puntoMX

A P45 can do a 400MHz FSB (1600MHz Quad pumped) so those 12.5% over that speed would indeed be less of a problem. But a P965 is rated for a 266MHz FSB (1066) and he has it at 392 (1568); that´s 47.1% over the specs .

Women... ... I hate those plastic split-pens, this is why I use always coolers with a backplate, and now even a watercool kit that needed a simple mod to put enough pressure on the CPU. Plastics dry out too fast here in the middle of Mexico.

By the way, there seem to be less expensive cases too, I just went with the stock one. You could save up to 47USD or so there.

It has been a while that I OCed a non "k" Intel CPU as I'm out of the computer retail business for a year (cheap all in one, netbooks, tablets and phones killed my fun). When you go into the UEFI screen it should let you change the multiplier of the CPU to the speed of the turbo frequency. You might need to disable the turbo function to let it work (I know, no logic). No need to tweak other settings. If the previous doesn't work (it should as far as I know), use the OC Genie function in the BIOS and let it OC your system automatically. Sure there is no guaranteed success but if it works it's a nice plus to get those extra 7% on CPU power. btw, I didn't subscribe on this topic but I'll be around a bit more on MSFN .

I know, but the watercooling seems to be included in the package, but, you can drop the "k" i5 and go with a 3.2GHz one as well, running it at it's turbo frequency of 3.4GHz on all 4 cores with some BIOS/EUFI tweaking; this will drop the price 70USD. I just checked Newegg and they went up with their prices for the end of the year "sale". Seems that iBuyPower is even cheaper than Newegg; 3 year warranty and they build it for you for the same price (or a bit less) as components cost at Newegg.

Something like that but it's 911 USD. I'm sure if you build it yourself you sill be done for 150 USD less (Newegg?). And the power supply, they recommend a 600W but I can tell you that a good 450W will do the trick as well. I use a CS450M and it has a gen3 i5 k @4.7GHz (stock voltage), AMD 280X, 2x 2TB "green" drives, SSD, 16GB and watercooling (kit) and it has no problems at all.

Can you build a system yourself?

6 To 8GB of RAM, I don't think so. These days we are talking about 16GB RAM and a 3GB Video card like the 290X or a nVidia with the "same" speed. Intel i5 k should be fine for the next years for "openworld games" like Sky Rim (old game engine so Win 7 is okay for now, might go with Win 8/9 in the future for the latest games (if the video card supports it)). I might be too late to tell you this. If not, what is the budget and what is your favorite shop (online)? ps. MineCraft has mods for the graphics, they don't help?

" ... because I know I have it at the bleeding edge." There isn't much more that you can do with that setup, if at all. The problem is the FSB. The Pentium might go a little further due to the multiplier but you will have to settle with less cache; in other words, you won't win there. If you are looking for another mobo and a CPU in the future, check out the Pentium G3258, best single threat performance for the price as it's basically half an i5 k (both are unlocked). The G3258 can be OCed even on a cheap H61 mobo... I know, you said you are short on cash .

You can always try it, not much you can break. As far as I know, if it works on 2000 it will work on XP as well. Looks like blackwingcat has all but HDMI audio installed?

Yes, my bad, it's cleartype indeed. How do those horizontal and vertical lines look like?

Just some questions; Did you play with clearview and how does it look when there are just straight lines on the screen, vertical and horizontal. Make the lines 1 pixel wide and check if it's showing one pixel. Let us know .

Hi guys, Swapping out the HP PSU will do the trick most likely indeed. The PC has a normal ATX PSU that was produced between 2008 and 2009. It's totally normal for PCs bought in the box-pusher-store to only last for a few years so it most likely died of age. I would swap it for something in the 40USD range, like a Corsair CX430 80+ Bronze Cert. PSU (and 20USD mail in rebate if you can get it) with "free" shipping. This PSU will lower the noise level your PC is generating. It will vent your PC a lot better with the large fan (I think a 130mm one) reducing heat of the CPU as well. The best part is, your PC will use about 25-30% less energy, resulting in 25-30% less heat. Anything not 80+ cert. I would not even touch any more! This PSU most likely will outlive the rest of PC. Just make sure when you build it in to keep the fan pointing downwards for the correct airflow. Let me know how it goes . LOL!

Happy Birthday Trip! I know you don't do much with it, so am I! Thank you Den! I´ll have one.

I presume you did reset the BIOS? Are you on ACHI or IDE mode?

I would like to add number five to your list: Remove PCB and clean contacts that touch the motor connector (only if you know what you are doing!). But yes, first see if the harddrive spins up. You make it a list to follow-up, but it can be done randomly; I would start with number 4 if and when it's possible. Why?: I've seen southbridges go bad due to overloaded USB ports (older systems are simply NOT made for loading your modern smart-"phone". The Dell GX260 is so known for bad capacitors and southbridges going bad (or the electronics around that chip).

Is this a "socket" LGA1155 or 1150 build? If so and the reference "bus" (CPU base clock) speed is not 100MHz it could give you a lot of problems. turbo should not be a problem if and when the CPU supports it; it simply changes the CPU base clock multiplier when needed and not the CPU base clock itself.

I´ve seen this failure before and it was due to some malware altering the DNS. You could try to set the DNS manually and use for example OpenDNS´s servers at: 208.67.222.222208.67.220.220

a ) Are the latest drivers installed from intel? This might be a CPU or motherboard fault as well. b ) Did it work before without having the crashes? c ) What has been changed since then in hardware and OS?

Try the drive in another system, might be a motherboard or PSU failure. If it's seen by another system then backup your information. Backup your information next time at all times; computers (electronics) do not last forever. a ) If it's not seen (in the BIOS) by another system you might need professional data recovery that recover at hardware level. b ) If it's seen (in the BIOS) you might be able to access it and try software like DMDE if the data structure is messed up. I hope you get your data back.

Happy Birthday Tarun!

Nothing to do with "pixels charging". It must have been a bad contact (connector not placed totally inside it's socket) between connector and screen at the back of the LCD, that's all . When you put in the battery all is fine now?

+1 on Sketchup, slowly the "pro´s" like me are starting to look at it (sheet metal design). I know some people that use it to design furniture and hardwood stairs, and also the home-CNC builder uses it a lot.

You should start about all those unused shoes and clothes !

It should work but make sure XP is updated with the Universal Audio Architecture (UAA) High Definition Audio class driver. Now, forking out 60USD(+) for just a video card, why not make the step to a better system? Craiglist/ebay has tons of options for under 100USD that have HDMI out as well. That is my thought...