Slashdot Mirror

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Subm it=ENE&N=2010170147+1052121731&Subcategory=147&des cription=&srchInDesc=&minPrice=&maxPrice=

A 1GB FB-DIMM of Crucial DDR2 533 is $147.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16820146584

Another stick of the same RAM from Crucial in traditional format is about $110, although this is OEM, so it's probably a little cheaper.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16820161400

It's not that horrible of a difference, especially considering that the FB-DIMM is ECC and buffered, while the other stick is ECC unbuffered (I couldn't find a stick of normal DDR2 that was marked "fully buffered," maybe someone else could do better than me)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Subm it=ENE&N=2010170147+1052121731&Subcategory=147&des cription=&srchInDesc=&minPrice=&maxPrice=

A 1GB FB-DIMM of Crucial DDR2 533 is $147.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16820146584

Another stick of the same RAM from Crucial in traditional format is about $110, although this is OEM, so it's probably a little cheaper.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16820161400

It's not that horrible of a difference, especially considering that the FB-DIMM is ECC and buffered, while the other stick is ECC unbuffered (I couldn't find a stick of normal DDR2 that was marked "fully buffered," maybe someone else could do better than me)

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Subm it=ENE&N=2010170147+1052121731&Subcategory=147&des cription=&srchInDesc=&minPrice=&maxPrice=

A 1GB FB-DIMM of Crucial DDR2 533 is $147.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16820146584

Another stick of the same RAM from Crucial in traditional format is about $110, although this is OEM, so it's probably a little cheaper.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16820161400

It's not that horrible of a difference, especially considering that the FB-DIMM is ECC and buffered, while the other stick is ECC unbuffered (I couldn't find a stick of normal DDR2 that was marked "fully buffered," maybe someone else could do better than me)

Money is a suprisingly efficient motivator.

If the pirate knew everything that you and I know, including (1) how to install, configure, and use linux, and (2) how to recover all his important files and make them work in linux, then he might consider switching to linux full-time.

Unfortunately, I don't know the profile of the average windows pirate, but I would assume that he doesn't know the things that we know, and that retaining access to the files that are important to him and the other software (office, iTunes, digital camera, etc.) that he is used to - and may have paid for - is going to outweigh the cost of purchasing windows (which is like $88).

1. It's slightly noisier than a coventional mousepad. It makes a sortof finegrit sandpaper scratch sound with fast mouse movement.
2. With a surface this smooth you can quickly start to feel a layer of dust build up on the less used upper parts of the pad; have to wipe it clean with my palm every day, but maybe I'm just being anal about it.

I think we'll see within the decade solid state drivers.

CF memory is now available in 3GB sizs for about $300;

These are already large enough to support a credible laptop computer, although you'd need ten or so to provide storage for a typical desktop.

You need an adapter: Newegg The laptop drive power pins are in the same pinblock as the data pins, so only one connector on the laptop drives.

Its a good idea until you find out that the drive 224 dollars and 99 cents when the desktop competition runs about 70 bucks. The drives in laptop are the slowest component; I wish laptops could reverse rolls and use dektop drives instead. Maybe one day the power levels will drop to an acceptable level to do this.

Its a good idea until you find out that the drive 224 dollars and 99 cents when the desktop competition runs about 70 bucks. The drives in laptop are the slowest component; I wish laptops could reverse rolls and use dektop drives instead. Maybe one day the power levels will drop to an acceptable level to do this.

For the price, this 27" TV from Olevia is the best deal at ~$600 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16824022011

Having seen and sold this TV, it can't compete with the $1000+ offerings of Sony or Samsung, but it has the inputs most people need, and the picture quality is probably the best I've seen in the sub $1000 set. Though Olevia is a relatively unknown brand, my personal experience and the reviews I've found online indicate that this is not a bad way to go.

We've got 4 logitech MX518's here we use for Solid Edge CAD work, they're quiet and have held up perfectly so far. They came with our Dell XPS's. Personally if I'm going to buy a new mouse I'll set out to buy the cheapest optical microsoft intellimouse I can find. That being said, my wife requested a cheap black mouse and keyboard and I got this mouse for her from newegg: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16826104164 and it's been fine, $12.

I tend to shy away from wireless mice, they are too "heavy". I used one of those tilty wheel wireless "ultra mice" type wireless logitechs for autocad, hated it. I think it was over $50 from office depot. Killed my speed, the wheel wouldn't click right 90% of the time, traded it for a different one for someone who didn't use the wheel click for anything.

Well, maybe not what they stated, but you can still find cheap dual core processors from Intel. Newegg says that the cheapest one costs $118.99. AMD's dual core processors seem to be a bit more expesnive, but I'd rather hold out for one of those instead.

New Egg has it for 118 bucks.

For $299.99, they got a Asus EN7600 GT (350 MHz). That seems unwise to me because, for $10 less, they could have gotten a much faster XFX 7900GT (470 MHz) or, for the same $299, they could have gotten another XFX card overclocked to 520 MHz. I own the latter card, and am very happy with it. And don't get me started on Radeon X1300...

