Pros: Fast! Multiple CUDA cores wrock in 3D worlds, and speed in the 2D world is super good. Win 7's performance index gives this card an index of 7.6

Cons: The DVI-D output had me working for HOURS trying to calibrate a new monitor that I bought alongside this. This could be (and probably is) the monitor's fault. I finally gave up on the DVI-D port and used the VGA port.

Overall Review: I am extremely pleased with this card. Installing it took less than 5 minutes, including installing the drivers from the supplied disk. I have not done any gaming yet, but I have been working with a 3D modeling program called Blender. Blender allows you to do the rendering with the CPU or the GPU. Setting the renderer to GPU made processing a scene 1/10th of what it was when done by the CPU. When I first saw the two fans I was struck with fear -- was this going be loud? Nope! It is whisper quiet! I'm ipressed with this too. Most impressive is it's color stability. This thing is a marvel of technology! The colors are crisp and bright. The card accurately displays 'normal' contrast scenes, low contrast scenes (high key, middle key, and low key), and it performs handsomely with photo realism using Photoshop and other graphics design software. One caveat: Calibrating my low end monitor by using the DVI-D output from the card was next to impossible. That's understandable. NOTHING replaces good old analogue -- not for visual or for audio. Still, the colors were so awful, I suspect that either this card's DVI-D port or the monitor's port is faulty. Other than this, I'm one very happy camper. This card performs better than I expected. My chief complaint at this time is Windows 7!

Pros: Good for reading only. Get your programs onto hard drive. This drive works admirably for that task.

Cons: I have owned an Optiarc DVD drive for years. Alongside this, I have a Samsung CD-R drive. Music CDs burned on the Optiarc do not last nearly as long as those burned on the Samsung. Both are burned on the same brand media. Both are burned at approx half max speed

Overall Review: I use approx half the fastest speed. According to documentation found at various tech sites, this is superior to using the fastest speed. Lifespan of a Music CD burned by the Sony Optiarc: 2 years Lifespan of a Music CD burned by the Samsung: 5 years

Pros: Price. I bought this with an immediate $100 off. Now I know why it was so cheap. The stand seems sturdy enough, and has swivel, height, and a limited amount of leveling.

Cons: When you open the box, there's a multi-language manual. The first instruction is 'Attach monitor to stand', but there's no explanation how to do this. FIrst fired up, the picture is way off. Colors are attrocious! Reading text is next to impossible. Brightness so high you can't even get started with calibration, and oh that brightness... it'll blow you outta your chair! On board settings are in the lower right corner. Using these is terribly difficult. the buttonas are extrememble sensitive. Again, no info on how to use them. They're difficult to use. One click turns into 2 or 3 clicks. Color calibration is next to impossible. I now have it reasonably correct. But with Windows 7 calibration, the on board calibration buttons, and and the nVidia panel, I fought this thing for 5 hours to get it to look fairly correct. This thing should ship with a free monitor calibrator, such as Spyder! I work in graphic arts. This monitor refuses to set and hold it's settings. If it doesn't settle down in 3 days, Newegg can have it back. The onboard settings are confusing and the buttons terribly sensitive.No instructions come with it to tell you how to use them. Also, these could be lit with LEDs so that you can see them. Acer is too cheap to include one on each button. Fired it up this morning. It takes 20-30 minutes for the thing to warm up. CRTs don't do this. Colors shift like crazy during this time. I hope it lands where i set it!

Overall Review: Stand doesn't have any thumb screws for keeping monitor at specific height. I wonder how long the stand will last. The Legal Terms are come on a sheet of paper that is about 4x6 inches, and its all written in 6pt font. Bottom line, this monitor lacks in many respects, especially color calibration. Don't buy it.