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  1. Dorkenstein

    dual 6950's, reference best?

    Is it safe to say that as a rule, reference cooler cards are better for crossfire? Not only for the heat of the video cards, but also the heat levels of the rest of the case? I'm trying to make up my mind, I like the lower noise and newer features of 3rd party cards but the method of the...
  2. Dorkenstein

    360 S model freezing at dashboard

    Last week I was downloading some demos off Live and twice I ended up with my console freezing in the Arcade section of the dashboard. One time it recovered but it happened again as I was about to finish downloading the Enslaved demo. I had to press the button on the console to turn the system...
  3. Dorkenstein

    Need a socket 775 motherboard

    I need an s775 board that is a good overclocker and supports SLI. Does such a thing exist, and is it still buyable somewhere? The cpu will be a Q9550. Thank you.
  4. Dorkenstein

    Backup using Image for Windows

    I have had a license for a long time for this program (Image for Windows, or IFW) and I just backed up my games drive so I can drop in a larger drive and restore it. So now that the backup is complete, can I just power off my pc, replace the older HDD with the new larger HDD and then boot back...
  5. Dorkenstein

    2tb drive allocation unit size

    What NTFS allocation unit size should I use for my 2tb Hitachi drive? I think 4096 is the default but I was just reading an article on how you can set it for an even higher value if you just use the drive for large storage space and it will open files faster and waste less space, and all I'm...
  6. Dorkenstein

    Higher wattage or higher efficiency?

    Currently have a power issue that I cannot fix (no pun intended), I was thinking of getting a new power supply in an attempt to fix it. I have a 750w Silverstone PSU right now. If I was getting a new power supply, is it better to jump to higher power like 1kw or get another 750w with mega...
  7. Dorkenstein

    European RPG, questions

    I was thinking of getting either Sacred 2 or Divinity 2 for an RPG to kill time on. I understand that both games had mixed reception upon release, but have patches improved them enough to give either a shot? I think I heard the Sacred 2 expansion helps the game quite a bit and allows it to work...
  8. Dorkenstein

    trackball brain adjustment

    Just wondering, if I've used a mouse for almost my whole life, would a trackball be too much of a leap to adjust to? I see some nice ones that sound (by other's experience) like they're very responsive and accurate and well-made. Some people even use them for FPS games with good result. I...
  9. Dorkenstein

    getting my 1200 going again

    I am thinking of putting my system back into my older Antec 1200 now that I can keep my pc off the floor. Here are my questions about what to do. First, I am thinking of getting a 5.25" bay device to put some hard drives in. I have a 5970 for a video card and that means the middle 3.5" drive...
  10. Dorkenstein

    Huge resolutions, a few questions

    I'm in the process of trying to get a new display. I am waffling between wanting to get a 100 pound monstrosity of a CRT and waiting and saving up for a high end IPS panel lcd. My chief question is, if the 30" LCD has a native res of 25**x16**, will older games that obviously can't hit that res...
  11. Dorkenstein

    raid adapter question

    I was under the impression that a dedicated raid adapter was preferable when doing raid over the built-in motherboard equivalent, if you have it. I took one step in consolidating my data by getting a Hitachi 2tb drive. I am going to get one more of those but also 2 x Samsung F3 500gb drives...
  12. Dorkenstein

    Stuck red pixel returns every day

    I have an Asus LCD that I bought from Amazon. At the top of the screen, near the center, there is a bright red pixel. I tried massaging it out, I tried using jScreenfix (java applet), and although the jScreenfix makes it go away, it comes back. Each day when I do a cold boot, it's back again. Is...
  13. Dorkenstein

    windows booting only after a "false start"

    After I put a new video card in my pc, windows will only start cleanly after I do a soft reset. The initial bootup brings me to a black screen with no cursor. I press the reset switch, choose 'boot normally' and on we go. Does anyone know what might cause this? Thanks.
  14. Dorkenstein

    Dual gpu and legacy programs

    Just wondering, will I have trouble with a dual gpu video card and older games like the infinity engine series (Icewind Dale etc.) and especially older games from Good Old Games that definitely don't support crossfire? I haven't installed any yet, but I do have a decent collection of older games...
  15. Dorkenstein