For $299.99, they got a Asus EN7600 GT (350 MHz). That seems unwise to me because, for $10 less, they could have gotten a much faster XFX 7900GT (470 MHz) or, for the same $299, they could have gotten another XFX card overclocked to 520 MHz. I own the latter card, and am very happy with it. And don't get me started on Radeon X1300...

Sounds strange since its $118 including shipping at newegg.com
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16819116001
First google hit on "computer parts" btw so its probably even cheaper somewhere else.

Most of the Sheeple out there seem to be going with Dual core processors. This seems to be the "shiny" factor. Unless you plan to burn a DVD while gaming I wouldn't bother.

Actually, it's my own personal history that steered me toward dual-core. My previous machine was a dual Pentium III 1GHz, sitting on slocket adapters on a Slot 1 motherboard. And this was a consequence of the fact that I worked for Be, Incorporated for four and a half years (symmetric multiprocessing was our Thing, you see). So I decided to carry forward in that tradition.

I personally have not had good experience with ABIT mobo's either. The problems really seem to crop up when you tweak the memory timings in BIOS to match the spec's of the purchased memory. Several people in the gaming clan I play with have had this issue.

Ummm... I was under the impression that setting the memory timings in the BIOS to "Auto" meant that it pulled the factory timings out of the SDRAM modules and used those. Is this not the case? Why would I need to manually set the timings to match the specs of the SDRAMs when those are the timings it's (presumably) already reporting?

I'm not an overclocker. Performance is important to me, but reliability far more so. This is why the NVidia geForce 7900GT has been such a shock to me. It's inconceivable to me that a company with a good history like NVidia would release a product that was this flaky out of the box.

My personal recommendation is for Asus Mobo's.

My previous motherboard was an Asus P2B-D, and it's still rock solid. But the reviews of the various high-ish end PCI-e motherboards seemed to give ABIT the edge, so I went with them. (Oh. The ABIT AN8-32X has red LEDs along the underside edges which light up when the system is running. This little bit of rice wasn't mentioned anywhere else.)

I am very happy with my Zallman heat sink, but it is very heavy. I cracked my mobo moving in to my new house.

The heatsink AMD packs in with their retail boxed CPUs was already impressive enough. And I had read enough Web reviews of the Zalman to realize that it was a heavy mofo and a b*tch to clamp down. The probability of damaging your motherboard by attaching a Zalman was significantly above zero, so I stayed away, despite the pretty LEDs.

BTW, any opinions on third-party cooling solutions for graphics cards? The 7900GT will creep up to 70C without too much prodding, and the stock fan is the loudest fan in the rig.

There some real info from a real Hard Core Gamer. =vVv=H8RED is what I game as. And yes I am in the IS/IT industry in a technical capacity.

I'm in tech as well. And my Slashdot handle is also my gaming handle.

Floppy drive (needed to set up RAID drivers)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16821103116

Ugh. Sony. Had too many problems with those in the past. I got a Teac.

Processor (AMD FX-57)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16819103558

Dude, this is almost twice what I paid for my 4400+ dual-core. What percentage boost in performance would you say you're getting by using this?

Thanks very much for taking the time to respond.

Schwab

Most of the Sheeple out there seem to be going with Dual core processors. This seems to be the "shiny" factor. Unless you plan to burn a DVD while gaming I wouldn't bother.

Actually, it's my own personal history that steered me toward dual-core. My previous machine was a dual Pentium III 1GHz, sitting on slocket adapters on a Slot 1 motherboard. And this was a consequence of the fact that I worked for Be, Incorporated for four and a half years (symmetric multiprocessing was our Thing, you see). So I decided to carry forward in that tradition.

I personally have not had good experience with ABIT mobo's either. The problems really seem to crop up when you tweak the memory timings in BIOS to match the spec's of the purchased memory. Several people in the gaming clan I play with have had this issue.

Ummm... I was under the impression that setting the memory timings in the BIOS to "Auto" meant that it pulled the factory timings out of the SDRAM modules and used those. Is this not the case? Why would I need to manually set the timings to match the specs of the SDRAMs when those are the timings it's (presumably) already reporting?

I'm not an overclocker. Performance is important to me, but reliability far more so. This is why the NVidia geForce 7900GT has been such a shock to me. It's inconceivable to me that a company with a good history like NVidia would release a product that was this flaky out of the box.

My personal recommendation is for Asus Mobo's.

My previous motherboard was an Asus P2B-D, and it's still rock solid. But the reviews of the various high-ish end PCI-e motherboards seemed to give ABIT the edge, so I went with them. (Oh. The ABIT AN8-32X has red LEDs along the underside edges which light up when the system is running. This little bit of rice wasn't mentioned anywhere else.)

I am very happy with my Zallman heat sink, but it is very heavy. I cracked my mobo moving in to my new house.

The heatsink AMD packs in with their retail boxed CPUs was already impressive enough. And I had read enough Web reviews of the Zalman to realize that it was a heavy mofo and a b*tch to clamp down. The probability of damaging your motherboard by attaching a Zalman was significantly above zero, so I stayed away, despite the pretty LEDs.

