David Hingtgen

Same---very few things can take advantage of a quad nowadays. There are certainly situations where a quad is better, a lot better. (do you render 3D graphics or encode terabytes of high-def video?) But they are few and far between with current software/tech. Get a faster dual for less money, and it'll do better more often.

I'm buying the E8400. (yes, I'm planning my new PC---just found out I may be able to get it by June or maybe even earlier, quite a bit sooner than I thought) I've seen few things that can take advantage of quad core, it seems for what I want, a faster dual-core will be better. And the E8400 is an awesome performance/price value. It's just sold-out 24/7 a lot of places, and they keep increasing the price. It was 200-220 bucks when it was new, now that everyone knows about it and wants it, most places want 240-250. Supply and demand. ::long part edited since I found THIS article:: http://www.techarp.com/showarticle.aspx?artno=510&pgno=0 1600mhz won't become standard, which is good for me, as that means almost all future socket 775 CPU's will still only require 1333 FSB's. As for graphics---IMHO 8800GT still beats 9600GT in most categories. But the 9800GT may be out by the time I'm actually ready to buy. It may be a "9000", but it's still only a x600, vs an x800. A high-end 8xxx will beat a low-end 9xxx. 9600 and 8800 are VERY close though.

They keep changing things, that's part of the problem. It was built with a ski-ramp. They wanted the entire bow re-done to be a flat-top with catapults. Now they want a BIG ski-ramp for MiG-29's. And some say catapults on the ski-ramps! The ability of a catapult-less MiG-29 isn't much payload. An article I found that was dated earlier this month, says another 4-5 years of work is currently required to get the Gorshkov operational, at a cost of 2.7 billion. Buying 65 Super Hornets looks faster/cheaper/better all the time...

Taking out all the fancy ECM etc in the Kitty Hawk surely won't cost billions. Remember, the Gorshkov still needs 2 important things before it can be used at all with the MiG-29K: 1. Catapults. That's not cheap/easy to install in a ship that doesn't have them. 2. Arresting gear/wires. Also not cheap/easy to install in a ship that doesn't have them. Those 2 things are the main reason the Gorshkov still needs billions of dollars and lots of time before it's ready. Also, (BTW) it needs a completely new powerplant. They're apparently converting it from steam to diesel. Even if the MiG-29K could be made to work without a catapult, there's no way to make it land without arresting wires.

Yeah, but the Gorshkov still needs billions more to fix it up and there's no guarantee of it EVER actually being done and working right. Assuming you've already spent a TON of money and time trying to get a Russian carrier working, what would you do: Spend billions more to finish the project, and end up with a not-that-great, small Russian carrier. Maybe, if Russia ever actually gets it done. Or: Get an American supercarrier delivered in perfect working order for free, you just have to buy the planes.

In other news, the rumor is that SecDef Gates (with Bush's approval) will be offering the USS Kitty Hawk to India, if they agree to buy 65 Super Hornets to equip it. (since Russia is still years and billions away from finishing the Gorshkov for them).

Just waiting for Voyage of the Dawn Treader (2nd-best book IMHO, but could so easily be screwed up as a movie). I was never that big on "Prince Caspian" compared to the others.

I was just about to post/ask about the latest ep, so I'll address your question as well: Anyone else see the latest ep w/Blackarachnia? AWESOME ep IMHO. (Lockdown/Arcee was good too, but not as good as this). There does seem to be two types of eps IMHO: Introduce/deepen a character, or "generic villain/situation of the week". The former are definitely better than the latter. And--since GobotFool asked it in this thread and I replied, should I go ahead and close the dedicated TF:Animated thread, located here: http://macrossworld.com/mwf/index.php?show...5&start=175 and have all future posts here in the main TF thread? Otherwise, these 2 posts should be moved to the Animated thread.

106 pgs? I'm on page 85. Must have different settings.

Heck, they could have just added a hinge in the middle of each rotor blade, then they could fold down into 3-clawed hands like Omega Supreme--which isn't unusual for TF's. But they're just too big as is to pass for ANYTHING.

Strange that I never noticed agp440 in other safe-mode starts. Ok, well, either way the new Nvidia stuff (specifically "Ntune") was what was causing the problem. The new drivers themselves are ok (simply a new version of the main .dll) but the other stuff was causing almost total screen blackouts/freezing. Long post that most people won't care about follows: Got my slot cooler. Works fine, quite quiet on medium. At low you just hear the fan rattle, at high it's a roar of air. At medium it all just kinda blends together with the background noise/PC. Took apart my AGP card while I had the PC open. I'm not sure WHAT was between the heatsink and chip. Some sort of thermal pad I'd guess. Yellow, not stringy nor greasy. Reminded me a LOT of poster-tack. Only harder. Not sticky to the fingers at all. When I pulled off the heatsink, half the GPU chip was mirror-finish smooth---the thermal whatever completely came off on much of it (or there never was any to start). I had some Arctic Silver 5, so I thought "might as well" and cleaned up the chips and sinks as best I could and used it. Found something interesting--I'm guessing it's one of those "PCI-E to AGP" converter chips or whatever they're called. It was very small, but under a big heatsink of its own. Maybe a 2mm x 8mm chip, with a heatsink the size of most southbridges'. "U2" was the only identifying mark on the board, the chip itself had nothing I could see. The slot cooler's fan is too close to the motherboard and too far forward to be at all effective when mounted DIRECTLY below the card, so I have it one slot lower. Testing today gives me about 7C lower in idle and unknown (guessing 5C) under load. (Due to the card's passive cooling and massive heatsink, it's basically always "very warm" regardless of idle vs load) Will try some overclocking over the next 48 hours, and decide if this cooling is A. enough to allow me to get a significant bump performance-wise when OC'ing, (unlikely), B. promising enough that I'll spend another 30 bucks and get a Zalman fan and REALLY overclock the thing with the (hopefully) 15C margin I'll gain, or C. realize it's so minor that nothing could help.

