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    Is there a way to buy XP 64 out of the trial?

    Okay, so the time has come for brother in law to enter the key for a legitimate version of Windows XP Pro x64. There doesn't seem to be any clear way to purchase it from Microsoft (they just show you all the vista stuff), but more importantly, even when he does get his hands on a key it is not...
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    Photoshop Graphics Hardware Requirements

    I have done a little research on this, but since I trust the people on this forum I thought I would ask here just to confirm everything I've seen. I have a fellow employee who is getting a new computer who will be using Photoshop, Illustrator, and Adobe in addition to other MS office...
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    Is there a way to buy XP 64 out of the trial?

    So I put together a computer for my brother-in-law and set him up with the free trial of Windows XP x64 thinking that it was free for 120 days and if it turned out to function like XP he could just buy it. Or after 120 days SP1 might be out for vista, in which case I'd probably tell him to just...
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    Is there a program specifically to assess vid card performance?

    Hi all, I'm thinking of selling my old GeForce 6600GT 128mb and I'd like to run some diagnostics on the card before I sell it if possible. Are there any programs out there that I can use specifically to diagnose the health and performance of the card without it being too heavily impacted by...
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    GeForce 8800GT Best Prices / In-Stock Listing

    Does anyone else think we should just sticky this until it all dies down? Bumping it because it's so useful but I would say make it a sticky.
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    Do I really need a CPU cooler?

    So here's the ultimate question. I'm looking at the Thermalright Ultima-90 as a cooling tower for my new core 2 duo build. I guess my real question is, if I'm doing some minor overclocking, and maybe some moderate later on (never high-end overclocking), do I really need to drop $50-$60 on a...
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    Is it worth upgrading my 6600 GT for around $100?

    I'm thinking I will probably stick the overclocked 8600gt or an X1950GT (haven't historically been a big fan of ATi cards, but might be worth a shot). As far as the processor, is it at all worth upgrading from the 3200+ to the X2 4200+ for about $70 or is that just a waste of money? Thanks...
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    Is it worth upgrading my 6600 GT for around $100?

    I was looking at possible upgrades for the processor and there aren't a lot of options for a socket 939 board. I guess I would upgrade to an Athlon 64 4000+, Athlon 64 X2 4200+ or maybe an Opteron 175/180. These are all still 2.2GHz or 2.4GHz and the only real differences I can see are in the...
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    Is it worth upgrading my 6600 GT for around $100?

    Thanks guys for all your really helpful responses. I may just wait until around Christmas, after the release of the revamped 8800GT and the HD3850 to see if it pushes any of the others down price-wise. Thanks again.
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    Is it worth upgrading my 6600 GT for around $100?

    I'm building another computer this winter, but it also got me thinking that I would like to pump some life into the computer I built a couple years ago. I was browsing through the video cards and I saw some 256mb and 512mb for around $100. Granted some of them were GDDR2 isntead of GDDR3 and...
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    Case shopping - What case to get?

    I currently have a Thermaltake Tsunami and I really really like it and it runs very cool. It has 2 x 120mm fans and a 90mm fan over the processor. I have been nothing but pleased with it so far and it's relatively low on the noise end. It also comes in black. I'm also looking to build a...
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    Video Card opinion with a 400$ budget

    Yes, if you hit it in mid-December or after the new year, you should be fine timing-wise as far as getting the latest cards. I also agree that SLI is of questionable worth to all but the most hardcore (as far as return-on-investment), so everything I've seen so far would lead me to believe...
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    Picking a Motherboard for less than $150

    I'm not really a big overclocker, but I might get into some light over-clocking. As far as firewire and RAID, I know I don't need RAID and I'm not entirely sure what I would use firewire for anyway. Thanks for the heads up though. I'll take a look at the IP35 and the P35. Edit: I took a...
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    Picking a Motherboard for less than $150

    I looked around at the boards to see if I could find a solid opinion on a motherboard for less than $150, but many of the discussions tend to be in the higher range ($180+), so I thought I'd throw down a post here with the specifics. Any advice is much appreciated. I'm currently looking at...
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    Need Help Building a New System

    As far as the PS, I'm not sure how important noise is to you, but I have a Seasonic in my current desktop and that puppy is whisper-quiet. I've also read great things about the new Seasonic 500W and I will never doubt the quality of any first-party (not OEM'd) Seasonic PS. Good luck.
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    Thinking Upgrade, Have Chosen 775, recommendations?

    I am also in the market to put together a computer so I've been reading up on it and I would be really really hard-pressed to recommend AM2 over 775. So yeah, Intel.
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    Need a good Mobo Please help

    Since you said you're trying to save money wherever you can, you may also want to consider saving yourself $35 and getting a 250gb hard drive instead. Unless you're installing many many HUGE programs or have a music collection pushing 80 gigs, you'd be hard-pressed to use up 250gb any time...
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    abount to spring for a 8800gts 320.

    That's actually really really depressing and makes me wonder whether I should be shelling out $350 for a video card any time soon. ;)
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    abount to spring for a 8800gts 320.

    So I've been looking at a few things about the 320 versus the 640 and it seems that everyone says to get the 320 if you're only playing at 1280x1024. My only real question is that is seems like people are only considering the games out there now when they say that...right? I have a 128mb card...
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    Asymmetric memory running an AMD Athlon 64 3200MHz?

    Yup, you're right. But either way, it works. :P
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    Troubleshooting DDR Mem

    I would love it if that were the case. Unfortunately, on the MSI site they have a FAQ about the board that says that the board will absolutely not run the memory at 400 if you have 4 sticks of double-sided memory installed. I have been through and through the BIOS but have not seen anyway to...
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    Upgrade to 3 gigs of RAM?

