The computer and electronics super geek thread

[azrael]

Sony vaio VGN-FW200

This may work for you:

http://piyushgaryali.wordpress.com/2006/08...nable-it-again/

[miles316]

This may work for you:

http://piyushgaryali.wordpress.com/2006/08...nable-it-again/

Thank you.

[DJ Loe Kee]

old pc build:

amd athlon xp 2700+ thoroughbred 2.167ghz mildly overclocked to 2.2ghz processor

soyo kt880 dragon2 v2.0 motherboard

corsair xms 1gb (2 x 512mb) ddr 400 (pc 3200) memory

ati radeon 9600pro video card

western digital 160gb ide hard drive

plextor 16x dvd burner, dual layer, slot loading

yamaha 20x cd burner

cooler master praetorian case

4 zalman 80mm quiet case fans

antec true control 500w power supply

thermaltake extreme volcano 12 cooling fan/heatsink

my new pc:

intel core 2 quad q9550 yorkfield 2.83ghz quad-core processor (not overclocked, yet...)

asus p5q pro motherboard

corsair dominator 2gb (2 x 1gb) ddr2 sdram 1066 (pc2 8500) memory

xfx pvt88gydf4 geforce 8800gts (g92) video card

seagate barracuda 500gb sata2 3.0gb/sec hard drive

seagate barracuda 1.5tb sata2 3.0gb/sec hard drive

lg 22x dvd burner, dual layer

samsung 22x dvd burner, dual layer

antec three hundred black computer case

2 antec tri-cool fans (4 fans total)

antec tpq-850 850w power supply

arctic cooling freezer 7 pro cooling fan/heatsink

samsung 2253bw 22in widescreen lcd monitor

m-audio axiom 49 key midi keyboard

i kept my old pc as a backup instead of parting it out like i usually do.

here's an update. my cpu is now overclocked to 3.4ghz

also, the lg drive died on me so i now have two samsung ide dvd burners.

i do music production but i went with the quadcore so that i can dabble in video editing & production.

can anybody help me with my quadcore? it freezes for about 2-3 seconds (mouse won't move, sound won't play) but it always unfreezes. i have it narrowed down to winamp, but i don't know which plugin is causing it.

http://forums.shoutcast.com/showthread.php?postid=2144288

http://blogs.vertigosoftware.com/ralph/arc...p_freezing.aspx

http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=282775

http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=259522

http://forums.winamp.com/showthread.php?threadid=248348

i have v5.541. it started with my winamp freezing my music and pc for 5-10 seconds but eventually it will unfreeze. now other programs freeze too. my job application (ms word .doc file) always 'caused my pc to froze whenever i had to open it and edit it. i thought they they sent me a corrupted .doc file until i paused winamp, opened my file and my pc didn't freeze for once (so it's not ms office that is the problem). the problem is not my seagate 1.5tb hard drive 'cause my system has been freezing when trying to access files on my seagate 500gb hd (i don't use raids). my bios has already been updated and i updated my mb and video card drivers yesterday. i thought that it might have been an issue with my video and sound drivers but my pc froze again when i tried to print a coupon (winamp was running at the time). is there anyway to fix this???

edit: it's not my overclock that is causing the freezing, my pc was freezing when it had factory 2.83ghz settings.

edit: nvm. my 500gb hd just failed the hd test (seagate tools long test). the only part i carried over from my old pc seems to be the problem (everything else is brand new).

Edited May 11, 2009 by DJ Loe Kee

[Twoducks]

Most DIY motherboards have a single PATA connector for legacy. So you will be able to hook up those hard drives and pull the data off/reformat.

Laptops aren't really far behind. Only a generation behind so you'll be able to get by with a fairly recent laptop. Since laptops are all-in-one systems and desktops, you can mix-and-match, there is a price difference. Considering your uses, I'd recommend a 15"-17" laptop. These would be considered in the realm of "desktop replacement". Since you want to throw in gaming, I'd recommend avoiding laptops with Intel video chipsets. The Dell Studio and XPS lines or the HP HDX 16t/18t and dv6t/dv7t with their ATi/Nvidia graphics chipsets would be preferred. You're looking at about a $800 minimum due to the better graphics card.

Most files can be moved from Mac to PC and vice versa with little issues. For the Mac side, you can get away with the Macbook for video editing since it uses a Nvidia 9400M video chipset. The only downside is the 13.3" screen so video editing on that size may be problematic. You can attach a larger monitor so that option is open to your wife. If she plans on working from the laptop exclusively with no external monitor, I'd recommend the Macbook Pro for the larger screens.

Many thanks Azrael!

[grss1982]

snip....