BTW, any opinions on third-party cooling solutions for graphics cards? The 7900GT will creep up to 70C without too much prodding, and the stock fan is the loudest fan in the rig.

There some real info from a real Hard Core Gamer. =vVv=H8RED is what I game as. And yes I am in the IS/IT industry in a technical capacity.

I'm in tech as well. And my Slashdot handle is also my gaming handle.

Floppy drive (needed to set up RAID drivers)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16821103116

Ugh. Sony. Had too many problems with those in the past. I got a Teac.

Processor (AMD FX-57)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16819103558

Dude, this is almost twice what I paid for my 4400+ dual-core. What percentage boost in performance would you say you're getting by using this?

Thanks very much for taking the time to respond.

Schwab

OK then. Most of the Sheeple out there seem to be going with Dual core processors. This seems to be the "shiny" factor. Unless you plan to burn a DVD while gaming I wouldn't bother. You will get better performance on a single core for probably a lower price than the popular dual core proc's (I have not checked this lately). I run Team Speak, and what ever game I'm running with no issues what so ever. I blow away performance wise most similar rigs that are running dual core proc's (testing utilizing various versions of 3DMark, PCPitstop.com, and frame rates in game). I would recommend a RAID 0 set up on the WD HDD's you bought though you need to balance whether you "need" the data on your PC on this decision. Use the Nforce 4 RAID, and not the SIL RAID. I tested both and had better performance with the NForce4 RAID. Thus I would go with the version of the A8N-SLI that does not include the SIL RAID chip. It's useless in my opinion. I personally have not had good experience with ABIT mobo's either. The problems really seem to crop up when you tweak the memory timings in BIOS to match the spec's of the purchased memory. Several people in the gaming clan I play with have had this issue. My personal recommendation is for Asus Mobo's. Also when it comes to memory you basically have two choices when it comes to memory timings. Either tight (low numbers) or loose (higher numbers, but set up for OC'ing). Below I will paste in the info on my rig for your perusal (I'm OC'ing to 2.9GHZ). I went with tight memory, and thus it is my limiting factor in OC'ing. Unfortunately I can not recall the case I purchased at the moment, so that info is not here. I am very happy with my Zallman heat sink, but it is very heavy. I cracked my mobo moving in to my new house. If you go with this heat sink I recommend you not move the PC from room to room. I never had any issues with moving it around to replace parts, clean out the case, and so on. Just in the move to my new house (damn Michigan roads!). Also you need to be mind full that it will fit in your case (keep in mind where the Power Supply goes). That and airflow were the deciding factors in my case decision (I recall it won PC mag's case of the year last year).

There some real info from a real Hard Core Gamer. =vVv=H8RED is what I game as. And yes I am in the IS/IT industry in a technical capacity.

P/S (Enermax Noisetaker EG701AX-VE)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16817194001

Floppy drive (needed to set up RAID drivers)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16821103116

Mobo (Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16813131517

Video Card (XFX Nvidia 7800)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16814150100

Processor (AMD FX-57)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16819103558

Heat Sink+fan (Zallman copper heat sink w/ 120mm fan!)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16835118115

Memory (Corsair XMS Dual Channel 2GB (4 X 512MB chips) P/N=TWINX1024-3200C2PT)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16820145450

HDD = Western Digital Caviar SE P/N = WD1200JS (dual 120GB in RAID 0(performance) 3GBps x-fer)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a

OK then. Most of the Sheeple out there seem to be going with Dual core processors. This seems to be the "shiny" factor. Unless you plan to burn a DVD while gaming I wouldn't bother. You will get better performance on a single core for probably a lower price than the popular dual core proc's (I have not checked this lately). I run Team Speak, and what ever game I'm running with no issues what so ever. I blow away performance wise most similar rigs that are running dual core proc's (testing utilizing various versions of 3DMark, PCPitstop.com, and frame rates in game). I would recommend a RAID 0 set up on the WD HDD's you bought though you need to balance whether you "need" the data on your PC on this decision. Use the Nforce 4 RAID, and not the SIL RAID. I tested both and had better performance with the NForce4 RAID. Thus I would go with the version of the A8N-SLI that does not include the SIL RAID chip. It's useless in my opinion. I personally have not had good experience with ABIT mobo's either. The problems really seem to crop up when you tweak the memory timings in BIOS to match the spec's of the purchased memory. Several people in the gaming clan I play with have had this issue. My personal recommendation is for Asus Mobo's. Also when it comes to memory you basically have two choices when it comes to memory timings. Either tight (low numbers) or loose (higher numbers, but set up for OC'ing). Below I will paste in the info on my rig for your perusal (I'm OC'ing to 2.9GHZ). I went with tight memory, and thus it is my limiting factor in OC'ing. Unfortunately I can not recall the case I purchased at the moment, so that info is not here. I am very happy with my Zallman heat sink, but it is very heavy. I cracked my mobo moving in to my new house. If you go with this heat sink I recommend you not move the PC from room to room. I never had any issues with moving it around to replace parts, clean out the case, and so on. Just in the move to my new house (damn Michigan roads!). Also you need to be mind full that it will fit in your case (keep in mind where the Power Supply goes). That and airflow were the deciding factors in my case decision (I recall it won PC mag's case of the year last year).

