Best Desktop Barebones
Also included in this Raspberry Pi 3 Starter Kit is a high quality Raspberry Pi 3 case as well as the recommended Raspberry Pi 32 GB Class 10 MicroSD Card pre-loaded with NOOBS. Made in UK Raspberry Pi 3 (RPi3) Model B Quad-Core 1.2 GHz 1 GB RAM On-board WiFi and Bluetooth Connectivity 32 GB MicroSD Card (Class 10) - Raspberry Pi Recommended MicroSD Card with NOOBS USB MicroSD Card Reader CanaKit 2.5A Micro USB Power Supply with Noise Filter (UL Listed) specially designed for the Raspberry Pi 3 (5-foot cable) High Quality Raspberry Pi 3 Case Premium Quality HDMI Cable with CEC support (6-foot cable) 2 x Heat Sinks GPIO Quick Reference Card CanaKit Full Color Quick-Start Guide. 32 GB Micro SD Card (Class 10) - Raspberry Pi Recommended Micro SD Card pre-loaded with NOOBS, USB MicroSD Card Reader.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Was very happy with the shipment time and the Canna Kit Raspberry PI 3 kit product, but PLEASE be aware Canna Kit is sending out an older version of the Raspbarian OS software (pre Raspberry PI 3) on the MicroSD card, and out of the box this version of the OS software will not recognize the built in WIFI device."
"If you want to run Raspbian, Ubuntu Mate, Retropie, or any distro with a desktop, you'll need at least 3.5GB; making an 8GB card usable but not comfortable. To speed that up, grab a "Sandisk Extreme PRO Card Reader", which uses USB 3.0. I suggest the "Makerfire Raspberry Pi B+ Case Protective Case Enclosure Box with Mini Cooling Fan Heatsink Kit" (plastic, can easily remove microSD), or from EleDuino (aluminum, cannot easily remove microSD). The Canakit case, without a fan, was hitting 75 C / 167 F running FF7 on PSX in Retropie. I was really surprised, and re-ran the test, playing the game for 30 min each time to let it stabilize, and got the same results. The downside to running any Raspberry Pi is getting all of the USB dongles to fit. If you want to use the RPi3 to run as an HTPC settop media player box, check out OSMC, and grab a remote w/ USB receiver. The downside is that Debian and Ubuntu will not natively run Netflix, they just don't have enough GPU to process Silverlight through the browser. You can't expect high throughput from an embedded wifi chip without an external antenna. If you do want faster speeds with low latency, look into a wifi AC 600Mbps USB dongle."
"But this was the only way I was going to get one by Saturday, and besides, I get the newly required power supply, which I have to have anyway, two heat sinks, a case, and a pre-loaded micro SD. I got the Pi 3, a very nice black case with a laser cut Raspberry Pi logo, the power supply, the heat sinks, a very nice quality 6' HDMI cable that I was not expecting, a keychain style card reader which wasn't even listed in the product description, and not just any SD card, but a 32 Gb Kingston micro SD card, the only brand I use, pre-loaded with NOOBS. The presentation and quality was absolutely outstanding, a very nice piece of kit and of good value."
"I used mine to make an arcade."
"I currently have a nice large library of NES, SNES, Sega Genesis, PS1, Neo Geo, and Arcade (MAME) games installed."
The Raspberry pi 3 is a tiny hand held computer that is used in fun and cool projects. Kit Content: Raspberry Pi 3 Model B with On-board WiFi and Bluetooth Connectivity. Raspberry Pi Enclosure Case (Black). 32GB Samsung Evo Micro Sd Card Preloaed with NOOBS & RetroPie. MicroSD -USB ADAPTER (can be used to Re-Write the SD Card if desired). 2.5A Micro USB Power Supply -- 5-Feet Long. Premium Quality HDMI Cable CEC Enabled. Heatsink for Raspberry Pi - Set of 2 Heat Sink. Vilros Raspberry Pi 3 Quick Start Guide. All Parts of the kit are covered by Manufacturer (Vilros) Full 1 Year Warranty We tested over 25 different Micro SD cards and concluded that the Samsung Evo offers the highest performance and reliability. ✓ Includes UL Certified 2.5 Amp USB Power Supply with Micro USB Cable and Noise Filter - Designed for the Raspberry Pi 3--Includes Premium Black Case for Raspberry Pi 3 With Easy access to all Ports and Removable cover to access GPIO.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"First of all, I am a techie so I realize I have difficulty viewing things from a newbie perspective. The only reason I would be tempted not give 5 stars to this product is due to the inappropriate documentation that comes with it. There is also a "Raspberry PI Quick Start Guide" included in the package. The top (it has a Raspberry logo stamped into it), the bottom (it has rubber feet on it) and the other part I'll call the middle. 3) Follow the guide instructions for installing the heat sinks on the board. Use very slight pressure and wiggle around a bit if necessary until you hear a nice click and you will see that it seats well. It's made to seat on 4 legs and it leaves a ventilation crack all the way around the perimeter. Note: I thought I had a keyboard and mouse with USB connectors on them but I couldn't find them. I have a Microsoft Sculpt Comfort Keyboard and Mouse that are wireless and connect to a computer via a USB dongle. Do a search and you'll find them (or borrow a USB keyboard and mouse from a friend for a few hours). Read the rest of the guide for useful information (e.g, how to restart, shutdown, use the Desktop, etc.). If you have another PC, tablet, Smartphone handy it might help, if you're not sure about something during the installation, to find the answer. Other than the lack of instructions that should be included for this specific product, I am extremely pleased."
