Joined on 09/03/07
Perfect MB for Budget Builds
Pros: Ideal motherboard for making a no-nonsense entry to mid-level gaming PC. Has only what you need. Two RAM slots, one Sata3 for a SSD, a few more for storage/disc drives, one PCIe-16x lane for the GPU, one PCIe-1x for wireless if you need it (ew wireless), and onboard connections for all your headers and a couple fans INCLUDING a USB 3.0 header (which nothing else at this price range has). Seems to be almost perfectly made to pair with the Rosewill LINE-M Micro-ATX case for a maximum value budget build.
Cons: Nothing I can think of.
Overall Review: Don't complain if you have problems overclocking or fitting huge aftermarket heatsinks on here with your RAM. It may or may not work, but this is a "Business Line" of MB, so it was never designed to be doing those kind of things.
Great Budget Stock Replacement
Pros: 30C idle 45C load on a Core i3. Set the fan target to 1200 RPM and the mechanical drives in the system are the loudest thing in there now. Whisper quiet next to the 3000 RPM wind turbine of a stock fan. Very easy to install compared to a bulky backplated overclocking cooler. Would recommend for any system that isn't going to overclock.
Cons: Find something to cover your thumb with when pushing in the pins on the mounting bracket, hurt like hell to get them in otherwise.
Overall Review: Take off the fan before mounting the heatsink so it's easy to screw it onto the bracket.
Great Minimalist Model
Pros: An excellent, no-frills, well functioning mechanical keyboard, with clacky, springy, blue microswitches. Absolutely minimal layout with no wasted space, maximizes the extra room you have if using it on a desk, which is a huge plus for me. As many have mentioned, the product photos are outdated and there is now no company branding on the keyboard, just lovely plain matte grey. Thought I would lose media keys getting such a small keyboard, but it has a FN key for using the F5-F12.
Cons: Caps lock and window key lock lights are kinda bright I guess? Not enough for me to notice unless I'm looking at the keyboard still, so it's fine.
Overall Review: Got a great deal for it on sale here, ever since price has been creeping up here and elsewhere, probably due to popularity. Used the money I saved to get a standalone USB keybad for whenever I need to do 10-key entry.
Nice quiet reference model.
Pros: A nice basic model of the 7850 with the 2 gb of ram. Got it to replace a looooooud old 4870, this is basically silent in comparison. Bumped the core clock to 900mhz for fun and it's fine, but really the Core I3 in the system I put it in is bottlenecking it. Just got this because it was the cheapest 2GB 7850 at the time ($180) and the awesome AMD deal for free Bioshock Infinite and Tomb Raider (both games I wanted).
Cons: None so far, most taxing thing it's done is GW2, which is capping out on the CPU. Don't care for the 1 DVI + 1 HDMI setup (I like when they have the second DVI on top), but most basic cards have that these days. Doesn't come with anything but a DVI/VGA adapter either, I already had the requisite cables and adapters I needed, but you may want to note that.
Overall Review: HIS has models with better cooling setups for not much more, especially if this isn't on sale. Would definitely go with those if you planned to OC, which is always fun to mess with on the 78xx and 79xx series cards.
Best bet for a quiet case
Pros: Great price/quality ratio, especially if you use a fan discount coupon code. Have gotten this 4 pack for $24 twice now. That's $6 a fan for what is almost the same model as a fan that normally costs $15 a piece! They move decent air, and more importantly are practically silent. If you don't need crazy airflow for exxxxtreme over clocking these make great replacements for cheaper, noisier, stock case fans. Have a couple in my case with a Hyper 212 and 7950 and the whole thing never gets above a gentle hum even when gaming. A far cry from the freight train that was some noisy Scythe fans and a 4870 in a past rig... Getting a new set to replace the stock Rosewill fans in my gf's case, so the computer room will be almost silent.
Cons: Nadda.
Great Value
Pros: Comes with 2 x 120mm fans, 4x front USB (2 x 3.0), bottom screw holes for a floor mounted SSD, and room for a 3.5" storage drive or two. Extremely efficient and well featured case, pretty much unheard of value if you get it at $40. Has everything you need for making a beefy larger HTPC with some gaming capability, or a budget gaming PC with only what you need; both of which I'm using my build for.
Cons: Didn't have a standoff spot for the lower right hole on my microATX MB, could just be Asrock's fault though, had problems like that on other MB's from them. I'm sure the blue LED front fan is gaudy, but replacing it with a plain black 120mm was the first thing I did.
Overall Review: Need to be wary of cable clutter with a ATX PSU in a small case with no cable routing. If you plan to install a 5.25" drive, may want to get a modular one so you have enough space. I salvaged an old PSU and stuffed the excess cables in the 5.25" bay area since I don't bother with disc drives anymore. Bought direct from Rosewill, coz' they were selling it cheaper at the time, but now it's slightly cheaper here. Ah well.