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Ryan L.

Ryan L.

Joined on 08/10/09

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 5
Most Favorable Review

Great Processor

Intel Core i5-3350P - Core i5 3rd Gen Ivy Bridge Quad-Core 3.1GHz (3.3GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 69W Desktop Processor - BX80637i53350P
Intel Core i5-3350P - Core i5 3rd Gen Ivy Bridge Quad-Core 3.1GHz (3.3GHz Turbo) LGA 1155 69W Desktop Processor - BX80637i53350P

Pros: Fast powerful processor, no problems so far.

Cons: Does not have onboard video, but I knew this coming into my purchase, and chose this processor for that reason.

Overall Review: Make sure you're planning on using a discrete video card, as this processor has no onboard video.

Case had everything i needed, was a snap to assemble

Cooler Master HAF 912 - Mid Tower Computer Case with High Airflow, Supporting up to Six 120mm Fans and USB 3.0
Cooler Master HAF 912 - Mid Tower Computer Case with High Airflow, Supporting up to Six 120mm Fans and USB 3.0

Pros: This case was the highlight of my build. It was easy to assemble, SUPER versatile, well thought out and put together. I found a 4 pack of cooler master 120mm "Silent sleeve bearing fans" and it was the same fan as the 2 preinstalled in the case. I installed all 6 fans using the included hardware, and the thing is still relatively quiet. The right side panel leaves plenty of room to tuck away extra power cables, and all sharp edges are rolled. The included slide rails for tool-less hard drive installation worked flawlessly on the HDD, and the 3.5" adapter tray worked great on my SSD. One external drive bay is tool-less and it worked great for my DVDR drive.

Cons: I gathered all my internals in front of the box, and said, "Install these" but it just sat there looking pretty.

Good budget drive, slide action seems rough

ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS
ASUS 24X DVD Burner - Bulk 24X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 24X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 24X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM Black SATA Model DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS

Pros: Cheap, Does what it's supposed to do

Cons: When ejecting tray, it seems almost like it's sticky, and slows down then speeds up. Not a big deal, but makes it seem unrefined.

Great budget MOBO

MSI Z77A-G41 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS
MSI Z77A-G41 LGA 1155 Intel Z77 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard with UEFI BIOS

Pros: This mobo has everything I was looking for. USB 3.0, SATA iii, PCI-e 3.0, 4 ram slots, 4 case fan headers. The ClickBios is awesome, you can arrange the boot order by drag and drop! SSD drive + SATA III = 15 second boot time into windows 7! Impressive.

Cons: Board is smaller than many ATX boards, so it doesn't use the last row of ATX mounting standoffs. Therefore, the power connector is not well supported, and it might be possible to damage the board trying to insert the power plug. I used another rater's advice, and slipped a plastic soda cap underneath the board when inserting the power cable.

Overall Review: Haven't tried the overclock feature yet since I'm using stock cooling. Don't overclock your CPU with stock cooling.

Great drive at a great price.

SAMSUNG 840 EVO  SAMSUNG 840 EVO 2.5" 120GB SATA III TLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-7TE120BW
SAMSUNG 840 EVO SAMSUNG 840 EVO 2.5" 120GB SATA III TLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) MZ-7TE120BW

Pros: Fast drive with great design, and no problems

Cons: It didn't install itself automatically

Overall Review: I now have 2 of these drives. 1 in my older desktop (3 years old) and one in my brand new build. It's amazing what a difference SATA iii makes in the speed capability. If you put this drive in a SATA ii board, don't expect earth shattering performance.