"You get: -RPi3 board. -high quality 2.5 A power adapter. -great case that is just like the Canakit bundle. -a direct number for customer service and support. -32gb Evo+ great read/write speeds. -MHL HDMI cable. -2 aluminum heatsinks. -as a bonus that was not stated that was included, I got a usb micro SD card reader, this could have been a mistake, but i will take it! The ultimate reason to choose a Vilros kit is that the Canakit has a bad case design on the 2016 version and can cause your RPi3 board to be damaged when it is installed. Give me a helpful click if you enjoyed my very brief review of Vilros RPi Essentials kit."
"The case assembled nicely, and all of the add-ins included make set-up simple."
"We bought a joystick and arcade buttons kit,an adapter to convert VGA to HDMI and wheels for the cabinet."
"It came with the Samsung Evo+ 32gb card which was the reason I picked this over other brands that when reading reviews it seemed like it was a gamble as to which sdcard you'd get."
The included power supply in this kit incorporates a noise filter to provide the highest stability and comes with a 5-foot cable. Includes Raspberry Pi 3 (RPi3) Model B Quad-Core 1.2 GHz 1 GB RAM.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"32gig microsd card, PS3 controller and about 30 minutes later, I have a fully functional retro game system that can run every game I ever played growing up and all the games I could never afford to play. 3D case fit like a glove, so if you have access to a 3D printer, there are hundreds of different case designs out on the internet that you can put together and save yourself about 10 bucks and add some style to this little device."
"From a retro gaming machine, to a media streaming device to a full Linux workstation, this little thing can handle it all."
"Just waiting on my controller to be delivered! I haven't really put any pressure on it yet though, so once I get my controller and start gaming on it I may update this review."
"Case worked very well for the board. Power adapter works just fine. Heat sinks were easy to apply. System has been running for about a week with no issues."
"You actually want to fit the pi into the bottom piece and then slide the bottom back into the middle piece."
"Also included is the Raspberry Pi 3."
"UPDATE: would consider purchasing this kit again, but more likely would choose to just buy the board and power the device and external drives with a powered USB hub."
"There is an internal lip that supports the pie inside this case and it comes dangerously close to the raspberry pi's internal Wi-Fi antenna. After placing a perfectly functioning raspberry pi 3 inside this case and pressing it closed, I lost all Wi-Fi capability."
Best Computer Cases
Color: White/Black. Simple Interior Layout - large space with a grommet-less steel cable management bar. Detailed Engineering - Steel plated audio jacks, captive thumb screws, and over twenty cable management points. Compact and Functional Design - Full compatibility with our Kraken series X31 and X61 liquid coolers.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I love this case."
"The cable management was simple, it looks great, feels sturdy, and has a fantastic price point."
"My son has one, I have a Phantom in the movie room (love that case) and I just rebuilt my case in my bedroom with this case!! Best looking case I've seen. My case you see fans, gpu, and motherboard only!!"
"its a really good case i build my first ever build on it and i really like it i was even able to put one of the biggest graphics cards in here the 970 gigabyte gaming g1 edition which is really long."
"I purchased one with braided wire and its a bulky disaster - just barely able to pop the back panel on (and my cable skills suck) Overall a very nice looking case. Which means the fans are drawing cool air from the outside and pushing it through the rad into the case - which will then turn into warm air. If you have a blu-ray player/burner then this case is a possible no go for you. The Ugly: Their are some minor structure issues where the metal is a bit flimsy on the back of the case."
"Building this machine a little bit at a time as funds permit, but so far my build is as follows: - This case. - MSI x370 Gaming Pro motherboard. - MSI RX 470 Gaming X (8GB). - Cooler Master V750 80+ Gold Modular. - 3x Corsair AF140 LED (red). - 1x Corsair AF120 LED (red). - Corsair Vengeance 32GB (4x8GB) DDR4 2666 (PC4-21300) C16 for DDR4 Systems, Red LED (CMU32GX4M4A2666C16R). - 1x Samsung 960 EVO Series - 250GB PCIe NVMe - M.2 Internal SSD (MZ-V6E250BW). - 1x Crucial 2.5" SATAIII SSD (275GB) :: [I already had this laying around]. - 1x Seagate 7200RPM 2.5" (1TB) :: [I already had this laying around]. - Thermal Grizzly Conductonaut. - AMD Ryzen 5 1600X Processor (YD160XBCAEWOF). - Corsair Hydro Series High Performance Liquid CPU Cooler H60. - I anticipate I will finish the between the end of February and mid-march depending on any expenses that may come up between then."