There some real info from a real Hard Core Gamer. =vVv=H8RED is what I game as. And yes I am in the IS/IT industry in a technical capacity.

P/S (Enermax Noisetaker EG701AX-VE)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16817194001

Floppy drive (needed to set up RAID drivers)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16821103116

Mobo (Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16813131517

Video Card (XFX Nvidia 7800)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16814150100

Processor (AMD FX-57)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16819103558

Heat Sink+fan (Zallman copper heat sink w/ 120mm fan!)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16835118115

Memory (Corsair XMS Dual Channel 2GB (4 X 512MB chips) P/N=TWINX1024-3200C2PT)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16820145450

HDD = Western Digital Caviar SE P/N = WD1200JS (dual 120GB in RAID 0(performance) 3GBps x-fer)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a

OK then. Most of the Sheeple out there seem to be going with Dual core processors. This seems to be the "shiny" factor. Unless you plan to burn a DVD while gaming I wouldn't bother. You will get better performance on a single core for probably a lower price than the popular dual core proc's (I have not checked this lately). I run Team Speak, and what ever game I'm running with no issues what so ever. I blow away performance wise most similar rigs that are running dual core proc's (testing utilizing various versions of 3DMark, PCPitstop.com, and frame rates in game). I would recommend a RAID 0 set up on the WD HDD's you bought though you need to balance whether you "need" the data on your PC on this decision. Use the Nforce 4 RAID, and not the SIL RAID. I tested both and had better performance with the NForce4 RAID. Thus I would go with the version of the A8N-SLI that does not include the SIL RAID chip. It's useless in my opinion. I personally have not had good experience with ABIT mobo's either. The problems really seem to crop up when you tweak the memory timings in BIOS to match the spec's of the purchased memory. Several people in the gaming clan I play with have had this issue. My personal recommendation is for Asus Mobo's. Also when it comes to memory you basically have two choices when it comes to memory timings. Either tight (low numbers) or loose (higher numbers, but set up for OC'ing). Below I will paste in the info on my rig for your perusal (I'm OC'ing to 2.9GHZ). I went with tight memory, and thus it is my limiting factor in OC'ing. Unfortunately I can not recall the case I purchased at the moment, so that info is not here. I am very happy with my Zallman heat sink, but it is very heavy. I cracked my mobo moving in to my new house. If you go with this heat sink I recommend you not move the PC from room to room. I never had any issues with moving it around to replace parts, clean out the case, and so on. Just in the move to my new house (damn Michigan roads!). Also you need to be mind full that it will fit in your case (keep in mind where the Power Supply goes). That and airflow were the deciding factors in my case decision (I recall it won PC mag's case of the year last year).

There some real info from a real Hard Core Gamer. =vVv=H8RED is what I game as. And yes I am in the IS/IT industry in a technical capacity.

P/S (Enermax Noisetaker EG701AX-VE)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16817194001

Floppy drive (needed to set up RAID drivers)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16821103116

Mobo (Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16813131517

Video Card (XFX Nvidia 7800)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16814150100

Processor (AMD FX-57)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16819103558

Heat Sink+fan (Zallman copper heat sink w/ 120mm fan!)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16835118115

Memory (Corsair XMS Dual Channel 2GB (4 X 512MB chips) P/N=TWINX1024-3200C2PT)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16820145450

HDD = Western Digital Caviar SE P/N = WD1200JS (dual 120GB in RAID 0(performance) 3GBps x-fer)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a

OK then. Most of the Sheeple out there seem to be going with Dual core processors. This seems to be the "shiny" factor. Unless you plan to burn a DVD while gaming I wouldn't bother. You will get better performance on a single core for probably a lower price than the popular dual core proc's (I have not checked this lately). I run Team Speak, and what ever game I'm running with no issues what so ever. I blow away performance wise most similar rigs that are running dual core proc's (testing utilizing various versions of 3DMark, PCPitstop.com, and frame rates in game). I would recommend a RAID 0 set up on the WD HDD's you bought though you need to balance whether you "need" the data on your PC on this decision. Use the Nforce 4 RAID, and not the SIL RAID. I tested both and had better performance with the NForce4 RAID. Thus I would go with the version of the A8N-SLI that does not include the SIL RAID chip. It's useless in my opinion. I personally have not had good experience with ABIT mobo's either. The problems really seem to crop up when you tweak the memory timings in BIOS to match the spec's of the purchased memory. Several people in the gaming clan I play with have had this issue. My personal recommendation is for Asus Mobo's. Also when it comes to memory you basically have two choices when it comes to memory timings. Either tight (low numbers) or loose (higher numbers, but set up for OC'ing). Below I will paste in the info on my rig for your perusal (I'm OC'ing to 2.9GHZ). I went with tight memory, and thus it is my limiting factor in OC'ing. Unfortunately I can not recall the case I purchased at the moment, so that info is not here. I am very happy with my Zallman heat sink, but it is very heavy. I cracked my mobo moving in to my new house. If you go with this heat sink I recommend you not move the PC from room to room. I never had any issues with moving it around to replace parts, clean out the case, and so on. Just in the move to my new house (damn Michigan roads!). Also you need to be mind full that it will fit in your case (keep in mind where the Power Supply goes). That and airflow were the deciding factors in my case decision (I recall it won PC mag's case of the year last year).

