puntoMX

For multitasking I would go with an AMD AM2 CPU, I know others would say iNTEL but that’s only for 32 bit non multitasking apps, but those are my 2 cents. 512MB and multitasking? No way you will have enough with that, go directly to 1GB, 2 times 512Mb I’m talking about to use them in dual channel 128bit mode. Also buy 667 and not 800, that’s still to expensive. For the iNTEL CPU 533 will do fine with iNTEL chipsets, 677 for nVidia chipsets (my pick personaly). For games, and not above 70 bucks, then I would look at a 7600GS, there are fansless versions when you like silence. AOE III is asking more power then you think on higher resolutions and higher settings. Power supply, go with Antec, always safe. Don’t be fooled by "Vista ready" and "core 2 duo Extreme" terms, that’s just marketing .

Or buy another housing with Ethernet too, could be the same price or cheaper .

LOL, I missed a part I think . Thanx for pointing me .

Try to disable the IMAPI service too, it could help. other then that try to clean out the REG or reinstall XP.

Buy a PCMCIA firewire card and connect it to a external housing with firewire indeed. Don’t worry about the 134GB mark, never had one that didn’t work over 134GB .

1- Replace your battery. 2- Set your BIOS again. 3- if that doesn´t work come back with us .

X-Bit just finished a review on 500GB drives, read all about it here. It’s not a surprise that WD with both drives came out best and Seagate finished second .

If you modify Win98se it could work (not going to explain it here, sorry). The limited factor is direct X and full 32 bit support of code. It will not work on a GF4 MX, you need a GF4 4200 and up for it, I think it will even run on a GF3Ti but I’m not sure about that. Also you need more then 512Mb of RAM to run it smooth . @ kartel, Looks more a Windows problem then a F.E.A.R. problem to me. Reinstalling XP/2000/2003 could help but it’s better to ask this question in the software section.

Zxian was talking about the P180, and I was talking about the door from the P180 .

Yeah I know .

You are saying it right, on low airflow it can’t keep up with the 9500 but I wonder how many people will use there fans on 7v with an iNTEL. If it was an AMD it should work fine on 7v but it’s not. I was talking about 12v on the fan(s). I like the Antec case too, recommended it to a few people before, but the door is a bit flimsy. Personally I like more cases that can take up some beating and abuse like the CoolerMaster and the Lian-Li .

Why that , Antec is nice but they are outdated, there power supplies rule still. Why buy another cooler when the stock cooler is good? The new ones are not that noisy. The cooler from AC works better then the stock cooler at a lower dB/A and can compete to the Zalman .

Doesn’t have the same look and feel; Materials are different and way cheaper build then the "real" Lian Li cases. Get some new ones John, that make only 18dB/A (together that will be 21dB/A ). It could be the air in / out- takes that are not well designed. What case do you have any way?

2 12cm fans are nice but the case isn’t the real LIAN LI quality that you would expect trough .

Some thing like: COOLER MASTER Praetorian 730 RC-730-KSN1 Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail at NewEgg LIAN LI PC-61 USB Black Aluminum ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail at NewEgg Those are great cases, I personally like the Coolermaster more because of it’s design.

I would reconsider that case; you don’t want your power supply on top of your cooler, looks more like a PII case to me from the old times . That mouse... I don’t know, its A4 tech and to tell you the truth they are cheap *ss to me. Nothing you like from Logitech?

The card isn´t that old so I would say go for the cooler , 30 US$ isn´t that much and the AC coolers are great .

Question: - Did you check all your capasitors on your card? - How old is your card and how much (hours a day) is it used? - How much is 1 AUS$ compared to 1 US$? (At your local area) (Stange question but it diferents a lot from place to place )

I would keep the stock cooling, you will not get much gain with a non stock cooler. It would have been better if you spend the money for an extra cooler on a higher model , but I know it’s too late for that now. How high is your voltage any way? What case do you use?

Smartgard is only ATI, the rest is the same, not that you will get much performance from it. Just OC the RAM on it, the core won’t give you much more. No you can’t, it’s a totally different chip. (Or it was a joke?)

To add to that: If it shows all 100% okay then your onboard sound port is dead. Sometimes there is an option to replace the connector.

Yeah, the new motherboards have temperature controlled ones.

It’s not about running 100%, it’s a bad worn out bearing here . After some time the fan gets hotter and the material expands. This is why you have 30 seconds of humming sound and then stops. Those +/-7000rpm 40mm fans s*ck.

You could replace those complete chipset coolers with some better; - Zalman ZM-NBF47 - Zalman ZM-NB47J Replacing your CPU fan after 4 years is also no luxury .

Those Thermaltake Soprano cases are really toys, flimsy cheap looking build. i would make an other choice if I was you. Did you look at the Coolermaster cases? Spending 1700+ bucks on a system and having a cheap *ss build case, that’s some thing I would not do .