[Rachel Hall]

You can transfer an OEM copy, you just have to call MS and give them the number Windows will give you on authentication. The automated service will issue a new block of 9 sets of numbers you put in. Once it validates once with the new build you'll never have to do it again for that rig.

Oh lovely.

Speaking of which, I asked a few question on another forum (Minecraft Forum) and one there said it would be a bad idea to use the Radeon 6950 on my motherboard since it would be a 30% (Yes, he said thirty percent) performance cut on the card without PCIe 2.0

Sandybridge is the name for Intel's second generation of 32nm processors that came out early this month. i5 2500k and i7 2600k among others.

Ah okay. Though I didn't understand most of it I got the general meaning

[Spooky Angel]

You can transfer an OEM copy, you just have to call MS and give them the number Windows will give you on authentication. The automated service will issue a new block of 9 sets of numbers you put in. Once it validates once with the new build you'll never have to do it again for that rig.

Speaking of which... I haven't had to call or anything for my OEM license. The only intact parts from when I built this PC is the case, HDD, and DVD-ROM drive, but it activates just fine over the internet.

[cutiecute]

So speccy is reporting my RAM at 498MHz, CPU-Z at 665.2MHz. I'd assume it was synchronizing with the FSB, and thus not running at 1333MHz, but my CPU has no FSB. Synchronizing with the DMI? Can it be overclocked? Should it have to be? I'd just like my RAM to be running at 1333MHz. Although either speccy of CPU-Z is obviously reporting it wrong, so maybe they both are.

DDR stands for double data rate, the speed shown by Speccy or CPU-Z is only half of what it is acually running at. 665 x 2 ~ 1333MHz, your RAM is fine.

[roxanna matoorah]

I accidentally uninstalled a useful firefox plugin today along with the one I actually wanted to get rid off. Now I want the useful one back but I do not remember its name, so I can't find it anymore. I did not make any backups of Firefox but is there a way to get it back without trying to find it again on the internet?

[Alan Cutler]

Oh lovely.

Speaking of which, I asked a few question on another forum (Minecraft Forum) and one there said it would be a bad idea to use the Radeon 6950 on my motherboard since it would be a 30% (Yes, he said thirty percent) performance cut on the card without PCIe 2.0



Ah okay. Though I didn't understand most of it I got the general meaning

I used my 5870 on a PCI-E 1.0 board and it was fine. 30% on a single card is way excessive. PCI-E 2.0 may play a roll in Crossfire/SLI but 1.0 is fine for the 6950.

Speaking of which... I haven't had to call or anything for my OEM license. The only intact parts from when I built this PC is the case, HDD, and DVD-ROM drive, but it activates just fine over the internet.

I swapped mobo/CPU/RAM with W7 and it was fine as well. I was quite surprised. Seems to be be the norm for W7/Vista(?). XP however.....

[Undisclosed Desires]

Mobo is a good basic board. Any one of these speakers sets will do:

http://www.amazon.com/Genius-SW-V2-1-4-piece-speaker-quality/dp/B0010EI3J0/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1295866180&sr=1-1
http://www.amazon.com/Cyber-Acoustics-Subwoofer-Satellite-CA-3602/dp/B0027VT6V4/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1295865605&sr=8-4
http://www.amazon.com/Logitech-Speaker-System-Z323-Subwoofer/dp/B002FU5QM0/ref=sr_1_1?s=electronics&ie=UTF8&qid=1295866115&sr=1-1

Any of those essentially better than the other? Or are they pretty equal? From the reviews, they definitely seem to favor the Cyber Acoustics. Wolud you agree? Changed my mind and I might buy tonight or tomorrow.

EDIT: Newegg reviews lean toward the Genius. >.<

[Sarah Unwin]

I used my 5870 on a PCI-E 1.0 board and it was fine. 30% on a single card is way excessive. PCI-E 2.0 may play a roll in Crossfire/SLI but 1.0 is fine for the 6950.

Great. All I wanted to know. Thank you people

[Daniel Brown]

My girlfriend is looking for a 14" screen on a laptop and I was searching various places including ebay and found http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=220716826762&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT.

She wants one that is new not re-certified/refurbished. Is the aforementioned laptop a good deal? Is there a better one somewhere that somebody could find?

Thanks in advance to anyone who can help me.

If you haven't gotten that notebook yet, consider this one:
http://www.amazon.com/Gateway-ID49C11u-14-Inch-Laptop/dp/B003Y3BFHW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296022400&sr=8-1

Processor is nice on that one and the graphics will be fine if basic use is the intention here.