    Thought I would post what actually happened with the RAM in case anybody was curious. I went ahead and bought 2x1gb of OCZ Performance DDR400 figuring I'd just sell off the 1 gig of XMS I have now it it wouldn't run 3 gigs. I also got it for $10 cheaper than it is on the site right now on a...
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    Asymmetric memory running an AMD Athlon 64 3200MHz?

    By the way, the short answer is yes. It can. Although it's also largely dependent on the mobo it seems. Trial and Error FTW.
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    Troubleshooting DDR Mem

    Hey dude, thanks for the heads up on the mobo thing. I had read something that said on AMD slot boards you're supposed to populate the 2 mem slots that are the same color (1-3) to get it to work correctly, but the MSI FAQ had a different answer. Apparently it's 1-2 and 3-4, but if you're using...
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    Troubleshooting DDR Mem

    http://www.newegg.com/product/product.asp?item=N82E16820146970 Guess it picked up that paren on the end and thought it was part of the address.
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    Troubleshooting DDR Mem

    So I just picked up a pair of these bad boys (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820146970) and they work great aside from the fact that they show up in the BIOS and Memtest86 as only DDR335 running at only 167 Mhz. I don't see any settings in my BIOS to force it to recognize...
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    New gaming rig - Comments and PSU Suggestion

    Personally as far as PSU's, I swear by the Seasonic PSU's because noise (or lack thereof) is important to me. The original PSU that came with my last case was like a turbine, so I grabbed a seasonic and the whole thing just purrs. The fans, quiet as they are, probably make more noise than the...
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    Asymmetric memory running an AMD Athlon 64 3200MHz?

    Subtitle basically says my question. I have heard that some of the older A64 cores cannot handle asymmetrical memory setups (2x512mb and 2x1gb for 3 gigs of ram total). Does anyone know if this is the case on an AMD Athlon 64 3200MHz? Thanks!
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    How can you tell whether the AGP slot handles 2x/4x/8x, etc?

    Yeah, I think he's more looking to get a vid card with some more memory. I think the one he has in there is only running 64mb or something and he was hoping to get an 8x 128mb card. Thanks for the advice though!
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    *** Official MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum (nForce4 Ultra chipset) Thread ***

    Hi guys, I had a quick question. I currently have 2x512mb of the Corsair XMS DDR-400 (PC3200) RAM on my mobo and I was thinking of buying another 2gb of ram to upgrade it to 3gb total. As long as I have the memory sticks paired correctly (the 512's together and the 1gb's together) is there...
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    How can you tell whether the AGP slot handles 2x/4x/8x, etc?

    I have a buddy who has a somewhat old alienware computer, but he wants to upgrade his vid card. He knows it's an AGP card because he got his comp before they even started coming out with PCI-express cards. I told him to make sure that he's buying the right multiple AGP card. He'll be...
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    LCD Widescreen Monitor Recommendations < $200

    I haven't actually looked at the Samsung LCD in person, but for that price, you'd be hard-pressed to get a better brand. Samsung is the OEM for a lot of these guys too (I think). Prices being equal between Sceptre and Samsung, I'd be willing to bet that the Samsung is going to end up being a...
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    Upgrade to 3 gigs of RAM?

    Hey mech, good to see you again. Haven't been on here in awhile, but you helped me build this rig way back when. :) And that concern about the asymmetrical memory setups is exactly that kind of thing I was worried might be a problem. I'll check it out to see if the computer can even handle it.
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    Upgrade to 3 gigs of RAM?

    Thanks for the replies guys. I guess it looks like I might be better going a little cheaper and just grabbing another 2x512MB and running 4x512MB. I'm still open to any other input though.
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    Upgrade to 3 gigs of RAM?

    Hi guys, There's a link to my rig below, but I'm running an MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum SLI (but only using 1 vid card) and since my current question is about memory, I have 2 x 512MB of Corsair XMS DDR ram. I bought the RAM in 2005, but it still works great. The situation is this: I am...
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    Computer starts on its own

    Before I get started, I have an MSI K8N Neo4 Platinum MB and I'm running WinXP Pro. I also have 2 computers connected to a Netgear WG614 v6 wireless router, which is in turn connected to a Westell DSL modem. If you guys need more info, I can post that too. Now to the problem: So a few...
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    Hi-Tech Gaming Mouse ? worth the money ?

    Basically, a gaming mouse gives you a variety of abilities that you would not be able to get with a traditional mouse. Most of these applications are best applied in First Person Shooter games like Unreal, Quake, Counterstrike, etc. I don't actually play they games a whole lot (play Tribes...
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    Larger Mouse

    Haven't posted in a long while, but had this question and figured what better place to ask than here. :) First off, I'm a guy with pretty big hands, and I had bone graft surgery on my wrist about 8 years ago which is causing my wrist to wear down a little faster than it should. Since I use...
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    Recommend some 2.1 speakers!

    My wife and I both bought a set of the Logitech Z-2300 and they are AWESOME. I've did a lot of research to find out what a really good but relatively cheap set of speaker were and these rose to the top. I am most definitely not disappointed with them in the least. Also, from what research...
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    Docking Stations

    Hey all, one of my buddies has a laptop (Alienware) and he wants to get a docking station of some kind because he's tired of plugging all the various crap in all the time. So I was looking into docking stations for him and he has expressed that he is wary of USB 2.0 docking stations, especially...