Kwisatz

I am really bent on getting the vid card cooler. After hearing many things about how you need to cool the 6800GT and how it heats up to like 60C, I believe that it is well worth the investment. If it's not and it just adds to everything then I'll just pull it out. Newegg has the cold cathode but it's in a one-pack. This one is a two-pack, and I'm going to wire one in the bottom and one in the back vertically (next to the rear 120mm fan). In this particular case, there are 5 fan slots, two of which come stock with 80mm fans. The back and the top fans are lit and come stock. The side where the exhaust port vent thing is fits an 80mm perfectly. And there are two in the front. My fan layout: Move the stock back fan to the side where the exhaust port is and keep the filter and ditch the big thing that sticks out inside the case. Then put a 120mm in back and two 80mm in front. I will look for quieter fans. I just picked out the first two I saw because I was in a rush :P. Thanks to everyone so far for the constructive criticism. For the price this looks like it'll be the most killer system ever.

Updated it. All the high price stuff is coming from the more-reputable NewEgg this time, with all the odds and ends that NewEgg didn't have from Tiger.

A few nub questions BTW: I just received two nice speakers (not sure what you call them, but I'll call them speakers-with-two-tweeters-and-a-woofer-that-you-hook-up-to-a-receiver-with-speaker-wire speakers). However, they need to be hooked up via speaker wire. I know you need a receiver for this so you can make the computer's 3.5mm headphone jack into RCA, pipe it into a receiver, and then go to the speakers. However, I can't find a super-low-price receiver. Is there a way to just get the "amplifier" portion without the fancy bells and whistles? I plan on using these speakers as the rears in conjunction with the 5.1 system for a 7.1 system, and then using them for music when my computer is off. Is there a significant performance difference between the 6800 and 6800GT cards? How does the 6800 compare to the 6600GT? Also, @Pyro and WYrm: About the CPU fan, you have to buy it separate from the processor, and I don't plan to overclock, since the multiplier is locked on all AMD64 processors except the FX series, and I don't want to fool with the FSB. And I'll be updating the links to newegg, since I checked the BBB about TigerDirect and they had legal action taken against them, whereas Newegg has a better rating on both the BBB and resellerratings.

I disagree. Socket 939 AMD64's, especially the latest Venice/San Diego cores, are very easy to overclock without generating massive amounts of heat. You can overclock these quite a lot with the standard fan that ships with the Boxed version of the processor. In fact, there's a chance that the Box-fan is actually better than the one the poster picked. As for Power Supply Units, you should be aware that wattage means very little. If you bough a Q-Tec 500W and a Tagan 300W, which would be more efficient? Difficult to say, but my money is on the Tagan. Go for a seperate PSU and pick one of a brand known for quality products. I have personally had trouble with horrible PSU's that shipped with cases, and it's not particularily entertaining. Also, I must say I see very little need for the VGA-cooler card. EDIT: For the record, a Power Supply Unit with higher wattage will not consume more power unless your computer uses more power. @Pyro and Eugeny- Sure, I'll look into getting the case that I had before, the X-Plorer. I was gonna buy the one I mentioned because it was a "step above" the X-Plorer, and already had a PSU. And I've never installed a PSU myself. Which leads me to my next point... @Wyrm - I have built computers from scratch before ('cept using a plywood board as a case :P). Especially after dealing with this company that I got my [now returned] computer from, I think that I'm fairly, if not very competent. I can hook up cables and wire the molex connectors properly to the fan controller, install a neon, install fans, install drivers, install a mobo and processor/heatsink, wire front panel connectors, etc. Not especially difficult. @Eugeny - I refuse to use an optical mouse. Don't ask me why, but I like ball mice way better. And that stuff about them having to be "cleaned" is BS. I haven't cleaned my circa-1998 Intellimouse since I got it, and it still runs perfectly with no stoppage, jittering, imprecision, etc. And I'm fine with cleaning out a mouse ball once a week, if need be with this Logitech. Concerning the PSU, it just came with the case. And I think that I'll fall back to the X-Plorer, which is $40, plus a decent PSU. About the hard disk - it's my lowest priority at this point. It's upgradable, and I'm not exactly the most demanding person when it comes to "performance." And 80GB has always more than enough, especially since I have 50GB of Network Attatched Storage on another computer for backup and such. Once I re-price, we'll see. The processor is also low-priority at this point. I ran all the aforementioned games on Source at 8 AA/AF 1280x1024 at a solid 55-60 fps with the 6600GT and a 3000+. That's why I'm so weirded-out when people tell me that the 6600GT is "mediocre" when it delivers that kind of performance compared to its ATI counterpart for the money.

