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    Question about cooling after shutdown

    Is there a good way to keep a fan or two running even after shutting down a computer? I've been thinking about some sort of alternative powered fan - maybe battery powered. Any ideas? I'm primarily interested in keeping some air on my video card after shutdown to cool it down. Thanks.
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    What to do with a Dell Windows XP Reinstallation CD?

    Question: I have a Dell Reinstallation CD with Windows XP Pro on it. It was installed on a computer and activated but the computer has since been dismantled. It's not in use on any machine so should it be shredded? I hate to throw it away but I guess there's no use for it. Thanks.
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    Bought a Xfire mobo - should I buy a HD3870?

    I'm in the process of upgrading from an A64 4400+ cpu system to a 6400+ system. The system I have now is an ASUS nVidia SLI based mobo but the new board is ASUS ATI Crossfire based. Years ago I used ATI video cards (7200, then 8500 - whooo!) and later made the switch to nVidia with a Ti4600...
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    2 Questions: 8800GTS 320 vs 9600GT and cheap 8800GT any good?

    I just bought an 8800GTS 320 and it's good but it's only a little bit faster than the two 7900GSs I had in SLI. Just wondering if the 9600GT would be a whole lot better than the 8800GTS and, if so, how much? Most of the comparison stuff I've seen compares the 640 version of the GTS to the...
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    Concerns about size of Arctic Cooling Freezer 64 Pro

    Have an A64 3400+ and would like to replace the stock AMD cooler I'm using. I'm on a tight budget and have been looking for an inexpensive (read < $30 shipped) solution that would cool not only the cpu but also the ram that sits nearby. After doing a bunch of research I'm about to go with the...
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    PC3200 running slow at PC2700 speeds

    I just upgraded my Athlon XP 2500+ nForce2 system to an Athlon 64 3400+ nForce3 system. I carried over 1gb of Corsair XMS PC3200 (2 x 512mb sticks) to the new system. The problem is that on bootup the splash screen indicates that the ram is running at 333mhz. I ran the ram at that speed on...
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    Is SATA 300 backwards compatible with 150?

    I'm in the market for a SATA HDD and I'm looking at some SATA I and SATA II drives. My motherboard manual says it's compatible with SATA version 1 at 1.5Gb/s. Thinking toward the future, I was thinking of buying a SATA II if it's backwards compatible. Thanks for the help.
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    Old School video question

    Am working on my kid's Win98SE computer. The machine was using a Geforce 3 Ti500 (64mb) card and it worked like a champ. Got a Leadtek Geforce 4 Ti4600 (128mb) in a trade and decided to try it in the machine so that it might handle some newer games better. Problem is when I installed the 4600...
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    Noob question - first time setting up wireless network

    I'm brand new to networking and I'm having trouble getting a small network (2 computers) to work and would like some advice if possible. I've looked all through the forums and found a little bit of help but not all that I need. What I'm trying to do is set up a simple network between my main...
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    Looking for some 3D PPC/PDA games

    I love playing the classic 3D games on my PDA. Doom and Quake run great with excellent framerates. I loved playing Heretic back in the day so I googled it and found a couple links, but unfortunately those links didn't work. Anybody know where I can find Pocket Heretic and/or Pocket Hexen...
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    MP3 player w/FM or PDA? - need for travel

    Need advice on a good all around gadget to entertain me when I travel. These are the things that are important to me: 1) Something that will play MP3s 2) FM radio is next on my list as I ride a bus a lot 3) Would also like to have the ability to play games, view photos, read news, take...
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    Digital Camera: Zoom or Resolution - which is better?

    I'm looking to spend <$300 on a digicam. I've looked at some at various stores and I'm not impressed with 3x optical zoom. If I'm at a ball game I'd like to be able to zoom in a little bit. Some have told me to buy a high resolution camera (6 MP if possible) where you can dig into the digital...
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    6600GT AGP: alternative aftermarket cooler

    If you have a 6600GT AGP card with a loud fan and are looking at quiet aftermarket coolers, I found something you may want to consider. Based on several threads here on this forum, I was about to lay out roughly $36 shipped for a Zalman VF700 (Newegg link) or $40+ for the all copper version...
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    Core clock @ 300mhz for 6600GT - is something wrong?

    I have a XFX 6600GT AGP card. According to things I've read, the clock speeds for this card should be 500 for the core and 1000 for the memory. However, when I ran 3DMark03 and 05 it said the core clock was 300 (actually 299.something). When I installed Coolbits it said that the core clock...
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    Amps important for a psu? Fortron 530w = 18 but Enermax 460 = 33

    Which is better: more watts and less amps OR less watts and more amps? The reason I ask is I've narrowed my choices down to 2 psus: This Fortron 530 Watt and This Enermax 460 Watt. They are both about the same price. The Fortron has more watts but less amps on the 12v rail and the Enermax...
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    Seriously considering this power supply...

