[Fiori Pra]

Think I'll go for XP SP3, thanks for the heads up. Dogsbody

That second one looks great Tig Ol Bitties, Thanks.

hehe...my laptop's CPU is idling at around 60C degrees....and as soon as I start a game like modern warfare 2 it is jumping up to 75C+ (within two mins, didnt want to risk going longer as it turns off fairly quickly then, entire laptop just switches off).

What computer/os and specs do you have? My laptop does that as well, I can break even at 83 degrees using a desktop fan and with my Nvidia PysX GPU acceleration off. Updating you're BIOS is probobly a good idea if you already haven't. But I have clocked my laptop high enough to give you a third degree burn if it was actually on you're lap.
If your laptop is still in warranty, replacement parts and/or repair would be you're best option I think.

[Jason Rice]

its a HP Pavilion 2012AX, drivers are up to date (cause HP hasnt actually made updated drivers since they released it).

yeah, Im going to send it in for them to check it out, ill just claim it has suddently started overheating really quickly and turns off if I try and play a game. They can replace/fix/clean what is wrong then. Still after only a month? could it be faulty parts?

[Neliel Kudoh]

Have a search online to see if the problem is common with that laptop and you might find a answer

[Chantelle Walker]

Have a search online to see if the problem is common with that laptop and you might find a answer

I didnt come up with anything, there are some previous versions that did have heating trouble, but I dont think mine is one. THe problem is getting worse, now i cannot play movies either.

[Dean]

Say I had $130 to $150 to spend on a micro atx mobo and a processor. What would be the best combo for my money?

I was looking at these two.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103295&cm_re=phenom_X3_8750_black_edition%2d%5f%2d19-103-295%2d%5f%2dProduct
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157160&cm_re=micro_atx_motherboard%2d%5f%2d13-157-160%2d%5f%2dProduct

Any suggestions?

Ravin

[Crystal Clear]

its a HP Pavilion 2012AX, drivers are up to date (cause HP hasnt actually made updated drivers since they released it).

yeah, Im going to send it in for them to check it out, ill just claim it has suddently started overheating really quickly and turns off if I try and play a game. They can replace/fix/clean what is wrong then. Still after only a month? could it be faulty parts?

I didnt come up with anything, there are some previous versions that did have heating trouble, but I dont think mine is one. THe problem is getting worse, now i cannot play movies either.

It might be that you've had it operating in an especially dusty environment.

[Tanya]

Because my laptop is already out of warranty, I removed the back so more air could get in. I also had a go at it with a small paint brush to remove the dust and stuff. Worth a go da mage.

[Shiarra Curtis]

Say I had $130 to $150 to spend on a micro atx mobo and a processor. What would be the best combo for my money?

Hm. Well I would definitely recommend http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128397&cm_re=gigabyte_motherboard%2d%5f%2d13-128-397%2d%5f%2dProduct, because Gigabyte is the absolute premium for AMD motherboards, and this one is on the top by reviews (and it's got bunch of reviews), and it's really cheap - a great buy.

As for the processor, I recommend http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103681. The prices add up to exactly $150 (if you round up the ".99"s), but that's not the criterion by which I chose the CPU, that's just a great and a very nice coincidence. This one is also very close to the top of the list of AMD processors by reviews (and it's also got a lot of them), seems to me to be better bang for the buck than the processor you chose. It's also a much newer model of AMD CPUs.



In short, if $150 is the maximum price you are willing to pay, this is your combo:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128397&cm_re=gigabyte_motherboard%2d%5f%2d13-128-397%2d%5f%2dProduct
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103681

[Star Dunkels Macmillan]

Because my laptop is already out of warranty, I removed the back so more air could get in. I also had a go at it with a small paint brush to remove the dust and stuff. Worth a go da mage.

well mines only a month old, so i still have a long warrenty on it. The problem is getting worse, so Im trying to take it into the shop as soon as I get the chance, which might still be a few days. Keeping a fan on it helps a bit, but Im afriad it wont be long till it just starts turning off while Im only using internet explorer or something now.

[..xX Vin Xx..]

Since I got Mass Effect 2 the other day, I have noticed my video cards are freezing up quite often. My dual 4890s run fairly cool. I keep the fan at 60% on both and they never pass 55C. It had been a month since I took them out and cleaned them, so I did that last night, but they still lock up while playing. This only happens when playing Mass Effect 2. I disabled Crossfire to test it out and it will still freeze every once in a while. Once I got a BSOD with the error: atikmdag.sys failed to initialize. I am using the latest CCC drivers (from 4 days ago). Any possible solutions? Its not unplayable since Mass Effect has a great autosave feature that saves like every 4 minutes but mildly annoying. Should I physically remove 1 GPU at a time and see if either one works while the other is not installed?