I would get the XFX 6600GT. I had it in my now-defunct computer, and it is pretty much the only component that has not actually broken or anything. I can also max it out on HL2 at 1280x1024 and still run at 40fps with no o/cing :shock: . I don't know if this is a mistake of some sort or what, but it runs everything I throw at it WONDERFULLY.

Currently third revision Well, one $850 computer and 9 invoices for missing/damaged parts from CyberPower, I've contacted my credit card company and such and I'm sending my current computer back, because of the terrible/rude support and the fact that it's never worked properly for more than two weeks at a time. Hopefully I'll get a refund of $850, and build a computer myself, since my parents are now convinced that buying from someone is not always the best option. Here, I am looking at a $1300 price ceiling for a new computer with speakers, input devices, and the works - mid-range video card, DVD Dual-Layer/Multiformat burner, etc. This includes shipping and some money for shipping back defective parts, upgrades, odds and ends, cables, etc. I already have a monitor. This computer will be used to play Source Engine games and HL1 games, browse the web, create levels for aforementioned games in Hammer, and do heavy text editing (like 40 editplus/firefox/notepad windows open at once). Currently I am buying from newegg.com for the high-price items and TigerDirect for the neons and minor crap. I am looking at the following parts, which are all given in USD. I have checked all of these parts for compatibility, but if I missed anything, then please tell me. Some notes: I have a fan controller, and space for all of the fans. Unless you can show me a system that will provide some kind of insurance protection against leakage, water cooling is NOT an option in a DIY system for me. If it were built by some company that has a warranty than I'd happily oblige, but I really don't trust myself to do any extensive amount of modification and handling of liquid around $1000 equipment. Case ASPIRE X-Plorer ATXB8KLW-BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail $50 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16811144102 Power Supply ASPIRE ATX-CW500WP4 ATX 500W Power Supply 115/230 V UL, CSA, TUV, CE - Retail $35 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16817148027 Motherboard GIGABYTE GA-K8N Pro-SLI Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail $115 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16813128301 Processor AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice 1GHz FSB 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor - Retail $219 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16819103533 Memory GeIL Value 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Unbuffered DDR 400 (PC 3200) Dual Channel Kit System Memory - Retail $84 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16820144310 Hard Disk HITACHI Deskstar 7K80 HDS728080PLA380 -0A30356 80GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM $63 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16822145082 Optical Drive LG Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 4X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 5X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 40X CD-R 24X CD-RW 40X CD-ROM 2M Cache IDE DVD Burner - OEM $46 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16827136049 Floppy Drive SONY Black 1.44MB 3.5" Internal Floppy Drive Model MPF920 Black - OEM $11 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16821103116 Keyboard Logitech Office Internet Pro 967453-0403 Black 103 Normal Keys 11 Function keys Function Keys PS/2 Wired Standard Keyboard - OEM $7 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16823126164 Mouse Logitech Value 953817-0403 Black 3 Buttons 1x Wheel PS/2 Optical Mouse - OEM $6 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16826104181 Video Card Albatron 7800GT Geforce 7800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 VIVO PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail $359 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16814170088 Back Fan Antec 77095 120mm Blue LED Light Case Cooling Fan - Retail $14 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835129016 Front Fans Antec 75000 80mm Sleeve Case Cooling Fan - Retail $7 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835129027 Light LOGISYS Computer CLK15BL 15" Blue Deluxe Sound Activated Cold Cathode Light Kit - Retail $8 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16800888073 