By today’s standards the rig is old; and AMD 2+Ghz, 1,5Gb RAM, 500GB HD and an ATI 256M board. Since I'll have to throw money away on new stuff might as well pick up something a bit beefy. I was thinking I could salvage the two hard drives I have in there and get a new rig. Thing is that the HD are of the old ATA type. Could I use those on the new fancy two processor motherboards or do they all use just SATA?

In new motherboards for either the Intel or AMD...there is only one ATA port. So utmost you can still re-use your old HDD in any new setup. I must add though that if you do plan to reuse that hard drive...you should just use it as a data drive get a SATA drive for the boot/O.S. drive.

Edited May 13, 2009 by grss1982

[VT 1010]

It looks like there's another laptop battery recall:

http://www.engadget.com/2009/05/14/70-000-...to-fire-hazard/

Edited May 15, 2009 by VT 1010

[azrael]

It looks like there's another laptop battery recall:

At least it's just HP and not an industry-wide recall like the one from a couple of years back.

[akt_m]

What's better now? Nvidia or ATI(?AMD)????

[Hiriyu]

What's better now? Nvidia or ATI(?AMD)????

It depends on what you're after. The absolute fastest single-card/single-GPU solutions come from Nvidia currently, but the $$ to bang ratio usually comes out in favor of AMD/ATI (at least, at the moment). I don't really follow the dual-GPU/dual-card hardware much, but the two big vendors are pretty close to parity right now, for the most part.

I picked up one of the new ATI 4890s a couple of weeks ago, replacing my G92 8800GT. The benchmark numbers come within spitting distance of the Nvida GTX280, and at a much nicer price. The GTX 275, which was launched to compete with the 4890, pretty much trades punches with it in every bench. As far as single cards go in the $250-ish range, you can pretty much choose your color and go for it.

[kensei]

I'm working on my own web based business, and a friend has really generously plopped a Genuine copy of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 with Product Key on my lap. Anyone hear used this? Is it a better alternative to Dreamweaver?

[azrael]

I'm working on my own web based business, and a friend has really generously plopped a Genuine copy of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 with Product Key on my lap. Anyone hear used this? Is it a better alternative to Dreamweaver?

Visual Studio? I think that's a bit of too much overkill over Dreamweaver. Its strong suit is for programming in C/C++, Visual Basic, Java, Python, C#, SQL, etc.. It can do all that including web coding in HTML/XHTML, XML-based stuff, JavaScript, CSS and more. Visual Studio is an all-in-one programming suite. Dreamweaver is a more web-centric development tool.

[DJ Loe Kee]

I'm working on my own web based business, and a friend has really generously plopped a Genuine copy of Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 with Product Key on my lap. Anyone hear used this? Is it a better alternative to Dreamweaver?

ms frontpage is their equivalent to dreamweaver. all of the computers at my college have visual studio installed on them but i never found out what to use visual studio for (i use dreamweaver at home and work). i just assumed that it was something that the computer programming majors used and me as a business major had no use for it.

[akt_m]

It depends on what you're after. The absolute fastest single-card/single-GPU solutions come from Nvidia currently, but the $ to bang ratio usually comes out in favor of AMD/ATI (at least, at the moment). I don't really follow the dual-GPU/dual-card hardware much, but the two big vendors are pretty close to parity right now, for the most part.

I picked up one of the new ATI 4890s a couple of weeks ago, replacing my G92 8800GT. The benchmark numbers come within spitting distance of the Nvida GTX280, and at a much nicer price. The GTX 275, which was launched to compete with the 4890, pretty much trades punches with it in every bench. As far as single cards go in the $250-ish range, you can pretty much choose your color and go for it.

At best i'm going for a 60~70 usd range used. Probably in 2 years i will replace my current (i hope my 8600GT won't die before it, i already had to modify the bios so it wouldn't freeze after reaching a temperature). IMO: buying new top video card is kind of a waste of money as they become "old" in 6 months.

[azrael]

At best i'm going for a 60~70 usd range used. Probably in 2 years i will replace my current (i hope my 8600GT won't die before it, i already had to modify the bios so it wouldn't freeze after reaching a temperature). IMO: buying new top video card is kind of a waste of money as they become "old" in 6 months.

At that price range, you'll be looking at a Nvidia 9400 GT-based or Nvidia 9500 GT-based card. On the ATi front, you'll be looking at Radeon 3450, 3650, 3850, 4550, 4650, or a 4670.

[kensei]

Any other product like this that will support HD?

I was planning to get three 2233SW 22" Samsung Monitors.

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/wiki/...eatured_Review)

[Hiriyu]

Any other product like this that will support HD?

