It's been a while since I built built my PC and it's about time for an upgrade. I plan on building a dual processor Opteron system based on the Tyan n6650W motherboard. I am planning on installing only one CPU at this time (an Opteron 2210). I'll wait for the quad-core Opterons later this...

Hi all, My last homebuild was nearly 3 years ago and was built around an AMD 64 3200 and Asus mb. It has never blue screened or let me down and has been rock steady and very quick. I am building another system and as before I am soliciting opinions before finally ordering the...

Is there a difference in cooling between the WD My Book 500 GB & Seagate Push Button 500 GB HDDs? From just looking at the cases it seems to me the Seagate is better ventilated. I though it might be better to get a HD and a case with a fan but the place I usually buy my hardware from say there...

ASUS A8N5X (NVIDIA nForce 4 chipset) Opteron 152 1 GB RAM GeForce FX5500 (PCI) OR GeForce 7950GT (PCI Express 16) Windows XP SP2 DirectX 9.0c A while back, I bought a PCI Express mainboard and used a GeForce FX5500 PCI card until I could afford to buy a 7950GT. At that time, NVIDIA drivers above...

I have a modern system that's running rock solid. It's a Athlon system with a gig of memory, 2 optical drives and three fast disks. I've measured the steady-state power and found it to be 160W/213VA. What size PSU can I get away with, allowing for startup surge and nameplate exaguration, etc? ...

Can anyone tell me if there is anyone who sells this case for shipment to US? I found them in Italy, Germany, Spain but none seem to ship to US. TY Laz

MikeM wrote: I have a 400 GB backup drive. Since new every time I switch it off I have to disconnect the power cable and reconnect it before I can switch it back on. My other 400 GB backup drive starts as soon as I press the blue button for a couple of seconds. ...

I don't have a lot of experience with LCD monitors and I have a question about resolutions. Nowadays is it OK to run them at non-native (specifically, lower) resolutions? I'm running an ATI 9600XT videocard (old, I know,) usually at 1280 x 1024, and I'm thinking of replacing my 19" CRT with a...

I've recently bought a set of Logitech Z-2300 2.1 speakers for my pc and was wondering whether it would be worth upgrading my sound card to improve sound quality even further. My current sound card is a Creative Soundblaster Audigy (not sure of an exact model name though). Would upgrading to a card...

I'm using a Sata hard disk as a backup drive. Right now I've got the cords sticking out the back. It's ugly but it works. When I'm done backing up, I unplug the HD. I'm wondering if a card like this would give me any greater...

Hi, I've been a bit out of the hardware world for a while now and so much has changed.. I currently have a P4 3ghz machine with 1gig ram and Radeon 9800. Am noticing that games are starting to come out that I can't even play on low settings (eg Gothic III - however I think in this case its...

Ok, I got disgusted and ordered 2/3 of my system -- now I need some help to select a motherboard. All I want is reliability and some spare PCIx1 slots. If I try overclocking it will be very minimal. My goal is a low end gamer. Here is what I have ordered... Intel Core 2 Duo E6400 Conroe 2.13GHz...

Here's my problem, the board is about 4 months in this computer. All is well with one exception I have a sound blaster live in the pci slot that quit on me. So I got a new one and put it into the same slot for it has only one other one and I can't use it because the video card takes up too much...

I would like to upgrade from mobo sound. Can anyone recommend an inexpensive card that comes with software? (Cubase etc) Sorry if this is a bit off topic, but this is the only newsgroup I can find thats not full of stuff about MI5 or turning $6 into$6000000

I am trying to upgrade the RAM in my computer from 512MB to 1GB. I have 3 slots on my motherboard and after doing Crucial's memory scan and looking at their recommendations I decided to add one 512MB RAM module to my two existing 256MB modules. I first put it into the third and only empty slot and...

I am a programmer, i work from home alot, and it is time to build a new pc. I don't keep very up to date with the latest processor technologies, so need a hand in purchasing my parts. Please help. I am expecially interested in hearing about what OS to use and what processor, and whether to go...

Hi Group I posted a note here about 1/11/2007 about 6 AM. It is now 4 PM and I don't see any sign of it. No foul language. Just a geek question about S/PDIF, SIR, AC97, CNR on a M825G v 9.2A (PCChips K7 mob). Is this thing moderated? Wrong pew?? Whats up??? Bob

WAIT! Before you click away from this page, I will not give you a bunch of B.S. like others who are offering the same thing. No, you will NOT get a Macbook Pro for FREE, but you will only need to sign up for 1 offer and then refer friends. That easy! I HAVE PERSONAL EXPERIENCE IN THIS and I'VE...

I just got a 7950GT and would like to automatically apply contrast and brightness settings when I play a game. Would be nice to be able to apply custom settings for full-screen games, but all I see is "desktop", "full screen video", "overlay", and "all". Nothing specifically for full-screen...

Environment: Windows XP Home, 2 GHZ Intel, GeForce FX5700 dual-DVI out (to dual monitors). After disk format and reinstall of Windows XP home SP2 Issue 1: In Windows Media Player (both version 9 and after updating to version 11), no video from video files (.wmv, .mpg, .avi). Audio is present.