OS Windows XP w/ SP2 $147 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16837102153 Op Drive Cable ORION Pro Series Blue 12" True ATA133/100/66/33 IDE Round Cable, 2-Head Model 700-093-12BU - Retail $3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16812104551 Floppy Cable ORION Pro Series 18" Blue Floppy Round Cable, Internal IDC 34, Booted, 2-Connectors Model 700-010-BU - Retail $3 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16812103501 TV Tuner KWORLD VS-LTV7131R(RF W/FM) PCI Interface TV Tuner Card - Retail $30 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16815100129 Video Card Fan Dynatron DB1206SP 120mm Sleeve System Exhaust Blower - Retail $4 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16835888602 Speakers Logitech X-530 70 Watts 5.1 Speaker - Retail $47 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?Item=N82E16836121118 Miscellaneous (shipping etc.) 200 TOTAL $1,457 I just left 200 for shipping and such. It'll probably be about $1350 in total, a bit more than I wanted, but meh, this thing is a BEAST. If all goes well, I am ordering in two days, so PLEASE give me some advice! Changes from my last configuration, which is below in the small print: -Got a different mobo, an SLI one from Gigabit, so rather than swapping out the graphics card, I can just get another 6800GT of the same kind. -Upgraded to 6800GT -Upgraded to a better, SATA hard disk -Got cheaper case and separate PSU -Upgraded to a 3500+. as suggested Revision 2: -Changed to quieter case fans Revision 3: -Ground-up rebuild. Changed vid card to 7800gt, different fans, other crap. OLD Newegg.com config with TigerDirect parts for reference: AOpen 91.05210.45H Geforce 6800GT 256MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express x16 Video Card - Retail AMD Athlon 64 3500+ Venice 1GHz FSB 512KB L2 Cache Socket 939 Processor - Retail (includes fan and heatsink) GIGABYTE GA-K8N Pro-SLI Socket 939 NVIDIA nForce4 SLI ATX AMD Motherboard - Retail ASPIRE X-Plorer ATXB8KLW-BK Black Steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case - Retail ASPIRE ATX-CW500WP4 500W Power Supply - Retail GeIL Value 1GB (2 x 512MB) 184-Pin DDR SDRAM Dual Channel Kit System Memory - Retail HITACHI Deskstar 7K80 HDS728080PLA380 -0A30356 80GB 7200 RPM 8MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s Hard Drive - OEM LG Black 16X DVD+R 8X DVD+RW 4X DVD+R DL 16X DVD-R 6X DVD-RW 5X DVD-RAM 16X DVD-ROM 40X CD-R 24X CD-RW 40X CD-ROM 2M Cache IDE DVD Burner - OEM Logitech X-530 5.1 Speaker - Retail Microsoft Windows XP Professional With Service Pack 2 - OEM $13 Light ULT31368 Ultra Dual 12" Cold Cathode Light Kit - Blue $19 Video Card Cooler SP-FC70-BL Vantec Spectrum PCI Fan Card with Blue UV LED $16 Case Fan Back AEROFLOW-4CB-120MM Aerocool AeroFlow Quad Blue 120mm LED Case Fan $16 Keyboard and Mouse 967318-0403 Logitech Labtec Internet Desktop Keyboard & Mouse Combo Unincom U8025 80mm Sleeve Cooling Fan - Retail x 2 OLD CONFIGURATION FROM TIGERDIRECT: (leaving this here for reference) *$160 Case: ATXA8NW-AL500 Aspire X-Navigator Aluminum ATX Mid-Tower Case with Clear Side, Front USB and Firewire Ports, Built-in Fan Controller and 500-Watt Power Supply $308 Mobo and Processor BFG RNF4U nForce4 Socket 939 ATX MotherBoard and an AMD Athlon 64 3200+ Processor $120 Memory x 2: ULT30215 Ultra 512MB PC3200 DDR 400MHz CL3 Memory $165 Graphics card 128-P2-N368-TX eVGA GeForce 6600 GT 128MB DDR PCI Epress DVI TV-OUT Video Card $2 Thermal Paste *$60 Hard Disk 14R9246 Hitachi 80GB 7200 2MB ATA-100 EIDE OEM Hard Drive *$51 Optical Drive Samsung 16x4x16x DVD+RW 12x4x16x DVD-RW 5x DVD+R DL Black OEM DVD Burner with Nero Software and Adrenaline Pack $14 CPU Fan A4006 Thermaltake TR2 M6 Socket 754940 AMD Athlon 64Opteron Ball Bearing Copper Core CPU Cooling Fan $13 Light ULT31368 Ultra Dual 12" Cold Cathode Light Kit - Blue $19 Video Card Cooler SP-FC70-BL Vantec Spectrum PCI Fan Card with Blue UV LED $16 Case Fan Back AEROFLOW-4CB-120MM Aerocool AeroFlow Quad Blue 120mm LED Case Fan *$140 Operating System MicrosoftÃÆÃââââ¬Ã¡ÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâî WindowsÃÆÃââââ¬Ã¡ÃÆââ¬Å¡Ãâî XP Pro Edition OEM Version with SP2 $16 Keyboard and Mouse 967318-0403 Logitech Labtec Internet Desktop Keyboard & Mouse Combo $22 Case Fan Front x 2 Aerocool X-Blaster 80mm Cooling Fan with Dual Ball Bearing - 4000RPM *$55 Speakers 970114-0403 Logitech X530 70-Watt PC Multimedia Home Theater Speakers I would greatly appreciate any contructive criticism and intelligible flaming you can give me on this setup.

