Search results

  1. J

    When are the new 45nm AMD CPUs due?

    I'm starting a budget build for a friend, $250 for Processor/Board/RAM, and just realized that the new 45nm AMD CPUs are due shortly. Does anyone know HOW soon? If it's only a week, maybe 2, I could hold off. Otherwise I'll just start building now.
  2. J

    Replace 939 Board or build new?

    Good morning, While I was away on vacation I think my motherboard was fried by lightning through the Ethernet Cable. While I can't be 100% positive, I'm pretty sure if I replace the board my system will start up and run fine. Should I just try to find a Socket 939 motherboard, which I'm...
  3. J

    HELP: Hear PC power up, without familiar beep, and no video!

    I went away on vacation and, before I left, unplugged the surge protector to my computer from the wall. When I got home I plugged the surge protector back in but the computer won't power up properly. Happy signs: The fans to the PSU, CPU, and Video card all spin I can hear the hard drive...
  4. J

    AGP 3850 - Does brand matter?

    Good morning, Should I care what AGP 3850 brand I get? The Hightech is $25 more than the Sapphire and I wasn't sure it was worth the price difference. With an OC'd Opty 170, 2.4GHz, 2GB of RAM, I'm confident my system can fill the 3850 needs. Gameplay includes Left 4 Dead, Team...
  5. J

    2 sticks or 4 sticks

    I am currently running the system in my sig, and have recently purchased 2 x 1GB sticks of DDR Ram. I seem to recall that speeds of a sytem are slower when using 4 sticks of RAM versus 2 sticks of RAM. So, as the Topic Summary mentioned, should I stay with 2 x 1GB. Or would adding the...
  6. J

    Hard Drive issue

    I'm having an issue where I can access a folder and see it's contents. But when I move the folder to another location on the same drive I can't see it's contents anymore and it says access denied. Any opinions on what's going on? Any way to resolve the issue and be able to access the...
  7. J

    Turn on laptop without opening?

    I recently purchased a 22 inch LCD screen for my laptop, 6 year old Inspiron 8100, at home. This laptop already has an external mouse and keyboard attached. Since I no longer need the physical laptop on the desk I'd like to stash it somewhere out of the way. So my question is this...
  8. J

    How should I setup my new LCD with a laptop on the table?

    I got the Acer 22 inch monitor for my wife, who has been pecking away on my 6-year old Inspiron 8100 and it's tiny 15 inch monitor. But now the laptop is in the way of where I would set the monitor, and I don't want to spend $100 on a docking station for an aging laptop. Since she uses a...
  9. J

    How do you manage passwords?

    Several sites all required new passwords this week so I thought it time to , once again, reset my passwords... Then I begin to list all the sites and came up with 70 different logins!!! What do you do to keep track of ALL of your logins/passwords? I'm not a fan of using a program to...
  10. J

    Dell Printer warranty support

    So last night there was a storm here and at about 10PM a lightning bolt struck outside very close to the house. Sure enough it blew the fax machine. Yes I had a surge protector but something went awry. My question is, since the printer is less than 6 months old, will Dell still replace it...
  11. J

    Windows XP Prompts user for a password...

    Good morning all, I have a Windows XP Machine at home that has 2 accounts and no password. The system has worked fine for over 6 months, but in the past month it's been randomly asking for a password on the user accounts. Most of the time you can get in without entering a password, just...
  12. J

    Where to buy and sell jewelry

    When looking to get jewelry for the missus we all know the mall would be the worst option. So... Is there any reputable places online to get jewelry? If you're trying to sell a ring is there a good place?
  13. J

    Stereo for car that connects iPod

    I'd like to buy an aftermarket car stereo that will allow me to hook up my iPod. But I want to see mp3 information scroll on the stereo unit. I found this, but is it any good? Does anyone have any receommendations?
  14. J

    Odd whine when scrolling webpages

    When I am viewing a webpage I like to use my mouse wheel to scroll up and down. Maybe my rig got quiet with my newly installed WD Hard Drive, but it seems that when I use the wheel to scroll up and down I hear a faint whine. Anyone else experience this?
  15. J

    SATA Drive keeps dropping

    This weekend I did a complete format and install on my new 500GB Western Digital Drive. After spending the better part of 3 hours installing, configuring, and rebooting I went to bed. In the morning I powered the system on and got a 'Please Insert System Disk' error message. After going...
  16. J

    USB disconncet issue?