Any of those essentially better than the other? Or are they pretty equal? From the reviews, they definitely seem to favor the Cyber Acoustics. Wolud you agree? Changed my mind and I might buy tonight or tomorrow.

EDIT: Newegg reviews lean toward the Genius. >.<

Either is fine. I'd flip a coin between the Genius and Cyber Acoustics.

[Samantha Mitchell]

That's not too bad considering size. Getting smaller in screen size with a decent processor can get costly and the price is reasonable on that if it's new.




Either is fine. I'd flip a coin between the Genius and Cyber Acoustics.

Well, went to Target since I was going that direction and they had the Cyber Acoustics. Looks much better than the other 30-80USD range they had in stock. Thank you. ^.^

EDIT: Actually, I think I have heard something about sound tuning/improvement software from somewhere. Can't remember the source or software name (Hear?), but was wondering if anyone knows of any for Windows and maybe Linux.

EDIT2: Where should I place the sub? I currently have it to the outside, left edge of my desk. Good placement or no?

[Louise]

Looking for a good 1TB external HDD, preferably pretty small in size. What brands should I look for, the usual Western Digital or Seagate?

Little more information, this is entirely for pictures and video, maybe a few miscellaneous documents. Is 5200rpm quick enough if say I was to put a couple hundred photos on another computer sometime, and will it suffer using USB when say uploading to facebook or photobucket? This is solely going to be used for the girlfriend's 6 billion photos.

One more thing, would I be better getting an internal drive, setting up a network to her computer, and just leaving it be there?

[NAkeshIa BENNETT]

For RAM, how much of a difference is there between cas latency 6 and 9? What exactly is cat latency, and is the difference worth the extra money?

[NIloufar Emporio]

Looking for a good 1TB external HDD, preferably pretty small in size. What brands should I look for, the usual Western Digital or Seagate?

Little more information, this is entirely for pictures and video, maybe a few miscellaneous documents. Is 5200rpm quick enough if say I was to put a couple hundred photos on another computer sometime, and will it suffer using USB when say uploading to facebook or photobucket? This is solely going to be used for the girlfriend's 6 billion photos.

One more thing, would I be better getting an internal drive, setting up a network to her computer, and just leaving it be there?

Can't really go wrong with Seagate's FreeAgents and WD Elements drives. This is a great deal:
http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Elements-External-WDBAAU0010HBK-NESN/dp/B002QEBMB4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1296032441&sr=8-1

Free ship, no tax to most.

For RAM, how much of a difference is there between cas latency 6 and 9? What exactly is cat latency, and is the difference worth the extra money?

I know it's wikipedia, but info is pretty accurate:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAS_latency

Assuming we're talking within the same MHz speed, the lower cas will perform a bit quicker. However, it's not that noticeable in day-to-day usage...perhaps if you're benchmarking maybe. It also depends on what system this is going into....it seems current AMD architecture likes tighter timings over speed, while it doesn't seem to matter on Intel's front. I've noticed that with Intel's Sandybridge so I vouched for the G Skill DDR3 1600 CAS9 and couldn't be happier.


Whether the price difference is worth it really depends. The difference can be about $20 between CAS7 and CAS9 G Skill DDR3 1600:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=ENE&N=%20600006066&IsNodeId=1&Description=g%20skill%20ddr3%201600&bop=And&ShowDeactivatedMark=False&Order=PRICE&PageSize=20

...that's not too bad. Then again, that money could get you a DVD drive.

[Kevan Olson]

I'm thinking of rebuilding an old desktop for gaming, but I have a few questions before I go buying parts.

First off, it's pretty old- about 5 or 6 years old at least. I've read that newer parts don't fit older motherboards, is this correct?

In terms of graphics cards, what should I look for? Is there any point in having a brand preference? I've only ever had nvidia, so I have no knowledge of other brands. I would like a graphics card that will ourperform my current laptop's nvidia GeForce GT 320m. I would like the desktop to be fairly powerful, so I accept that I will have to shell out, but I want to shell out in the least expensive way :lol

Lastly, how much RAM will I realistically need?

I'd like a fairly decent gaming rig that can run your average game on full graphics settings- games like New Vegas and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. I've never build a computer before in my life, but I'm fairly keen to learn and as much help as possible would be appreciated I know the net os my friend, but I'm on a dial-up connection and Googling stuff is like having all my teeth pulled with no pain relief.

