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    Need feedback on an "urgent" build for a friend

    Thank you blackmage, Mfenn. This helps a lot. I will go take a look at the parts you mention.
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    Need feedback on an "urgent" build for a friend

    A friend of mine is leaving the country in a few days to live abroad for a while, on very short notice. He just asked me yesterday to help him buy parts for a build he will do when he gets to his new home. Here are the requirements/constraints: - He is not really a gamer. He would only do...
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    Help a confused newbie

    Thank you Bankster!
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    Help a confused newbie

    I not-so-recently did my first overclocked build using an Intel Conroe, so I am not a "complete" newbie, but I am completely unfamiliar with Intel's Sandy Bridge. Also, I am not a gamer and GPUs have always been my "weak point". I am trying to help a friend build HIS first rig. He is not...
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    Best anti-virus program for W7 x64?

    I use Avira's free Personal edition on Win7 x64 with no problems (They claim that their free version works under x64 systems). The only problem with Avira is the nag screen after every update, but if this bothers you I recall reading somewhere that there is a way to turn off that nag screen and...
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    Win7 Desktop hangs every 3 sec

    This may make no sense at all, but I know that Win 7 loads some services in delayed mode. You mention the problem seems to go away after a few minutes. Perhaps a service is set to load in delayed mode (when it would need to load at startup)? Once the service loads, the problem disappears. I...
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    How to cause a harddrive to run at it's rated Ultra DMA

    I am just grasping at straws here, but, here are my $0.02, in case none of the other suggestions work. I would try those first, though, they probably make more sense than mine :-) If one drive works in UDMA5, both are identical drives, and both are connected to the same cable, I would guess...
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    can't find malware infecting my pc

    I would agree with booting into safe mode and running hijack this along with antimalware/antivirus software. Perhaps you can also try this: http://portableapps.com/ I have not tried it myself, but they have a portable antivirus you can install on a USB drive from another computer, and...
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    Win 7 64 bit saying only 3.25 GB Usable?

    Wait: OP says that Windows does see all of the 4 GB. His system properties screen says 4GB installed. It if it was a memory remap issue, wouldn't Windows report less than 4 GB installed, regardless of how much of it was "usable"?
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    Intel G2 SSD running in PIO mode - SOLVED

    I believe you are right. There is no way the drive was really operating in PIO mode, or even in UDMA 2, for that matter. The transfer rates I was getting are impossible in those modes. So, I think the drive was operating correctly in UDMA 6, but being reported incorrectly by the Windows device...
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    Intel G2 SSD running in PIO mode - SOLVED

    http://alex-is.de/PHP/fusion/downloads.php?cat_id=4
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    Anyone here running a SSD just for OS?

    taltamir: I am still playing around trying to figure out what to place where. I have an Intel 80GB G2. I have all my OS and Apps on the SSD and my data on the spindle drive, but some things are not so obvious. Do you keep your pagefile on the SSD? Also, many programs keep data files on each...
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    xp to 7 upgrade question

    Completely agree. If you have a valid XP license, there are several ways to do a legal, clean install using upgrade media (I believe some are even supported by MS). Just follow the link Sumotku gave you.
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    Intel G2 SSD running in PIO mode - SOLVED

    deanxOr: what should the mode be listed as if the driver was correct? In device manager, under IDE ATA/ATAPI devices I see the 6 ATA channels plus the "Standard AHCI 1.0 Serial ATA controller". Each ATA channel shows 2 driver files: atapi.sys and ataport.sys. In addition, the AHCI controller...
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    SSD partition alignment under windows 7

    Thanks to both! My Offset is 1,048,576, so I guess I'm ok. I'm glad I won't have to reinstall everything!
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    SSD partition alignment under windows 7

    I'm confused (well, that is actually not very rare :biggrin:). I recently got an Intel 80Gb G2 SSD and performed a fresh Windows 7 x64 install on it. Instead of letting the installer partition the drive, however, I first created the partition manually (from within windows 7 RC, which was...
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    Intel G2 SSD running in PIO mode - SOLVED

    qazwsxokmijn: PIO and UDMA are different transfer modes: how the drive communicates with the rest of the system. In essence, they determine how fast data can travel to and from the drive. PIO modes are very old modes with limited transfer rates. UDMA modes are newer, with higher transfer rates...
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    Intel G2 SSD running in PIO mode - SOLVED

    Ok, I solved it -- not sure why this would have worked, though. I simply changed the port that my drives are connected to on the MoBo. Using Asus numbering (1 to 6), the SSD went from Port 1 to Port 5, spindle HDD from port 2 to Port 6, and Optical drive from Port 3 to port 4. SSD now shows UDMA...
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    Intel G2 SSD running in PIO mode - SOLVED

    More info: I used AS SSD to check transfer rates, and my transfer rates seem in line with what others are reporting here: 250 MB/s Seq reads, 85 MB/s seq writes, 21 MB/s 4K random reads, 44 MB/s 4k random writes. IIRC PIO mode 4 is limited to transfer rates of around 16 MB/s. So clearly...
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    Intel G2 SSD running in PIO mode - SOLVED

    I just noticed that my new Intel 80GB G2 SSD is running in PIO mode 4, and I cannot enable DMA mode. I go into device manager, click the "Enable DMA mode" checkbox, click "Ok", and receive no errors. But when I check again, PIO mode is still there and the DMA checkbox is unchecked. My other 2...
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    Intel X25-M G2 - Noob Questions

    To add to what Voo already said: I did my firmware upgrade before installing Windows 7 x64 with no problems. In my case the upgrade tool asked me to put the SSD drive in IDE mode. I did, completed the upgrade, and switched back to AHCI mode before installing Windows.
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    Setting up X25-M G2 with SATA storage drive

    I'm also brand new to the whole SSD thing and I have some doubts myself, but I can answer some of your questions: 2.- I have an ASUS P5B with a JMicron controller alongside the ICH8R southbridge -- a setup very similar to your board. I also have an optical drive, a spindle HDD and an SSD, all...
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    Why does my Intel based SSD have such slow random read/write performance?

