[Roberto Gaeta]

What 5850s are capable of being over volted? The MSI ones are but I need 2 DVIs or a DVI and a VGA if they still come in that flavor. I don't know how well HDMI to DVI to VGA would work for space in back of my computer unless there are HDMI to VGA ones. I'm satisfied with my 2 excellent 20 inch CRTs i'm rocking right now.

The original MSI card is the reference design, which has two DVI, and you can always slap a DVI to VGA adapter on one of them.

It's still the only one I know of where overvoltage is manufacturer-supported. Overvoltage and overclocking are still "you pay your money, and you take your chances". If your card will not work at an overclock or overvolt setting, you have no recourse.

The "Twin Frozr" card has only one DVI. If you need two, pass on that one and get the reference-design card.

[Monique Cameron]

What 5850s are capable of being over volted? The MSI ones are but I need 2 DVIs or a DVI and a VGA if they still come in that flavor. I don't know how well HDMI to DVI to VGA would work for space in back of my computer unless there are HDMI to VGA ones. I'm satisfied with my 2 excellent 20 inch CRTs i'm rocking right now.

HDMI to HD15 (VGA) is impossible. Well not impossible not very practical, since HDMI is digital and VGA is anolog. DVI-I ports can transfer both anolog and digital information thats why DVI to VGA adapters are possible.

[lexy]

Nanoo nanoo,

I haven't looked at computers for over 5 years, and we are now looking to get a new laptop and pass the old one on to the kdis for a beater. We're looking for something that would last another 5 years, play current games or maybe next year's games, and of all of the standard office software. The ideal budget is 1,000 US, but I'm not sure if that price will get em a computer that will run products tahtwill be released 2 years from now...ya, it's been that long since I've looked at the tech.

What suggestions, or corrections to my budget, do you have?

grazzi,

rumbly

[Rob Davidson]

Nanoo nanoo,

I haven't looked at computers for over 5 years, and we are now looking to get a new laptop and pass the old one on to the kdis for a beater. We're looking for something that would last another 5 years, play current games or maybe next year's games, and of all of the standard office software. The ideal budget is 1,000 US, but I'm not sure if that price will get em a computer that will run products tahtwill be released 2 years from now...ya, it's been that long since I've looked at the tech.

What suggestions, or corrections to my budget, do you have?

grazzi,

rumbly

Powerful notebook that games pretty well and falls within budget:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+Laptop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i5+Processor+-+Blue/Black/9736955.p?id=1218164036446&skuId=9736955

...not gonna get much better than that.

[vanuza]

5 years is a bit of a stretch though. For anything really.

[Rachell Katherine]

Powerful notebook that games pretty well and falls within budget:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Asus+-+Laptop+with+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i5+Processor+-+Blue/Black/9736955.p?id=1218164036446&skuId=9736955

...not gonna get much better than that.

We just came back from Best Buy before reading this, and another Asus stood out as well. However, that was over our price. Looks like we'll be getting this one - much obliged.

5 years is a bit of a stretch though. For anything really.

Aye, intersting story there. The laptop thatl's getting retired is a Dell 8600 that was top-notch 5 years ago (it's just turning six) and is still doing pretty well. It was a Dell free product replacement for the other Dell 8600 that lasted 3 months.

Grazzi folks.

[Marie]

So I am installing a few games onto my laptop (even if I won't really play them), and was wondering if anyone could give a reasonable estimation of how they will run.

I am installing:
-Morrowind + expansions (with mods)
-Neverwinter Nights Diamond
-Prince of Persia trilogy (original)
-Knights of the Old Republic (both games) [possibly]
-Age of Mythology and expansion [possibly]

The specs are:
-1280x800 resolution
-256mb nVidia 8400GS (dedicated)
-1.8ghz Core 2 Duo
-3gb RAM
-Realtek onboard audio

I will be using an external mouse as well.

[Hayley O'Gara]

Hey, I have been having a small problem lately with recording videos in fraps. It worked fine up until my last months reinstallation of Windows. I used to be able to record in Fraps, and then go into Pinnacle Studio 14 and re-encode from the .AVI file to a .MP4 file to compress the video. Now, when I take the Fraps video, it saves to my hardrive, but I am unable to open it in any conversion software, I tried to open it in Handbrake,as well as Pinnacle Studio 14. It only states that the file cant be opened. Also here is an image of what it does, it used to work perfectly. http://i438.photobucket.com/albums/qq102/Starforce9/PinnacleStudio.jpg
Edit- Also I own the full version of Fraps 3.0.3 and Pinnacle Studio 14 Ultimate Collection 1.0.

[Stacey Mason]

So I am installing a few games onto my laptop (even if I won't really play them), and was wondering if anyone could give a reasonable estimation of how they will run.

I am installing:
-Morrowind + expansions (with mods)
-Neverwinter Nights Diamond
-Prince of Persia trilogy (original)
-Knights of the Old Republic (both games) [possibly]
-Age of Mythology and expansion [possibly]

The specs are:
-1280x800 resolution
-256mb nVidia 8400GS (dedicated)
-1.8ghz Core 2 Duo
-3gb RAM
-Realtek onboard audio

I will be using an external mouse as well.