[Svenja Hedrich]

I'm thinking of rebuilding an old desktop for gaming, but I have a few questions before I go buying parts.

First off, it's pretty old- about 5 or 6 years old at least. I've read that newer parts don't fit older motherboards, is this correct?

In terms of graphics cards, what should I look for? Is there any point in having a brand preference? I've only ever had nvidia, so I have no knowledge of other brands. I would like a graphics card that will ourperform my current laptop's nvidia GeForce GT 320m. I would like the desktop to be fairly powerful, so I accept that I will have to shell out, but I want to shell out in the least expensive way :lol

Lastly, how much RAM will I realistically need?

I'd like a fairly decent gaming rig that can run your average game on full graphics settings- games like New Vegas and S.T.A.L.K.E.R. I've never build a computer before in my life, but I'm fairly keen to learn and as much help as possible would be appreciated I know the net os my friend, but I'm on a dial-up connection and Googling stuff is like having all my teeth pulled with no pain relief.

Gotta let us know the parts you have in order for any of us to determine whether it'll still fit into anything today.

In terms of graphics card brand, for strictly gaming there is not too much reason to lean one way rather than the other. Both fronts have excellent options. However, Nvidia does have PhysX and CUDA support for the applications and games that uses them. Again, really not that many at this point. But AMD have well-priced video cards in just about every other sector of the market. The GeForce GT 320m, a mobile graphic chip, can be beat by many desktop video cards these days for rather cheap. Hot cards right now from....

AMD: Radeon 6850, 6870, 6950, 6970.
Nvidia: GeForce GTS 450, GTX 460, GTX 560 Ti, GTX 570



4GB of RAM is enough.

If you want suggestions for a system, we certainly can help you with that provided you give us some info:

1.) your budget in your country's currency
2.) what country you reside if not listed in your avatar area....New Zealand...ouch, it'll be expensive there.
3.) pre-assembled PC? ...or can you build your own?...should build one yourself
4.) what is needed other than the PC tower? Monitor, speakers, mouse, keyboard, Windows OS disc? All these can jack up the price.


I can help you later on tonight should nobody answer you, but gotta work right now

[Oscar Vazquez]

I have a quick question about upgrading a laptop....how?

I have a Dell Inspiron 1750, 17". How do I access things like the hardrive, RAM, processor, ect? It's a laptop, so I can't just take the side-panel off and see what's there.

[Greg Swan]

I accidentally uninstalled a useful firefox plugin today along with the one I actually wanted to get rid off. Now I want the useful one back but I do not remember its name, so I can't find it anymore. I did not make any backups of Firefox but is there a way to get it back without trying to find it again on the internet?

Why don't you just explain what the plugin was doing?

I have a quick question about upgrading a laptop....how?

You usually can't, unless it's just adding more RAM.

[Nicole Coucopoulos]

hey i am thinking of buying a computer for an amazing price, from a friend of mine who works in computers.

he says he has tons of spare pieces of equipment he has no use for, and will sell them to me, as he is in need of money.

if necessary i will buy a new graphics card, but the one that he is giving me is OK (not great) but the computer he is giving me has 5 gigs of ram, will that make up for a so-so graphics card.

[Setal Vara]

if necessary i will buy a new graphics card, but the one that he is giving me is OK (not great) but the computer he is giving me has 5 gigs of ram, will that make up for a so-so graphics card.

No. Amount of RAM means nothing, unless the programs you are running use more RAM than you have.

I'd post what these "spare pieces" are, because it sounds like they're just outdated junk he has lying around.

[Milad Hajipour]

No. Amount of RAM means nothing, unless the programs you are running use more RAM than you have.

I'd post what these "spare pieces" are, because it sounds like they're just outdated junk he has lying around.

im going to go check it out this friday, but i untill then, i dont plan on actually buying.

i will post the exact name of the parts once i find out exactly what they are.

[Beat freak]

i need advice on my build, im upgrading and im reathr unsure still about some things.

