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Christian H.

Christian H.

Joined on 03/19/07

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Product Reviews
product reviews
  • 11
Most Favorable Review

Works, and works well!

G.SKILL 2GB DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5S-2GBPQ
G.SKILL 2GB DDR2 800 (PC2 6400) Desktop Memory Model F2-6400CL5S-2GBPQ

Pros: Great bang for the buck. It's affordable, it's fast, and it even looks good (if you care about such things).

Cons: none

Overall Review: I would recommend this memory without hesitation. My home Linux box wouldn't be the same without it.

Most Critical Review

it's just a hard disk

Western Digital Caviar SE WD1200JS 120GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive Bare Drive
Western Digital Caviar SE WD1200JS 120GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Hard Drive Bare Drive

Pros: It is cheap, it is SATA 2.0, it is very quiet, and if you're not storing your music and movies on it, it's actually a pretty big drive.

Cons: Performance is poor. Here's what hdparm says about it under Linux: Cached reads: 930 MB in 2.00 seconds = 464.44 MB/sec Buffered disk reads: 182 MB in 3.00 seconds = 60.64 MB/sec

Overall Review: This is no speed demon but it works, and it doesn't chatter at me, so I suppose I would buy it again. Though I'd probably pay a bit more for a faster drive even if it were the same size.

great value

Rosewill R103A - Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - 350W 20 + 4-Pin Connector Power Supply
Rosewill R103A - Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - 350W 20 + 4-Pin Connector Power Supply

Pros: Very low cost but lots of drive bays and cooling options. It has room to accomodate a pair of 92mm fans (one up front, one in the back) and an 80mm fan on the side.

Cons: Installing a fan in the front portal is going to require small hands, great dexterity, and a thick skin. Also the included power supply is too small to be useful to me. I would like to be able to buy this case cheaper without it.

Overall Review: For the price, it's going to be hard to beat. I like it.

great value!

Vantec Stealth 92 mm Double Ball Bearing Silent Case Fan - Model SF9225L
Vantec Stealth 92 mm Double Ball Bearing Silent Case Fan - Model SF9225L

Pros: It moves sufficient air at low enough RPM's that it is overall a pretty quiet fan. Good citizen of the home office! None of those stupid LED lights!

Cons: Don't expect it to move as much air silently as a $20 fan.

Overall Review: It moves enough air for us mere mortals but overclockers should be budgeting more for a better fan. It's a great value and I would buy one again.

good value

Broadway Com Corp P4-OKIA-550-RB 550 W ATX 12V v2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply
Broadway Com Corp P4-OKIA-550-RB 550 W ATX 12V v2.2 SLI Ready CrossFire Ready Active PFC Power Supply

Pros: Inexpensive, high power, works well with my AMD 64 X2 6000+ and accessories. The fan in it is pretty quiet.

Cons: Only one SATA connector and way too many MOLEX connectors.

Overall Review: Overall, this PS is an excellent value and I would buy it again.

works well with Linux!

ASUS M2NPV-VM AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6150 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard
ASUS M2NPV-VM AM2 NVIDIA GeForce 6150 Micro ATX AMD Motherboard

Pros: Ubuntu "feisty" correctly detected all of the hardware. Video works great in Linux, as does sound and LAN. Performance is absolutely fantastic. Very pleased!

Cons: lm_sensors is getting funny readings that can't be trusted. Some of the capacitors are pretty big and can be tricky to work around once the board is in the case.

Overall Review: Assemble your components before you put this system board into the case to avoid knocking the tall capacitors.