There some real info from a real Hard Core Gamer. =vVv=H8RED is what I game as. And yes I am in the IS/IT industry in a technical capacity.

P/S (Enermax Noisetaker EG701AX-VE)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16817194001

Floppy drive (needed to set up RAID drivers)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16821103116

Mobo (Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16813131517

Video Card (XFX Nvidia 7800)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16814150100

Processor (AMD FX-57)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16819103558

Heat Sink+fan (Zallman copper heat sink w/ 120mm fan!)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16835118115

Memory (Corsair XMS Dual Channel 2GB (4 X 512MB chips) P/N=TWINX1024-3200C2PT)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16820145450

HDD = Western Digital Caviar SE P/N = WD1200JS (dual 120GB in RAID 0(performance) 3GBps x-fer)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a

OK then. Most of the Sheeple out there seem to be going with Dual core processors. This seems to be the "shiny" factor. Unless you plan to burn a DVD while gaming I wouldn't bother. You will get better performance on a single core for probably a lower price than the popular dual core proc's (I have not checked this lately). I run Team Speak, and what ever game I'm running with no issues what so ever. I blow away performance wise most similar rigs that are running dual core proc's (testing utilizing various versions of 3DMark, PCPitstop.com, and frame rates in game). I would recommend a RAID 0 set up on the WD HDD's you bought though you need to balance whether you "need" the data on your PC on this decision. Use the Nforce 4 RAID, and not the SIL RAID. I tested both and had better performance with the NForce4 RAID. Thus I would go with the version of the A8N-SLI that does not include the SIL RAID chip. It's useless in my opinion. I personally have not had good experience with ABIT mobo's either. The problems really seem to crop up when you tweak the memory timings in BIOS to match the spec's of the purchased memory. Several people in the gaming clan I play with have had this issue. My personal recommendation is for Asus Mobo's. Also when it comes to memory you basically have two choices when it comes to memory timings. Either tight (low numbers) or loose (higher numbers, but set up for OC'ing). Below I will paste in the info on my rig for your perusal (I'm OC'ing to 2.9GHZ). I went with tight memory, and thus it is my limiting factor in OC'ing. Unfortunately I can not recall the case I purchased at the moment, so that info is not here. I am very happy with my Zallman heat sink, but it is very heavy. I cracked my mobo moving in to my new house. If you go with this heat sink I recommend you not move the PC from room to room. I never had any issues with moving it around to replace parts, clean out the case, and so on. Just in the move to my new house (damn Michigan roads!). Also you need to be mind full that it will fit in your case (keep in mind where the Power Supply goes). That and airflow were the deciding factors in my case decision (I recall it won PC mag's case of the year last year).

There some real info from a real Hard Core Gamer. =vVv=H8RED is what I game as. And yes I am in the IS/IT industry in a technical capacity.

P/S (Enermax Noisetaker EG701AX-VE)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16817194001

Floppy drive (needed to set up RAID drivers)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16821103116

Mobo (Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16813131517

Video Card (XFX Nvidia 7800)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16814150100

Processor (AMD FX-57)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16819103558

Heat Sink+fan (Zallman copper heat sink w/ 120mm fan!)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16835118115

Memory (Corsair XMS Dual Channel 2GB (4 X 512MB chips) P/N=TWINX1024-3200C2PT)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16820145450

HDD = Western Digital Caviar SE P/N = WD1200JS (dual 120GB in RAID 0(performance) 3GBps x-fer)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a

OK then. Most of the Sheeple out there seem to be going with Dual core processors. This seems to be the "shiny" factor. Unless you plan to burn a DVD while gaming I wouldn't bother. You will get better performance on a single core for probably a lower price than the popular dual core proc's (I have not checked this lately). I run Team Speak, and what ever game I'm running with no issues what so ever. I blow away performance wise most similar rigs that are running dual core proc's (testing utilizing various versions of 3DMark, PCPitstop.com, and frame rates in game). I would recommend a RAID 0 set up on the WD HDD's you bought though you need to balance whether you "need" the data on your PC on this decision. Use the Nforce 4 RAID, and not the SIL RAID. I tested both and had better performance with the NForce4 RAID. Thus I would go with the version of the A8N-SLI that does not include the SIL RAID chip. It's useless in my opinion. I personally have not had good experience with ABIT mobo's either. The problems really seem to crop up when you tweak the memory timings in BIOS to match the spec's of the purchased memory. Several people in the gaming clan I play with have had this issue. My personal recommendation is for Asus Mobo's. Also when it comes to memory you basically have two choices when it comes to memory timings. Either tight (low numbers) or loose (higher numbers, but set up for OC'ing). Below I will paste in the info on my rig for your perusal (I'm OC'ing to 2.9GHZ). I went with tight memory, and thus it is my limiting factor in OC'ing. Unfortunately I can not recall the case I purchased at the moment, so that info is not here. I am very happy with my Zallman heat sink, but it is very heavy. I cracked my mobo moving in to my new house. If you go with this heat sink I recommend you not move the PC from room to room. I never had any issues with moving it around to replace parts, clean out the case, and so on. Just in the move to my new house (damn Michigan roads!). Also you need to be mind full that it will fit in your case (keep in mind where the Power Supply goes). That and airflow were the deciding factors in my case decision (I recall it won PC mag's case of the year last year).