Best Computer Motherboards
To take full advantage of the improved power management on the Raspberry Pi 3 and provide support for even more powerful devices on the USB ports, a 2.5A adapter is required. Camera interface (CSI),Display interface (DSI), Micro SD card slot (now push-pull rather than push-push), VideoCore IV 3D graphics core.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I am very inexperienced in building anything with computers, but I decided to forgo the kits and piece together my own Pi. With the help of Google and YouTube I was able to build my Pi exactly the way I wanted and am very happy with the results."
"this little raspberry pi is great."
"The Pi Model B is like an angel has spread it's wings and sang forth a medley of your favorite Bob Dylan hits while juggling on a unicycle."
"I have always been very happy with the price/performance of the Pi; I bought these for digital photo frames, with the 7" touchscreen display, and they work great."
"There are a lot of other single board computers on the market but none of them can match the price/performance of the Pi3 (fast SBC start at like $60)."
"Don't buy a pre imaged micro sd card for a hard drive."
"I had some issues installing retro pi and kodi on it, but it was my issue because I was using to big of an SD card."
"Absolutely amazing little device."
Best Computer Memory
The DDR4 form factor is optimized for the latest Intel 100 Series motherboards and offers higher frequencies, greater bandwidth, and lower power consumption than DDR3 modules. Vengeance LPX DDR4 modules are compatibility-tested across 100 Series motherboards for reliably fast performance. Enter your model number to make sure this fits.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Final numbers: 16, 18, 18, 18, 36. Voltage 1.35. Frequency 3200. MSI B350 Tomahawk + Ryzen 1700x running at 3.9GHZ 1.425V."
"It's RAM, it has heat spreaders, this is a 2x8gb kit (16gb total)."
"I can confirm that I am successfully running the Corsair Vengeance LPX 16GB (2x8GB) DDR4 DRAM 3200MHz C16 Desktop Memory Kit - White (CMK16GX4M2B3200C16W) on a MSI B350 Tomahawk at 3200Mhz. Anyway, hoping this info is helpful for other buyers and obviously, I'm giving this RAM 5 stars for working as intended with my motherboard."
"This is DDR4 memory, got the 3200MHz fastest one and it worked without problems in a dual channel machine."
"When I bought the Corsair Vengeance RAM modules for my B250 Motherboard (Gigabyte DS3H) I had issues from the beginning that I believe so that both or one of the modules are defective."
"RAM overclocks to 3200 safely without any issue."
"You can buy the highest priced memory out there and seriously lighten your wallet or determine if these specs will do fine and pay a more reasonable fare."
"Upgraded old computer and wanted speed."
Best Computer Internal Modems
Approved on Comcast Xfinity, Spectrum (Charter, Time Warner, Brighthouse Networks), Cox, Mediacom, Suddenlink and most other US Cable Internet Providers. 32 Download and 8 Upload Bonded Channels capable of up to 1.4 Gbps download and 262 upload speeds.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I called comcast and after BLAH BLAH everything (I am a network admin) I already did they said I have a 3rd party and its not a comcast modem, the modem in which its on there approval list. I called comcast again and asked to modem "activation" and let them know I need my modem "re-provisioned". They Are... Modem Activation. And. Re-provisioned."
"Once they have provisioned it, make sure that the service code on your account matches the speed that you are paying for."
"If you search the amazon reviews for this product for "power cycle" you'll see many other people having the same issue."
"I updated from an older Motorola ARRIS model that was slow - I had to call Cox to set it up because Cox would not recognize the new model at first."
"Before you spend 2 hrs with the CS rep like I did trying to figure out why I wasn't getting the subscribed upstream/downstream speeds, if you have a router that has SpeedTest integrated under QoS (Quality of Service) like I do (Netgear R8000) make sure to re-run the test and see if you do get the results that you are looking for and save the settings."
"For thoughs who have UHD and SUHD TVs you must have at least a 24 channel download speed to get the best picture of the UHD TV or the SUHD TV."
"Normally wouldn't need to reboot often, but when changing ISPs or relocating modem, it definitely is a long wait (my previous modem booted much faster)."
Best Internal Hard Drives
Size: 4TB. Specifically designed for use in NAS systems with up to 8 bays.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Returned under warranty (had to pay for shipping) - got back a RECERTIFIED HDD. Which, of course, failed after 1 month and lost ALL data."
"I've been running a variety of WD Red, Green, and Seagate Archive Drives for the better part of several years, and I thought that I would share some useful advice for things to watch out for when buying new drives, and detecting infant mortality. It is industry practice to ship one or more drives in boxes that are made to perfectly fit the drive. Granted, all of this advice should be taken with a grain of salt since SMART values are not the silver bullet to predict drive failure, but this testing should be a good indicator on whether or not a drive is ready for production use."
"Right now it's just sitting on top of my computer case but after that long transfer I used a temp gun and the surface of the case was 87F and the drive was 101F."
"Performance wise, it was near identical to my 5TB drive and works great in my Synology unit."
"I recently got these so I cant speak to their reliability, but they both passed the WD diagnostic."
"A NAS server places several drives alongside each other and that construction introduces shared vibration between drives which is why laptop drives generally fail early in this configuration."
"I keep my machine running around the clock most days during the week, and I do even shutdown when I am home to go to bed."