[Scotties Hottie]

Since I got Mass Effect 2 the other day, I have noticed my video cards are freezing up quite often. My dual 4890s run fairly cool. I keep the fan at 60% on both and they never pass 55C. It had been a month since I took them out and cleaned them, so I did that last night, but they still lock up while playing. This only happens when playing Mass Effect 2. I disabled Crossfire to test it out and it will still freeze every once in a while. Once I got a BSOD with the error: atikmdag.sys failed to initialize. I am using the latest CCC drivers (from 4 days ago). Any possible solutions? Its not unplayable since Mass Effect has a great autosave feature that saves like every 4 minutes but mildly annoying. Should I physically remove 1 GPU at a time and see if either one works while the other is not installed?

Have you been overclocking them, either GPU or VRAM?

[Spooky Angel]

Have you been overclocking them, either GPU or VRAM?

Not in the last 5 months or so. One of them is the standard 4890 but I overclocked it to 890 core clock and 1010 memory clock (vs 850/975). The other is the turbo edition which I downclocked to 890/1010 (vs 900/1000). They run stable in other games.

[Tanika O'Connell]

Not in the last 5 months or so. One of them is the standard 4890 but I overclocked it to 890 core clock and 1010 memory clock (vs 850/975). The other is the turbo edition which I downclocked to 890/1010 (vs 900/1000). They run stable in other games.

Keep their current GPU/VRAM clocks, download latest version of http://www.ozone3d.net/benchmarks/fur/ and do a stability check, Xtreme Burning Mode. Keep it running for a while, see if that makes your video cards freeze.

You never know, maybe Mass Effect 2 is especially heavy on the GPUs, heavier than the other games you play.

[Rach B]

Keep their current GPU/VRAM clocks, download latest version of http://www.ozone3d.net/benchmarks/fur/ and do a stability check, Xtreme Burning Mode. Keep it running for a while, see if that makes your video cards freeze.

You never know, maybe Mass Effect 2 is especially heavy on the GPUs, heavier than the other games you play.

I have had it running for about 30 minutes now. It really makes it hot. My primary video card is hitting 89C right now, but the secondary video card doesnt seem to be tested at all. It is still sitting at 40C.

[Horse gal smithe]

I have had it running for about 30 minutes now. It really makes it hot. My primary video card is hitting 89C right now, but the secondary video card doesnt seem to be tested at all. It is still sitting at 40C.

Hm. I wouldn't know about that, I never tested dual-GPU systems with FurMark...

Maybe disable the one that's being tested so the other one gets tested, I dunno, can you do that?

[OnlyDumazzapplyhere]

Hm. I wouldn't know about that, I never tested dual-GPU systems with FurMark...

Maybe disable the one that's being tested so the other one gets tested, I dunno, can you do that?

I dont believe so, when I am in the CCC and disable Crossfire it will disable the secondary card all of the time. I would have to remove the 1st card and place the second card in the primary slot for it to see it. I wonder if it has something to do with Mass Effect itself, maybe the engine. Because I really dont think it has to do with overheating. It may freeze in 2 hours of playing or the first 30 seconds.

Edit: Also the last four times it has frozen at the exact same spot. (Mild Spoiler)

Spoiler

When you first enter the collector ship for the first time and approach the pod to examine it.

Edit 2: There seems to be a lot of people freezing on the bioware forums. I will search around there for now. Thanks though for trying to help.

[Chenae Butler]

It may freeze in 2 hours of playing or the first 30 seconds.

Oh...

Well I don't know, have you googled Mass Effect 2 gpu freezing or something like that? Maybe there's a hotfix or something.

[Kelly Upshall]

Does anyone know a GPU that would offer a significant increase in performance from my current GeForce GTS 250 w/ 512mb for under $200? Or should I just wait until my birthday in October when hopefully I'll get large amounts of cash and buy a GPU worth $400ish?

[Cagla Cali]

Does anyone know a GPU that would offer a significant increase in performance then a GeForce GTS 250 w/ 512mb for under $200? Or should I just wait until my birthday in October when hopefully I'll get large amounts of cash and buy a GPU worth $400ish?

I presume you are talking about the "GeForce GTS 250" that can be seen in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_200_Series#Technical_summary? If that's the one you've got, then no, I don't think you can improve it much at the moment with a GPU that costs less than 200$. You could only increase your VRAM and also get GDDR5 instead of GDDR3 VRAM, but those are all just tiny advancements, not worth spending the money that would get you any significant advancement at the moment.

Personally I would wait a bit before getting a newer GPU at all, but it's your call.

[Gavin Roberts]

I presume you are talking about the "GeForce GTS 250" that can be seen in http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_200_Series#Technical_summary? If that's the one you've got, then no, I don't think you can improve it much at the moment with a GPU that costs less than 200$. You could only increase your VRAM and also get GDDR5 instead of GDDR3 VRAM, but those are all just tiny advancements, not worth spending the money that would get you any significant advancement at the moment.

