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A *good* 300 W PSU can probably run most A64 systems without any problems at all. A cheap 300 W PSU, however, and all bets are off.

Somebody already has dibs on the graphics card if it lived. :D

That's kind of my assumption at this point. I've already got my "unplanned upgrade" parts on the way from Newegg.com. Mobo, CPU, RAM, hard drive and video card. And I'm replacing the PSU too.

Overclocking ram is pretty much a waste, as noted. For backups, it is probably easier to just get an external USB hard drive and use the backup software that comes with it. Much easier for Mom to understand than Raid 1 or ghosting or whatever. "Click on this and all the stuff in the big box...

I'm going to tear it all apart to see what burned/melted/whatever, I couldn't tell just by looking in the case. I thought the power switch thing was wierd as hell, but since the power switch on the front of the case just plugs into the mobo, if the mobo craps out, the switch might not do...

Here is what happened. 1) Thunder storm hit area with a ton of lightning while I was out of the house. PC was left on. (NOTE: PC was on surge protector) 2) Go to turn on PC, notice fans are running & LEDs are on, but nobody is home (no signal to monitor). Also, smell of burned plastic...

Right now, the truth is we've got no earthly idea if the next AMD or the next Intel processor will be better. Saying WOW INTEL PRESS RELEASES READ BETTER doesn't mean anything. Saying Intel has an advantage based on that is silly, it assumes that AMD is going to give away what they are doing...

And all of the Athlon 64's out right now are just killer bang-for-the-buck propositions for gaming. For $323 you can buy a 3800+ that out-performs every Intel desktop CPU in existence in games, including $1,000 Extreme Editions. And if you have the budget, the x2 processors are all-around...

Pentium 4 660. For $400 you get a CPU that is only marginally slower than a $600 670. With a bigger budget, the 670 is as fast or faster than the Extreme Editions at pretty much everything, and is only $600 vs. $1,000 for the EEs. Gaming performance may be kind of weak compared to AMD's...

Based on nVidia's own specs, the Smartpower 2.0 500W is good to go for SLI as well. +12V@36A (17A+19A). So why do you insist on saying otherwise? :confused:

I don't see any reason to conclude that the Enermax would be the slightest bit better than the Smartpower 2.0 500W. SLI Certified = marketing gimmick.

I've got a SmartPower 2.0 500W in my P180 case. It is a pretty nice PSU, comes with modular sleeved cables (though not as pretty as the above pics :eek: ), runs quiet if you have good airflow to it so both fans don't have to speed up. But if it was for a case that didn't have a big fan...

I'd recommend a 6800 GT or an x800 XL as far as relatively high end bang-for-the-buck goes. As far as I know, the fastest AGP 8x card is the x850 XT-PE.

That looks pretty dang good for an off-the-shelf system. A64 x2, too.

Boy, are you about to look silly... :p Emphasis added, in case you can't read well because of bad eyesight. Translation: "Who cares what reality is, I'll just repeat what I like to believe. LALALALALA..." This was a Dell all of 1 years old, incidentally. :rolleyes: Note that...

LOL, here is a hint: I actually took one apart and looked at it. Had a friend who wanted to upgrade their Dell, oops. A big ol' tower with no extra internal drive bays, no graphics card slot, some crappy proprietary heatsink/fan, and a non-standard PSU rated for some ridiculously low wattage...

I dunno, $1,000 Intel processors being matched in performance by $350 AMD processors in games seems non-trivial to me. ;)

To answer the topic question, it depends. In general, I have a very negative opinion of Dell. Their customer service for the consumer market (as distinguished from their business support) is horrible. The people who process incoming orders are also complete idiots, go to the Dell forums and...

I had a Super Lanboy for about a year. It is a nice package, you get enough room for most uses and 2x120mm fans for lots of airflow at low noise. Just be aware that it is built for light weight primarily (hence the name), so it isn't the most rugged case out there. I replaced mine with a...

You might want to consider the SmartPower 2.0 instead of the TruePower for the P180. The fan layout makes more sense for the P180's lower chamber (fans blow straight through the PSU), and with that 120mm fan blowing on it, the fans never ramp up to speed, so it always seems to run quiet. You...

I'm pretty sure you'll want a HDTV with HDMI inputs, then use a DVI-to-HDMI adapter to feed it a digital signal from your video card. And the latest DLP HDTVs are pretty awesome... my Dad got a Toshiba 52HMX84 with a HD2+ chip, and it is amazing to look at. Just be advised that some...