Best Network I/O Port Cards
The internal USB hub increases your system's connectivity with internally connected USB 2.0 devices. Wind the cables up with the included straps.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"This hardware needs to be installed with the computer unplugged from everything (power cord, monitors, LAN, speakers, etc.)."
"Seems to power my corsair lighting node, front USB 2 panel, and one other USB 2.0 device just fine and with no conflicts or errors."
"I used this USB hub to connect my Corsair fan controller to my motherboard."
"Only wish NZXT would switch to SATA power connectors."
"My husband was super excited to receive this as a gift."
"I tested it and worked alright, also the magnet on it is not as strong but worked OK."
"works great, nice form factor."
"A must have if you’re trying to integrate RGB or any other case bling that requires USB headers when they’re scarce."
Best External TV Tuners
Enter your model number to make sure this fits.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Then restored user accounts, apps, etc, from the HD just removed from the Mac, attached with this cable: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HJZJI84/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (rather than using time machine backup). Will be interesting to see if there is any noticeable improvement in battery life and how the drive performs after a year or so (given TRIM is not permitted by Apple on third-party SSDs). I realize the case is superfluous and rather irrelevant in an internal SSD (it will never be seen again after re-inserting the back cover), but once installed amid the tidy MacBook innards, the drive looks perfectly at home, actually matching the other components in terms of aesthetics."
"Once done, I powered off and removed the back case of the Macbook- removed the four screws that retained the HHD and slipped the SATA connector off. I connected the new SSD via the SATA connector and replaced all retaining screws (after removing the hex screws from the HHD, I placed them on the new SSD)."
"EDIT: Gohanrocs12 comment provided where to find the migration software on Samsung website: [...]. I also bought an external case from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H98AXOE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). I then ran the Magician software and asked to optimize disk for Performance and enabled the RAPID feature. UPDATE 19-mar-2015: There were some questions about ability of the migration software to copy the factory recovery partition to the SSD. OEM recoverypartitions, generated at the factory by computer manufacturers, cannot be replicated". As another customer noted in the comments, it may be a good idea to keep the original HDD around just in case you need to recover from disaster."
Best Laptop Computer Replacement Parts
Enter your model number to make sure this fits.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Then restored user accounts, apps, etc, from the HD just removed from the Mac, attached with this cable: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HJZJI84/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (rather than using time machine backup). Will be interesting to see if there is any noticeable improvement in battery life and how the drive performs after a year or so (given TRIM is not permitted by Apple on third-party SSDs). I realize the case is superfluous and rather irrelevant in an internal SSD (it will never be seen again after re-inserting the back cover), but once installed amid the tidy MacBook innards, the drive looks perfectly at home, actually matching the other components in terms of aesthetics."
"Once done, I powered off and removed the back case of the Macbook- removed the four screws that retained the HHD and slipped the SATA connector off. I connected the new SSD via the SATA connector and replaced all retaining screws (after removing the hex screws from the HHD, I placed them on the new SSD)."
"EDIT: Gohanrocs12 comment provided where to find the migration software on Samsung website: [...]. I also bought an external case from Amazon (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00H98AXOE/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o04_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1). I then ran the Magician software and asked to optimize disk for Performance and enabled the RAPID feature. UPDATE 19-mar-2015: There were some questions about ability of the migration software to copy the factory recovery partition to the SSD. OEM recoverypartitions, generated at the factory by computer manufacturers, cannot be replicated". As another customer noted in the comments, it may be a good idea to keep the original HDD around just in case you need to recover from disaster."
Best KVM Switches
Share a display with HDMI connection, a USB keyboard and mouse, with 2 USB computers ;Separate the Internet and Intranet with the click of a button. IOGEAR's DynaSync reads and remembers the monitor's parameters (EDID) so there is no delay or change of video resolution when switching between, or booting computers.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"I hooked up the laptop via HDMI to a big monitor while the tower was connected to the same monitor via VGA cable. Yes, as others said, there's some not so clear text sometimes and also some windows--especially on left panels--seem to go too far to the left. Oh, by using this device, I am able to get rid of the HDMI cable because I am using the VGA cable connections to both the tower and the laptop."
"Both my MacBook Pro and Windows PC were moving the desktop and resize windows every time I switched away from them because in both machines the desktop is setup to span 2 monitors. The GCS922U disconnects the monitor when switching, thus causing the computer to automatically move the desktop to the other, still connected monitor. Be aware that this model has the Mouse Emulation feature defaulted to the on position and if you have anything other than an ancient mouse you will likely need to turn the feature off (via keyboard commands) before your mouse will work."
"I've since disconnected this switch from the audio paths of my computers and connected them to a separate two-way amplifier (this one here: Orb Audio Mini T V3 Amplifier (Black)). In my few weeks of using this switch, I've had one episode where the computer and the KVM lost USB contact altogether: upon waking my Mac, the switch gave me video signal, but wouldn't transmit any keyboard/mouse information. I'd never experienced problems like this with my Mac on either of the two KVM switches it had been connected to in the past, so I'm blaming the switch for now, and hopefully the problem won't persist. -- The switch doesn't manage the display IDs between the two systems, so if you are using two computers with different resolutions, then you will find that the computers may resize their windows every time you switch between them."
