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Vangstaz
Vangstaz's stats
- Review count4
- Helpfulness votes5
- First reviewMay 29, 2009
- Last reviewJanuary 26, 2013
- Featured reviews0
- Average rating4.8
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Vangstaz's Reviews
Keep your computer's components cool with this fan that features a 1800 rpm speed with 69.7 cfm airflow volume for fast, efficient cooling.
Customer Rating
5
Still an excellent CPU cooler for modern CPU's
on January 26, 2013
Posted by: Vangstaz
from Saint Paul, MN
Build or modify your own PC:Yes
Level of Expertise:Expert
Primary reason for building/modifying PC:Multimedia (music, movies, photos)
I bought this CPU cooler for my new music, photography and video editing build. Under this heatsink, I have an FX-8120 overclocked to 4.0GHz with 1.3V. Temperatures at these settings are very low for such an older CPU cooler like this. I barely reached 50C while at load.
Some people are complaining about the fan failing and give this CPU cooler a bad review as if the entire unit is broken... as a matter of fact, the CPU cooler is NOT broken, it's the fan that is broken for Christ sake. Get it right. I was able to replace the fan easily with an aftermarket 120mm fan so all of the fans in my case match each other. The stock fan, however, does come with a handy controller in replace of an expansion slot. It does spin to full when you power on the PC and quiets down, but that is common because it's a way to get dust off of the fan. It does make it sound like a V8 engine, but I prefer to install an after market fan instead.
If my Rosewill Blackbone case was just 2mm wider, I would have been able to fit the entire unit easily into it. But this is my mistake, not the CPU cooler. The side panel does close, but it will hit the side and cause a slight bend on the case. I removed the plastic cover on the CPU cooler using the provided screw driver just to have the fan and aluminum heatsink showing. I think it looks rather nice with the black and silver finish instead of having the Cooler Master V8 logo on it. It looks much more professional with the plastic cover off, in my opinion. There is only about 1mm of clearance between the cooler and my side panel, but it fits perfectly now. Plus the fact that the aftermarket fan I installed doesn't have LED's, this is perfect for my photo/video editing machine.
Even for an older CPU cooler like this V8, it is still a great buy. It also supports up to 180W, which is more than enough to power even some of the most powerful CPU's of today. I was debating between the V6, but I noticed that the V6 was just a basic push and pull heatsink, making it generic to others. The V8, however, has 8 nickel plated heatpipes that connects to 4 individual aluminum fin sectors, not just one large sector like the V6.
Overall, if you have a flexible mind and can easily find ideas on how to modify computer components, this CPU cooler will be an excellent choice for you. If not, then I suggest you look for something more expensive if you are too afraid to swap out a simple stock fan. I will not recommend this CPU cooler to beginners, but I will recommend this to someone who likes to fiddle and mess with stuff in order to make the best out of everything.
What's great about it: Unique heatpipe and aluminum fins layout, universal, large enough to dissipate heat
What's not so great: User errors
I would recommend this to a friend!
Features
4
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This SanDisk Cruzer Fit SDCZ33-016G-A11 flash drive features a 16GB capacity to store your media and documents. SanDisk SecureAcces software uses password protection and encryption to safeguard your files.
Posted by: Vangstaz
from Saint Paul, MN
Best Buy had this USB flash drive on sale for $12.99 just a few weeks ago. Luckily I was able to pick this up before the prices went up again. The reason why I picked this 16GB Cruzer Fit was because of its physical size and the capacity. It fits very nicely on my netbook and I don't ever have to worry about pulling it out. It just stays with me where ever I go.
In terms of performance, if you are really picky about performance, I recommend you look elsewhere. Transferring 5GB worth of backup files and photos took nearly 25 minutes. But it's okay for me because speed was not what I was looking for. I just need something that can store most of my files in a small form factor and this does the trick perfectly.
Some are complaining about losing this flash drive because it is so small. It's smaller than my Logitech mouse's nano receiver. One thing to make note, if you have children, and one of them gets lost, that is your responsibility because you were not watching. This flash drive is the same. If you lose it because you misplaced or just left it somewhere random, it is your fault. Why do you buy a physically small device if you're going to lose it? Do not blame the device for your actions, it is ignorant to do so. You bought a small device then you should be looking after it! Last time I checked, this flash drive didn't have legs.
