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    Single vs Dual Channel memory

    I'm building a pretty low (as cheap as possible) system. The MoBo is a micro ATX that has 2 memory slots and supports dual channel memory. It appears that I can install 1 stick of memory (obviously without the dual channel access) or 2 sticks. I am debating which I should do for a 2GB system...
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    Old Epox 8k5a3+ XP install problem

    Based on feedback from the Operating system forum, I'm suspecting the MoBo is having a problem. Is it worth trying to salvage anthing from the old system? i.e. power supply, memory, tower etc. Will the old PS (Antec True430) work with the newer MoBos?
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    XP can't find harddrive

    I'm suspecting the same thing. Is it worth trying to salvage anthing from the old system? i.e. power supply, memory, tower etc. Will the old PS (Antec True430) work with the newer MoBos?
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    XP can't find harddrive

    I ran the Western Digital diagnostics from the CD. Although it seemed to take a very long time to boot up the diagnostics, once they were loaded the HDD was found and both the quick test and the extended test found no problems. If there was a memory or CPU problem, would the Bios POST test...
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    Old Epox 8k5a3+ XP install problem

    I changed the jumper on the CD Rom drive to Master and it now shows as IDE2 Master in the Bios, but XP setup still does not see the HDD. I also ran the Western Digital diagnostics from the CD. Although it seemed to take a very long time to boot up the diagnostics, once they were loaded the HDD...
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    XP can't find harddrive

    I'm trying to recycle an old Epox 8k5a3+ MoBo into a usable basic system for a friend. I am only using the IDE channels with one dedicated to a single 120G HDD and the other to a CD Rom drive. I also have floppy drive in the system connected to the FDD controller. Nothing is connected to the...
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    Old Epox 8k5a3+ XP install problem

    I'm trying to recycle an old Epox 8k5a3+ MoBo into a usable basic system for a friend. I am only using the IDE channels with one dedicated to a single 120G HDD and the other to a CD Rom drive. I also have floppy drive in the system connected to the FDD controller. Nothing is connected to the...
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    To Raid or not to Raid

    I have two 1TB drives in my new system. I am trying to decide if I should use Raid 1 for redundancy or use them as seperate drives and do nightly incremental backups. The Raid 1 option benefits, as I see it, are up to the minute redundancy and some improvement in read times. The seperate...
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    Trouble moving W7 image to Raid

    The recovery disk does give me the opportunity to load the Raid drivers and I do that. The problem is that the recovery program still tells me it can't find a disk to restore to. Could it be that the disk has to be the exact same one that was backed up?
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    Trouble moving W7 image to Raid

    I just built a new system with 2 Samsung 1TB drives and a Fantom USB backup drive. I initially had the internal drives configured as seperate drives in the mobo bios. I installed Windows 7 and some primary applications and used Windows 7 backup to create a system image backup on the Fantom...
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    New system video card

    So, are you saying the ASUS with the DDR3 would be the better card for the price?
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    New system video card

    Newegg now has the EVGA 512-P3-1242-LR GeForce GT 240 Superclocked 512MB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card on sale for $39 after a $35 rebate and $3 shipping. From the comments above abot the DDR5 memory, this would be the better performer. How does EVGA compare to ASUS...
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    New system video card

    Is it worth the $40 to replace the onboard ATI Radeon HD 4290 with the GT240?
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    New system video card

    Newegg is selling the ASUS ENGT240/DI/1GD3/A GeForce GT 240 1GB card today for $40 after rebate. Is this a good deal to go in my new Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H motherboard? I'm not a heavy game player although I do use MS Flight Simulator occasionally.
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    What's best AMD for general use?

    Well I hit the submit button. GIGABYTE GA-890GPA-UD3H G.SKILL Ripjaws Series 4GB DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Model F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL AMD Phenom II X6 1055T Thuban 125W Retail Now I can't wait to get the pieces and put it together. Thanks for all your help and guidance. I'm sure I'll...
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    What's best AMD for general use?

    Thanks for the heads-up on the memory. I scratched it from my shopping cart. How do you guys feel about the ripjaw memory recommended above. How important is the latency of 9 vs the 7 for the G.Skill ECO DDR3-1600 CAS7 also recommended but not packaged at Newegg. The difference in cost would...
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    What's best AMD for general use?

    Other than power consumption and resulting heat, why do you suggest the 95W OEM version? I really don't like the 30 day warrantee vs. 3 year on the retail. I picked the memory because Newegg has a package price.
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    What's best AMD for general use?

    Micron sticks?
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    What's best AMD for general use?

    OK guys. After sorting through all the replies and thinking through what I want immediately and what I might want to do in the future, I think I have decided to go with the following: GIGABYTE GA-890GPA-UD3H Crucial Ballistix 4GB (2 x 2GB) DDR3 1600 BL2KIT25664BN1608 AMD Phenom II X6...
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    Which AMD motherboard gives best bang?

    I have my system set up to boot up a couple of different OS. The interface apps are some specialized things that do not run under Windows.
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    What's best AMD for general use?

    OK, you guys are really giving me an education and I thank you for it. After all this talk I do have to admit that one of the things that has been an issue with the AMD systems has been the heat (great in winter/not in summer). The question now (and this might be getting off topic) is what...
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    What's best AMD for general use?

