I'd second the recommendation for multiple video cards. I'm running a triple monitor setup off my two ATI video cards (4850+3650), and it's a far cheaper (and simpler) route than having a triplehead2go. I haven't played with Crossfire, mostly because I've never had a need for it, but like QuietOC sa...

WEI = Windows Experience Index. I'm wondering if the discrepancy in scores is due to nVidia's drivers still not being up to snuff. They've had serious problems in the past, and my trust in their drivers has fallen significantly over the past year.

If he's serious about running several concurrent virtual machines, the more separate hard drives and the more RAM - the merrier. There are times when my server gets choked with the 8GB that's currently installed, but until I can get a proper server board (expensive) or a P45 board in there, I'm stuc...

For what it's worth, my 4850 gets me about 35-40fps @ 1920x1200 with maxed settings in Dalaran in Windowed mode. Setting it to non-windowed increases this to about 55fps. The 4850 is plenty beefy for WoW. :) I would not recommend playing WoW without a dedicated graphics card. My friend's system is b...

andyb - What's the WEI on that machine under Vista? I know that some benchmarking software would run slightly slower under Vista, but not a quarter of XP's ratings. Have you tested it with a more modern version of 3DMark? 2001 was a really long time ago, and I know the benchmarking methods are quite...

AZBrandon - Your post sounds just like a recap of all the Vista bashing that came out of the latest Apple commercials. I'll admit, the original Mac vs PC ads were well written and entertaining: PC - I'm here because people need to use spreadsheets. Mac - Oh... but there's Office for Mac now, so ther...

The thing is, I don't know if this really "fixed" anything. It's possible that all I did was stop the drive from "reporting" load cycles, but allowed the problem to remain silently. Sorry to sound blunt, but that sounds like pure FUD in the actual sense of the term. Why would anyone write a program...

When it comes to snow, I won't drive any vehicle if it doesn't have proper winter tires on it. No, all seasons are not good enough. No, I don't care if it has four-wheel drive or AWD. If you don't have snowys on, you can't stop or maneuver properly (something that has something to do with drivetrain...

Sounds to me like the graphics card (i.e. the chipset) is overheating if you're getting those kinds of artifacts in games. Does it artifact if you run rthdribl?

VGA -> DVI adaptors don't exist (at least not for sending digital signals). I would be more inclined to trust the product specs rather than the picture on this one.

Why would the .NET framework be a bad thing? It's a great framework to use (better than Java in many ways) and it means that ATI can focus their efforts on their drivers and not their control panel. How much time do you spend fiddling with the control panel on a day to day basis? I've probably opene...

Locking cables ftw...

Hahaha!!! I applaud you, sir, on your excellent use of XKCD.

I am sure it has, but I have only ever seen FF infected with something bad twice (it also infected IE). I have no proof at all that any PC I have had to fix was infected whilst using FF, its always IE. Also none of the FF problems have had me running for the hills, have they had that effect on you....

I'd say that it depends on your point-of-view. I'd personally call the specifications written on the DIMM the design specs, regardless of what JEDEC says it should be. ATX is another specification, but look at all the ATX 2.0+ power supplies that SPCR has reviewed in the past year - do any of them a...

If this is the case, then WD should come up, say "your drives are fine, we just goofed up and track soft parks in hard park category in SMART data". They are actively not doing that, instead trying to hide the problem. BTW, another minus to WD: GP drives do not follow the standard commands to disab...

I've built about 6 computers at work running a intel quad-core and 8GB of DDR2. Any of them I have put above 1.8v to get better memory timings, the sticks have produced BSODs within six months. Returning to 1.8v brought back stability and passed memory tests. Additionally, any gained performance fr...

Run 5 timings @ 1.8v, and enjoy the stability. Why sacrifice the performance if the RAM can handle it and/or is rated for it? I've got 8GB of G-Skill DDR2-800 in my system running at 4-4-4-12 @ 2.1V and everything is just peachy. The DIMMs are warm to the touch when under load, but not hot. I got 8...

As much as I despise IE's total lack of security and its propensity to install anything for any reason at any time without so much as notifying the end user is a disgrace, but that most people have poor security and internet awareness. Its like the age old problem of people and guns, guns are deadl...

I'll second plain old Remote Desktop. I use it to connect to all my systems, and I've found that it's considerably faster over low-bandwidth connections than any VNC solution.

Wait.... which 3ware controller are you going to use? You had problems before with that motherboard and it's PCIe-PCIX adaptor chip ( see here )... Also, be aware that while Server 2008 is awesome (so many cool features!), you won't be able to get support for your 9550SE card or use Hyper-V with the...

I've got 8 WD drives connected to a 3ware controller. After a few months of running, I've got the following data from smartmontools: Drive 0 9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 091 091 000 Old_age Always - 6759 193 Load_Cycle_Count 0x0032 093 093 000 Old_age Always - 321155 Drive 1 9 Power_On_Hours 0x0032 091 0...

Acer 2016W - Brightness 50, there's a noticable whine that comes from the screen when first turned on. After the power supply warms up though, they're silent. Samsung 2443BW - Any brightness setting - zero noise at startup or during general use. Along with great picture quality and response rate, t...

I would still run prime95 on blend for at least 6 hours (preferably 12) to make sure things are stable. Just because temperatures seem "ok" (80C is a little high by my standards) doesn't mean that the system is fully stable.

What program are you using to monitor the temperatures?

I'd also suggest running Memtest86+ on each of the sticks individually. Run at least one full pass on each to make sure they're ok.

You also haven't said what kind of RAM it is, or what the settings are at in BIOS.

Low power nettops/books have always been around, they just werent popular because they couldnt do hardly anything. I can remember low power small pc's like these over 10 years ago. Yes, but the mini-notebooks prior to the Atom-based models we see today were never afforable for the common Joe. My fa...

- Appliances. Worst culprits of these: refrigerator, washer, dryer, faucets, dishwasher. IMO, consumers are idiots for just accepting the mindless noise these devices produce. If we have the technology to make a silent PC we can make a siilent fridge. This is just bad/lazy engineering. Actually, th...

Hopefully, Intel's success has expanded the market so that VIA can continue with its development and offer new/improved small low power processors & boards -- an arena they almost had to themselves before this year. Also looking forward to AMD entries here. Do you know of any very-low-power solutio...

I'm not sure what your budget is, but the Zalman ZM1000-HP might fit the bill. Otherwise, I think the Modu82+ is as good as you'll get if you want something really quiet. If you're an EE major, get yourself a multimeter and a Seasonic Power Angel or Kill-a-Watt meter. Use the power meter to determin...

For what it's worth, my ATI 4850 handles WoW at full settings at 1920x1200 in Northrend with about 40-50FPS (Northrend is considerably more demanding than other locations). I'm guessing that if you wanted full settings on that WQXGA screen you'll need at least a 4870. Thankfully, you can run it with...