I also like the orange LED, which pulses whenever the drive is plugged in. The pulsing LED gives a nice attracting style to it.
Overall, I am completely satisfied with this flash drive. I leave it plugged in my netbook all the time so I won't have to worry about pulling it out and storing it somewhere safe. Storage size, physical size, and the elegant LED makes it a very unique piece of technology.
What's great about it: Physical size
What's not so great: I you do not take care of it, you will lose it.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Ease of Use
5
Performance
4
Capacity
5
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Keep your notebook moving with this PNY 4GB DDR3 RAM stick. The low 1300MHz frequency speed helps to reduce temperatures across the laptop while ensuring it still has enough speed to keep data flowing to important programs. Each PNY 4GB DDR3 RAM stick is ideal for motherboards that have 1.5-volt RAM slots.
Customer Rating
5
Excellent upgrade for Acer Aspire 756-2823
on August 30, 2012
Posted by: Vangstaz
from Saint Paul, MN
Build or modify your own PC:Yes
Level of Expertise:Expert
Primary reason for building/modifying PC:Hobbiest
I purchased an Acer Aspire 756-2823 from my local BB store a few days ago. The system was preinstalled with a single 2GB memory stick, which was perfect for basic tasks. Since the maximum memory capacity on this netbook was 8GB, I saw that BB was having this 4GB stick for under $20 (best price I've seen locally for memory). Just five years ago, a single 1GB memory module was well over $100, but today I can get 4GB for under a fourth of that price.
I bought 2 of these modules, maxing out the limit to my Acer. The entire system just responds so much quicker than before, obviously. Windows Experience Index increased the memory score from a 5.5 (1x2GB) to a 7.5 (2x4GB) and my graphics scores have also increased by a few points. My netbook now has a subscore of 4.7, which is well over the standards for a netbook thanks to this memory upgrade.
Even though 8GB seems to be like an overkill for most people, it actually comes in handy whenever I am editing my photos on CS6. Future proofing is also important to note. I do photography and travel a lot, so a nice compact netbook with this 8GB or RAM is more than I'll ever need. If you can afford the second module, why not go for it?
What's great about it: Bang for your buck
What's not so great: Buy with confidence and you will have nothing to worry about.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Other Best Buy Products I Recommend
Acer - Aspire One 11.6" Laptop - 2GB Memory - 320GB Hard Drive - Ash Black
Ease of Use
5
Performance
5
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With all the latest features, the ATI Radeon HD 4350 graphics cards deliver an incredible visual experience with unprecedented levels of graphics realism and set a new standard. Add this graphics card to your PC and watch Blu-ray movies and HD content play with incredible visual fidelity1, get the most out of Microsoft Window Vista and play the latest games with support for Microsoft DirectX 10.1. Do it all with break-through energy efficiency that doesn't compromise performance. With Unified Video Decoder 2 technology and high-performance anisotropic filtering for improved multitasking and graphic display, this powerful graphics card ensures fluid gaming and movie visuals.
Customer Rating
4
Major improvement from my integrated graphics card
on May 29, 2009
Posted by: Vangstaz
from Saint Paul, MN
Just picked up this card yesterday from BestBuy. My onboard ATI RADEON X1100 card can hardly handle a simple game like Halo 1. Upgrading to the HD 4350, I can run Halo 1 on maximum settings and I'm getting more kills per game! But the only concern about this card is that I still can't max out NFS Most Wanted. I have to set the resolution down to 800x600 and everything else on the max. BUT, I think this can also be caused because of my CPU. I'm using a Celeron D 356 3.33GHz. Anyways, this is a very nice card if you're doing simple gaming and HD movies... I really don't know how I was able to run Crysis on medium settings though xD
What's great about it: Runs great on a 250Watt PSU and runs Crysis on medium settings =D
What's not so great: I still can't max out NFS Most wated.
I would recommend this to a friend!
Performance
4
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