[Star Dunkels Macmillan]

If you're dead set on nVidia, the http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130568 is a good card right now. However, you get nearly identical performance from the http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102908 for a good bit less.

Both good cards, you could obviously get better but I think those are the best in terms of price/performance. If price really doesn't matter, then you may as well go for the http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130552. Just make sure your power supply is up to it.

How much better would the first two cards be compared to my current card? (see sig)

[Cartoon]

How much better would the first two cards be compared to my current card? (see sig)

It's a pretty big difference, those cards are fairly new (the 6850 was just released) and can handle anything out there right now very well.

[Kirsty Collins]

Is there really anything worth upgrading for my rig? *Points to sig* (Besides XP of course. Been meaning to get W7.)

[Tanika O'Connell]

Is there really anything worth upgrading for my rig? *Points to sig* (Besides XP of course. Been meaning to get W7.)

Dell UltraSharpTM U2711

[Shiarra Curtis]

If you're running at high resolutions it might be worth it to upgrade your graphics card, but even then it'd be a better idea to wait until the 69XX series is released. If only to see how the prices of all the current cards shake out. Nvidia is saying their current pricing on the 460 and 470 is permanent, but there are reports that say it's just a temporary sale. The 4870 is still a pretty good card.

[JESSE]

Dell UltraSharpTM U2711

Pffft. I have a Dell U2410 (basically a 24" version). Not cheap, but H-IPS panels are great.

[Chenae Butler]

Pffft. I have a Dell U2410 (basically a 24" version). Not cheap, but H-IPS panels are great.

Either buying the 27 or a 30" whenever my 24" kicks off

[Samantha Wood]

First thanks to everyone who helped me get the new graphics card. It works great and two monitors are far better than one . I have (yet) another question.

My Dad had an issue with his work computer, mainly that it kept complaining the disk was full, programs wouldn't work et al (The local settings directory vanished). I gave up on trying to help him fix it over the phone and told him to run DBAN on the disk and start again.

DBAN complained of bad sectors, so he rang up Dell (The computer is under warranty). Dell told him to reinstall Windows and go from there. I was under the impression bad sectors were probably due to a damaged disk (especially when something as low level as DBAN is failing to write to the disk). Is Dell telling him to do something stupid or not?

[Chloe Botham]

First thanks to everyone who helped me get the new graphics card. It works great and two monitors are far better than one . I have (yet) another question.

My Dad had an issue with his work computer, mainly that it kept complaining the disk was full, programs wouldn't work et al (The local settings directory vanished). I gave up on trying to help him fix it over the phone and told him to run DBAN on the disk and start again.

DBAN complained of bad sectors, so he rang up Dell (The computer is under warranty). Dell told him to reinstall Windows and go from there. I was under the impression bad sectors were probably due to a damaged disk (especially when something as low level as DBAN is failing to write to the disk). Is Dell telling him to do something stupid or not?

Depends on how many bad sectors are present and if the bad sectors were in the partitioned space to begin with. If Windows detected bad sectors and you reinstalled Windows afterwards, it may bypass the bad sectors and leave them in unallocated space. If you have a lot of bad sectors then this won't help and the drive needs to be replaced.

I would install a SMART Hard drive tool is see how many bad sectors have been detected. Download speedfan, link: http://www.almico.com/speedfan.php . Go to the SMART tab and select the hard drive in question. This tool will tell you how many bad sectors have been detected. Post the results here, as I would like to see them.

Most likely you will need a new hard drive.

[Raymond J. Ramirez]

im leaning more and more towards a 460 nvidia myself. the 480s are out of the question because apparently they are extremely noisy. im currently using a 285 nvidia and i get super good framerates on every game. even metro 2033 ran just fine with settings maxed. i dont need the 480s power cause there are no games that use it but i do want some of the dx11 eyecandy and nvidia has physx which alot of my games use.

[abi]

I'm looking to get a new processor for Black Friday or Christmas, but I'm not sure if I want to get a Core2Quad for my LGA775 socket, or get a brand new motherboard and get an i5 or i7.

1. If I get a new mobo, should I go for socket 1156 or 1366?

2. Will I need to reformat and reinstall Windows?

3. Will my OEM Windows 7 license work on a new motherboard, and can I transfer my license?

[Kill Bill]

I'm looking to get a new processor for Black Friday or Christmas, but I'm not sure if I want to get a Core2Quad for my LGA775 socket, or get a brand new motherboard and get an i5 or i7.

1. If I get a new mobo, should I go for socket 1156 or 1366?

2. Will I need to reformat and reinstall Windows?

3. Will my OEM Windows 7 license work on a new motherboard, and can I transfer my license?

Both sockets will be replacwd sometime next year...Still I went with the 1366. i7 950 and an EVGA board
Reformat and install to prevent any problems
No but you can call MS to see if you can

[Nathan Hunter]

Can someone please help me with my ATI drivers. I try to download the CCC from the AMD website but I always get an "Install package failure!"
My performance in games hasn't been great. Probably because the version is 8.780.0.0.
Thanks.