In order of best, descending: Tom Scholz of Boston Eddie Van Halen of Van Halen Rudolf Schnenker of The Scorpions Todd Rundgren for Meat Loaf, himself, etc. I can't think of a fifth really outstanding guitarist that I have heard, so I'll just stick to those four.

Please do NOT use my RL name on these forums. It is not appreciated. I think you can figure why it's "corrupt." Whenever anyone else does the same outside of gay marriage context, it gets censored. And when I did the same thing in one of my pitiful go away posts, it got edited and removed and I got a warning and stuff. It's a good ol' fashioned example of communism. I'm not gonna go all self-righteous and hack [sploit] the forums and such like that one guy did to RSC, but think about it. The mods go around parading the banner of "no cursing, no bumping old [cabbage], no cursing, no posting porno, etc." and then an admin curses, lashes out at me for no apparent reason rather than simply correcting me, and then admins don't keep accurate records, make posts about me not knowing the capability of these forums (when they are run my open-source PhpBB, so I actually do), and cite my having incorrect sig size when I don't. And then the users get sarcasm, unexplained locking, unexplained penalties, etc. Somehow I do not feel that this is a fair combination. Then when I bring this up, I get kicked and banned from IRC chatrooms. Ban me from here if you really feel it necessary to quash a user such as myself for stating simple facts. If you go that low you can be sure that many will have much lower feelings and expectations towards such vile moderators and administrators. I admit that, in the past, I have been very aggravating, but really, what I've just seen on this thread and in the past few weeks just oversteps the line. Posting on tip.it used to be a constructive experience in which one could gain very insightful knowledge into computing, people, and the world in general. Rather, it has become a wasteland in which a select few staff rule over the forums and self-righteously go around locking old bumped topics and locking new topics that are about the same thing. I would just like to say that this has really opened my eyes to the fact that you simply cannot rely on some people to always do the noble thing. I will not leave, simply because of many respected members that I love to interact with, but I no longer hold any faith in the staff in general to make fair decisions or fair actions. I hope you feel good with yourselves. **EDIT: I remembered a quote that may sum it up well. And read Animal Farm if you want more insight. ** EDIT 2: I also remembered, there is a possibility that someone may delete the above, citing "off topic". Henceforth I will make a backup of the above and post some stuff below. Even if VBR is supposedly "better," it seems that it also takes more processing power to regulate the playback and conversion to analog signal, particularly on an MP3 player. I don't think that can be disputed.

In my opinion Porsches suck, because I crashed one into a tree. There's a difference between saying you have had problems with VBR and saying it sucks. The main difference being that the first is true and the second is bullshit. VBR is severely more space-efficient than CBR (Constant), and what do you think is the *only* reason people use MP3, as opposed to say, WAW, is? Space-efficiency. If you and your friends cannot get VBR to work well, then you and your friends are doing something wrong. There really isn't more to it than that. And for the record, semi-corrupt VBR's are just as playable as their CBR counterparts. It just seems that every online community I am part of is getting more and more corrupt, and full of hypocritical power figures. I realize that I am not in a position to criticize anyone, but I feel that the rules should be upheld by those who made and enforce them. [/offtopic] Anyway, notice how I said "in my experience." This means, ladies and gents, that my knowlege comes from WHAT I HAVE DONE, not WHAT I HEAR. In fact, let's do a real-world test. I have Van Halen's classic 1984 album here, with Panama, a song that I know down to every single bass note and riff. We'll encode at various VBR and CBR bitrates using LAME MP3 and CDex, a ripping program. Google to find it, I'm too much of a lazy bum to post the link. Van Halen - Panama, converted from Remastered Audio CD w/ no visible scratches 192Kbps CBR, Stereo, MPEG I: 4.87 MB 192Kbps - 224Kbps VBR, Stereo, MPEG I, using VBR Default method: 5.53 MB Well, gee pa, the VBR one is BIGGER! And to me, there is very little audible difference between the two tracks. The digitally-mastered CD still sounds better and has a more deep sound than either MP3, and the guitar and bass is still less prominent on the VBR copy. So I think it's easier to save myself ~ 150 MB and just encode at 192 and up accordingly.

