cover
J B.

J B.

Joined on 02/18/02

0
0

Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 7
Most Favorable Review

Does what it should, quickly

Kingston FCR-HS3 USB 3.0 15-in-1 Media Reader
Kingston FCR-HS3 USB 3.0 15-in-1 Media Reader

Pros: Quick. USB 3.0 speed is great. Has read every card I put in it.

Cons: Needs rubber feet on the bottom to make it less likely to slide around / scratch your desk when inserting / removing cards. Nothing that can't be easily remedied.

Overall Review: Need one? Get this one.

Most Critical Review

UEFI BIOS Annoying

ASUS Z97M-PLUS LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
ASUS Z97M-PLUS LGA 1150 Intel Z97 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Easy install. M.2 slot.

Cons: 1) Boot drive selection is buried in the UEFI settings. Main page selection is ineffective, and thereby misleading. 2) No longer includes Asus' case header connector, that lets the user plug all of the case header stuff into one block and then connect that block to the motherboard. That was one of the nicest features of previous Asus boards, and I miss it, especially as the printing on the board is offset, and the manual has no layout. 3) If you don't already know how to install, the manual is pretty useless. Big stupid pictures that are insufficiently detailed, and provide little information.

Overall Review: Asus has slipped some. Hope the corner cutting listed above doesn't reflect on the board quality itself.

Good solid CPU

Intel Core i5-4570S - Core i5 4th Gen Haswell Quad-Core 2.9 GHz LGA 1150 65W Intel HD Graphics Desktop Processor - BX80646I54570S
Intel Core i5-4570S - Core i5 4th Gen Haswell Quad-Core 2.9 GHz LGA 1150 65W Intel HD Graphics Desktop Processor - BX80646I54570S

Pros: Quick, cool, more powerful than a normal desktop user might need. Handles light video editing and photo editing like a champ.

Cons: No hardware virtualization support

Overall Review: Note: I'm not using the integrated graphics

Solid board

GIGABYTE GA-X79-UP4 LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard
GIGABYTE GA-X79-UP4 LGA 2011 Intel X79 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard

Pros: Supports socket 2011 CPUs, plenty of memory sockets, doesn't cost an arm and a leg, reliable.

Cons: Really best in a full tower case, heatsinks can present a challenge for fans mounted too close to the side of the board. Especially evident if using water cooling with a top mounted 120mm radiator, like the H100i. Had to upgrade my case to a Corsair 750 for it to fit.

Overall Review: Get a big case. Use water cooling. Makes for a much quieter system.

Great card

EVGA GeForce GT 430 (Fermi) 1GB DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card 01G-P3-1431-KR
EVGA GeForce GT 430 (Fermi) 1GB DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 Video Card 01G-P3-1431-KR

Pros: Quiet. quick. dual DVI. Inexpensive

Cons: None

Overall Review: I've had this card fir six months, running on my daily use PC. Handles dual head under Linux fine. Fan is extremely quiet. Great card.