[JUan Martinez]

okay then also can you reccomend something to check the temp inside my pc externally?

I use Core Temp to monitor my cpus- currently 3 air cooled and 1 water cooled, all OC'd.
http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/
EVGA Precision or MSI Afterburner will monitor GPU temps. I think Speed Fan will monitor all sensors on the motherboard.

[Ebony Lawson]

I use Core Temp to monitor my cpus- currently 3 air cooled and 1 water cooled, all OC'd.
http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/
EVGA Precision or MSI Afterburner will monitor GPU temps. I think Speed Fan will monitor all sensors on the motherboard.

sick thanks

[Tasha Clifford]

I use Core Temp to monitor my cpus- currently 3 air cooled and 1 water cooled, all OC'd.
http://www.alcpu.com/CoreTemp/
EVGA Precision or MSI Afterburner will monitor GPU temps. I think Speed Fan will monitor all sensors on the motherboard.

Thanks. I reinstalled Windows and couldn't remember where to find this. Downloading.

[James Shaw]

Cleaned up some unnecessary posts....we try our best to help here, but we cannot always be around to do so. Please understand that and things do get lost in the waves of posts sometimes.

hey can anyone tell me if this is a good deal for 900 dollars?

i5 2500k CPU
8GB Corsair Vengeance DDR3 1600 RAM
500 TB HDD
GTX 550 TI EVGA, 2GB version
700 Watt Power Supply
Windows 7 Home Premium
DvD burner
Mobo is to be determined

with this case http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811133094

You're probably paying an unworthy premium for that 2GB 550Ti. A 1GB 560 Ti would be a much better investment as the performance is much better. It's not just about VRAM amount.

Should be more specific of the brand/model of the PSU. In any case, the 700W power supply is unnecessary. A quality 550W-650W would suit just fine and is actually already overkill. Seasonic, Corsair, Silverstone, Antec (no Basiq units though), and XFX are great providers.

The mobo can be critical if you plan to OC that 2500K a lot (ie past 4.6GHz). VRM power phase design comes into play here for OCing stability. Want one with at least a 6-phase design. Anything lower, you can still get a modest OC though. Asus, Gigabyte, AsRock, MSI all have decent P67 and Z68 chipset boards....obviously some better than others depending on model.

[Robert]

Hiyas. I'm trying to get the most out of my RAM. I've installed 4GB of RAM on an nVidia 680i mobo, and my OS is Windows XP 32-bit. I've been reading up on RAM limitations with 32-bit systems and added the "/3gp" to my boot.ini so XP will supposedly allow up to 3GB per application. The first post screen shows 4.1(etc.)GB of RAM. But My Computer / System Properties only lists 2.75 GB of RAM.

Physical Address Extension is already in place according to the same System Properties, in case that matters.

Anyone know why System Properties only shows 2.75 GB?

[Jerry Jr. Ortiz]

Hiyas. I'm trying to get the most out of my RAM. I've installed 4GB of RAM on an nVidia 680i mobo, and my OS is Windows XP 32-bit. I've been reading up on RAM limitations with 32-bit systems and added the "/3gp" to my boot.ini so XP will supposedly allow up to 3GB per application. The first post screen shows 4.1(etc.)GB of RAM. But My Computer / System Properties only lists 2.75 GB of RAM.

Physical Address Extension is already in place according to the same System Properties, in case that matters.

Anyone know why System Properties only shows 2.75 GB?

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_GB_barrier

Basically the Operating System has access to 2.75GB in System Memory. Some RAM is disabled because of memory address conflicts with MMIO (for example Integrated devices that use memory addresses). 32-bit Operating Systems are limited to 2^32 memory addresses (4GB worth). With PAE, you can map 2^36 memory addresses, but the extra 4-bit in basically a virtual map by the CPU and cannot be used directly by the Operating System.