    I also have the P5B deluxe, and I am also in AHCI enhanced on the ICH8R (my JMicron controller is disabled in the BIOS). When I run AS SSD it shows "msahci" as the mode. I assume "msahci" refers to Microsoft AHCI drivers, which I am using (I did not install Intel's Matrix Storage Manager drivers...
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    Why does my Intel based SSD have such slow random read/write performance?

    From your screen shots, it seems as if both of your drives are in IDE mode, instead of AHCI. I believe that to get the most performance out of these drives you should be in AHCI mode.
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    What to put on SSD, and what to keep on spindle drive?

    Thanks to everyone for the feedback. For now I ended up putting all data files on the spindle (including Outlook PST, Page file, and all user profile directories). I'll use it like this for a while, and then move the PST and other frequently used data files on the SDD to see how much of a...
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    What to put on SSD, and what to keep on spindle drive?

    I just finished reading several posts on the subject, and I confess I am more confused than I was before reading anything. When I started I had a clear image in my head: OS and Apps on the SSD, all data on the spindle drive. And then I made the mistake of trying to do research (gasp!) on the...
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    That was a strange...

    I agree with this. I recently attended a presentation by the police Lieutenant who oversees patrols in the area where I live. My neighborhood is considered quite safe, but recently we have seen a surge in minor crimes (car theft, vandalism..). His advice was to call the police if we see *any*...
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    New firmware for X25-M G2 with TRIM support. When?

    Thanks toattett, I guess the safe thing to do is to wait for drivers *and* firmware to be released before I install. Hopefully it won't take long...
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    New firmware for X25-M G2 with TRIM support. When?

    Sorry for the noobish question, but here it goes: I am ready to install Win 7 on a new X25-M G2 (the 64 bit version of Win 7, in case it makes any difference). I understand that to support TRIM under Win 7 we need to wait for the updated Intel Matrix Storage drivers, which were supposed to be...
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    Urgent help needed with an elementary school Mac

    Pcgeek I know. I hope she learned to do regular backups from this. I've tried to drive the point home by repeatedly asking, in different ways, whether she really didn't have a backup. I've also set expectations low, suggesting the data might be lost for good. If it was just personal data...
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    Urgent help needed with an elementary school Mac

    I am not an IT professional, but I am knowledgeable enough to volunteer at our local public school to help them as needed (I developed and run their website, and provide "as-needed" support with the occasional computer glitch). This is a very small school with an extremely limited budget, and...
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    Anyone have info on TRIM support in Intel's Matrix Storage Manager?

    Thanks BaboonGuy! I guess there is no "downside" of installing it now, since I will still start benefiting from TRIM once Intel releases the updated driver, and my SS will definitely not be anywhere near capacity. I suppose that even WITH the performance degradation, it still much better than a...
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    Anyone have info on TRIM support in Intel's Matrix Storage Manager?

    I am planning to get an Intel G2 SSD soon to go along with my Win 7 install, but I am disappointed by the lack of support for the TRIM command in Intel's Matrix Storage Manager. Here is my problem: I have my controller set to SATA AHCI mode. If I use a generic Win 7 driver my SATA DVD RW...
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    What to do with my old internal hard drive

    What about using your WD as a Data drive? I remember reading somewhere (unfortunately I can't remember where) that it makes sense to set up the SSD as a boot/application drive, and make a regular spindle drive your data drive. Can anyone more knowledgeable than me confirm whether is this true?
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    How much memory is enough for Win 7 x64?

    Thanks to everyone for the great input. I think I'll stick with 64 bits fo now, adding some more RAM, assuming I don't run into any major problems with drivers or software.
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    How much memory is enough for Win 7 x64?

    I had been trying Win 7 RC 32 bits in my system (see signature for details) with 2 GB of RAM. It felt very responsive. I recently decided to try out Win 7 RC x64. I read here that it performs even better than the 32 bit version, but my experience has been different. It isn't slow by any...
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    Confused about AV for a 64 bit OS

    I have seen some convincing arguments on this forum for switching to a 64 bit OS (arguments that include enhanced security). So, I just uninstalled Win 7 RC 32 bit, and installed Win 7 RC 64 bit. I double boot Win 7 with Win XP 32 bit. In XP I have been using MechBgon's multilayered defense...
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    Will it ever be possible for Windows 7 32 bit to recognize more than 3GB ram?

    Nothinman, Thanks for the info. I've taken the plunge -- I removed Win 7 RC 32 bit, and just finished installing the 64 bit version. I will now start installing all the software I need and see how it goes. Up until i saw this thread I hadn't even considered a 64 bit OS. Thanks again!
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    Will it ever be possible for Windows 7 32 bit to recognize more than 3GB ram?

    Nothinman Thanks for the (very prompt!) reply. I checked on the HP website and they have a 64 bit version of the driver for Vista, and it is already included in Windows Vista itself. No mention of Win 7, but I would assume that if the driver was made for Vista, it should also be included in...
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    Will it ever be possible for Windows 7 32 bit to recognize more than 3GB ram?

    In the discussion above I have seen a few comments about the fact that nobody should install the 32 bit version of Windows 7. I confess I am very uninformed when it comes to 64 bit OSs (well, I guess that compared to most people here, I am uninformed in pretty much everything! LOL :o). I am...