There some real info from a real Hard Core Gamer. =vVv=H8RED is what I game as. And yes I am in the IS/IT industry in a technical capacity.

P/S (Enermax Noisetaker EG701AX-VE)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16817194001

Floppy drive (needed to set up RAID drivers)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16821103116

Mobo (Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16813131517

Video Card (XFX Nvidia 7800)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16814150100

Processor (AMD FX-57)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16819103558

Heat Sink+fan (Zallman copper heat sink w/ 120mm fan!)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16835118115

Memory (Corsair XMS Dual Channel 2GB (4 X 512MB chips) P/N=TWINX1024-3200C2PT)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16820145450

HDD = Western Digital Caviar SE P/N = WD1200JS (dual 120GB in RAID 0(performance) 3GBps x-fer)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a

OK then. Most of the Sheeple out there seem to be going with Dual core processors. This seems to be the "shiny" factor. Unless you plan to burn a DVD while gaming I wouldn't bother. You will get better performance on a single core for probably a lower price than the popular dual core proc's (I have not checked this lately). I run Team Speak, and what ever game I'm running with no issues what so ever. I blow away performance wise most similar rigs that are running dual core proc's (testing utilizing various versions of 3DMark, PCPitstop.com, and frame rates in game). I would recommend a RAID 0 set up on the WD HDD's you bought though you need to balance whether you "need" the data on your PC on this decision. Use the Nforce 4 RAID, and not the SIL RAID. I tested both and had better performance with the NForce4 RAID. Thus I would go with the version of the A8N-SLI that does not include the SIL RAID chip. It's useless in my opinion. I personally have not had good experience with ABIT mobo's either. The problems really seem to crop up when you tweak the memory timings in BIOS to match the spec's of the purchased memory. Several people in the gaming clan I play with have had this issue. My personal recommendation is for Asus Mobo's. Also when it comes to memory you basically have two choices when it comes to memory timings. Either tight (low numbers) or loose (higher numbers, but set up for OC'ing). Below I will paste in the info on my rig for your perusal (I'm OC'ing to 2.9GHZ). I went with tight memory, and thus it is my limiting factor in OC'ing. Unfortunately I can not recall the case I purchased at the moment, so that info is not here. I am very happy with my Zallman heat sink, but it is very heavy. I cracked my mobo moving in to my new house. If you go with this heat sink I recommend you not move the PC from room to room. I never had any issues with moving it around to replace parts, clean out the case, and so on. Just in the move to my new house (damn Michigan roads!). Also you need to be mind full that it will fit in your case (keep in mind where the Power Supply goes). That and airflow were the deciding factors in my case decision (I recall it won PC mag's case of the year last year).

There some real info from a real Hard Core Gamer. =vVv=H8RED is what I game as. And yes I am in the IS/IT industry in a technical capacity.

P/S (Enermax Noisetaker EG701AX-VE)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16817194001

Floppy drive (needed to set up RAID drivers)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16821103116

Mobo (Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16813131517

Video Card (XFX Nvidia 7800)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16814150100

Processor (AMD FX-57)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16819103558

Heat Sink+fan (Zallman copper heat sink w/ 120mm fan!)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16835118115

Memory (Corsair XMS Dual Channel 2GB (4 X 512MB chips) P/N=TWINX1024-3200C2PT)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16820145450

HDD = Western Digital Caviar SE P/N = WD1200JS (dual 120GB in RAID 0(performance) 3GBps x-fer)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a

OK then. Most of the Sheeple out there seem to be going with Dual core processors. This seems to be the "shiny" factor. Unless you plan to burn a DVD while gaming I wouldn't bother. You will get better performance on a single core for probably a lower price than the popular dual core proc's (I have not checked this lately). I run Team Speak, and what ever game I'm running with no issues what so ever. I blow away performance wise most similar rigs that are running dual core proc's (testing utilizing various versions of 3DMark, PCPitstop.com, and frame rates in game). I would recommend a RAID 0 set up on the WD HDD's you bought though you need to balance whether you "need" the data on your PC on this decision. Use the Nforce 4 RAID, and not the SIL RAID. I tested both and had better performance with the NForce4 RAID. Thus I would go with the version of the A8N-SLI that does not include the SIL RAID chip. It's useless in my opinion. I personally have not had good experience with ABIT mobo's either. The problems really seem to crop up when you tweak the memory timings in BIOS to match the spec's of the purchased memory. Several people in the gaming clan I play with have had this issue. My personal recommendation is for Asus Mobo's. Also when it comes to memory you basically have two choices when it comes to memory timings. Either tight (low numbers) or loose (higher numbers, but set up for OC'ing). Below I will paste in the info on my rig for your perusal (I'm OC'ing to 2.9GHZ). I went with tight memory, and thus it is my limiting factor in OC'ing. Unfortunately I can not recall the case I purchased at the moment, so that info is not here. I am very happy with my Zallman heat sink, but it is very heavy. I cracked my mobo moving in to my new house. If you go with this heat sink I recommend you not move the PC from room to room. I never had any issues with moving it around to replace parts, clean out the case, and so on. Just in the move to my new house (damn Michigan roads!). Also you need to be mind full that it will fit in your case (keep in mind where the Power Supply goes). That and airflow were the deciding factors in my case decision (I recall it won PC mag's case of the year last year).