The /3GB flag allows applications to use up to 3GB of memory addresses, however due to memory limitations of the Operating System it is usually only useful by applications that can benefit from virtually mapped memory addresses (PAE). On a 64-bit O/S it is different because the O/S isn't limited to 2^32 memory addresses.

You can try disabling integrated devices in the BIOS to reactivate more RAM. Most likely the most RAM able to be unlocked would be around 3.25 - 3.5GB.

[A Boy called Marilyn]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/3_GB_barrier

Basically the Operating System has access to 2.75GB in System Memory. Some RAM is disabled because of memory address conflicts with MMIO (for example Integrated devices that use memory addresses). 32-bit Operating Systems are limited to 2^32 memory addresses (4GB worth). With PAE, you can map 2^36 memory addresses, but the extra 4-bit in basically a virtual map by the CPU and cannot be used directly by the Operating System.

The /3GB flag allows applications to use up to 3GB of memory addresses, however due to memory limitations of the Operating System it is usually only useful by applications that can benefit from virtually mapped memory addresses (PAE). On a 64-bit O/S it is different because the O/S isn't limited to 2^32 memory addresses.

You can try disabling integrated devices in the BIOS to reactivate more RAM. Most likely the most RAM able to be unlocked would be around 3.25 - 3.5GB.

Thanks! Is "integrated devices" the same as integrated peripherals?

[Nikki Morse]

... searching for such things, I came upon this suggesting some BIOS tweaks ...

12. Disable unneeded ports

What do you figure the chances of you ever using your computer's serial ports are? Exactly. The same with that parallel port. Disabling unneeded ports in your computer's BIOS can streamline the boot process and net you a little performance gain. Better still, no pain is involved.

If you need the ports in the future, simply reactivate them in the BIOS. Look in the 'integrated peripherals' section of the BIOS to find your ports and disable them.

13. Disable built-in features on your motherboard.

The majority of modern motherboards come with one or more system components built into the board itself ('integrated'). The most common example is an integrated sound card, but network cards, RAID cards and even video cards are also found on some newer boards.

If you are not using these integrated features, it's a good idea to disable them in your motherboard's BIOS, as they can svck up system resources and cause software confusion if you have installed alternate components without disabling the built in ones.

Most of these features will be found in the 'integrated peripherals' section of the BIOS. Disable what you are not using.

Is this what you're talking about? Disabling unused mobo devices to get some more RAM available?

[Jaylene Brower]

Hey guys,

Computer problem here. So just diving into it, my computer is having trouble starting up. I have to pull out the power chord because it won't turn off. Basically, when I start it, the fans blow immediately and they're very loud. Sometimes my computer will freeze on the start and it won't load in.

This happened just after I blew dust out of my computer with canned air. If it helps at all, this is the computer I am using: http://www.desktopreview.com/default.asp?newsID=312

Any help? Thanks!

[Rex Help]

my computer is having trouble starting up.

Care to elaborate?

[Anthony Diaz]

Care to elaborate?

When I hit the start button on the computer, there's no response from the monitor (I'm 100% sure the monitor fine.) Sometimes there is a response, but half way through loading it feezes, and the screen is just black. I have to restart it and try the same routine at least 10 times for it to start working. That's all the information I can give you, I don't know a lot about computers.

[Jerry Jr. Ortiz]

When I hit the start button on the computer, there's no response from the monitor (I'm 100% sure the monitor fine.) Sometimes there is a response, but half way through loading it feezes, and the screen is just black. I have to restart it and try the same routine at least 10 times for it to start working. That's all the information I can give you, I don't know a lot about computers.

Did you unplug anything whilst you sprayed the can of air?

[Christine Pane]

Did you unplug anything whilst you sprayed the can of air?

Inside the computer? I'm pretty sure I did not. I obviously unplugged the power before I sprayed it and hooked it right back in.

[james reed]

To elaborate on my question on page 2 which nobody has an answer for (not even google so far), my windows are resized after exiting to fit the screen with the borders showing, without being fullscreen. I have to resize them again to fullscreen, every time. The windows don't quite fit perfectly either; there's a tiny bit of space all around, just enough to see a sliver of the desktop or another fullscreen window underneath.

