Recent content by cyclo

Going with Gigabyte lately (LGA 775, LGA 1156) as they have been rock solid (so long as you don't install any of those Gigabyte bundled software) and I am very happy with the quality of the integrated 7.1 Realtek audio (ALC 889 on the LGA 1156).

I have built PCs with Intel, ASUS and Gigabyte boards over the years. Intel's quality has deteriorated along with the quality of their BIOS updates... just go to the Intel forums to witness this. ASUS is ok but my current preference is for Gigabyte boards with the caveat that you don't install...

At home I have a mix of C2D, C2Q and i7 PCs for the kids, wife and myself. The C2D with a decent graphics card (GTX 8800 and above) is good enough for most things including gaming at 1280 x 1024 or even 1680 x 1050 resolutions. The only reason I built an i7 is for HD video editing. I was using...

I have a Gigabyte P55A-UD4P with an integrated Realtek ALC889 chip. I have it hooked up to a Logitech Z-5500 via both Analog and Optical digital. Great sound... supports Dolby Digital, DTS streaming for decoding by the Z-5500 control pod. Analog 5.1/Simulated 7.1 sounds great too. I probably...

For programming/web development either i5 or i7 will be more than adequate. You need as much RAM as you can cram into those motherboards though if ever you decide to run Virtual Machines for testing, etc. I decided to go with an i7 as I also do video editing... hyperthreading does provide a...

If your Asus board is one of those in the article in these links you may have to check the chokes, Part 1: http://www.semiaccurate.com/2010/01/15/mystery-rusty-chokes/ Part 2: http://www.semiaccurate.com/2010/01/18/mystery-rusty-chokes-part-deux/

One solution would be to get one of those Antec Spotcool fans... the ones with the gooseneck. One end you attach to one of those motherboard to spacer screws and the other end has a fan that you could direct to an area that needs cooling (chipset). The fan has a 3 speed controller and it is...

I had a similar problem with 4 x 2 GB GSkill Ripjaws RAM (8 GB Total) on a Gigabyte P55A-UD4p motherboard. Random BSODs and warning messages from the BIOS when booting up which ultimately resulted in a corrupted the Win 7 OS install. I got the GSkills rated at 1333 (PC10666) 8-8-8-24 timings. I...

I shot this video of the Toronto Donut Ride (happens every Saturday and Sunday) last Saturday, 19 December 2009 and edited it the following day. It was cold (-10 C not including windchill) and windy but the cameras I used were up to the task. Cameras: GoPro HD mounted on the helmet, GoPro Wide...

The Contour 1080p is an excellent camera. Picture quality wise it is probably a toss up between the Contour 1080p vs GoPro HD. However, what the GoPro HD has going for it is the waterproof housing that it comes with. That housing has proven its worth after I got caught in the rain a few times on...

If you and/or your girlfriend are into action sports (cycling, mountain biking, surfing, skydiving, car/go cart racing, motorcycle racing, etc.) you might want to look at point of view (PoV) video cams like the GoPro HD and VHoldr 1080p. These can be attached to a helmet, surfboard (in case of...

There is a review of the top of the line P55 Intel board here: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/mainboards/display/intel-dp55kg-kingsberg.html Does not look too promising when compared with boards from Gigabyte, MSI, ASUS, EVGA, etc.

I don't mind the outsourced tech support that Dell uses, this is after all one reason why the prices of their hardware remain low. Oftentimes the answers to problems such as this can be found by working google anyways. The stutter problem is not only Dell's, other manufacturers who use the same...

I found the solution here... Windows Vista Forums.... Basically here is what needs to be done: Control panel Sound Speakers/Headphones Enhancements ***** DISABLE all enhancements ****** This cured the problem although the music now sounds thinner but this itself could be fixed by...

I have exactly this same problem on a Dell Inspiron 6400 running Vista Home Premium which I just got yesterday. WMP11 stutters 20 seconds before a song ends when playing playlists but not when playing single files. I tried disabling "connect to internet" thinking that WMP accessing song info...