azrael

If you aren't planning a major upgrade, then I would suggest shooting low for a video card. A GeForce FX5200/FX5500-series, 6200-series or a ATI Radeon 9550 or 9600-series. These will probably bring you out of the MX440-hole that you have but won't burst your upgrade budget. These are low-end cards and will handle anything your MX440 did and a little more. Most of these cards are sub-$100 to $150-range. From the money you'll save here, spend it on a reliable brand 400-450W PSU. Seasonic does make a 330W PSU, but the price is about the same or slightly lower than an Antec 400-450W PSU.

I'm tempted to say that myself.

Just a few notes. AGP vs. PCI-E - Ideally, you'll want to update from AGP to PCI-E because the standard is going that way (or I should say, is already that way). But nothing is ideal in this world. If you intend on keeping that system a little longer David, stay with AGP. Go to PCI-E when you get a new system. Yes. I've used Crucial in my earlier builds and found them to be extremely stable. As much as Antec has been good to me, there are days where I wonder if the fans actually are pushing out any air. For newer power supplies, a few things you should consider is Efficiency of 75-85% (or better) and Active PFC. Concerning Nvidia cards. There are a few other companies that use Nvidia chipsets. EVGA, BFG Technologies, Chaintech, Sapphire, and the list goes on. Usually, all of these manufacturers will make competing spec video cards. The same GPU, same quality and quantity of RAM. The differences are under the hood and barely noticeable to most users. BFG Tech is more of an enthusiast brand name since they overclock their cards out-of-the-box. They also offer a lifetime warranty on all of their video cards. You pay a premium on their stuff but there is the quality factor.

One other thing about video is you may wish to run SLI (basically 2 video cards connected together to work as 1). This will probably force you to get a higher capacity power supply (although, if you get a GeForce 8800, you probably won't need SLI and you probably won't be buying anything for a few months either). Also, consider compromising certain areas. If your work is more 3D-work and gaming, consider spending more for video than other components. If you do more processor-intensive work, consider a better processor and less video, etc.

Rumor around the cast very early on was someone was going to be gone this year. This popped up in David Eick's video blog (appropriately titled "Who Dies?"). So this has been planned since the season started.

Can't help you with there "where to get it" part, but I can help you with the "what do you need" part. Since you're doing AutoCAD and gaming, I'll focus on video. I'd suggest a non-integrated video card, which means you'll want to look at Nvidia or ATI. On the Nvidia-front, you'll probably want to look at a minimum of a 7600-series. A 7300LE will probably cut it for AutoCAD, but if you plan on gaming as well, I would shoot for a 7600-series or higher (7900-series). On the ATI-end of things, the X1600 will do for AutoCAD. A X1650 might be better for gaming. I'm not an ATI-guru so some other opinion may be needed. For reference, I'd look at the Dell Dimension E520 (high end specs) or the XPS 410 as the essential specs. I would focus on better video and more RAM. The rest of the specs will satisfy what you need. Performance mode refers to tweaking the RAM (i.e. overclocking). It does not involve dual channel. Most likely, you are also running in dual channel.

If you can, go ahead. I would check with the manufacturer to be sure they don't have a dead pixel policy. PNY is ok. But as always, your mileage may vary. Ideally with Dual Channel, to avoid potential problems, you may want to get a Dual Channel kit. This is suppose to ensure that both sticks were made in the exact same production batch. This is to ensure that both sticks are 100% identical. Again, this is just an ideal condition, not written in stone. You can get away with dual channel as long as you buy the 2 sticks from the same maker and be sure that they are the same model/specs. I would check prices before buying. There may be times where buying a dual channel kit may be cheaper than buying individual sticks and vice versa. As stated above, speed-wise, you won't notice as much. Capacity-wise, you will notice. Adding memory does help. I would run CPU-z to identify the RAM in your system. I don't have a test for dual channel, unfortunately. This depends on the motherboard. Ideally, many brand-name makers like HP or Dell use default voltages. It's not required but there are instances where your system will not POST (Power-On Self-Test) due to incorrect voltages on the RAM.

So...are they going to make the breasts, crotches and asses more or less pronounced?

You bought Apple earphones? You're better off getting a different set of earphones than the Apple earphones. BTW, you can turn off the spell-checker in Firefox (Tools->Options->Advanced->General tab)

This month's solicits: MG Zeta Gundam Unit #3 - April, 5,250 yen (From Evolve ep. 9, This would be #98) So....are they stalling until 100, or are we being nudged in a certain direction? (There is a 0087 Green Divers commemoration screening event coming at the end March at Tokorozawa Aviation Museum). This is a recoloring of MG Zeta ver. 2.