I was planning to get three 2233SW 22" Samsung Monitors.

http://www.widescreengamingforum.com/wiki/...eatured_Review)

TH2Go is just about the only "basic" solution available. Before you pop for those monitors, you might want to read my buddy Joe's very in-depth article on TH2GO Digital Edition here: http://www.simhq.com/_technology2/technology_121a.html

I'd also recommend reading his article on the previous version of TH2Go here: http://www.simhq.com/_technology/technology_065a.html

The combined horizontal resolution of 3x 22" monitors is almost certainly going to exceed the TH2Go's max horizontal resolution of 3084 pixels, and will result in you having to downscale the image. Whether that will be a big problem or not will depend on how picky you're going to be about it.

[kensei]

Ah thankyou, that certainly was helpful.

[Uxi]

My next phone, hopefully in 8 days:

http://www.amazon.com/Nokia-N97-Unlocked-S...7292&sr=8-4

And a review/preview:

[kensei]

My next phone, hopefully in 8 days:

http://www.amazon.com/Nokia-N97-Unlocked-S...7292&sr=8-4

And a review/preview:

DUDE! Please let us know how it goes. I love that phone! I can't wait till it hits Australia.

Hopefully the touch OS is as good as if not better than the 5800 Xpressmusic I got.

[kensei]

Just got my rig put in, picked up my case and all and cooler, can't wait to take pics of it and do benchmarks.

So excited, refraining myself from putting up the specs!

This is no green machine.

Three words I will say though: 1000W Power Supply.

[Dax415]

Hi guys,

Was wondering if there was a good free program to help me out with adding a color scheme to a custom I'm working on. The base coat of the figure is a very expensive paint and I was hoping to add some color to a few areas, but didn't want to do it on the actual figure. Even something basic to help me visualize what would look nice in addition to the base coat would be great. Figured if anyone knew it would be someone that frequents this thread, thanks!

Here's a link to the Halo 3 custom spartan in its current state:

http://s144.photobucket.com/albums/r191/da...artan%20Custom/

[shiroikaze]

Odd of me to ask so late in the game but,

What differences are there between XP's Service Pack 2 vs Service Pack 3? What updates or optimizations does SP3 tout over SP2? Is SP3 a resource hog or is it neglible compared to SP2? Will it automatically install/update IE7, Media Player, etc or can I disable those installs?

[azrael]

What differences are there between XP's Service Pack 2 vs Service Pack 3? What updates or optimizations does SP3 tout over SP2?

Besides security updates released between SP2 and SP3 it has the following updates, enhancements and new features:

• MMC 3.0
• MSXML 6
• Microsoft Installer 3.1v2
• Background Intelligent Transfer Service (BITS) 2.5
• IPSec Simple PolicyUpdate for Windows Server 2003 and Windows XP
• Digital Identity Management Service (DIMS)
• Peer Name Resolution Protocol (PNRP) 2.1
• Remote Desktop Protocol 6.1
• Wi-Fi Protected Access2 (WPA2)
• "Black Hole" Router Detection
• Network Access Protection (NAP)
• CredSSP Security Service Provider
• Descriptive Security Options User Interface
• Enhanced security for Administrator and Service policy entries
• Microsoft Cryptographic Module
• Windows Product Activation

SP3 does not change XP UI or experience compared to SP2. You may encounter compatibility issues between programs or drivers that were functional in SP2 but not functional in SP3. But any updates to those programs, if available should remedy that.

Is SP3 a resource hog or is it neglible compared to SP2?

Neglible. As mentioned, there isn't enough of a change between SP2 and SP3 that would really affect your experience.

Will it automatically install/update IE7, Media Player, etc or can I disable those installs?

No. It will not install IE7 or 8 or new versions of Media Player. However, if you have newer versions of IE or Media Player, you will not be able to uninstall them after installing the service pack.

Windows XP SP3 white paper

[shiroikaze]

Thanks Azrael, I've been wondering for a while whether I should install SP3 or not. I guess I'll give it a go sometime next week. Thanks.

[Uxi]

I went to SP3 on my VAIO and wife's computer without issue.

I spend most of my days on my MBP these days. Even when I'm at home, I'm just hooked into my firewire drives and 24" Dell.

The sad part is that I built a new gaming rig awhile back that never really got going. E6850, 8800GTS, etc. Now I'm thinking of putting that into my wife's case maybe with a year of Windows 7 RC while I build myself a Core i7 and a true monster of a GPU like 4GB monstrosity that was just announced

[kensei]

Anyone know of a good mouse pad brand? People were explaining to me that the colour was important. Would there also be any particular one that reduces wear and tear on the mouse feet? To me the MX Revolution is the only mouse out there, none before, none after. The new G9x is ugly.

Can't wait for my Corsair Dominator GT DDR3 RAM to come. Luckily, I did it just in time, as only certain types of RAM can fit underneath the V10 CPU cooler in my new rig.