I'd take screenshots to show what I mean but I don't think it's necessary. I can't be the only Windows 7 user with this problem?

[Janeth Valenzuela Castelo]

... searching for such things, I came upon this suggesting some BIOS tweaks ...



Is this what you're talking about? Disabling unused mobo devices to get some more RAM available?

Yes, this is what I am talking about.

[Juan Cerda]

When I hit the start button on the computer, there's no response from the monitor (I'm 100% sure the monitor fine.) Sometimes there is a response, but half way through loading it feezes, and the screen is just black. I have to restart it and try the same routine at least 10 times for it to start working. That's all the information I can give you, I don't know a lot about computers.

Sounds like static damage to me. If a fan spins when you dust inside your case, it can create a static charge that can damage components (I always keep chopsticks handy when dusting to keep the fans from spinning)

[renee Duhamel]

Sounds like static damage to me. If a fan spins when you dust inside your case, it can create a static charge that can damage components (I always keep chopsticks handy when dusting to keep the fans from spinning)

I had no idea. Noted. Thanks!

[Amy Siebenhaar]

Yes, this is what I am talking about.

Thanks! I disabled a few things I wasn't using, but it still only shows 2.75Gb, but I honestly didn't compare the numbers you can see in the Task Manager for available RAM and all that. I'm running XP 32-bit and I think I'm settling on this being the actual problem (the 32-bit part) with its limitations on RAM usage. Many tech forums discuss this but some say you can use 4Gb, others say 3Gb, and a lot of confusing talk in between. But I thought of something goofy to try and get that last gig of RAM.

I wonder if I could run Ubuntu 64-bit, from Windows 32-bit, and be able to utilize all my RAM ... ?

[Emily Jones]

I wonder if I could run Ubuntu 64-bit, from Windows 32-bit, and be able to utilize all my RAM ... ?

No. While it is possible to virtualize a 64-bit processor on a 32-bit OS provided that your CPU supports hardware virtualization, the applications are not able to address more memory than the virtualization software can utilize, which is limited by the OS.

I'd recommend ditching that decade-old OS in favor of something more recent, like Windows 7.

[Ridhwan Hemsome]

No. While it is possible to virtualize a 64-bit processor on a 32-bit OS provided that your CPU supports hardware virtualization, the applications are not able to address more memory than the virtualization software can utilize, which is limited by the OS.

I'd recommend ditching that decade-old OS in favor of something more recent, like Windows 7.

Yea I know you're right. I just hate spending money. Hehe. Thanks!

[CHARLODDE]

is 16 gbs of ram over kill?

[Kelsey Anna Farley]

is 16 gbs of ram over kill?

Pretty sure that there is nothing you can do on a PC that would ever require more than 8GB, let alone 16GB.

If I'm wrong, which I usually am, I'd love to know what did take 16GB of RAM to do...

[Maria Leon]

Pretty sure that there is nothing you can do on a PC that would ever require more than 8GB, let alone 16GB.

If I'm wrong, which I usually am, I'd love to know what did take 16GB of RAM to do...

a coworker was bragging about how he had 16gbs of ram and i have 8 and i was curious

[Trish]

Pretty sure that there is nothing you can do on a PC that would ever require more than 8GB, let alone 16GB.

If I'm wrong, which I usually am, I'd love to know what did take 16GB of RAM to do...

Depending on the rest of your hardware, and which particular client you are running, Folding @ Home can use over 16GB RAM. I admit, most of the time it's the guys running dual and quad processor server boards....

I've got 12GB in the system I'm writing on- i7-980X, 2x GTX460, 2x GTS450, Folding away on everything.

[Tammie Flint]

a coworker was bragging about how he had 16gbs of ram and i have 8 and i was curious

I find that the people who brag about RAM usually don't have a clue what it does...

Real gamers brag about their GPU.