Personally I would wait a bit before getting a newer GPU at all, but it's your call.

Alright, thanks for the advice. I guess I'll just wait and see what GPU's drop and price and which GPU's are released.

[Raymond J. Ramirez]

Alright, thanks for the advice. I guess I'll just wait and see what GPU's drop and price and which GPU's are released.

When you've already got a GPU, it's best to wait at least until the prices of the GPUs that are the next generation compared to your GPU drop to sensible range. Of course, if you're too impatient and want to be able to play all the current games at highest detail with butter-smooth FPS, you might not be able to wait that much. Since you've got a GPU that's GeForce 200 Series, if I were in your shoes, I'd wait until the http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GeForce_300_Series become attainable. But that's just me.

[rolanda h]

Say I had $130 to $150 to spend on a micro atx mobo and a processor. What would be the best combo for my money?

I was looking at these two.
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103295&cm_re=phenom_X3_8750_black_edition%2d%5f%2d19-103-295%2d%5f%2dProduct
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157160&cm_re=micro_atx_motherboard%2d%5f%2d13-157-160%2d%5f%2dProduct

Any suggestions?

Ravin

The important question is what kind of RAM are you working with? The latest CPU technology (AM3, LGA 1156, LGA 1366) all require DDR3 RAM. There are AM2+/AM3 compatible motherboards that use DDR2 if that's what you have. But I'm uncomfortable with making suggestions until you make clear on what RAM you've got.

Does anyone know a GPU that would offer a significant increase in performance from my current GeForce GTS 250 w/ 512mb for under $200? Or should I just wait until my birthday in October when hopefully I'll get large amounts of cash and buy a GPU worth $400ish?

Probably should wait til the birthday..hopefully Nvidia's 3-series cards will be out by then <_< and the prices iron themselves out. Right now, the Radeon 4890 or 5770 would be decent increases over your card...or the GTX 260 (216 cores). Still think you should wait though.

[jaideep singh]

Hm. Well I would definitely recommend http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128397&cm_re=gigabyte_motherboard%2d%5f%2d13-128-397%2d%5f%2dProduct, because Gigabyte is the absolute premium for AMD motherboards, and this one is on the top by reviews (and it's got bunch of reviews), and it's really cheap - a great buy.

As for the processor, I recommend http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103681. The prices add up to exactly $150 (if you round up the ".99"s), but that's not the criterion by which I chose the CPU, that's just a great and a very nice coincidence. This one is also very close to the top of the list of AMD processors by reviews (and it's also got a lot of them), seems to me to be better bang for the buck than the processor you chose. It's also a much newer model of AMD CPUs.



In short, if $150 is the maximum price you are willing to pay, this is your combo:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128397&cm_re=gigabyte_motherboard%2d%5f%2d13-128-397%2d%5f%2dProduct
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103681

Thanks for the PM update I shall look into these ones. I'm a pretty cheap/poor guy and I don't have a lot to spend on PC parts, so I'm trying to make this upgrade last a while.

The important question is what kind of RAM are you working with? The latest CPU technology (AM3, LGA 1156, LGA 1366) all require DDR3 RAM. There are AM2+/AM3 compatible motherboards that use DDR2 if that's what you have. But I'm uncomfortable with making suggestions until you make clear on what RAM you've got.

Ah sorry about that. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134046 is the exact stuff.

Thanks for the help people!

Ravin

[Matt Bee]

Thanks for the PM update I shall look into these ones. I'm a pretty cheap/poor guy and I don't have a lot to spend on PC parts, so I'm trying to make this upgrade last a while.



Ah sorry about that. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820134046 is the exact stuff.

Thanks for the help people!

Ravin

That's DDR2. Won't go with the GA-MA785GMT-UD2H motherboard, which takes DDR3. Let's see if we can find you a 4 RAM slot DDR2 motherboard, so you can fill it out to 4GB later.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128394
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128376
or
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131324

CPU:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103681
or if you can stretch your budget a bit,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103694
or better yet,
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103680

but the GA-MA785GM-US2H and Athlon II X2 250 are probably the most bang within your limited bucks.

[Nathan Hunter]

I've recently installed Ubuntu on my laptop, and I am having internet trouble. No wireless networks are showing up when I go to the network connection tab. I was connected to the wireless an hour ago though when I had Vista installed, so I am pretty sure it isn't my routers fault. So my question, how do I get wireless to work with Ubuntu?


Edit: Now that I looked at it again, under wireless it says "Device not ready". Any clue what to do?

Edit 2: I hooked up an ethernet cable to my laptop, and not even that works. It just loads for a while and says, "Disconnected, you are now offline".

Edit 3: Got it all working after a few hours of googling.