    Just recently purchased the new 8GB Nano, hooray for me, and now the iPod which is connected via USB directly to the back of the computer randomly and suddenly disconnects from the PC as if it has been unplugged This never once happened with my old 4GB Nano, but I did have a USB connection...
  17. J

    How should I try to get a Wii

    Considering the absurd popularity of the Wii does anyone have suggestions on how I could go about finding one? I've been stopping in stores daily to no avail :(
  18. J

    Dell will release a refresh to the 30' LCD

    Dell just announced they will be refreshing the Dell 30' LCD and it'll retail for $1,700. Anyone in for 2?
  19. J

    Do I correctly understand max settings?

    So I'm playing with my Opteron 170, currently at 2.7, and I had some questions: (My max RAM speed is 3200, and my max HTT is 1,000) If I am running a multiplier of 10x, and an HT of 4X, than the most I could overclock is 250 or 2.5? If I ran above 250 than I would be above my max HTT...
  20. J

    Overclock setting for Opteron 170

    I just replaced my A64 3200+ with an Opteron 170 and the overclocking game has begun! HT is 4x and I am running a 2/1.5 Memory divider allowing me to get to 2.6 GHz (with 260 x10) I would like to go for 2.8, and maybe 3.0. Would I need to lower the HT to 3x? Does lowering the Memory...
  21. J

    Swap Processor without reinstall

    I've seen plenty of sites detail how to swap a motherboard and keep an existing Windows Install. Am I foolish to think that if I am swapping JUST the processor, from an A64 3000+ to an Opteron 170, that I can just swap the processor and turn the computer on? Should I do anything in Windows...
  22. J

    Network over Home Power Line?

    Has anyone had experience with the ZyXEL PL-100. Currently I am using a wireless router in Mixed Mode. G for Laptop, and B for my TiVO (TiVO can't operate with a G adapter). Running a network cable isn't worth the hassle, but if I could spend ~$130 and get TiVO off wireless it would be very...
  23. J

    DVD Burning causes stuttering

    When I was using Nero 6 my DVDShrink video backups played fine on my DVD Player. Now that I've upgraded to Nero 7 I experience stuttering. The disc plays fine for the first 25 minutes or so, and than starts skipping, aliasing, and stuttering. Could the Nero 7 upgrade have caused this?
  24. J

    X2 or system refresh

    So when Socket 939 X2 prices were slashed to $150 I thought I'd upgrade. Then, since I wasn't in a hurry, I thought I would wait until they fell to $125ish. Now that they've RISEN to $180 I'm less inclined to spend the cash. So I decided to check out what a HW refresh would cost me, using...
  25. J

    Did I miss the X2 price boat?

    So I've got my Socket 939 AMD 3200+, single core, and I haven't upgraded yet. Should I bother now, or should I just prepare to do a complete refresh? Prices on X2 are rising, the 3800+ is now $180 and it's not even available at NewEgg. I thought for sure they'd hit $125 in 6 months or so and...
  26. J

    AMD X2 prices creeping upwards?

    I've been dragging my feet to upgrade my Socket 939 OC'd 3200+ to an X2 ever since the HUGE price drop. But recently I've noticed the low end X2 3800 creep up from $150 to $175, both on NewEgg and ZipZoomfly. Anyone know what gives? This price increase has made the X2 4600+, currently...
  27. J

    Where'd Kazaa get $100 Million

    So the settlement just hit for kazaa and it looks like they'll be shelling $100 million to the record execs. My question. Where did Kazaa get $100 million?
  28. J

    Upgrade? Sunk cost = lost $?