erm doesnt work... Perhaps you could be more specific...?

no 1337 pl0z!!11111omfg myu comp is t3h no w0rk! If you're using IE7 then revert to IE6 and see if that helps.

It's just tip.it's tempermental servers.

lol how are we supposed to know? you havn't told us what mp3 player you have :P look in your manual and/or take a close look at the player for any switches and buttons He gave the site. http://cnmemory.de They apparently have downloadable PDFs to look at. Additionally, it appears that it just acts like a removable drive, where you copy and paste MP3s from Explorer, like a Creative MuVo. (Except it uses more generic drivers). It also may just be that your MP3 files are damaged, if you got them off of KaZaa or a similar P2P service. I have a damaged MP3 of Bachman Turner Overdrive's "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" and it works fine in Winamp, since Winamp pwns, and the fact that the computer has processing power to spare to try and repair and subsequently play the MP3 file on the fly. But with an MP3 player, damaged files just don't play (in my experience, anyway.) Or, it could be that the bitrate is so low that it doesn't play at the correct speed. My MP3 player only does 32 Kbps 22Khz MP3s and up, so when I tried to play a 24Kbps, 11Khz mp3, it played slowly, and detected the length incorrectly. It could also be that your mp3s are all incorrectly encoded using VBR (Variable Bit Rate). And just so you know, VBR sucks. I have another MP3 ("White Wedding") that is VBR, and Winamp incorrectly detects the length and my MP3 player doesn't play it correctly. So it sounds like MP3 corruption may be your problem. Get DBPowerAMP and rip a CD, then try putting those on your MP3 player. If those work, then your MP3s are mildly corrupted, and you should get them from somewhere that is reputable, like MP3Search, a russian music site. And before anybody screams "OMFGWTF!!11111 russhien muzak is teh ill3gal!" read this, and you'll see that it is. Actually, VBR is superior to flat rate encoding and it makes much more sense. When you need higher bitrate, it's supplied and when you don't the bitrate drops. If you encode an mp3 with a bad encoder, you can have problems with any type of encoding including VBR, but with a decent encoder, VBR is the best possible encoding (for size and quality). I find that a lot of p2p networks (especially bittorrent) are flooded with very LOW quality VBR files. VBR can be encoded at different qualities like any other mp3, and if done at a reasonable quality, it's great. Most of my mp3s are VBR (many encoded by myself with LAME) and I've neevr had a problem with any of my 4 (all different brands) mp3 players (plus the mp3 deck in my car and winamp) ever having issues with playing them or displaying their correct length. agreed lol, VBR is great if you use a good encode and decoder. When i rip music i always use VBR. I've always had problems with VBR when downloading, from allofmp3, from mp3search, and from kazaa, and the ones from the russian sites are like 320 sometimes. It seems that even one slipped byte screws it all up. May be fine for you, but in my experience (and many of my friends) VBR just blows. It's always easier to rip at 192 and then up the bitrate accordingly for deeper-instrumentation songs.

