Recent content by Fragmire

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    X1650XT AGP: HIS 512MB or PowerColor 256MB

    As a follow up, the 256MB version of the HIS card is again available, and I'll probably go for this once since it's $40 cheaper, and the only difference (aside from half the memory) is the 30MHz lower-clocked core. At less than $150, I'm happy.
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    X1650XT AGP: HIS 512MB or PowerColor 256MB

    Awesome. Thanks for the recommendation. I'm also hoping that by the time DX10 games are out and readily available, I will be moving onto whatever is the latest platform then with PCI-e :)
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    X1650XT AGP: HIS 512MB or PowerColor 256MB

    Lifetime warranty, eh? Has anyone had any experience dealing with PowerColor tech support or warranty exchange? I'm worried that it's one of those Asian manufacturers that don't really have any decent support in the US.
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    X1650XT AGP: HIS 512MB or PowerColor 256MB

    I don't mind spending the extra $5. Would you say the difference between the brands is worth it?
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    X1650XT AGP: HIS 512MB or PowerColor 256MB

    In short, my beloved 9600Pro has been dying slowly over the past 2 years (check my previous posts on the mysterious behavior), and I'm really not ready to upgrade to a PCI-e system just yet, given I don't do much with my computer anymore. Still, I want a video card that can support some gaming...
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    RAID 1, Matrix RAID

    Anyone knows if all RAID-1 controllers support the dispatching of read requests amongst the drives in the array, or is this a feature only on the high-end?
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    RAID 1, Matrix RAID

    So it seems like that I won't be going with Matrix RAID anytime soon since 1) I don't want to upgrade until at least after Vista comes out and Intel slashes CPU prices next year, and 2) I have an mATX system, and there doesn't seem to be any good motherboard with ICH8R. On a related note, I...
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    RAID 1, Matrix RAID

    I'm thinking about moving my system onto a RAID-1 configuration so I don't lose valuable data (I do routine backup, but only when I have time, which isn't very often). Since I've never dealt w/ RAID before, I'd appreciate any help in answering some of the questions I have: 1. For most RAID...
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    GeCube Radeon X1600Pro AGP Experience

    I'm seriously considering buying this card as my last AGP before I make the swooping upgrade to Core 2 Duo and such. Has anyone has any experience or know of anything (good or bad) about this card? Specifically, I'm not looking for anything that'd blow me away -- I'm only upgrading from a...
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    AGP Video Card Recommendation

    Sorry. Let me clarify. I meant "ATI-branded" cards with ATI chips, versus "non-ATI branded" cards with ATI chips (e.g. Sapphire X1600 Pro). It's a personal preference that I want to stick with ATI, especially since performance is perhaps the least of my concern (since anything pretty much...
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    AGP Video Card Recommendation

    The X800GTO doesn't have SM3.0 though, no?
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    AGP Video Card Recommendation

    I think I'm after something that can minimally outperform 9600 Pro (since I doubt I will get more than a few tasking games down the road), but has SM3.0 support. So something in the X1k series, but roughly in the $150 range (willing to spend up to $180-ish, but def. no more than $200). I...
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    AGP Video Card Recommendation

    This is probably a really dumb question for some, but even an X1300 Pro should outperform a 9600 Pro, right?
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    AGP Video Card Recommendation

    Am I right to assume that most people prefer non-ATI branded cards (e.g. Gigabyte, HIS, eVga) over ATI-branded versions? Is there a reason behind this?
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    AGP Video Card Recommendation

    I doubt I will push it much harder than what my current 9600 Pro can handle. I'm interested in the new SM3.0, but not sure it I will be buying enough games down the road to justify for it. I think in general, I'm looking for a solid, quiet card that performs noticeably better than 9600 Pro...