Best Computer CPU Processors
Style: Processor Only. Intel Hyper-Threading Technology1.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"My games run great with it."
"Really great price-to-performance."
"Gaming couldn't be better, easy to overclock, runs better than a 4 legged animal."
"I love intel and I love the fact that they’re products are very speedy and reliable."
"Just wonder what will happen with intel release patch that will slow things down."
Best Computer Power Supplies
These power supplies take some of the best features from EVGA's award winning power supplies, like EVGA ECO fan mode for near silent operation, Japanese Capacitor Design and a highly efficient design, at an excellent value. Heavy-duty protections, including OVP (Over Voltage Protection), UVP (Under Voltage Protection), OCP (Over Current Protection), OPP (Over Power Protection), SCP (Short Circuit Protection), and OTP (Over Temperature Protection).
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It comes very professionally packed with instructions and all sorts of wires that plug in the back of the power house using a modular system. NOTE: This power supply is slightly longer than my old one which made for a tight fit behind it where my DVD Drive sits. SUMMARY: Going modular is THE way to go when you want to avoid having unnecessary wire clutter in the CPU box and this EVGA SuperNOVA is perfect! (just double check physical size to make sure it will fit for you). My mission is to provide fair and honest reviews."
"I'm using a Corsair 780T case which has pretty normally spaced hard drive cages with a special place for SSDs in the back. For most people this won't matter, but I have a good amount of hard drives (around 7) and it was painful to get all this set up. If your hard drives are spread around or in strange places, this unit might make you invent new profanity getting all this plugged in."
"I'd like to start by saying it pains me to write such a review as this, as it's possible my situation is an isolated one. I thought it's possible that a wire was loose, or some debris made its way into the fan (unlikely - I have good dust filters). There was no real reason for upgrading in wattage other than allowing for more future headroom, and the price was about the same. In fact, I use cable extensions so I didn't even touch my motherboard (or even that side of the case for that matter). but no output, no POST, and a 'D0' error code on the motherboard (D0 = late CPU initialization). I tried ditching the cable extension (in case one went bad for some reason), I tried unplugging all but 1 RAM stick, I tried unplugging the GPU, SSD, external and internal USB devices, all to no avail. I took my CPU to my brother's house, put it in his system and luckily it still works. I understand that this might be an isolated incident, but I've read enough forums to know that's it's happened to others before me."
Best Internal Memory Card Readers
Engineered to deliver super fast data transfer speeds, the RDF5 USB 3.0 card reader features a SuperSpeed USB 3.0 interface and support for next-generation Ultra High Speed SDHC/SDXC and microSDHC/SDXC cards. Offers a free download of RecoveRx data recovery software.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"That's why I purchased this Transcend Information USB 3.0 Card Reader (TS-RDF5K) just to try it out, even through all my computers only have USB 2.0 ports. Upon arrival of the RDF5, I benchmarked over one dozen of my SDHC and microSDHC memory cards, with speed rating from class-4 to class-10 and UHS-1. The Transcend 32 GB Class 10 UHS Flash Memory Card TS32GSDHC10U1E also shows nearly identical improvement. Once I upgrade to a new computer with USB 3.0 ports, I expect the benchmark results to be even better - at least for my fastest cards."
"I bought this to transfer data from a 64GB SanDisk micro SD card to a 64GB Transcend micro SD card newly installed in my BlackBerry Z30."
"The Transcend RDF5K memory card reader is available in black or white and supports SDHC UHS-I, SDXC UHS-I, UDMA6/UDMA7 CF and MSXC memory card formats. Transcend RDF8 Memory Card Features: Super-Speed USB 3.0 interface (also compatible with USB 2.0). Supports SDHC UHS-I, SDXC UHS-I, UDMA6/UDMA7 CF and MSXC cards. Transfer high-resolution images and video recordings to your computer faster and more efficiently. Utilize the full speed potential of your memory cards. USB powered (no external power or battery needed). Blue LED indicator light for card insertion & data transfer activity. Supports SD & CF built-in security functions. The body of the Transcend RDF8 USB 3.0 card reader is made from plastic and the top of the device has a glossy finish."
Best Internal Optical Drives
LG Electronics WH16NS40 16X SATA Blu-ray Internal Rewriter, Face panel of actual product received may be slightly different from the image above. Enter your model number to make sure this fits.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"It is a pain to attempt, due to the fact that you have to disable Windows Defender, or other firewall/AV programs an even at 100% complete when I did it, it failed and said the device was in emergency mode."
"The LG WH16NS40 Blu-Ray rewriter drive is fast and compatible in my Windows 7 Pro Dell Precision Tower."
"One thing I did not know about PC Blu Ray players is that the computer will need a third party software to play the media."
"It is sold as an "OEM Bare Drive" which apparently indicates it doesn't come with any manufacturer packaging, documentation of any type, warranty cards or disks with drivers or info."
"Because certain optical disks require the drive to constantly move the laser head back and forth at extremely fast paces - and when you consider the amount of persision required to read a blueray disk: noise is something you should be able to live with."
"The drive is quick and quiet as well, both in operation and when the tray opens and closes."
