DarkStarr
Tech Monkey
Ok now, this is probably going to be a fairly long review since I am reviewing several parts that I used to build my cousins PC. The parts list is:
Maxcube Vortex 36 series (3620)
AMD Phenom II x2 555 BE
Stock AMD 955BE Cooler
Biostar TA890GXB HD
OCZ 1066 Mhz 4GB Kit DDR3 (2x2GB)
Antec TruePower New 550 Watt
First off I am only reviewing the case, cpu, mobo, and the PSU. The HDD only gets a mention here, its a 500GB refurb (WD I believe) Smart info says its in great condition and it was only $30 or so. On to the case, 1st some quick pics of the box.
(The side with specs is nicely covered in shipping stickers)
Personally I really like the case, it looks nice and its fairly sturdy for about $35. My main complaint would be that the far side needs to be deeper to store cables better but I made due (it was insanely hard to get on so its not coming off unless it really has too). Surprisingly this case has some features I wish my Antec 900 had, for example tool free mounting and 4 usb up front, and a mobo cutout below the cpu area. It also has wall to wall black coloring inside and out but no window so why is the inside black? My 900 with a window was lame grey and cost a great deal more.
It has plenty of room for pretty much whatever you could possibly want to put in this case. The only thing on the case that was changed was the exhaust fan, the stock fans that come with the case are just slow (800 RPM) so I replaced the exhaust since I put a 8600GT in it which runs fairly hot.
Left Panel
Right Panel
(yes this Mobo has 3 headers for usb ports)
I have to say it looks pretty good cable wise, if I were to build another PC I would probably use this case again. The processor was great, I got a boxed one local and it unlocked to x4 and OCed to 3.6 Ghz no problem first try pretty much, it runs great no weird problems that I have noticed. So its stable, no crashes or anything.
The board is great as well, supposedly it can lock ram settings at anything you set, dunno for sure since I locked it at 1066 since my OC attempts on the ram didn't go so well so I locked it but then in windows it said 1200, either way the board is great no problems at all with it. It also has a few nice extra features like onboard power and reset switches, that was great for my testing on it.
The psu was a steal at roughly half price and its semi modular, had it not been semi modular it would have made this case a complete mess with all the cables.
All in all for around $355 it is a great little PC, 4GB DDR3 3.6 Ghz x4 500 Gb HDD 8600GT OEM CD/DVD reader/writer and an Antec 550 PSU. The only thing it could use is a GPU upgrade but for him it is a massive upgrade, his laptop which this replaces had a 6150m vs the onboard ATI Radeon 4290 or the 8600GT. It beasts all over his old laptop the only thing it needs is a monitor, anyone care to recommend one?
Maxcube Vortex 36 series (3620)
AMD Phenom II x2 555 BE
Stock AMD 955BE Cooler
Biostar TA890GXB HD
OCZ 1066 Mhz 4GB Kit DDR3 (2x2GB)
Antec TruePower New 550 Watt
First off I am only reviewing the case, cpu, mobo, and the PSU. The HDD only gets a mention here, its a 500GB refurb (WD I believe) Smart info says its in great condition and it was only $30 or so. On to the case, 1st some quick pics of the box.
(The side with specs is nicely covered in shipping stickers)
Personally I really like the case, it looks nice and its fairly sturdy for about $35. My main complaint would be that the far side needs to be deeper to store cables better but I made due (it was insanely hard to get on so its not coming off unless it really has too). Surprisingly this case has some features I wish my Antec 900 had, for example tool free mounting and 4 usb up front, and a mobo cutout below the cpu area. It also has wall to wall black coloring inside and out but no window so why is the inside black? My 900 with a window was lame grey and cost a great deal more.
It has plenty of room for pretty much whatever you could possibly want to put in this case. The only thing on the case that was changed was the exhaust fan, the stock fans that come with the case are just slow (800 RPM) so I replaced the exhaust since I put a 8600GT in it which runs fairly hot.
Left Panel
Right Panel
(yes this Mobo has 3 headers for usb ports)
I have to say it looks pretty good cable wise, if I were to build another PC I would probably use this case again. The processor was great, I got a boxed one local and it unlocked to x4 and OCed to 3.6 Ghz no problem first try pretty much, it runs great no weird problems that I have noticed. So its stable, no crashes or anything.
The board is great as well, supposedly it can lock ram settings at anything you set, dunno for sure since I locked it at 1066 since my OC attempts on the ram didn't go so well so I locked it but then in windows it said 1200, either way the board is great no problems at all with it. It also has a few nice extra features like onboard power and reset switches, that was great for my testing on it.
The psu was a steal at roughly half price and its semi modular, had it not been semi modular it would have made this case a complete mess with all the cables.
All in all for around $355 it is a great little PC, 4GB DDR3 3.6 Ghz x4 500 Gb HDD 8600GT OEM CD/DVD reader/writer and an Antec 550 PSU. The only thing it could use is a GPU upgrade but for him it is a massive upgrade, his laptop which this replaces had a 6150m vs the onboard ATI Radeon 4290 or the 8600GT. It beasts all over his old laptop the only thing it needs is a monitor, anyone care to recommend one?
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That chassis for that price looks like a steal. All built, it looks great! I'm constantly impressed by what you get for your money these days...