1: my case. its such a mind-blowing decission but idk, im torn between style and room and airflow and features. i want 3.5" internal bays, i wasnt sata III, i wand usb 3.0, but i need a lot of room (full tower), and i need good airflow (not planning on water cooling....for a while), and that means lots of nice, not too lound, and good lookign fans. so im torn between http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129063, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112261, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225. just too mind-boggling!

internal disc hdd, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148610, for music/media/whathaveyou.

sound card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102024

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139014, amazing price btw.


thermal paste since im air cooling i need to make my cpu ice coooold: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100008

now the mobo...im not too sure. very torn still. i was looking at this model in particular because im SLI'ing and the PICe rate is amazing (x16 x16 for sli) not sure if there's SATA III suport yet??!: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128465

cpu...im torn still. but hardly a real decission, sandybridge is so good. still want to go hexa-core soon, but not yet...besides these things OC on air like no other: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070

heatsink, again air cooling, found this one to be VERY good at removing heat/absorbing heat: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835242001

SSD for gaming, amazing load times wooh. this will be the primary drive with windows 7 on it: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148362


now im wanting to go SLI with 2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130590

still deciding on RAM....any opinions? might be a few more months till i ca upgrade up tax return season is here so that'll help...;p

[KRistina Karlsson]

i need advice on my build, im upgrading and im reathr unsure still about some things.

1: my case. its such a mind-blowing decission but idk, im torn between style and room and airflow and features. i want 3.5" internal bays, i wasnt sata III, i wand usb 3.0, but i need a lot of room (full tower), and i need good airflow (not planning on water cooling....for a while), and that means lots of nice, not too lound, and good lookign fans. so im torn between http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811129063, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811112261, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811119225. just too mind-boggling!

internal disc hdd, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148610, for music/media/whathaveyou.

sound card: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16829102024

PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139014, amazing price btw.


thermal paste since im air cooling i need to make my cpu ice coooold: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100008

now the mobo...im not too sure. very torn still. i was looking at this model in particular because im SLI'ing and the PICe rate is amazing (x16 x16 for sli) not sure if there's SATA III suport yet??!: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128465

cpu...im torn still. but hardly a real decission, sandybridge is so good. still want to go hexa-core soon, but not yet...besides these things OC on air like no other: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115070

heatsink, again air cooling, found this one to be VERY good at removing heat/absorbing heat: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835242001

SSD for gaming, amazing load times wooh. this will be the primary drive with windows 7 on it: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148362


now im wanting to go SLI with 2 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130590

still deciding on RAM....any opinions? might be a few more months till i ca upgrade up tax return season is here so that'll help...;p

I see no reason to go SLI with a 580 GTX, in fact I'd go a couple notches lower to save some money.

[Solina971]

its expensive, ya. but its so enticing. will be able to murder most any games.

[Katey Meyer]

its expensive, ya. but its so enticing. will be able to murder most any games.

I guess if running everything on ultra high is important to you, get a super high-end card. I still don't see the 10% gain or so of SLI as worth dropping the extra $500, especially when one of the cards is overkill for all current games anyway. Dropping from SLI would also mean you wouldn't have to buy a 1200 W PSU.

[Tracey Duncan]

actually, with the mobo iwant to get, the vref and PICe lane width for SLI, it'smore like a 45-50% incnrease...thats why u dont see it as a 'waste of money'. also, 1200 W PSU is overkill eiterway, but its good headroom.

[W E I R D]

Gotta let us know the parts you have in order for any of us to determine whether it'll still fit into anything today.

...

1.) your budget in your country's currency
2.) what country you reside if not listed in your avatar area....New Zealand...ouch, it'll be expensive there.
3.) pre-assembled PC? ...or can you build your own?...should build one yourself
4.) what is needed other than the PC tower? Monitor, speakers, mouse, keyboard, Windows OS disc? All these can jack up the price.


I can help you later on tonight should nobody answer you, but gotta work right now

Awesome, thank you for your reply I'll look into the AMD card.
Now, the thing is, I wouldn't have a cluuue what parts I have I just kinda decided last night when I dug the old PC out that I was going to upgrade it. I have no experience, but I figured I could learn, right? All I can see is that my motherboard says "Foxconn" on it, but I can't say much more than that, other than it's about 6 years old if it would help, I can take some photos?

1. Basically, I just want to get it built to a decent standard. Not hardcoe-ultimate-top-of-the-range specs, but decent. I have no real budget of yet, as I'm moving in a month, going on financial aid (as a student) and maybe getting a job, so I will basically be buying bits when I've got the money to, with no real budget cap.
2. Yeah
3. Planning on building it myself. I've got one that was once upon a time running, had some bits nabbed out of it, and is no longer running. I pretty much want to put all-new bits in it.
4. Basically nothing. I've got a few places I can get free/cheap monitors from, I have keyboards coming out my ears, good speakers and a broken mouse but it does the job. OS disk will be needed, propably, which I'm not looking forward to. Got the tower, just need to buy things to put in to make it play nice.