"Very glad I made this purchase, and the semi polished front panel matches my Silverstone FT01 Computer case perfectly."
Best External Optical Drives
Color: Black. Max 8x DVDR Write Speed.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"[Update 12/1/16] I can verify this works with the Surface Pro 4, and Windows 10 with no problems."
"I opened the box, plugged it into a USB 3.0 port (and no, this drive is USB 2.0, but DVD/CD drives just aren't fast enough to ever need USB 3.0) on my MacBook Pro, and I was good to go."
"I am not very computer savvy and I needed an external DVD because the new laptop did not come with one - my fault - I thought all laptops came with a DVD player."
"VLC media player works great and it's free open source software that plays DVD movies from the external player. I was tempted to rate player 4 stars because LG's customer service isn't conducive to folks on the West Coast and the Quick Set-up Guide doesn't seem to acknowledge that the user may need to install more software than the writer software that's included."
"It fits in nicely beside the drive in the carry case that I purchased to protect the drive when not in use."
"As many new PCs do not come with a DVD writer, but yet still need backup and rescue disks made, this is good insurance."
"This is a great working product, at first I had trouble and blamed it on the DDVR and was going to return but after talking to a friend it was my Video Player program."
"still working 8 months later with regular use - added to a desktop that the disc reader died - the case could be sturdier - use caution handling."
Best Internal Solid State Drives
The 850 EVO reads, writes and multi-tasks at incredible speeds, enhancing boot-up speed, application loading and multi-tasking performance. Free download of Samsung Data Migration and Magician software available for easy installation and SSD management.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Then restored user accounts, apps, etc, from the HD just removed from the Mac, attached with this cable: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HJZJI84/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1 (rather than using time machine backup). Will be interesting to see if there is any noticeable improvement in battery life and how the drive performs after a year or so (given TRIM is not permitted by Apple on third-party SSDs). I realize the case is superfluous and rather irrelevant in an internal SSD (it will never be seen again after re-inserting the back cover), but once installed amid the tidy MacBook innards, the drive looks perfectly at home, actually matching the other components in terms of aesthetics."
"I searched the web and there were many complaints that some systems will not recognize this device and suggest some far-out-there solutions whereas I found a simple, effective and without downloading anything. That is until I saw a Reddit article with a simple solution (I have Windows 7 HP 64Bit): 1. Reboot your computer and go into the boot manager, usually F12 and select DVD Drive as the first bootable device instead of your SSD. Reboot again and a program will load from the DVD where you will select "Startup Repair". Allow "startup repair" to fix the problem and reboot your PC. I really hope this works for some of you who have this irritating problem."
"Once done, I powered off and removed the back case of the Macbook- removed the four screws that retained the HHD and slipped the SATA connector off. I connected the new SSD via the SATA connector and replaced all retaining screws (after removing the hex screws from the HHD, I placed them on the new SSD)."
Best External Sound Cards
Description: This Sabrent AU-MMSA 2.1 Audio Sound Card Adapter is a highly flexible audio interface, which can be used with either laptop or desktop system. No driver required, plug-and-play for instant audio playing and compliant with all mainstream operation systems. USB audio sound adapter Warranty information: Connectors: USB Type-A, Stereo output jack, Mono microphone-input jack.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"While I do stand by my original review, I felt it was right to add these new findings, since this review is rated as the top comment and will most likely be seen by future customers. ***ORIGINAL OCTOBER 25, 2015***. I had a damaged microphone port on my computer, so unfortunately, Neewer® 2X 3.5mm Hands Free Computer Clip on Mini Lapel Microphone (2X Lapel Microphone) that I had bought wasn't working. I even tested the mic on other computers, which it worked perfectly. In the Playback tab, make your built in speakers the default, and then go to the Recording tab and then make the USB the default for the microphone. Now I did test the audio capacity too, just to see how it was, and it sounds find."
"It seems the port is a weak point and the school lacks the resources to get them fixed (when you even can convince the teacher it's the port and not the headphones.)."
"Plugged it in, ran a 'pulseaudio --kill', to reset the sound, and my system was then able to detect this new usb audio output device."
"So after some research I found out that Its probably my sound card and or drivers that are giving me trouble."
"My laptop lost all sound when my home was getting 240 volts to all outlets because of a broken neutral wire from the meter."
"Her computer did not have trouble recognizing it and guiding you to make it the default sound device to output to external speakers."
"The sound card in my PC was outdated and I could not get drivers for it."
Best Computer Graphics Cards
Real Base Clock: 1607 MHz / Real Boost Clock: 1835 MHz; Memory Detail: 6144MB GDDR5.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Review for: 1060 SC Gaming ACX 2.0 Single Fan 6GB. If you are as curious as I was to what the difference of single vs twin fan cards are, I found the simple answer browsing some PC build forums. -Single fan cards also don't stand up to overclocking as much as twin fans because of heat dissipation. You really don't need a twin fan model, or really anything above a 1060 if you're a basic gamer that doesn't care about looks and just wants a high performance card you don't plan on messing with."
"Runs everything I throw at it."
"Paid a reasonable price and unfortunately these are no longer available for reasonable prices, would love to get more if they come back in stock!"
