[James Potter]

Hey guys, I posted this in Oblivion Tech, but thought it might actually be a more general question.

For the past few years I've been a dedicated and loyal fan to Creative's sound cards. Over the past year however, I've had serious recurring issues with their sound cards on Vista and Windows 7. After googling and finding no direct answer, I've been forced to conclude that, in general, their driver support is shoddy, and there's nothing that I can expect from them to fix the problem.

I've heard good things about the ASUS Xonar series of cards, so I'm looking at the DX. From everything I've found, the sound quality is on par with any of the high-end Creative cards, so I have no worries there. However, one review site I went to said it didn't have a dedicated sound processor on the card (can't remember the formal name for it). Did I hear wrong about this? If so, do you think it would really make a different (I'm using a Phenom II X4 940 processor)?

That's the only thing holding me back from buying one of these bad boys, the issue of not having a dedicated sound processor. Can any of you tell me (either from firsthand experience or other) how the Xonar DX is?

Thanks!

[Claire Lynham]

EDID settings are different in 2000/XP then they are in Vista/7. I don't believe you can change EDID options in Vista/7.

Good for me I've got Windows XP, then.

[No Name]

Aaaaand it's now been a month since I placed my order with Overclockers. Looks like they'll be getting another phone call from me later today. Should have just paid the extra ~?30 and ordered the lot from Scan <_<

[carly mcdonough]

I've heard good things about the ASUS Xonar series of cards, so I'm looking at the DX. From everything I've found, the sound quality is on par with any of the high-end Creative cards, so I have no worries there. However, one review site I went to said it didn't have a dedicated sound processor on the card (can't remember the formal name for it). Did I hear wrong about this? If so, do you think it would really make a different (I'm using a Phenom II X4 940 processor)?

That's the only thing holding me back from buying one of these bad boys, the issue of not having a dedicated sound processor. Can any of you tell me (either from firsthand experience or other) how the Xonar DX is?

Thanks!

well, are an x-fi user my self,and considered asus eventually,found one report that compared the two Asus Xonar D2X and Asus Xonar DX.
http://techreport.com/articles.x/14500
from that it looks like the D2X is better suited if you hook up external units and it is slightly less noisier than its little brother to half the price.

[Austin England]

I have a question about cleaning displays. I have an LCD monitor that I use for my PC and 360, but sometimes when playing games I can spot specs. No clue if I coughed or sneezed and it dried, since it's about two weeks old, but it's annoying. What should I use to wash it?

[Add Meeh]

I have a question about cleaning displays. I have an LCD monitor that I use for my PC and 360, but sometimes when playing games I can spot specs. No clue if I coughed or sneezed and it dried, since it's about two weeks old, but it's annoying. What should I use to wash it?

you should be able to buy special cleaning stuff at most high end tv stores

might be able to find it in futureshop or bestbuy as well


I dunno what it's called...

[adam holden]

I have a question about cleaning displays. I have an LCD monitor that I use for my PC and 360, but sometimes when playing games I can spot specs. No clue if I coughed or sneezed and it dried, since it's about two weeks old, but it's annoying. What should I use to wash it?

Get some http://www.amazon.com/Anti-static-Wipes-Count-Plasma-Friendly/dp/B0007N182E, which they should have at your local office supply or electronics store like Staples and Best Buy.

[STEVI INQUE]

My friend currently has the following set up:

[src="http://"http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811208021""]Case[/url]
[src="http://"http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136075""]HardDrive[/url]
[src="http://"http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122""]RAM[/url]
[src="http://"http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135156""]CD-Rom[/url]
[src="http://"http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130085""]Video Card[/url]
[src="http://"http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128056""]MotherBoard[/url]
[src="http://"http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103064""]CPU[/url]
[src="http://"http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153023""]PSU[/url]

He's thinking about replacing his current video card with this one:

[src="http://"http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143119""]BFG Tech 512MB 256-Bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16[/url]

Now, the issue we're worried about is if his PSU is powerful enough to handle the upgrade.

