Search results

  1. N

    ATI 3450 or hybrid crossfire 3450 + 3200 fro HTPC?

    Thanks, I'll try turning cool n quiet off...I had just assumed that BD playback would tax the CPU enough so that it would be running at the max. It is possible that this is a software issue. I was getting smooth BD playback with a 2400pro and 64 x2 3600+ with Power DVD. When I switched to...
  2. N

    ATI 3450 or hybrid crossfire 3450 + 3200 fro HTPC?

    This question is specifically directed towards Blu-Ray playback in an HTPC. The HTPC is running Vista Home Premium on a Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-DS2H with a 64 X2 4400+ CPU and 2GB of Patriot Extreme Performance DDR2800 RAM. I see the occasional lurch in Blu-Ray playback running the on-board GPU...
  3. N

    problem with 780G boards and Athlon 64 X2 5200+

    I agree that the board should select the correct voltage for the CPU (which the boards identify correctly) I am using the latest bios rev for each board (I did check released versions on the support sites). The bios supports the CPU per the boards' CPU support lists.
  4. N

    problem with 780G boards and Athlon 64 X2 5200+

    Thanks, I had tried bumping up the memory voltage by .1 and .2, but never thought to try raising the CPU voltage.
  5. N

    problem with 780G boards and Athlon 64 X2 5200+

    I've had the same problem with a Athlon 64 X2 5200+ Brisbane in both a Gigabyte GA-MA78GPM-DS2H and an Asus M3A78-EM. Trying a fresh Vista intall, each board with it would BSOD after "copyig files"; if I hooked up a drive with the OS already intstalled, it would go into a reboot cycle at the...
  6. N

    Newish Asus M3A78-EM/Vista rebooting during Vista startup

    I just built an HTPC on the Asus M3A78-EM board with Vista Home Premium OEM SP1 plus TV Pack (this is a legitimate paid-for MS DVD, BTW). Worked fine for a while (except for occasional F1 fan errors on boot), but suddenly, during the black screen portion of the Vista boot (after posting) it...
  7. N

    ASUS M3A78-EM or GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H

    I ended up going with the Asus board, expect to finish the build this weekend and will report back to the thread.
  8. N

    ASUS M3A78-EM or GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H

    Thanks for your replies. I ended up going with the Asus. Too bad about the Hybrid Crossfire being useless for video playback. I'll try the onboard GPU and see if it works. On my old rig (same CPU/memory/OS (vista 32), PowerDVD played 1080p Blu-Ray fine with at 2400 Pro, but ArcSoft Total...
  9. N

    ASUS M3A78-EM or GIGABYTE GA-MA78GM-S2H

    I'm on the fence between these two boards - prices are about the same and customer reviews are about the same (60% 5s and 20% 4s) at the Egg. I'll be using the boards for a HTPC with a Blu-Ray ROM drive; will want to take advantage of the crossfire hybid feature to pair up either my ATI 2400...
  10. N

    Really considering quitting computer repair

    I feel your pain, I have a Biostar TF7050-M2 that just up and refuses to post. My personal opinion is that this is a shit series of board, it's been flakey since day one. Sorry I don't have any positive advice.
  11. N

    No post past bios splash screen

    I was having trouble with a Biostar FT7050-M2 board and as part of troubleshooting I power off, unplugged from the wall and cleared the CMOS. Now when I turn the computer on, it hangs at the intital logo splash screen. On the splash screen it has the [del] to enter setup message, but does not...
  12. N

    Will Biostar TF7050-M2 boot to bios screen w/o RAM?

    Anyone know if this board will boot to the bios display with no RAM installed (the onboard video shares system memory, but I wonder if the onboard video has enough memory to display the bios screens). I ask because I'm not getting video out on my mobo. The status LED on the board is lit up so...
  13. N

    Partition Magic 8.0 CD won't boot

    I just got Symantec Partition Magic 8.0. The manual says that you can boot from the CD into a DOS flavor of Partition Magic. But when I try to boot from the CD, the program hangs after a message showing that it's loading some version of DOS. The same thing happens on my IBM T23 thinkpad, and...
  14. N

    XP Home SP2 only can start with boot CD

    You could also try and see if a repair install fixes things (just a wild guess). Boot from the CD, and go through the install process, at some point it will tell you there is an existing install of XP on your machine and give you the option to do a clean install (wiping out all your settings...
  15. N

    XP Home SP2 only can start with boot CD

    Since your sig says you have 2 seagates in your box, I suspect the hard drive priority (different but in the same area as the bood device priority) in the bios is set with your non-OS drive at the top. On the IDE/SATA mobos I've had, the IDE channels are 0 and 1, and the SATA channel is 2...
  16. N

    Acquire one or two Office 2007 academic licenses?