"Was having some problems with games but found CPU was the problem (thought it was maybe gpu overheating given its not as large heatsink)."
"Pros: It fits and is super stable in my small case (Alienware X51 R3), and runs all my games in fantastic detail."
"If you are BIG gammer and need super power 20812082FPS then go to the next level up."
"Great card here."
"After pulling it back out of my system and examining it closely, I see some type of residue on the circuit board that looks like something was spilled on it. The replacement had some grease on the bracket and a white sticker with pen hand writing stuck on the circuit board. I would like to be contacted directly by this seller so we can resolve this issue and I can get the product that I actually paid for."
Best Internal Fans & Cooling Components
Style: 4 Heat Pipes |. Color: Hyper 212 Evo. Well-balanced cooling performance provides fin optimizations with perfect balance between high and low speed operations. Well-balanced cooling performance provides fin optimizations with perfect balance between high and low speed operations.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"Purchased the AMD FX-8350 with the intent of not overclocking it for now and stick with its stock heat sink and fan. For the first few weeks, the stock cooling ramped up on the RPM for fan speed when I played most games (ie. Built an identical system for the girlfriend but with a different case which included more case fans. I purchased a few 120mm case fans and installed them. This cooler only comes with one fan but includes the additional clips to attach another 120mm fan. I had to take out the top two 120mm case fans due to the case not having enough room but did place one of them as the second fan on this cooler and set it up to where the airflow goes through the heat sink for better cooling."
"There's a backing plate that mounts underneath the motherboard at the CPU location, and an awkward X-style bracket on the top, which holds the heat sink down on the CPU and attaches through the motherboard holes to the bracket on the back."
"After using the Hyper 212 EVO in my PC, I now know why people say this is one of the best around for an air cooler - it works, and works well."
"I must say I am very impressed with this cooler after seeing the temps improve even though it was an air cooler and not a water cooler."
"I've had this cooler for about two years, and have run into no problems with it!"
Best Computer Internal Sound Cards
Creative Sound Blaster ZX SBX PCIE Gaming Sound Card with Audio Control Module The Sound Blaster Zx elevates the standards of technology and performance for the future of gaming and entertainment on the PC. 3.5mm gold plated headphone jack driven by the 600 Ohm Maxim MAX97220 amp 3.5mm gold plated microphone jack 3.5mm gold plated 5.1 channel connections TOSLINK digital audio input and outputs. SBX Pro Studio Technologies SBX Pro Studio sound technologies create unprecedented levels of audio realism, including stunning 3D surround effects for your speakers and headsets. Sound Core3D Audio Processor The quad-core Sound Core3D audio processor is to designed to offload SBX Pro Studio and CrystalVoice effects processing from your primary CPU, improving your overall PC performance, resulting in drastically superior audio and voice quality. Audio Processor 2x Sound Core3D. Sound Core3D. Sound Core3D Audio Resolution 24-Bit/96 kHz. 24-Bit/96 kHz. 24-Bit/96 kHz Digital Audio Converter TI Burr-Brown with Fine Gold Caps. Cirrus Logic. Cirrus Logic Signal to Noise Ratio (SNR). (20kHz Low-pass filter, A-Wgt), @24-bi, 96kHz 124dB. 116dB. 116dB I/O Ports (Main Card) Headphone: 1x Amplified 1/4" jack. Speaker Out: 2x RCS (L/R). 2x 3.5mm jacks (Rear, C/Sub). Mircrophone In: 1x 1/4" jack. Headphone: 1x Amplified 3.5mm jack. Speaker Out: 3x 3.5mm jacks (F/R/C-Sub). Line/Mic In: 1x shared 3.5mm jack. Optical Out: 1x TOSLINK. Optical In: 1x TOSLINK. Headphone: 1x Amplified 3.5mm jack. Speaker Out: 3x 3.5mm jacks (F/R/C-Sub). Line/Mic In: 1x shared 3.5mm jack. Optical Out: 1x TOSLINK. Optical In: 1x TOSLINK I/O Ports (DBPro Card) Line In: 2x RC (L/R). Optical Out: 1x TOSLINK. Optical In: 1x TOSLINK. N/A. N/A Digital Audio Converter TI Burr-Brown with Fine Gold Caps. Cirrus Logic. Cirrus Logic Shielding EMI and Copper Plating. EMI. EMI Included Accessories Audio Control Module. (with built-in Beamforming Microphone). Audio Control Module. (with built-in Beamforming Microphone). Beamforming Microphone Creative Sound Blaster ZX SBX PCIE Gaming Sound Card with Audio Control Module View larger. Creative Sound Blaster ZX SBX PCIE Gaming Sound Card with Audio Control Module The Sound Blaster Zx elevates the standards of technology and performance for the future of gaming and entertainment on the PC. SBX Pro Studio Technologies SBX Pro Studio sound technologies create unprecedented levels of audio realism, including stunning 3D surround effects for your speakers and headsets. Sound Core3D Audio Processor The quad-core Sound Core3D audio processor is to designed to offload SBX Pro Studio and CrystalVoice effects processing from your primary CPU, improving your overall PC performance, resulting in drastically superior audio and voice quality. Features Sound Core3D Audio Processor for accelerating advanced audio and voice technologies.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The impact that the ACM has that I noticed was that when the overall total volume was the same and the ACM was low (ie Computer volume at 75%, ACM at 25% vs Computer volume at 25%, ACM at 100%) it sounded like the headphones couldn't produce the bass tones- it sounded like it was struggling to play sounds."