Any input is welcome, thanks!

[roxanna matoorah]

Hey I was just wondering how much a decent gaming PC would set me back in England. I know nothing about building a PC, is it worth it, does it cost less?

Thanks.

[oliver klosoff]

Hey I was just wondering how much a decent gaming PC would set me back in England. I know nothing about building a PC, is it worth it, does it cost less?

Thanks.

yes it's worth it, yes it costs less

and as for how much it will set you back... that's entirely up to you (depends how much you want to spend)

[Chenae Butler]

Very often lately my mouse will double click when I only click once. And it doesn't even make another audible click, it just seems to make one click turn into two. Now, I can see how you'd think this wouldn't be a problem, but it is. If I close a tab, it will click twice and close two tabs. If I close a window, it will close two open windows. If I highlight some text, it will click again and it wont stay highlighted so I can't copy it. It's a big problem. Is there any way I can fix this without getting a new mouse?

[jason worrell]

yes it's worth it, yes it costs less

and as for how much it will set you back... that's entirely up to you (depends how much you want to spend)

Hey thanks for the reply.
Say for example I had ?500 to spend, would I be able to build a good enough PC to run games like Oblivion and GTA4 (high settings) with ease. At the moment I'm on a Dell XPS M1530 laptop running vista and doomed to overheating issues, sick of it.

[Christine]

Hey thanks for the reply.
Say for example I had ?500 to spend, would I be able to build a good enough PC to run games like Oblivion and GTA4 with ease. At the moment I'm on a Dell XPS M1530 laptop running vista and doomed to overheating issues, sick of it.

If you built your own, you could build a really good rig.

[Killer McCracken]

Really, haha i had no idea thanks. And sorry i just examined the first post again, that would be ?500 on the computer itself I already have a monitor and stuff.

[CArla HOlbert]

Really, haha i had no idea thanks. And sorry i just examined the first post again, that would be ?500 on the computer itself I already have a monitor and stuff.

Oh yeah. Do you need an OS too?

[Lil Miss]

Yeh, good point. Is Windows 7 all its made out to be? I hate vista and have been considering going back to XP for ages just never got round to it.

[Laura-Jayne Lee]

My friend currently has the following set up:

[src="http://"http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16811208021""]Case[/url]
[src="http://"http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136075""]HardDrive[/url]
[src="http://"http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231122""]RAM[/url]
[src="http://"http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135156""]CD-Rom[/url]
[src="http://"http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130085""]Video Card[/url]
[src="http://"http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813128056""]MotherBoard[/url]
[src="http://"http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103064""]CPU[/url]
[src="http://"http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817153023""]PSU[/url]

He's thinking about replacing his current video card with this one:

[src="http://"http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814143119""]BFG Tech 512MB 256-Bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16[/url]

Now, the issue we're worried about is if his PSU is powerful enough to handle the upgrade.

Any input is welcome, thanks!

Replace the PSU if he wants to use that card. That is a VERY old Thermaltake model and is rather low on the +12V rail amperage. That PSU was good for its time, but well behind the times now.

Hey thanks for the reply.
Say for example I had ?500 to spend, would I be able to build a good enough PC to run games like Oblivion and GTA4 (high settings) with ease. At the moment I'm on a Dell XPS M1530 laptop running vista and doomed to overheating issues, sick of it.

Should be able to. There are even prebuilts I can find that'll cost around that much that would run those games at High settings. GTA4 is a bit rough on the CPU though...it runs considerably better on a quad-core CPU as opposed to a dual-core one.

[hannaH]

Oh right, do you know of any reliable websites where I can find some of these prebuilts? And whats the advantages to quad core compared to dual core, is it worth forking out, are games in the future going to be needing it?
Thanks again.