HG is the only ones selling the repackaged Animeigo set. Other retailers are only selling the ADV version with the new dub.

The Macross set is probably the repackaged Animeigo set. And yes, that is the correct price. As for the other 2, a quick check on DVDPriceSearch.com show Mospeada and Southern Cross for $56.43/each @ DVDPacific.com.

That video card is kinda obscure so you were right to question it. It's an HP OEM card so it's not sold among retailers. I would suggest a GeForce 7300 if you must go low. Not many people use the 7500LE so it's hard to find anything useful on it. edit: needed to clear up my post.

The head height of Hi-Nu looks about right. RX-78 - 18m S-Freedom - 18.88m Hi-Nu - 20m Nu - 22m

I don't recall ever seeing a logo on Shin's VF-0s. But then again, I never really cared.

Changing the name of this thread to "Ghost Rider movie thread".

Neutral. I've seen their products fail and I've seen their stuff work really well.

"A Day in the Life" We can't have fighter action all the time. Plus it saves me from hearing RDM's whining about the budget when we don't have those scenes. At least we know Adama has his own "Head Six", even if it is a once a year thing. We also got Apollo's opinion about his mom. We now know that Adama's wife shares as much blame for Apollo's fraked-up life as much as daddy.

For mice, go to Fry's, Best Buy, CompUSA, Circuit City, anywhere and feel the mice in your hand before you go out and buy one. If comfort is what you want, then you really need to go out and feel the shapes in your hand. I've used mostly Microsoft and Logitech throughout my years. Both make great mice. I've tended toward Logitech these days, but I've hated the shape they used for the MediaPlay/V100/150/LX3 when I placed my hand on it. Keyboards....Logisys makes illuminated keyboards that come with a PS/2 adapter. Saitek also makes illuminated keyboards, minus the PS/2 adapter which you could just pull off the mouse if the mouse comes with a PS/2 adapter. I'm not a keyboard-nut as I've used the same keyboard for about the past 10 years (personal use, work is another matter).

I don't think you need a cantenna for a home network unless you have 6-inch walls made of lead. Socket AM2 are about the same as their socket 939 predecessors. They are more energy efficient but there's actually very few noticeable differences between the 2 cores. The AM2 cores, I won't say has longevity, but the parts you'll be using to build that system, like the RAM, will be around. Between the 2 DFI boards, the specs are about the same. Northbridge chipsets are the same (nForce 4). On-board audio and networking is the same. Only difference between the 2 is the nF4 SLI-DR Expert supports and additional PCI slot and RAID 5. So it's bang-for-buck. The nF4 SLI-DR Expert wins since it has some additional features for the same price and the other DFI board. Between the Asus boards, it's polar ends. The A8N5X is more of a low-medium end board; not feature-heavy. RAID is only 0/1/0+1, Single LAN connector, no SLI. The A8N32-SLI Deluxe is a high-end board. Dual LAN, more RAID options, SLI, etc. So this boils down to what you want to do with it and how much you plan to spend. If you plan to really push this system, then the A8N32-SLI Deluxe would be the best route. If you have no clear picture of what you want to do with it, or plan to give it to someone who probably will not be doing any serious gaming, i.e. basic stuff (e-mail, 'net, photo sharing, word processing), then the A8N5X would probably be a better choice. Between the 2 Asus boards, I would ask yourself (you don't need to tell us) what you intend to do with it and how much are you willing to spend.

That's never been addressed, unfortunately.

I'd avoid the Draft-N routers until they finally settle on the specs, hence why they are called "Draft-N". Although the Draft-N equipment is pretty close to the final specs, so there won't be any significant changes. I would look at the WRT54GL or WRT54GS. Cheaper and there's a modified firmware out there (http://www.dd-wrt.com/dd-wrtv2/index.php) which adds lots of features to the router that the default firmware lacks. I've Linksys for about 6 years now and all the stuff I've used from them has been solid.

Socket 939 is being phased out, unfortunately. You may wish to try other vendors. Tiger Direct has some 939 boards in stock. You may wish to try them.

AMD has their own fix for dual-core setups: http://www.amd.com/us-en/Processors/Techni...1_13118,00.html I have a Core 2 Macbook so I may try that MS download and see if I get any improvement out of it (I dual boot on my Mac. ) A Tablet PC would be a good idea if you need a laptop on the field. I've played with a few and they are definitely worth it. 1) Try a different disc drive. Try that problematic disc drive on another computer. 2) DDR and DDR2 are not compatible with each other so you will not find boards that have both DDR and DDR2 slots. What CPU are you planning on getting?

I agree with that. If you are getting Vista with a new machine, I'd just keep it there. The driver issues is just one of the things holding me back. Personally, I'm staying clear of Vista until SP1.