"I originally purchased a Asus Xonar DGX soundcard and was not very impressed with the sound...took a lot of fine tuning to make it sound good and then the Microphone input on the card did not not work. Along with the card and ACM, it includes a set of high end mini stereo cable to RCA out (L/R) and a Optical cable for connecting to Home Stereo."
"I was always plagued with driver problems with my Xtreme Music sound card."
"I have a 12 yr old Dell XP pc with an audigy sound card in it still working fine."
"Nothing fancy they are in the 50 dollar range but this sound card makes them sound amazing!"
"No issues at all with the Sound Blaster running Windows 10 using latest drivers from soundblaster.com."
"Seemed fine, but over the months I started hearing minor variances in volume levels in some games. Overall fidelity is noticeably better and the greater degree of imaging and deprecation of channels is obvious."
Best Internal Computer Networking Cards
Features Achieves a maximum theoretical throughput of up to 450Mbps Supports dual-band, 2.4GHz or 5GHz Seamlessly compatible with 802.11a/b/g/n products Experience smoother video streaming and online gaming by choosing the clearer 5GHz band for wireless connections Supports 64/128 WEP, WPA /WPA2/WPA-PSK/WPA2-PSK(TKIP/AES), supports IEEE 802.1X Supports Windows XP 32/64bit, Vista 32/64bit, Windows 7 32/64bit Supports ad-hoc and infrastructure mode Bundled utility provides quick & hassle-free installation. 150Mbps Wireless N PCI Adapter. 150Mbps Wireless PCI Express Adapter. 300Mbps Wireless N PCI Adapter. (This Product). 300Mbps Wireless N PCI Express Adapter. 300Mbps Wireless N PCI Adapter. 450Mbps Wireless N Dual Band PCI Express Adapter Model TL-WN751ND. TL-WN781ND. TL-WN851ND. TL-WN881ND. TL-WN951N. TL-WDN4800 Speed Up to 150 Mbps. Up to 150 Mbps. Up to 300 Mbps. Up to 300 Mbps. Up to 300 Mbps. Up to 450 Mbps Range Good. Good. Better. Better. Best. Best Wireless N. Easy Setup. HD Video Streaming & Multiplayer Online Gaming Good. Good. Better. Better. Better. Best Antenna Type Omni Directional, Detachable. Omni Directional, Detachable. Omni Directional, Detachable. Omni Directional, Detachable. Omni Directional, Detachable. Omni Directional, Detachable CCA Technology. You are recommended to upgrade your router to the latest version of firmware and utility(USB Printer Controller) to support more printers and for better user experience.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"As advertised, this wireless card worked straight out of the box with my mid-range PC build (with MSI - Z270-A PRO ATX LGA1151 Motherboard) running Windows. I could no longer connect to 5Ghz networks and my 2.4 Ghz network speeds were abysmal (less than 1 Mbps when it wasn't disconnected altogether)."
"Packaged very well, had dust covers for all connectors, install was easy, up & running in a couple minutes."
"I game on this wireless card exclusively with <30 ms pings to US servers, no local lag spikes to mention."
"Incredible."
"bought this for a friend, he says it works great, its strong, supports most setups if they are configured correctly, fairly easy to use, in our case it was pretty much plug in and use because windows 10 auto detected it and installed the things we needed."
"Worked fantastic immediately upon installation."
"With the old wifi card, the speed is only 7 mbps out of 20 mbps when the computer is kinda far away from the wifi router."
"Works great."
Best Internal TV Tuner & Video Capture Cards
Instant Gameview: stream with superior low latency technology.
Reviews
Find Best Price at Amazon"The only thing i concern about is the latency problem, because i use this product not only to record my gameplay but also use it as a real-time display to my iMac (yes, because i don't have an extra monitor and TV to play my game console, i hope this capture card can do both)."
"One where screens do not switch until you use the toggle button. One where power-engage causes toggle, which I use."
"But if you play for a long time and notice lag just reset the Elgato program."
"It works as advertised the only issue I have is a softwhare issue while recording and you have the active display on full screen the record or on air indicator in bright red in the upper left hand side of the screen should be able to either move around the screen so that it doesn't interfere with game play, or al the least allow you to make it dim and more transparent."
"It's dedicated to recording your game, whether it be the Wii U, or PC."
"Works great and, best of all, works directly with OBS unlike a certain other device I have that recently died *cough* hauppauge hdpvr 2 *cough*. I would 100% recommend this over the HDPVR2."
"I had to use Open Broadcaster Software to freely edit the video size, add an overlay and subsequently stream. -The software in fullscreen mode makes the video preview automatically try to fullscreen. -When using the "commentary" feature (allows you to add voice while recording or streaming) stops the sound of the video source from playing through your headphones."
"Get this if you're looking to stream off your computer."