    WOW, you guys really got into it after I went to bed. The reason I said AMD was because my last two systems used AMD and I have been very happy with them. I'm a little more comfortable with them. Also, and I hate to add fuel to either fire, I forgot to mention that I like to use AutoCAD LT...
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    Which AMD motherboard gives best bang?

    I like the Gigabyte boards since they have com and lpt headers for some legacy hardware and simple interface apps. Of the ones I listed, which would be the best. Also, does anyone know the differences between the northbridge 790X and the 8xx series? I'm leaning toward the GA-890XA-UD3, but am...
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    What's best AMD for general use?

    Newegg actually has a $10 gift card promotion with the 1055T now. Another novice question: Will Windows 7 allocate the processors to the app or do the apps have to be written to use multiple processors? In other words if I am running 4 single thread apps will the OS assign each to a...
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    Which AMD motherboard gives best bang?

    I'm building a new AMD system for general use. I do want to do some video editing and gaming but primarily I use the system for digital photo editing/storage, internet surfing and office applications. I usually keep my systems for 4 to 6 years, so I want to buy cutting edge but not nesessarilty...
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    What's best AMD for general use?

    I definitely like the Gigabyte motherboards. I'm trying to decide between the GA-870A-UD3 with an MSI R4350-MD512H Radeon HD 4350 512MB video card ($122 after rebates) GA-880GA-UD3H with on-board 4250 video ($118) GA-890GPA-UD3H with on-board 4290 video ($140) GA-890XA-UD3 with the same...
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    What's best AMD for general use?

    I'm building a new AMD system for general use. I do want to do some video editing and gaming but primarily I use the system for digital photo editing/storage, internet surfing and office applications. I am looking at a 870, 880 or 890 mobo but really haven't figured out which is best yet. My...
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    Onboard or seperate video?

    Assuming the price is about the same, what are the advantages/disadvantages of configuring a new system with a motherboard that has onboard graphics vs a mobo without graphics and a seperate low cost video card using the same GPU? If it makes a difference, I am leaning toward a AMD with ATI...
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    Is 2 better than 1?

    I'm planning to build a new general use PC and am pretty ignorant of the ins and outs of HDD configuration for optimal system performance. So I have a number of stupid questions to ask the experts out there: 1) Is it better to use two 1TB 7200 drives or one 2TB 7200 drive? On sale the price...
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    How do you size a PSU?

    I know you guys said a 400 watt would be sufficient for my system but considering that I may want to add a higher performance video card in the future would it be a good idea to buy an Antec Earthwatts EA650. I can get one new for $53 shipped.
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    How do you size a PSU?

    When I used the PSU calculator at http://extreme.outervision.com/psucalculatorlite.jsp nipplefish mentioned in his post, I came up with 470 watts. That is a long way from the 150 watts TemjinGold figures I will need. Also, from a cost standpoint the Seasonic M12II 520 Bronze is...
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    How do you size a PSU?

    OK. I'm going to buy today. Newegg has two PSU that look promising to me at the $50 to 60 range after offers and rebates. They are: OCZ ModXStream Pro OCZ700MXSP 700W Antec EarthWatts EA650 650W Continuous Power Other than one is modular and the other not, how do they compare. Which...
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    How do you size a PSU?

    Rifterut, I noticed that you used an 850W PSU in your system. I'm trying to understand what is in your configuration that requires twice the power than the one I am proposing.
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    How do you size a PSU?

    How do you determine how many watts in a PSU you need for any given system? I'm planning to build a new system using a AMD processor (either x4 or x6) with 4GB of DD3 memory, 1 SATA HDD, 1 SATA DVD writer, a Legacy PATA HDD and possibly a SSD. I will use a board that has video and audio built...
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    Problems with NEC 3500A

    Jonathan, That did it. I just successfully burned my first DVD at 8x. I can't believe that NEC tech support knew nothing about the VIA drivers causing problems. I am forever in your debt. Thanks for the help.
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    Problems with NEC 3500A

    I tried every IDE driver that Windows shows available both Microsoft and VIA, no difference. My mobo uses the VT8235 chipset. Any other ideas on what to try to resolve this problem? Is there any diagnostic or test programs that might help home in on the problem?
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    Problems with NEC 3500A

    How did you uninstall the Via IDE drivers? If I look at Device Manager, I have "VIA Bus Master Ultra ATA Controller" listed under "IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers". Is this what you are referring to? Do I just delete the Bus Master and reboot or do I have to do something to install the Microsoft...
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    Problems with NEC 3500A

    I recently installed a NEC 3500A in my system. Since I was having some other problems with my ATI AIW 8500DV TV function and had a problem with CDRW drive that the NEC is replacing, I did a fresh install of Windows 2000 with SP4 before installing the new drive. The system uses a Epox 8k5a3+ MB...
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    Does ATI support Widescreen Monitor?

    I'm planning to purchase a widescreen monitor with 1680 X 1060 resolution. I currently have a ATI AIW 8500DV card but it does not show this resolution in screen properties. When I plug in the new monitor will the OS detect the native resolution and make that option available or do I have to do...
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    Monitor native resolution

    I'm planning to purchase a widescreen monitor with 1680 X 1060 resolution. I currently have a ATI AIW 8500DV card but it does not show this resolution in screen properties. When I plug in the new monitor will the OS detect the native resolution and make that option available or do I have to do...