    Power Supply I've seen Tagan mentioned a few times as building decent stuff - anybody have any experience with these? It looks like a decent supply for the price. 28a on the +12 rail looks pretty good, as well as a dedicated shielded molex connector for a video card. This would be for a...
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    Considering buying a Albatron KX18DS Pro nForce2 mobo

    I'm looking at this board and was wondering if anybody has any opinions about it - good or bad? Thanks!
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    Want to convert .wmv files to mpeg for dvds

    After trying again and again (and again) to get Ulead Studio 7 to edit and render captured video with the video and audio in synch, I gave up. Someone suggested just using Windows Movie Maker 2 that came with XP. I'm glad I did because it's easy to use and works great! Now my problem is I can...
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    Upgrade from Athlon T-Bird 1.4 to Athlon XP1800+?

    I was wondering if it would be worth it to upgrade from a Athlon 1.4 (266mhz) to something like a XP1880+ for more performance and cooler temps? Here the specs: ASUS A7M266, Thermaltake Volcano 6cu on the 1.4, 512mb Crucial PC2100, GF3 TI500, etc. This is my backup machine and the performance...
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    Building a PII 350 machine - best video card for it?

    I'm building a first computer for a kid (he's 8) and I need advice on a video card. This computer will double as a backup/DOS game computer with Win98SE. Based on a game this kid likes to play, the recommended system is a PII233, 32mb ram and 16mb 3-D video adapter. I found a nice deal combo...
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    Looking at a Thermalright SK6+ - opinions?

    Just bought a 2500+. Installed the retail hsf and temps are running in the mid-50s under load (not oc'd) - about the same as the T-Bird "hottest running cpu ever" 1.4 it replaced. A friend has a SK6+ for me to try (and possibly buy). Anyone use/used this hsf? Opinions? Thanks.
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    Which AMD XP cpus will do 166FSB safely?

    I've got a new nForce2 mobo and 2 matching sticks of PC2700 DDR. I can't afford a Barton right now, but I'd like a low-cost cpu that will run atleast 166FSB to take advantage of the DDR. I've been reading all the raves about the 1700+"T-bred B" chips, but I was wondering about all the...
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    Can someone recommend a quiet cd burner?

    My burner (a really cheap one) is quiet while burning cdrs, but it's loud as heck when reading cd-roms at top speed (40x). Any recommendations for a quiet operating cd-burner? I don't really care how fast it is. Thanks.
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    Retail Radeon 8500 problem....

    Here's the story: In case this info might help, my rig is an Iwill KK266, Tbird 1.4 (266), 256mb Crucial Ram (pc133, cl2), Philips Seismic Edge 5.1 soundcard, and a ATI Radeon 8500 (retail built by ATI w/ 64mb). I'm running Win98. I installed the 8500 in my machine about 2 weeks ago to upgrade...
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    Philips Seismic Edge 5.1 sound card for $9.95 +shipping (~$16 total)

    I bought this sound card from pcmicrostore.com off eBay. I actually paid more (around $19 shipped) than they sell it for on their site. Yes, it's an OEM card, but it's brandnew and comes with a Philips driver cd, Philips user manual, and a cd-rom cable. It looked like the only things missing...
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    Did lightning pop my sound system?

    Here's the story: I'm using onboard sound. All seemed to be fine until a sudden thunderstorm popped up yesterday. Lightning flashed and lights in the house flickered, but the computer seemed to be fine (the computer is on a surge-protector). Immediately the computer was turned off and, as...
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    Is my sound card dead?

    Here's the story: I disabled the onboard sound, installed the sound card, and plugged in my speakers and joystick. Windows 98 recognized it and asked for drivers. I told it where to look, it found them and installed them - everything went very smoothly. The sound was great, for about 10...
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    High vcore reading on Iwill KK266 boards?

    Typically the vcore reads roughly .08v higher than the bios setting. I have a T-Bird 1.4 and it was running hotter than I wanted so I checked the vcore setting. The bios was set to Auto and the chip was running at 1.84v. I set the vcore to 1.65v and got a 1.73v reading in return. Is this...
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    Need Advice: cheap sound card to fix onboard problem

    Here's the story: I have a T-Bird 1.4 on a Iwill KK266 mobo with onboard C-media sound. The sound works fine, but it won't recognize my MS Sidewinder 3D Pro Joystick (it will work with the generic Win98 2-axis, 4-button driver but can't use all the joystick's features) and the mic jack won't...