    Antec 1200 water setup

    Will my old Antec 1200 work well for water-cooling my cpu and a 5970? If it would work overall but be a hassle to mod/arrange, let me know. I've heard mixed things about the 1200 and water setups. Thanks very much.
  16. Dorkenstein

    Phenom II X6 question

    At the risk of sounding like a broken record, does anyone here who has used a Phenom II X6 and a Q9550 (for example) know which is faster for games? I've heard a few reports say the X6 is on par with an i7, depending on the setup. Other folks say it's not that fast. Just thought I'd ask here...
  17. Dorkenstein

    Drives shipped by Fry's?

    I bought a 2tb drive from Fry's due to the sale they had on it and it just arrived via Fedex. They just put the retail drive box in a slightly larger shipping box and called it good. No padding at all. Should I even open it up and test the drive or what? I think Newegg ships drives better than...
  18. Dorkenstein

    Comparing two drives

    I have a 640gb WD Caviar Black drive for games right now which is half full. My steam install alone is almost one third of the used space. I am a few steps closer to re-organizing my drive setup and I was curious if anyone here has switched from a 640gb Black drive to a Samsung F3 500gb drive...
  19. Dorkenstein

    strange DDR2 configuration

    I've not noticed this since I installed the ram over a year ago, but my DDR2 1066 is showing up incorrectly in CPU-Z. In slots 1 through 4 the max bandwidth is listed as PC2-6400 (400 MHZ). The memory tab says my DRAM frequency is 425 mhz and that I'm running at a 1:1 ratio on my Gigabyte...
  20. Dorkenstein

    Can't pin documents folders to win explorer

    Windows 7 64 bit here. I used to be able to drag a folder from my documents to the explorer jumplist on the taskbar and pin it there. I can't any more. I've been having some technical trouble for the last two days but its been from things I did. What could affect the ability to do this? Thanks.
  21. Dorkenstein

    overclocked cpu and 5970 power draw

    I have an overclocked Q9550 with 8gb of ram and 4 drives. I have a few year old Silverstone Decathlon 750w PSU. Would I be able to comfortably add a Radeon 5970 to my setup or do I need a higher power PSU? The cpu is overclocked to 3.6ghz. Thanks.
  22. Dorkenstein

    Water cooling GPU only?

    I have a 5870 with a fan that gets pretty loud when the temps increase. I could use an aftermarket air cooler, but I was wondering if it would be useful to try my hand at water cooling by starting with only the gpu. I'm not against doing both GPU and CPU, but I thought I might start small...
  23. Dorkenstein

    USB/Sata 3 question

    If I got a motherboard with USB and Sata 3, could I disable it from running in that mode and make it run at 2.0 speeds? Or does it run 3.0 the whole time? I'm kind of hesitant because I heard that the new version can rob a video card of bandwidth, though I'm not sure how big of an issue that is...
  24. Dorkenstein

    B-Stock Monitors

    Would it be a huge mistake to buy a B-stock crt, even from a decent company? I need a crt, and to get the one I want in flawless condition, calibrated etc. is too rich for my blood right now. Would getting a b-stock with possible screen blemishes, and even possible screen burn-in be a bad move...
  25. Dorkenstein

    UPS trouble breakthrough

    I figured out how to switch the UPS to low sensitivity without an interface cable. It's a 5 year old APC BX1500 (Back UPS XS). Now when the alarm used to freak out, it stays silent. I couldn't hear this before due to the alarm, but I can hear my PSU make an audible buzz every so often. I think...
  26. Dorkenstein

    XFX 5870 Yellow Tint screen?