There some real info from a real Hard Core Gamer. =vVv=H8RED is what I game as. And yes I am in the IS/IT industry in a technical capacity.

P/S (Enermax Noisetaker EG701AX-VE)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16817194001

Floppy drive (needed to set up RAID drivers)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16821103116

Mobo (Asus A8N-SLI Deluxe)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16813131517

Video Card (XFX Nvidia 7800)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16814150100

Processor (AMD FX-57)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16819103558

Heat Sink+fan (Zallman copper heat sink w/ 120mm fan!)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16835118115

Memory (Corsair XMS Dual Channel 2GB (4 X 512MB chips) P/N=TWINX1024-3200C2PT)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16820145450

HDD = Western Digital Caviar SE P/N = WD1200JS (dual 120GB in RAID 0(performance) 3GBps x-fer)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a

Personally, I prefer the Gigabyte Aurora for a case. It's freaking spectacular.

Other than that, I'd have said that if you ever planned on overclocking then a dual core Opteron 170 will easily trump a 4400 X2. Without overclocking, go with the 4400+. If you're OCing, Opteron can go above an beyond most chips. I've gotten my 170 blazing nearly as fast as the FX-60. On air cooling. And it doesn't get that hot either thanks in part to Opteron's additional heat pipes. Getting them for OC purposes can be a crapshoot, however. You should always be able to get them faster than the more expensive 4400 though.

Oh, and the HDs are the exact right drives. The only thing I could recommend over them would be the WD Raptor series. But then you sacrifice both money and space for speed. Overall, I pick the larger space and cache size at the much lower cost.

Just thoughts for your next system.

Personally, I prefer the Gigabyte Aurora for a case. It's freaking spectacular.

Other than that, I'd have said that if you ever planned on overclocking then a dual core Opteron 170 will easily trump a 4400 X2. Without overclocking, go with the 4400+. If you're OCing, Opteron can go above an beyond most chips. I've gotten my 170 blazing nearly as fast as the FX-60. On air cooling. And it doesn't get that hot either thanks in part to Opteron's additional heat pipes. Getting them for OC purposes can be a crapshoot, however. You should always be able to get them faster than the more expensive 4400 though.

Oh, and the HDs are the exact right drives. The only thing I could recommend over them would be the WD Raptor series. But then you sacrifice both money and space for speed. Overall, I pick the larger space and cache size at the much lower cost.

Just thoughts for your next system.

While I agree with another comment posted as reply to this, I think you could have done a better job on the RAM, but thats completly opinionated. I've checking out RAM, and assuming that price is a concern, you still could have gone with PC3200 - 2-2-2-5 for a reasonable cost. A quick look at newegg today: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16820134062 or with a different RAM configuration: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16820148007 Just my 2 cents...

While I agree with another comment posted as reply to this, I think you could have done a better job on the RAM, but thats completly opinionated. I've checking out RAM, and assuming that price is a concern, you still could have gone with PC3200 - 2-2-2-5 for a reasonable cost. A quick look at newegg today: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16820134062 or with a different RAM configuration: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16820148007 Just my 2 cents...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16820159006

I would have also looked on geeks.com, but it's down for scheduled maintinance at the moment.

A search for EM64T on NewEgg

The search returned 34 Intel processors with EM64T.

Even some of the Celerons have EM64T.

$119 Pentium D 805 at NewEgg

Description:
Intel Pentium D 805 Smithfield 533MHz FSB 2 x 1MB L2 Cache LGA 775 Dual Core,EM64T Processor - Retail

Intel has had EMT64 in their Pentium 4 and Pentium D lineup for ages. Where have you been?

Direct CF to IDE 2.5" adapter, $32 USD
PQI 8GB 100x CF card, $173 USD ($21 per GB)

10GB is an odd capacity for flash mem.
-e

Why isnt anyone selling this?

If they start putting DRM on CDs, I'm going to take my 1100 discs worth of ripped CDs (100% legal) and place a 300GB hard disk copy of it in a safe deposit box in a freaking bank.

Pioneer DVR-111D

Great IDE Dual-Layer burner, Mac compatible (works with Toast out-of-the-box, I used Patchburn to make it "Apple Supported/Shipped"), apparently Linux compatible, and dirt cheap ($35.99).

Kicks ass, no coasters, does just about every format. 'nuff said.

Sansa(TM) e270 MP3 Player 6GB: $279.99.

APPLE iPod Black 30GB: $279.99

Baaahhhh!