All of those games should likely run pretty well on that rig. None of them are THAT system intensive. If you're running Morrowind with MGE though that might be a bit slow.

[Mark Hepworth]

So I was looking at AMD cores lately, and seen the dual cores, then the tri cores, the tri core is only $10 more than the dual core I was looking at. But one of my friends awhile back ago said that tri cores werent really better than dual cores. something about how the operating system only uses two of the cores, and not all three, so most of the time it's just idle?

Bottom Line: Is a tri core worth it, and better than a dual core?

[[Bounty][Ben]]

So I was looking at AMD cores lately, and seen the dual cores, then the tri cores, the tri core is only $10 more than the dual core I was looking at. But one of my friends awhile back ago said that tri cores werent really better than dual cores. something about how the operating system only uses two of the cores, and not all three, so most of the time it's just idle?

Bottom Line: Is a tri core worth it, and better than a dual core?

It is actually the case that most programs still only use one core. Games are one of the programs most likely to make use of 2-4 cores. A lot of things can't be easily split up across multiple cores, and as such can't make use of them, other things just aren't programed to use multiple cores. What multi-core CPUs are great at, though, is multitasking. One process can use one core, another process another. That way even if both programs can only use one core, you are still benefiting from the multi-core CPU.


All said, though, I would say in general right now, if there is a very significant frequency difference (1+ GHz) and a roughly equal or better cache, the dual core CPU would be my pick over the slower tri-core CPU. However, if both CPUs are about the same, definitely go with the tri-core CPU.

[marie breen]

So at school we need Symantec Endpoint Protection installed to get on the network. I want to keep using NOD32 that I purchased recently. However every so often, usually overnight, I will have my system lock up and become unusable unless I do a hard reboot on it. I am pretty confident that it is due to both scanners trying to scan at once. So I try to disable the Symantec realtime protection but all the options are disabled, I can right click and select disable but it ends up restarting itself. All advanced options as previous stated are disabled, I can't change any of them.

Other then remove one of the programs what would be something else I can do? I tried to disable the symantec services but then I cannot get on the network. So I do stop them when I boot my computer but they seem to randomly restart themself.

[Alexx Peace]

So at school we need Symantec Endpoint Protection installed to get on the network. I want to keep using NOD32 that I purchased recently. However every so often, usually overnight, I will have my system lock up and become unusable unless I do a hard reboot on it. I am pretty confident that it is due to both scanners trying to scan at once. So I try to disable the Symantec realtime protection but all the options are disabled, I can right click and select disable but it ends up restarting itself. All advanced options as previous stated are disabled, I can't change any of them.

Other then remove one of the programs what would be something else I can do? I tried to disable the symantec services but then I cannot get on the network. So I do stop them when I boot my computer but they seem to randomly restart themself.

We've been over this before. Not complying with your school's conditions for using their network is not an option, and we are not going to discuss any way of doing so here.

If NOD32 conflicts with Symantec Endpoint Protection, and you are required to use Symantec Endpoint Protection, then you must disable or uninstall NOD32. Symantec Endpoint Protection is typically installed in this manner, such that you are prevented from tampering with its settings. I hate it too. You can't do anything about it. End of story.

Explain the situation to your college's help desk and abide by their advice. Nobody else's. If you have any questions, reread this:

Not complying with your school's conditions for using their network is not an option, and we are not going to discuss any way of doing so here.

[Beat freak]

Do sound cards slowly degrade in audio quality over time? I'm noticing faint hissing and popping when some audio plays on my card. It's two or so years old now... I can also see some tarnish on the headphone jacks on the card.

[Crystal Clear]

All right...two questions. First of all: lately I've been having trouble with my wireless connection while gaming. The last three times I've played a round of L4D2 or L4D, I've either lost my connection to the internet entirely (as in, no web pages will load and my IM client disconnects, so it's not just a Steam problem) mid-game (in the case of L4D2), or just after the game's finished (L4D). Network & Sharing Center still shows that I'm connected to the secured family network, but that the network has no connection to the internet. Running the troubleshooting utility will re-establish the internet connection, and then I can play just fine.

Our wireless is secured with WPA2, and signal strength is always good. (I'm just down the hall from the router and Airport base station.) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16839121008. I'm on Windows 7 Professional 64-bit, running the latest drivers for my card, and the card is not set to shut down to save power.

