being minimal -2 CPU fan headers and a water pump header are appreciated

Cons: -Only 2 chassis fan headers so I had to use a splitter to use 3 fans on the front of my PC -Borrowed a friends 7700k which he was able to OC to 4.9ghz on his z170-A mobo, but I was still only able to get it to 4.7ghz on this mobo leading me to believe it's not meant to really push overclocking but it;s nice to have some.

Overall Review: I wish it had a black I/O shield but that's just being picky

Good design and cooling

XFX Radeon RS RX 480 DirectX 12 RX-480P836BM 8GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 CrossFireX Support Video Card
XFX Radeon RS RX 480 DirectX 12 RX-480P836BM 8GB 256-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 CrossFireX Support Video Card

Pros: -I bought this last year before mining ran gpu prices up so that's a pro for me I suppose -XFX cooler works pretty well, keeping the card relatively cool at a good volume -I like the option to get different colored LED fans in the future if I ever want to

Cons: -Has a decent amount of coil whine, not enough that it can be heard over headphones or even speakers, but it's there

Very reliable, good price

Seasonic FOCUS GX-650, 650W 80+ Gold, Full-Modular, ATX Form Factor, Low Noise, Premium Japanese Capacitor, 10 Year Warranty, Nvidia RTX 30/40 Super, AMD GPU Compatible, Ref# SSR-650FX
Seasonic FOCUS GX-650, 650W 80+ Gold, Full-Modular, ATX Form Factor, Low Noise, Premium Japanese Capacitor, 10 Year Warranty, Nvidia RTX 30/40 Super, AMD GPU Compatible, Ref# SSR-650FX

Pros: -All black cables so you don't have to get custom extensions to hide ugly ketchup and mustard cables -Virtually silent under load, even with the fan on -10 year warranty is nice to have

Cons: -cables are connected together a bit weird. Not sure how to describe other than slightly off. Honestly not a huge deal