[VF-19]

Anyone know of a good mouse pad brand? People were explaining to me that the colour was important. Would there also be any particular one that reduces wear and tear on the mouse feet? To me the MX Revolution is the only mouse out there, none before, none after. The new G9x is ugly.

Can't wait for my Corsair Dominator GT DDR3 RAM to come. Luckily, I did it just in time, as only certain types of RAM can fit underneath the V10 CPU cooler in my new rig.

I'm using an old Marvin Martian mousepad (nice thick neoprene) that I got for my birthday about 12-13 years ago, and it works just fine with my mouse.

I have an interesting electronic question. I wear headphones while I work, and somehow the rubber in the cord dries out real fast, causing problems (I lost a good pair of portapros to this), and I want to know: Is there something I can apply to the rubber to restore the moisture in the rubber, restoring its flexibility?

[Uxi]

I haven't used a mousepad in years, since going to optical... 2004 or so?

[azrael]

You really don't need a mouse pad if you have an optical mouse. Unless your table is a glass table, you really don't need one.

I have an interesting electronic question. I wear headphones while I work, and somehow the rubber in the cord dries out real fast, causing problems (I lost a good pair of portapros to this), and I want to know: Is there something I can apply to the rubber to restore the moisture in the rubber, restoring its flexibility?

Don't think there is, at least on the consumer level. At the same time, anything you may apply to the rubber may actually wear it down as it makes it more flexible.

[myk]

Actually, wouldn't a mousepad screw up the performance of an optical mouse?

[Hiriyu]

Actually, wouldn't a mousepad screw up the performance of an optical mouse?

There are special mouse pads available made especially for use with optical mice. These have a differentiated pattern to help the mouse "read" better. Some are conventional fabric-faced. and some are "slick" plastic faced.

My computer desk is glass-topped, so a mousepad is absolutely necessary. I use an X-Trac Pro with my MX610.

[kensei]

I haven't used a mousepad in years, since going to optical... 2004 or so?

Yeah but when you've had to move to a marble surface, it's a necessity.

Can't wait for my rig, gotta see who has a version of the 3D Mark and PC Mark too. I wanna know how I compare.

I've been very unfortunate. I couldn't get the CPU I wanted the Intel Core i7 So I had to build a more modest system.

So instead I got. . .

• Intel Core i7 975
• ASUS Rampage II with Sound card
• 6GB Corsair Dominator GT 1600 DDR3 RAM
• 2 GTX295s
• 2 Seagate 1 TB Hard disks at 7200 RPM
• V10 Cooler Master CPU cooler
• Thermaltake Armor+ Case
• Pioneer DVD Reader/Writer
• Sony All-in-Card Reader
• Silverstone 1000W Power Supply
• Samsung 2333SW 5ms Monitor

Edited June 1, 2009 by kensei

[eugimon]

just finished installing win 7 on my aging dell inspiron 6000 (pentium M 1.7 ghz, 2GB RAM and a radeon X300 video card) and it runs beautifully. I just did an upgrade install over the existing Vista install and everything works, audio and video work fine and there's even a performance bump! Games run noticeably smoother and I can now playback 720p MKV files smoothly where before with vista I could not.

Edited June 3, 2009 by eugimon

[mikeszekely]

just finished installing win 7 on my aging dell inspiron 6000 (pentium M 1.7 ghz, 2GB RAM and a radeon X300 video card) and it runs beautifully. I just did an upgrade install over the existing Vista install and everything works, audio and video work fine and there's even a performance bump! Games run noticeably smoother and I can now playback 720p MKV files smoothly where before with vista I could not.

Glad to hear you're liking it. I just ordered a pair of SATA 3.0Gbps hard drives to replace a SATA 1.5Gbps and an IDE, and in anticipation of doing a fresh OS install, I figured I'd give Windows 7 a try on my gaming system (3.0GHz Core 2 Duo, 3GB RAM, GeForce 9800GTX+), before going back to Vista when the new HDDs arrive. My main goal was to see how games would run, since I only did Beta 1 on a netbook. I'm actually so pleased with it that I've decided to stick with Windows 7 as my main OS until it starts nagging me about expiration, or I get an RTM copy (assuming that my contact that provided me with my XP Pro, Vista Business, and Office 2007 VLKs can get me one for Win7 Pro).

In a nutshell for anyone else interested in trying Windows 7, it's the best features of Vista with some serious tweaks and a few new features that make it all around better. You can get Release Candidate 1 from Microsoft directly, and it's good until July or August of next year.

[azrael]

I'm working with Win 7 RC1 on my VM and I've noticed it to be much more polished than the Beta. But, I have notice some initial higher memory consumption compared to the beta. Nothing that would turn me off like Vista did but something I've been keeping tabs on. I'll definitely switch to Win7 when I rebuild my OS around X'mas but I'm hoping they don't pull any funny business with the RTM/final release.