Yeah, it was simple once I ignored the instructions and did what made sense. :)

http://www.silentpcreview.com/article251-page1.html Scythe SCNJ-1000 Ninja looks pretty amazing, even with the silly name. I'd also look at the Thermalright SI-120 instead of the XP-120, since the former is compatable with more motherboards & performs as well (or better).

The Asus A8V Deluxe 2.0 is a very stable board. For the longest time, it seemed like the most recommeded choice if you wanted a S939 board that wouldn't fuck up on you. I know mine is the most stable thing I've ever seen in the last 10+ years. That or the MSI K8N Neo2 Platinum, I think it...

I'm include to agree that UPS are more prone to be fucktards than FedEx. Newegg.com has never given me any problems, shit gets processed fast and delivered on time. I always look for the best deal, but if it is close, my default option is Newegg.com.

I think your experience is par for the course: good product, shitty instructions. The XP-90 I got came with shitty instructions, too. I wound up not following them at all, since it seemed like following them was a sure-fire way to break something. But the cooler itself was great.

Something slower than an FX-57 may, or may not, overclock up to its level... good overclocks are NOT guaranteed, no matter what hardware you use. And, of course, the FX-57 is itself a great overclocker, and will likely overclock way past what a cheaper processor can do.

"What's porche's advantage again?" Spending more time on the road than in the shop? :D The Lian Li masturbation on this topic is funny. I've seen their cases, they are fine, but they aren't worthy of the wankery going on here in my opinion. It's a nice aluminum case. So what? HAY...

Back when I had a 9800 Pro, it seemed like my driver upgrades wouldn't work about 1/2 the time if I didn't use Driver Cleaner, so I got in the habit of using it all the time. With my 6800 GT, I used DC to get rid of the old ATI drivers. But I didn't use DC the first time I upgraded my nVidia...

I hate to be vague, but if it really got electrically zapped, it could be anything. But the fact that lights come on if you turn on the power suggests that the motherboard is OK, and the power supply is OK, but something else got fried, since the power switch and lights run off the...

1. Not really. They basically just screw into the case. As long as the case's screw hole thingies (I forget the real name) are in the right place, you just line the mobo up and screw it in. For all the parts ands tuff, basically there is a unique socket for everything, and everything only...

By "multitasking" they mean doing stuff like ripping DVDs or encoding MP3s while playing Doom 3 at the same time, not just goofing around with Internet Explorer while listening to music... that kind of stuff doesn't stress your CPU at all.

The VF-700 would be my suggestion, though my experience with the Silencer has been great (for whatever that's worth)... running for about a year on an overclocked 6800 GT with no worries.

All-around best: x2 4800+ Best multi-tasking: x2 4800+ Best for pure gaming/single threaded performance: FX-57 Best value: none of the above. :D (maybe an OC'd x2 4400+ or 3500+?) If I was only paying 1/2 price, I'd get an x2 4800+ and be done with it. With my own money and full...

Price is no object, exclusively for gaming, the FX-57 simply can't be beat. http://www.anandtech.com/cpuchipsets/showdoc.aspx?i=2456&p=6 All-around best CPU (still better at gaming than all Intel products, plus better at almost everything else too) is the x2 4800+. Again, that's "price...

Well, a x2 4400+ and a 7800 GT makes a better all-around system than a x2 3800+ and a 7800 GTX. It will probably be a wash in games, but better all-around for everything else.

The only thing I'd throw out there, more as a general comment than for the poster' specific question, is that "multitasking" means multiple programs that actually put some stress on the CPU. If that's what you are doing, the x2 is the winner by far. But some folks run Word in one window...

Well, yes and no. I mean, they are overpriced (like everyone's fastest CPU always is). But the x2 4800+ is a pretty awesome processor. It is like having two 4000+ processors on 1 chip, and each one is faster than any current Intel CPU at gaming. The only downside is that games (at least...

You might want to look into the new SI-120 from Thermalright, it uses a 120mm fan like the XP-120, but is supposed to fit every motherboard out there (unlike the XP-120). Or the Scythe SCNJ-1000, which is this cool heatpipe/tower thing with a 120mm fan on the side. It got a glowing review from...

I've owned a bunch of OEM PCs, all Intel, and built my first AMD system last year. The AMD is the most reliable of the systems I've owned. But everything around the CPU is better than my past PCs: stronger power supply, better cooling, and so forth. If I built an Intel system like my...