    I just installed an XFX 5870 that I bought used. When I went to screensaver, the screensaver doesn't appear. The words 'Screensaver requires D3D' or something to that effect appears. The font is yellow on a black background. When I move the mouse the desktop is tinted yellow. What's going on...
  27. Dorkenstein

    Power supply step up

    I have a Silverstone Decathlon 750w modular psu that I've had since 2008 I think, maybe longer. I run an overclocked Q9550 with 8gb of ram and am going to put everything in an Antec 1200 case with all fans except the door fan. No video card yet. Since I know that nobody yet knows the true...
  28. Dorkenstein

    Sudden Socket 775 Heatsink realization

    I've been running an overclocked Q9550 for over a year on a Xigmatek S1283 (I think that's the model) at 3.6 ghz. Is there any socket 775 heatsink that's appreciably better that I should switch to? I'm a little shocked that it took me this long to remember which heatsink I installed over a...
  29. Dorkenstein

    Antec Twelve Hundred replacement parts?

    Would Antec or somewhere else have a replacement hard drive cage/fan bay for sale? I looked over Antec's site and didn't see anything. Thanks for any help.
  30. Dorkenstein

    Combining Power Protection

    Is there a UPS that performs a solely battery-backup and AVR function that I can combine with a Brickwall surge protector? Or is there a nice UPS that has as good a surge protection ability as a Brickwall? I'm curious because I found out something that could be causing my UPS to freak out and...
  31. Dorkenstein

    Opera Unite Alternative

    I want to use this to share photos etc. with my family and let them stream music, but I don't really want to tell them they all need to set up a My Opera account and download Opera to use it. Is there anything as easy to use without everybody needing an account somewhere? Thanks for any ideas.
  32. Dorkenstein

    Borderlands curiosity

    I haven't played this since the week it was released. Two acquaintances of mine power-leveled me to level 21 from 7 (meaning I had no idea what the hell was going on while they bulldozed all the enemies) and then dropped me like a molten rock. I haven't touched it since. So my questions are...
  33. Dorkenstein

    Uninstall Myserious LCD drivers

    I had an lcd hooked up for a few days from Hanns G. I ran the driver cd that came with it but now I am hooked back up to my CRT and I need to know how to remove the LCD files. I don't see it in add/remove. I think I need to get rid of it because my CRT doesn't look the same as it used to, but...
  34. Dorkenstein

    New video card trouble, need advice

    I just got my new video card from Newegg this evening. The Sapphire box was sealed, but the anti-static bag the card is contained in was not. I didn't really think anything of it until I saw the card. The PCB looked like it was pretty old. It had that dirty, filmy look like it was either...
  35. Dorkenstein

    Drive Consolidation

    At the moment I have 4 mechanical drives and an SSD installed. 10 total partitions. It's pretty messy and confusing at times when I need to find something. I would like to streamline my drives. My first thought would be to remove 2 drives and replace them with 1 larger drive that can fit the...
  36. Dorkenstein

    Gamecube faves revisited

    I'm attempting to finish some of my older favorite Gamecube games that I never finished. Unfortunately, even through the official Component cable, the picture quality is kind of lousy on my Panasonic LCD. I've also bought a vga box to use on my CRT monitor, but you could argue that the picture...
  37. Dorkenstein

    Drivers question (ATI)

    If you switch from one video card to another, but they both use the same exact drivers, do you still need to uninstall and sweep the old drivers before adding in the new card? Thanks for any ideas.
  38. Dorkenstein

    Switching cases, temperature question

    I'm going to be switching from an Antec Twelve Hundred to a Silverstone Fortress soon. The Twelve Hundred needs to be cleaned all the time with all its fans. Not a huge deal, really. Also, I find it hard to rout the cables around in it. When I get the Fortress, I have only one concern. The...
  39. Dorkenstein

    5850 temps

    I gave my 5850 a small overclock to 850/1200 and it's stable. But the instant I start a game the temperature jumps from 34 c or so, to over 40 c. That's not even after playing for a short while. I'm guessing that the heat would be the same for any 5850, but am I right? I have an XFX model...
  40. Dorkenstein

    2gb Nvidia cards pretty rare?

    I've been trying to track down a 2b or 1.7gb GTX 285 but they seem to be out of stock everywhere and have been for as long as I can remember (a few weeks). Are they being phased out or something? Also, is a GTX 275 much slower than a 285? Thanks for any clues.