Turned on my PC this morning and SOMETHING was messed graphically, big time. I had just recently downloaded new graphics card drivers etc from Nvidia (I often avoid updating drivers for this very reason--if it works, don't mess with it---new drivers OFTEN cause problems where none existed). Long story short, I used a system restore point and now everything's OK I think. When I saw it loading "agp440.drv" in safe mode I knew something was up, as that was what the PC was using 2 years ago... (and 7600GS's do not like MX440 drivers)

Are there any "normal" cases with a second low-mounted fan to exhaust from the PCI slot area? I've seen some very weird/expensive setups with something like that, but I've never seen your "basic ATX case, with an extra exhaust fan in the lower section". Even looking for some venting in that area eliminates over half of all cases. Also (newb question)---what's up with intake fans? Are they more for circulation than anything else? So many cases have "optional" intake fans. And you know me--noise! Having a fan right up front is about the worst thing I can think of for me.

I've decided that upgrading my current system any more is pointless---any CPU it can take is only SLIGHTLY better, same for the graphics card. However, as my graphics card warranty expires in 2 weeks, I'm going to see about overclocking it. As it is currently a silent passively-cooled card, I have a PCI slot fan (adjustable speed) arriving tomorrow---for 8 bucks, we'll see what happens. If that doesn't allow enough headroom, I'm going to see if I can remove the massive heatsink and install an actual fan GPU cooler. Thinking Zalman VF700 all-copper. I mean, if it's used to NO fan, and I go with something like that on a low-med setting, it should run a lot cooler than it used to, with very little noise. Now for my question for my future new PC: I'll probably go with a 8800GT or GTS. I notice the GTS's usually have the dual-slot "exhaust duct through the back of the case" cooling. Are they quieter than the 8800GT's with their "just a fan blowing air to the bottom of the case"? I've seen a few comments that dual-slot cooling systems are "surprisingly quiet". Does that mean quiet overall as all graphics cards go, or just surprising considering how high-end cards like that usually are? (Since high-end cards are often very loud with screaming fans)? If the GTS's are are bit quieter (plus the higher performance) I'll gladly pay the 60 bucks or so GTS's seem to go for over a GT.

I didn't click, and thus didn't know. Remember MW is supposed to be kept PG-13. Unexpected NSFW stuff is NOT appreciated.

I'll take a B.A.T. and a Lackey Viper. (I haven't bought any 25th stuff, but I'll buy those) Hope they're not in two-packs though.

Locking is required because it's SO floppy, the chest moves if you look at it funny. You can't even make a slight change to the arm/shoulder pose without the entire torso coming apart. Want to raise the gun a few degrees? You'll have to re-transform the entire upper half of the battroid to get it all back together, as the upper chest plate holds the entire torso together, but doesn't really "hold" itself to anything.

I'll wait to see if this one has been improved over the FP version. If it has, I'll sell my current one and buy the new one. The YF-19 is my fave valk, so I have to have the best version.

HUGE restock at Wal-Mart today. I haven't seen this many TF's since the June movie toy launch. A dozen Voyager Starscreams, first '76 BB in months, first Concept BB in months (and only the 2nd through 4th I've ever seen), regular Jazz, etc. Both sizes of Megs. No Prime , Barricade, or regular Ironhide. Repaints: the Dreadwing repaints, Night/Stealth/whatever Ironhide Jungle Bonecrusher (looks MUCH better in person), Desert Leader Brawl (looks MUCH worse in person), Swindle repaint. Plus all the new Deluxes---S7 SUV, Dunebuggy, etc.

Close but not quite---the point of the cut-out in the leading edge of the horizontal stabilizers. Any time you have a sharp zig-zag on the edge like that on a plane, the point is called a dogtooth. Go look at a Super Hornet's or F-4's wing for more.

Actually, it's more along the lines of "hot chick of the week" had extremely soft focus in their shots.

True. Same problem apparently exists with Trek TOS.

Most people just have never seen "old films" in anything other than cable TV or VHS. And the DVDs of many of those films are just transfers of the old VHS and thus look no better. But if they go back and make HD masters off the original film, they will have resolution just as good as the newest and best Hollywood blockbuster. PS--black and white film has inherently higher resolution than color, so think about that...

A quick Wiki check lists typical 35mm movie film at around 6000p equivalent. It'll be a while before any display tech can truly show what 30-year-old film has to offer.

That, and Misa. With VF's already done, there might be a chance for some characters.