[Ashley Hill]

Can someone please help me with my ATI drivers. I try to download the CCC from the AMD website but I always get an "Install package failure!"
My performance in games hasn't been great. Probably because the version is 8.780.0.0.
Thanks.

I got that problem when I tried to install CCC 10.9 when it first came out. Using the Steam built in driver updater fixed it though. (In Steam go to the top left and to the Steam drop down menu>Check for driver updates)

[Angus Poole]

I got that problem when I tried to install CCC 10.9 when it first came out. Using the Steam built in driver updater fixed it though. (In Steam go to the top left and to the Steam drop down menu>Check for driver updates)

Yeah I tried that. Still get the same error.
Tried it again, guess my drivers are up to date.
Still would like to update the CCC.

[jenny goodwin]

Yeah I tried that. Still get the same error.
Tried it again, guess my drivers are up to date.
Still would like to update the CCC.

There is a few thing you can try:

1) Verify that .net Framework 2.0 is installed and patched. Download: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/en/details.aspx?FamilyID=0856eacb-4362-4b0d-8edd-aab15c5e04f5&displaylang=en or use Windows Update.

2) disable UAC and attempt to install the CCC package again

3) Use a driver cleaner utility and then attempt to install the package again.

***

BTW Catalyst 10.10 is 8.782.0.0 nevermind 8.780.0.0 (is Catalyst 10.10 on XP)

[Stephy Beck]

My drivers are up to date, it's just that the CCC isn't installed and I kinda want that.
Tried the 1st and 2nd option.
Which driver cleaner utility would you recommend?

[Misty lt]

Is it possible to replace a laptop's fan? I wanna get a more efficient fan because I think my problems are all heat-related.

[CHangohh BOyy]

Is it possible to replace a laptop's fan? I wanna get a more efficient fan because I think my problems are all heat-related.

Possible just need the dimensions of voltage of the fan. However, a cooling pad will give you similar benefits and is a lot easier to set up.

[sharon]

I'm looking for a new pair of headphones at around 100$ for listening to music...
http://www.skullcandy.com/shop/g-i-red-print.html is what I'm looking at, anyone have any recommendations for headphones<100$ that are red (or black)?

[Soraya Davy]

I'm looking for a new pair of headphones at around 100$ for listening to music...
http://www.skullcandy.com/shop/g-i-red-print.html is what I'm looking at, anyone have any recommendations for headphones<100$ that are red (or black)?

1) We do not recommend skullcandy here. Anyone recommending skullcandy will be shot immediately. Or just told that they're wrong.
2) Do want isolating headphones or non-isolating headphones?
3) Are you using an ipod? Spending a lot of money on headphones to listen to an ipod is like buying spinning rims to put on a Ford Pinto.

[Luis Longoria]

I'm looking for a new pair of headphones at around 100$ for listening to music...
http://www.skullcandy.com/shop/g-i-red-print.html is what I'm looking at, anyone have any recommendations for headphones<100$ that are red (or black)?

Do you want open, or closed? If you EVER plan to use them in public, you want closed. If you ever plan to use them somewhere loud, you want closed. If you only plan to use them at home, you want open.

Closed: ATH M50s (pretty much exactly $100)
Open: The best quality open headphones at that price would be the AudioTechnica AD700, but they don't fit your aesthetics requirements.

For more portable headphones, look at these:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0028N78DY/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new
Amazon used to have them for significantly cheaper, but I'm not really sure what happened. But if you look at the other sellers, one is selling the red version for $50, and they have a good rating.

[Dina Boudreau]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B0028N78DY/ref=dp_olp_new?ie=UTF8&condition=new

Alright thanks, those look perfect.

[Irmacuba]

I just installed another stick of RAM, filling my four slots, for a total of 4GB. When I run CPU-Z it recognises all of them and provides info for them as usual. They all match, which is good. But, when I right-click on My Computer -- Properties, the summary that's in there still shows 3GB.
Does that matter? Would my PC be using the 4GB or only recognising and using 3GB?
When we bought it a few years ago it only had 1GB and over time as I bought more RAM that summary did change and reflect the extra RAM.

Also, my page file size is 4606MB and won't let me set it higher. I can't remember what someone told me, once, in regards to what to set the page file size as, but as it won't go any higher I guess it doesn't really matter?

Thanks

[Sian Ennis]

I just installed another stick of RAM, filling my four slots, for a total of 4GB. When I run CPU-Z it recognises all of them and provides info for them as usual. They all match, which is good. But, when I right-click on My Computer -- Properties, the summary that's in there still shows 3GB.
Does that matter? Would my PC be using the 4GB or only recognising and using 3GB?
When we bought it a few years ago it only had 1GB and over time as I bought more RAM that summary did change and reflect the extra RAM.

Also, my page file size is 4606MB and won't let me set it higher. I can't remember what someone told me, once, in regards to what to set the page file size as, but as it won't go any higher I guess it doesn't really matter?

Thanks

Are you running a 32-bit OS, and have a videocard with at least 768MB of VRAM?