[Sammie LM]

Replace the PSU if he wants to use that card. That is a VERY old Thermaltake model and is rather low on the +12V rail amperage. That PSU was good for its time, but well behind the times now.

Yeah, that's what I worried. He likes to shop cheap price, not quality lol. He's a little bit of a penny-pincher though I've started to move him away from it. Thanks for replying.

[danni Marchant]

Computer clock slow(ing), what could be the cause, what potential problems may it lead to?

[Adrian Morales]

Computer clock slow(ing), what could be the cause, what potential problems may it lead to?

The time-of-day clock? Those things are so inaccurate it's not funny. It only matters if you are acting as a time source for others or depending on accurate time for an application or for network security.

Yeh, good point. Is Windows 7 all its made out to be? I hate vista and have been considering going back to XP for ages just never got round to it.

Annoying as Vista is, it's a damn sight more secure than Windows 7 is, by design. I won't mince words. Windows 7 is a menace. It is only a matter of time before some vicious exploit becomes capable of hitting anyone who adopts it.

See http://gizmodo.com/5146095/microsoft-on-windows-7-uac-security-hole-this-is-not-a-vulnerability, http://www.pretentiousname.com/misc/win7_uac_whitelist2.html and many other accounts of how Microsoft put a backdoor in Windows 7 via the new "UAC whitelist" misfeature that anybody who can pose as a Microsoft program can exploit and that Microsoft can exploit to blackball any third-party software they want to.

If security in an operating system means money to you, the only Windows operating systems I can recommend without grave reservation are XP SP3 and Vista SP2. Of those, I prefer 64-bit Vista SP2, which has the most robust and flexible implementation of driver signing.

[Kaylee Campbell]

Oh right, do you know of any reliable websites where I can find some of these prebuilts? And whats the advantages to quad core compared to dual core, is it worth forking out, are games in the future going to be needing it?
Thanks again.

For your budget, here's one:
http://www.chillblast.com/pconf.php?productid=19284

Upgrade power supply to at least the Coolermaster unit (IMPORTANT!!), upgrade to Windows 7 64-bit Premium, lose the monitor. That's a system that will max Oblivion and do pretty well in GTA4.

And then there's this guy:
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=FS-210-OK&groupid=43&catid=1445&subcat=

Although, overclockers reputation as a reliable site nowadays may be in question. I know they used to be pretty good. May want to look deeper into user reviews.

Quads have a bigger advantage in the sense of multi-tasking, video-editing, photoshop stuff, workstation applications (CAD, Solidworks, Maya, etc...). For games, there aren't really that many even now that fully utilizes a quad. Quads have been out for years and we're still in the age of most games making use of dual-cores and nothing more. But a quad can be had cheap nowadays.

[Nina Mccormick]

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).

This isnt normal is it?

[Campbell]

A damp cloth, that's what I use for my sneeze guar.....screen.

[tannis]

I'm back again with another Fallout 3 related BsoD :banghead:
Posted in here a while back because my power supply died, and before it did, I also got crashes and BSoD's (all just playing Fallout, no other games had/have this effect). This time though I got the blue screen message:

Stop: 0.0000008E (0xC0000005, 0xBD12B274, 0x8A7BE83C, 0x00000000)
nv4_disp.dll Address BD12B274 base at BD012000 Datestamp 49fa9526

Doing a google search, haven't found anything so far. I'm using the video card drivers that came with the video card itself (should I update?). Right now I'm going to delete the fallout.ini and put the graphic settings a notch down.
If anyone has any ideas, please say, I don't want to kill another power supply.

Also noted, the first crashes always come after several hours of gameplay; the first time around playing FO I played it for two weeks before the power supply died, then I had a break from it (in which time I had no crashes playing other games), then went back to playing it this week and got the blue screen after several hours in total again.

Video card: GeForce 9800GT, 512MB
Power supply is a 700W (can't state more detail now, would have to open the tower)
3GB RAM
CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core Processor 6000+