Computer Parts, Accessories & Tool Reviews
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Tools & Tool Kits
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iFixit Essential Electronics Toolkit
Although I don't have this particular kit, I do have an older iFixit Kit. The kit I have is of the highest quality and has a great selection of tools.
Get started in electronics repair with all the bits and precision tools to handle your most urgent screen breaks and battery swaps.Β
As with all iFixit kits, this is covered with a lifetime warranty.
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iFixit Mako Driver Kit - 64 Precision Bits for Computer, Smartphone, Tablet, and Household Repair
Although I don't have this particular kit, I do have an older iFixit Kit. The kit I have is of the highest quality and has a great selection of tools.
Complete solution for precision repair, 64 bits selected using data from thousands of repair guides.
Ergonomic aluminium handle provides plenty of torque & is magnetized with a ball bearing swivel top.
Case features magnetic closure for durability and a screw sorting tray integrated into the lid.
All the bits to repair cell phones, game consoles, wearables, laptops, desktops, tablets, and more!
iFixit Lifetime Warranty.
Rating: β β β β β
iFixit Manta Driver Kit - 114 Piece Bit Kit
This kit is very similar to the one I have which is of the highest quality and has a great selection of tools.
1/4" and 4 mm bit driver handles with magnetic bit sockets, knurled grip zones, and swivel tops.
112 steel bits.
Lid doubles as a sorting tray to keep your work organized.
Covered by iFixit's Lifetime Warranty.
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iFixit Pro Tech Toolkit - Electronics, Smartphone, Computer & Tablet Repair Kit
Developed over 5 years using the data from thousands of repair manuals to have all the right tools.
All tools designed and manufactured by iFixit using the highest quality materials and methods.
Includes the 64 Bit Driver Kit, the highest quality most comprehensive CNC machined bit set.
Completely re-engineered to provide all the tools that you need, and none that you don't.
Covered by iFixit's Lifetime Warranty.
PC Builds
Ryzen 3700X Creators PC Build
This is a great build. Boot up time from reset to login screen in Windows 10 is 18 seconds. I am extremely pleased with the performance and stability of this system. It stays cool under heavy loads and stays wonderfully quiet. The only minor cooling issue I had was with the graphics card which was resolved by adjusting the fan curves manually to start to ramp up fan speed at lower temps. Once I did that temps did not exceed 74Β° C even at sustained heavy loads. CPU temps stay below 68Β° C at heavy loads. This is a very nice system and should last for many years of trouble free operation. An item not shown in the parts list I had to add was 1 Display Port to HDMI cable for the second monitor.
Minor build issues encountered. The case had no back panel cut outs for supplemental CPU power cabling. The front panel is missing the top 2 screw holes for the top fan mounting area.
Parts List with reviews for this build
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AMD Ryzen 7 3700X 8-Core, 16-Thread Unlocked Desktop Processor with Wraith Prism LED Cooler:
This is a great processor. Excellent value for the money. Paired with the right motherboard and AMD specific RAM it will make for a very fast, very stable system.
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MQUPIN Arctic MX-4-4G 2019 Edition Thermal Compound Paste for All Coolers,Heat Sink Paste,Carbon Based High Durability, with Bonus ToolΒ (1pcs)
I am very happy with the thermal transfer performance of this product. In this build the thermals are excellent. I never use the paste that comes preinstalled on the cooler from the factory.
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MSI Performance Gaming AMD X470 Ryzen 2ND and 3rd Gen AM4 DDR4 DVI HDMI Onboard Graphics CFX ATX Motherboard:
I'm really quite impressed with this board. It is well laid out and of good quality. The board manual is also very well made and easy to understand and find what you need.
I have 2 complaints
First is their website. It is convoluted to find the BIOS updates, and when I tried the first day, the site hosting the BIOS updates was down, but the website itself was fine and gave no indication the server the files were coming from was down, it just looked like there were no drivers or updates for the board. That said, once I did get the update the next day it was easy enough getting it installed on the board.Second is the PS2 port on the board is not a unified plug so you can only run either a keyboard or a mouse on it even with a splitter. There was no indication of that in the listed specs on their site before I bought the board.
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G.SKILL Flare X Series 16GB (2 x 8GB) 288-Pin DDR4 SDRAM DDR4 3200 (PC4 25600) AMD X370 Memory Model F4-3200C14D-16GFX
This memory is designed specifically for use with AMD CPU's. They worked directly with AMD to develop it. Unlike some brands of memory, it is wonderfully stable in this system. The benchmarks were really good as well. I am thoroughly impressed with the stability and performance of this memory paired with the Ryzen 3700X and X470 motherboard.