    But I think the trial version won't accept an academic key. Also, I think you won't be able to get around it with a repair install with the academic disc - the academic install does not recognize the existence of the trial version. At least, this was my experience when I tried to make my...
  17. N

    OEM MCE 2005 & mobo/CPU upgrade

    A while ago I built a system for myself using an OEM version of MCE 2005 from Newegg. I'm thinking of upgrading the mobo and CPU. Some people have said that because the OEM versions are sold to be bundled with hardware, that if you do a major component change like a mobo swap you won't be...
  18. N

    Legal WinXP copies

    If you have a folder on the laptop called i386 (you may will if the lappy came with XP pre-installed), look here to find out how to turn that into a bootable XP Pro CD you can use to do a clean install. GHOST YOUR DRIVE FIRST. Also a good idea to download all the driver installs for the laptop...
  19. N

    Reinstalling MCE OEM

    Yeah, the MCE repair install goes just like the first one, & asks for the second disk like as in a clean install.
  20. N

    How to migrate my C-Drive (Active/Windows) from an old HDD to a new HDD

    But you don't need to create a boot disk to do this with Acronis (you can't create boot disks from the 30-day trial anyway). You can run the Acronis clone operation from inside Windows, Acronis will ask you to reboot and perform the clone on the reboot before Windows loads entirely. End result...
  21. N

    Reinstalling MCE OEM

    Hi seeker, have you tried doing a repair install? (go through the install process, at some point it should recognize that there is an existing install and ask if you want to do a fresh install or a repari install (this is a ways after the screen that asks if you want to repair using the...
  22. N

    How to I take a folder that has XP in it and make it a bootable disc?

    Yeah, sure, dude. Anyway, here's a good walkthough. http://www.4saad.com/WhatsNew/Fresh_XP_Install/index.htm
  23. N

    Reinstalling XP without OS CD.

    Key: Correct, the jellybean finder returns the VLK (volume licensing key?) which is for the pre-installed OEM volume-licensed version of XP active on the Thinkpad. I believe that the version is locked to IBM but not to the specific moded. I also think there's some way you can burn a...
  24. N

    windows 98se or windows XP?

    Myself, I would just stay with 98. It doesn't sound like your using it for anything really demanding, so who cares? I wouldn't put money into a bigger HD, either, since its likely that you'll run up against a BIOS limitation on size and then have to run a layer of stuff between the bios and...
  25. N

    Ordered MCE2005 w/ Vista upgrade

    Seeker, you have PM.
  26. N

    Reinstalling XP without OS CD.

    Look on your C: drive. You most likely will see a couple of folders: I386 (or i386) Drivers Apps (or similar) Burn all of these to a CD. Search for and download the magic jellybean finder, and use it to read the XP key off of your machine. Make an image of your hard drive in case...
  27. N

    How to change Dell XP key?

    Damn, just tried it on my MCE install, and got a "this product must be run on a suported version of the Windows XP operating system" error message. SO unless someone has a good idea, I'm hosed and facing a bare metal reinstall. [Edit] Postings on MS message boards confirm that the applet...
  28. N

    How to change Dell XP key?

    Has this actually worked for you, John? I'm in a situation where I installed a pirated version of Media Center Edition 2005 to try out, liked it and bought the OEM version (for system builders) from Newegg so I could be legit. My plan was to change the key on the install to my COA key and...
  29. N

    Need 5.25" bay USB recepticle for 3.5" HD

    Thanks for replies, but I'm sure I did see it, I remember it struck me that it was a great idea, because I have a bunch of 80GB bare drives sitting around, and you could just jam them in and out of the "enclosure" just like you do with a CF card and a front panel card reader. And yet, at this...
  30. N

    Need 5.25" bay USB recepticle for 3.5" HD

    So far my solution seems to be to get a USB to IDE adaptor and plug that into the IDE rackmount bay inserts that I have and just use my existing IDE rackmount HD trays. Still would like to find out where that thing I saw was. I've done a bunch of googling, but still haven't turned it up.
  31. N

    Need 5.25" bay USB recepticle for 3.5" HD

    Bump - someone must have run across this....
  32. N

    Windows XP won't install on new hard drive

    I would download the Seagate install utility, make your bootable floppy or CD and use that to install the drive. http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/drivers/discwiz.html
  33. N

    Why does Windows freeze briefly when a CD/DVD is inserted?

    It's the rootkit activating :>)
  34. N

    Need 5.25" bay USB recepticle for 3.5" HD

    I think I've seen these, but can't locate them.... A recepticle for 3.5" hard drives that fits into a 5.25" drive bay, and connects to a USB header on the mobo and takes power from the mobo's power harness. It has a slot in the front that you shove a bare 3.5" hard drive into, turning the HD...
  35. N

    [moved]

  36. N

    dual video from onboard video & agp card possible?

    Thanks, I assume they are sharing the video bus or something like that?
  37. N

    dual video from onboard video & agp card possible?

    Can I get video out from both the onboard video (my board is an ASUS P4V8X-MX) and an AGP card (EVGA 6600GT)? The onboard video seems to be disabled when I install the AGP card. Either one works separately. Thanks>