I thought the current dual-socket motherboards (eg this board) could already accept dual-core Athlon (well, Opteron) chips (eg: the 270 series) to make a quad-core machine ?

Actually if this isn't the case, I'll be very grateful if someone could tell me, because I was thinking of ordering the above for a replacement webserver...

Simon

I thought the current dual-socket motherboards (eg this board) could already accept dual-core Athlon (well, Opteron) chips (eg: the 270 series) to make a quad-core machine ?

Actually if this isn't the case, I'll be very grateful if someone could tell me, because I was thinking of ordering the above for a replacement webserver...

Simon

A quick check on newegg lists 214 intel-compatible motherboards.

ATI: 10
Intel: 142
nVidia: 13
SiS: 14
VIA: 35

Yeah, those 10 boards are really going to take intel down...
Wanna buy a bridge?

not completely impossible or baseless, considering that ATI makes some AMD-compatible chipsets.

Only $440 from NewEgg.Com with 3-day shipping.

It's sad to see that the term "gamer" no longer has any meaning in an actually gaming context. With maybe the exception of the Dragon, not one of those cases is suitable for true gaming, and there's a very good reason for that...they simply aren't easily portable. Yes, the Dragon did appear to have a handle of sorts on the top, which might make it easier to lug it around, but the others had nothing going for them. Unfortunately, people respond well to shiny, expensive things. How, precisely, is a case supposed to be suitable for gaming if you can't easily take it to LAN parties?

Let me throw another case into the mix: Aspire Q-Pack

Now THIS is a gaming case. Don't let the MicroATX form factor fool you. This case serves me well as my personal gaming machine, and it is quite the beast. It's very portable, has a simple, non-complex temperature monitor built into the front, and yes...plenty of windows for those of you that need shiny stuff to stare at. The provided PSU has given me no grief thus far. Frontal USB 2.0 and audio are a giant plus. The only drawback I've seen so far is that it only comes with 1 fan slot (a 120mm in the back, over the CPU mount). But it was a fairly simple matter to mod in another 120mm fan on the side. And let me tell you, one intake 120mm and one exhaust 120mm has kept that case incredibly cool. It's not hard at all to move fresh air through that case, given it's small size.

A lot of the Newegg reviews cite that the handle on the case is flimsy. Don't listen to them. It's rock solid. I trust this case with my best hardware, and I've never once been afraid of the handle breaking.

The fans these cases use are absurdly small (so they can be really cheap to make) and using many fans creates added noise due to the beat frequency between them.

The correct way to go about this is to get a cheap steel case, like this for $20.75

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16811156011

Then get a fan like this for $9.95

http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=20060529 19261386&item=16-1331&catname=electric

Now to slow the fan down, to make it quiet, wire a motor run capacitor in series with the fan. Use a cap like this ($1.99) :

http://www.surpluscenter.com/item.asp?UID=20060529 19273017&item=22-1186&catname=electric

If you use a smaller value cap, the fan will run slower. If you use a larger value cap, the fan will run faster. The fan speed changes a lot for small changes in the cap value.

Now cut a blowhole in the top of the case, bolt the fan on top blowing into the case, and get rid of all other case fans. Leave the faceplates off on both sides of the video card so lots of air rushes out that way.

Stick a fork in it. It's done.

The thing that I find interesting is that they've basically got two 7900 GTXes, which are still retailing for nearly $500 in a $600 package. High margins much?

Everything you wanted from a laptop: faster boot times, quicker storage access, less noise, longer battery life...

Everything you wanted from a laptop: faster boot times, quicker storage access, less noise, longer battery life...

BIOSTAR P4M80-M4-COMBO35 Intel Celeron D 315 Micro ATX Motherboard/CPU Set - Retail $88.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16813138024

PNY Optima 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM System Memory - Retail $39.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16820236111

Western Digital Caviar 80GB 3.5" IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - OEM $44.49
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16822144102

Linkworld 3230-02C2222U Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 430W Power Supply - Retail $23.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16811164057

BenQ Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache ATA/ATAPI 16X DVD±R DVD Burner With exclusive SolidBurn Technology - OEM $33.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16827101010

UPS 3 Day Service - $25.82

Total - $257.27

2.66GHz Celeron D 315
512MB DDR400 RAM
80GB
DVD Burner

BIOSTAR P4M80-M4-COMBO35 Intel Celeron D 315 Micro ATX Motherboard/CPU Set - Retail $88.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16813138024

PNY Optima 512MB 184-Pin DDR SDRAM System Memory - Retail $39.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16820236111

Western Digital Caviar 80GB 3.5" IDE Ultra ATA100 Hard Drive - OEM $44.49
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16822144102

Linkworld 3230-02C2222U Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case 430W Power Supply - Retail $23.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16811164057

BenQ Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 8X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 16X DVD-ROM 48X CD-R 32X CD-RW 48X CD-ROM 2M Cache ATA/ATAPI 16X DVD±R DVD Burner With exclusive SolidBurn Technology - OEM $33.99
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82 E16827101010

UPS 3 Day Service - $25.82

Total - $257.27

2.66GHz Celeron D 315
512MB DDR400 RAM
80GB
DVD Burner