I've checked the Event Viewer, and there's no errors or warnings that coincide with these connection drops...I have noticed a lot of DHCPv6-Client "information" events, though:

Spoiler

Log Name:      Microsoft-Windows-Dhcpv6-Client/AdminSource:        Microsoft-Windows-DHCPv6-ClientDate:          5/26/2010 9:32:58 AMEvent ID:      1006Task Category: Media State EventLevel:         InformationKeywords:      User:          LOCAL SERVICEComputer:      AzuraDescription:Router Advertisemant settings have been changed on the network adapter 12. The current M - Managed Address Configuration flag is true and the O - Other Stateful Configuration flag is true. User Action: If you are seeing this event frequently, then it could be due to frequent change in M and O flag settings on the router in the network. Please contact your network administrator to have it resolved.Event Xml:          1006    0    4    1    13    0x8000000000000000        260            Microsoft-Windows-Dhcpv6-Client/Admin    Azura            12    true    true  

The time on those event IDs doesn't coincide with any of the connection drops. Anyone have any ideas?

Second...I've also noticed lately that if I've been running, say, Crysis or L4D2 shortly (an hour or less) before I shut my computer down for the night, the fans will keep running for about 30 seconds (max) after shutdown. Is this normal? I assume it's just trying to get various components to a set temperature, since things might still be running hot from gaming and the hot, humid weather we've been having lately. I don't have any symptoms of overheating otherwise.

[Roisan Sweeney]

Not sure if this goes here. My device wizard won't pop up anymore after I used a system restore point. How do enable it to pop up when I insert a new USB device?

[Lloyd Muldowney]

Second...I've also noticed lately that if I've been running, say, Crysis or L4D2 shortly (an hour or less) before I shut my computer down for the night, the fans will keep running for about 30 seconds (max) after shutdown. Is this normal? I assume it's just trying to get various components to a set temperature, since things might still be running hot from gaming and the hot, humid weather we've been having lately. I don't have any symptoms of overheating otherwise.

Sounds like something might be up with your PSU not "shutting down" with the rest of the computer. I've turned off the computer right after long gaming sessions and haven't had the fans stay on. The humid weather doesn't help anything, so, as I always suggest first, get some canned air and clean that svcker out.

[Danger Mouse]

Sounds like something might be up with your PSU not "shutting down" with the rest of the computer. I've turned off the computer right after long gaming sessions and haven't had the fans stay on. The humid weather doesn't help anything, so, as I always suggest first, get some canned air and clean that svcker out.

I just cleaned the case out less than a month ago, though. It shouldn't need it again so soon, I don't think. :confused:

Edit: I should add, it's just the fans, or a few of them, that stay on. Everything else--case LEDs, etc.--is off when this happens.

[Kate Murrell]

I just cleaned the case out less than a month ago, though. It shouldn't need it again so soon, I don't think. :confused:

Edit: I should add, it's just the fans, or a few of them, that stay on. Everything else--case LEDs, etc.--is off when this happens.

There may be some programming in the BIOS that keeps the fans running on standby until components are cooled down. Sounds like a feature, not a bug.

[Alina loves Alexandra]

There may be some programming in the BIOS that keeps the fans running on standby until components are cooled down. Sounds like a feature, not a bug.

Well, my concern is that I've only noticed it happening in the past month or so. This didn't happen last summer, when temps were just as beastly...though I was on Vista 64-bit and not 7 64-bit like I am now, if that makes a lick of difference. It might.

Also, I know from googling around that some PSUs have the ability to keep their fans running after shutdown, but so far as I can tell mine doesn't. (Mine is a Thermaltake Toughpower 750W. The Toughpower XTs have that ability, but mine's an older model.) Likewise, my motherboard (Asus P5Q Pro) has some fan control options in the BIOS, but I've never messed with them, and so far as I can tell they're just for controlling fan speeds.

Since this happened again at shutdown tonight, I peeked into the case to check: the case fans aren't spinning, and neither is the one by the HDD or motherboard. (I can't really see the fan on my video card, since it's on the underside, but I don't think it's running, either.) It's just the fan on the PSU that's going.

[Sun of Sammy]

Since this happened again at shutdown tonight, I peeked into the case to check: the case fans aren't spinning, and neither is the one by the HDD or motherboard. (I can't really see the fan on my video card, since it's on the underside, but I don't think it's running, either.) It's just the fan on the PSU that's going.

Oh, then there's probably nothing to worry about if it's just the PSU fan. That definitely sounds like a feature.

[Farrah Barry]

Oh, then there's probably nothing to worry about if it's just the PSU fan. That definitely sounds like a feature.

I'm beginning to think so, too. Just wish they'd put that in the manual.

[Lavender Brown]

What does it mean when I try to turn on my computer and I get no beeps at all? I get a blank screen and nothing else. I looked inside my case and all the lights are on and the fans are spinning but I get nothing else. I am typing this from my PS3 which really svcks.

[The Time Car]

What does it mean when I try to turn on my computer and I get no beeps at all? I get a blank screen and nothing else. I looked inside my case and all the lights are on and the fans are spinning but I get nothing else. I am typing this from my PS3 which really svcks.

Either a video or RAM failure. Try reseating your memory modules and/or removing all but one module (if possible).

[FirDaus LOVe farhana]

That could be an array of many things.. Have you checked your monitor on another computer? Have you had a bout of thunderstorms that zapped your house recently?