    Good morning all, I just purchased a Sony HC3 Hi-Def camcorder. I'm confident the system will run well enough to edit HD, but with the price cuts a simple upgrade itch has struck. Currently running 3200+, overclocked from 2.0 to 2.4 1GB PC-3200 Mushkin (512 x 2) My motherboard has 4...
  29. J

    Best way to get older CD's?

    So I'm wanting to buy a bunch of older CD's and I wondered if anyone had a place they went to get used/good condition CD's. Most are in the 70's/80's/90's. Currently I am getting ready to use Amazon's website to buy 20-30 CD's at a time from one used seller. It's working out to roughly $3 a...
  30. J

    Dell Inspiron E1505 for $649 Hot?

    So I realize this Dell laptophas a processor that doesn't do 64-Bit, but it IS dual core AND it has a 15.4 inch screen. So I guess my question is that a hot price, or 'normal'? It just seems like a ridiculously low price for a 15 inch screen laptop with decent specs... Am I crazy?
  31. J

    Is it worth it to get a PCI soundcard?

    I am currently using the internal motherboard sound on my system and wondered if it was worth it to get a PCI soundcard. Does this provide any benefits when playing games, or general system performance?
  32. J

    What's the bottleneck on a USB copy?

    Curious technical question. I have an 80GB drive. When I copy 4GB from the external to a CPU it takes less than 5 minutes. When I copy 4GB from the external to a freshly staged laptop it takes an hour. Is it the chipset? The hard drive speed couldn't cause that much of a drop, could...
  33. J

    New Computer Build - Want to keep iTunes library intact

    I need to rebuild a PC, and would like to know if there is a way to reload iTunes without losing the playcount list and all the other library features?
  34. J

    Is Backing up a Drive the same as a disc image?

    So let's say I mount a drive via a USB external case, and copy ALL of it's contents to a folder on a network. Could I copy ALL of it's contents to a different, or even the same, hard drive and expect it to act just like I'd imaged the machine with Ghost?
  35. J

    2 ATA 133 drives or 1 ATA and 1 SATA

    With Hard Drive prices falling I've been contemplating buying a new 250+GB drive. I know that the performance difference from ATA133 to SATA isn't really noticeable. But, will I see a difference if I change my setup from 2 drives on an ATA 133 cable to 1 drive on an ATA 133 and the other...
  36. J

    Difference - 3200+ Winchester vs. 3800+ X2?

    I currently have a Socket 939 3200+ Winchester, and overclocked it to 2.4GHz Watching the prices drop on the X2's I wondered if I should have much interest in upgrading the processor. Does theL1 cache increase, 2nd processor core, and SSE3 Instruction set make this a processor that would...
  37. J

    Outlook + roaming profile = can't login?

    One morning I am happily using Outlook, the next day I can surf the web, browse network shares, but I can't get in to Outlook. The error message gives the impression that it's a network problem. If I move to another computer, with roaming profiles, then I can connect to the Exchange Server...
  38. J

    DVD and VCR Combo

    My DVD has no Composite Out My VCR is eating tapes, and I'm not about to try and capture my wedding video to my PC with the clunker. So I'd like to buy a good quality combo drive. I have a nice HDTV with an HDMI input, but I'm unwilling to buy a combo unit with HDMI over $200. Can the...
  39. J

    PayPal + iTunes = Free songs!

    Click Here for site PayPal has teamed up with iTunes to offer free songs. Buy a $20 gift certificate - get 10 free songs Buy a $50 gift certificate - get 20 free songs Pretty sweet Edit - Fixed link
  40. J

    How do I control which Codec WMP10 uses?

    Currently I have mpg and mpeg files that play fine with ATi's and Nero's player. But when I use Windows Media Player 10 they don't play right. They are 'scrunched' taller and thinner than the video should be. How can I change which codec WMP10 is using? Thanks in advance