Zxian

Welcome to MSFN, and Happy New Year to you too!

So you're suggesting that we keep the masses in the dark, and never move on to the benefits of 64-bit computing? I recommend that all my friends use 64-bit Vista if their computers can support it and they can find the drivers for them. Software isn't really a big deal - I haven't found any common 32-bit software that won't run on Vista x64 yet, and 64-bit drivers are just like 32-bit drivers... everything is just categorized for the architechture these days. Education goes a long way with most people. If my father can understand the benefits of 64-bit computing, anyone can.

The price is purely a matter of supply and demand. The need for PCI video cards has dropped like a stone, so all the production is in the newer, better technologies. Therefore, the price drops and you get the better deal. Just because something is more expensive does not mean that it's better - especially in the computer market. Long story short - just go with the PCIe card - not the PCI.

Look on a site like skins.be for more of the same sort.

Simple rule of thumb - NEVER skimp on the power supply. Like crahak said, there's often no point in paying $150 and up for a PSU, but you don't want to pick from the bottom of the barrel either.

There is a difference in the bandwidth capabilities of PCIe 1.1 and 2.0, but most cards today still wouldn't max out a PCIe 1.1 x16 slot. The best way to check your card's capabilities is to get a benchmarking tool like 3DMark and compare the scores against systems with similar specifications.

Here you go.

Don't give stupid information. Someone is asking for help. Just because the answer is obvious for you doesn't mean you have to be condescending.

Like weEvil said, there's no relation between the processor and the graphics card. ATI's driver support is excellent (in some ways better than nVidia's) and the drivers themselves are rock solid.

Topic closed at Nerwin's request.

I would simply suggest taking the plunge and converting the disk. Run a complete chkdsk on the drive beforehand, and then convert it to NTFS. The only time I've seen the conversion process fail is when there were several corrupt sectors that hadn't been caught by chkdsk earlier. I don't want to open up this box of worms again, but Vista is already a considerable improvement on XP, which was a step up from 2000 (judging by your OS choice in your profile). The main problem to date has been that OEM's have been installing it on underpowered hardware. Ever seen the Mojave Experiment? @paraffin - There are several reasons to use NTFS over FAT32. Performance on larger drives has proven to be faster on NTFS partitions, and there are countless other benefits to the system. For one, NTFS is a journaling file system which leads to reduced fragmentation problems compared to FAT.

Your PSU is malfunctioning. Since it starts up its own internal fan, but doesn't provide power to the rest of the system, it's toast. My guess is that the heat from the system is preventing it from making a connection somewhere in the "on" circuit. This kind of thing can happen with old age and poor quality solder.

Really? I've installed PerfectDisk on several Vista x64 computers, and I've never had the problems you describe. This system here is currently running a normal SMARTPlacement defrag after having run a boot mode defrag 10 minutes ago. There might be a conflict with another driver on your system, but I wouldn't blame the software outright. All four of the x64 systems I've got it on work as expected.

Or something else on the motherboard. Somehow, the PSU isn't getting the signal to turn on from the motherboard. I wouldn't always rule out the PSU. Try this. Unplug every power cord from the PSU and turn the PSU off. Get a metal paperclip and bend it so you get two pins sticking together. Find the green wire on the main ATX connector and use the paper clip to short it to any of the black wires. Turn the PSU on - the fan should start spinning now. If it starts up and the voltages are ok (check with a multimeter) you should be ok.

I'lll third the vote to nuke-and-pave. Install a clean copy of Vista, and then only install the drivers you need and the apps you want.

It's not just about time. It's about preventing this from happening again and again. Also, formatting and reinstalling everything takes a fair amount of time as well. I'm guessing with all the software I use, it would take a good solid day to just get all the software back to the way things were (not to mention all the settings and preferences).

It seems like a good cooler. However, in one build I did a couple of weeks ago, something didnt' quite lineup. The tension in the LGA775 clips was far higher than it should have been, and the motherboard had quite a bend in it as a result. For any large-ish sized heatsink, I'd highly recommend using a bolt-through kit, like this one. It will work with just about any LGA775 heatsink after you rip off the pushpins.

Neither. The selection at TD is terrible. If you want a good CPU cooler, I'd say go with one of the following: ThermalRight Ultra-120 Extreme, ThermalRight HR-01, Noctua NH-U12P, Xigmatek HDT-S1283. The Xigmatek is the cheapest, but still does a great job. Look at the reviews over at SilentPCReview for some great analysis of the products.

Seconded. The logging features is the one thing that I care about, since it will tell you right away how, where, and when something went wrong. The best part about it, you don't even really have to try to see the error. There's a big red X! None of this parsing through endless text files in /var/log.... Also, if you want to talk about security, Apple made a pretty serious screwup with the iPhone. Every app on that phone is run as root. I'm just waiting for the day that we get a serious iPhone vulnerability and all the people with their new "toys" start not being able to make phone calls... Don't get me started on Linux... I use it on a daily basis, but given the choice I'd much rather run Windows any day.

Let's not forget... it took Apple a month and a half to fix the recent DNS vulnerability that was discovered in August (system independent). Most Linux repositories had fixed packages available within a week, and Patch Tuesday came shortly after the vulnerability was discovered. Mac and *nix exploits have been found before, and taken advantage of. We just don't hear about it since, as cluberti pointed out, they're such a small portion of the market that, frankly, nobody really cares.

Hope you have a good one!!! B)

Thanks cluberti. Downloaded and installed on all my machines.

As long as the fan is blowing backwards towards the fans, all is well.

The main problem with that KVM is the length of the cables. I'd have to get some extension cables to get my keyboard and mouse to reach the switch (my second monitor is connected with a 10ft DVI cable that just barely reaches the systems). The $100 price tag isn't all that pretty either. I was hoping for something closer to the $50-75 range...

I wasn't even thinking about DVI-A (which just seems like a silly idea IMO). Isn't it a contradiction in terms? Mind pointing out a basic DVI switch that doesn't have terrible reviews?