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Seagate BarraCuda 2TB Internal Hard Drive HDD 3.5 Inch SATA 6Gb/s 7200 RPM 256MB Cache 3.5-Inch Frustration Free Packaging
I have used Seagate drives for over 25 years, they have always proven reliable and have great performance. This drive is no exception. It installed easily with no issues.
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Seagate Barracuda 120 SSD 500GB Internal Solid State Drive β 2.5 Inch SATA 6GB/S for Computer Desktop PC Laptop (ZA500CM10003)
I love this drive. The system I built with it boots very fast. 18 seconds from reset to Windows 10 logon screen. It works as advertised.
Rating: β β β β β
GIGABYTE Radeon RX 5500 XT OC 8G Graphics Card, PCIe 4.0, 8GB 128-Bit GDDR6, GV-R55XTOC-8GD Video Card
I would have given it 5 stars if not for the driver issues I ran into. Specifically when first installing windows 10 while it is still at build 1909 the only stable drivers are the latest Dec 2019 drivers, it is not until updating to build 2004 that you can install the 20.8.3 (3rd update of August 2020) drivers and have it be stable. I have not tested it with 20.9.1 which came out the day after I finally got it running stable and it survived burn in.Β
That said, now that it is stable it runs very well. Although I have run several different benchmarks and burn in tests I have not tested it with games as it is a clients computer and it is not a gaming rig, I built it for content creation. Paired with the 32 GB of RAM, it is a great card and really good value for the money.
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CORSAIR CARBIDE SPEC-05 Mid-Tower Gaming Case, Black - Acrylic Panel
I do really like the basic design of the case and I like the drive bay and its' tool-less drive mounting system with slide out trays. I do wish the metal was a little heavier gauge though, but not unexpected at this price point and despite being rather light does seem strong and stable. I would have liked to see a front dust screen as well. It also has no power supply shroud, but again not unexpected at this price point.
It is a decent case but I have a couple of issues with the design.
First, there are no openings in the back plane above the motherboard for the cables going to the CPU supplemental power ports. This affected cable management.
Second, the front panel for the top fan mount was missing the upper 2 screw holes so I had to mount the top fan with only the 2 bottom screws.
Third, it could use a Storage drive activity light.
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Antec HCG Gaming Series 80 Plus Gold Certified Power Supply 850W, 100% Modular ATX12V with Japanese Capacitors & 120mm FDB Fan
This is a beautifully made power supply. The cables are great quality and sleeved in all black. This fully modular Power supply runs very quiet and seems to produce smooth, clean power and makes for a stable build. 10 year warranty. Great PSU.
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ASUS PCE-AC55BT B1 AC1200 Wireless Bluetooth 4.2 PCIe/Mpcie Adapter
This WiFi card works great right out of the box with Windows 10. I have not tested Bluetooth yet but will update this review when I do.
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Noctua NF-F12 PWM, Premium Quiet Fan, 4-Pin (120mm, Brown)
I just love these fans. So nice and quiet but provide plenty of air flow. The quality, materials and fit & finish of these fans are 2nd to none. Excellent value.
Premium quiet fan, 120x120x25 mm, 12V, 4-pin PWM, max. 1500 RPM, max. 22.4 dB(A), >150,000 h MTTF
Award-winning 120x25mm fan with FocusdFlow frame for high static pressure and superior quiet cooling performance
Ideal for CPU heatsinks (e.g. Noctua NH-U12(S) series) and water cooling radiators, perfect replacement fan for loud all-in-one (AIO) coolers
4-pin PWM version for automatic speed control via 4-pin PWM fan headers, broad 300-1500rpm speed range (1200rpm max. with supplied Low-Noise Adaptor)
Includes anti-vibration mounts, fan screws, Low-Noise Adaptor, extension cable and y-cable for running two PWM fans on the same header
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LG Electronics 24-Inch Screen LCD Monitor (24BK400H-B)
For what they are they work great, my only beef, is with the stand. It tilts the monitor down slightly instead of up and has no adjustment at all. This is really annoying and I recommend using a monitor riser. I got 2 of them for a client and they were both the same. That said, the picture quality and performance is as it should be. Overall a great value.
Not yet tested
UGREEN SD Card Reader with 3ft Cable USB 3.0 Card Hub with 3 USB Port Hub Phone Stand for SD TF MS M2 Card for MacBook, Mac Mini Pro Laptop Tablets Ultrabooks Micro SDXC, SDHC, SD, MS PRO USB Black
Although I have not yet tested this card reader, I have several other items from this manufacturer an they have all been of the highest quality and reliability. Based on the build quality of this reader, I have no doubt as to its quality.
Rating: β β β β β
Rankie DisplayPort (DP) to HDMI Cable, 4K Resolution Ready, 10 Feet, Black
The build quality is great, albeit a little thin. The cable works great and is available in lengths up to 15 feet or 5 metres.