lol how are we supposed to know? you havn't told us what mp3 player you have :P look in your manual and/or take a close look at the player for any switches and buttons He gave the site. http://cnmemory.de They apparently have downloadable PDFs to look at. Additionally, it appears that it just acts like a removable drive, where you copy and paste MP3s from Explorer, like a Creative MuVo. (Except it uses more generic drivers). It also may just be that your MP3 files are damaged, if you got them off of KaZaa or a similar P2P service. I have a damaged MP3 of Bachman Turner Overdrive's "You Ain't Seen Nothing Yet" and it works fine in Winamp, since Winamp pwns, and the fact that the computer has processing power to spare to try and repair and subsequently play the MP3 file on the fly. But with an MP3 player, damaged files just don't play (in my experience, anyway.) Or, it could be that the bitrate is so low that it doesn't play at the correct speed. My MP3 player only does 32 Kbps 22Khz MP3s and up, so when I tried to play a 24Kbps, 11Khz mp3, it played slowly, and detected the length incorrectly. It could also be that your mp3s are all incorrectly encoded using VBR (Variable Bit Rate). And just so you know, VBR sucks. I have another MP3 ("White Wedding") that is VBR, and Winamp incorrectly detects the length and my MP3 player doesn't play it correctly. So it sounds like MP3 corruption may be your problem. Get DBPowerAMP and rip a CD, then try putting those on your MP3 player. If those work, then your MP3s are mildly corrupted, and you should get them from somewhere that is reputable, like MP3Search, a russian music site. And before anybody screams "OMFGWTF!!11111 russhien muzak is teh ill3gal!" read this, and you'll see that it is.

That's pathetic. You get no help or sympathy from me. Wow, and I thought I was an a**hole. Unlike most smokers, he admits that he has an addiction and is seeking help quitting. It's not always necessarily the person's fault if they have a problem. For instance, my friend used to be overweight for a bit because his family never really told him that he had to stop eating. It was always "Oh, have more! Have as much as you want!" and he always used to eat simply because it tasted good, not necessarily because he was hungry. This made him very overweight and because of this he had a very depressing life for about a year, until he eventually began to exercise and diet, and got back to his normal weight. So if anybody ever says that it's his fault, it isn't always, because some people are very impressionable, especially from those they are close to. Think, if you were that age and someone like your father or someone you look up to began to smoke, there is a strong chance that you might too. On top of which, nicotine actually does release endorphins (? I think) that stimulate the pleasure center of the brain, so scientifically, they actually DO feel good, and that's why they are so addictive. It's hard to fight your anatomy.

Excellent point you bring up Futurama. Very SUSPICIOUS looking to me... :wink: I think I will cast my vote for number one anyways, since it looks WAY cooler because of the color. And since you said in your other thread it should be abstract, what the frick is the space doing in there?

MyPurpleCrayon! GOTTA SPAM 'EM ALL! (the threads I mean). Anyway, I just finished playing Red because I was bored out of my mind. It makes me feel good, since when I was 8 I got a GBC for Christmas with Pokemon Red, A Bug's Life (movie tie-in, I was ignorant then), and Kirby's Dream Land 2. I just started out with a Bulbasaur and trained it only, and avoided trainers when I could. By the time I got to the 1337 four, it was lvl 80. But it still took me a month to beat it the first time. I also remember finding all sorts of dope GameShark codes for it, like 0115D8CF, which catches Mew in wild. I have a legit lvl 100 Mew, and I traded it to my Gold. Anywho, this time around I played it well and trained evenly. My pokemon after beating the Elite Four (all level 44) are Gengar, Golem, Pikachu, Arcanine, Bulbasaur, and Gyrados. All the final-form ones know all their moves. I'm still waiting on Bulbasaur and Gyrados. I also remember all sorts of stupid rumors flying around the playground: "If you Shark your game then it will say you cheated at the end and you won't win!" "You can get into Bill's backyard!" "You can get a Mew by Surfing in SS Anne!" (actually you can in Jap. version, you have to use a weird glitch to get him in Red, or a Shark). Ah, good times. Please excuse my rambling.

Well...you could do an iframe, or you could write a server-side script. PM me with what you want and your website and I'll gladly help you out.

You need Macromedia Flash and/or Shockwave players. http://www.macromedia.com/shockwave/dow ... kwaveFlash ^^ Download there Miniclip and many other modern gaming sites use the easier-to-program-for Flash platform. Java is only for more advanced stuff like Runescape and older games like Jet Slalom.

You can plug a monitor into a laptop usually. It should have a VGA port on the back. Do what that Hannibal character said :P. If it's your graphics card and you have integrated graphics, then it is safe to say that your mobo is dying. If you have an AGP/PCI/PCIE vid card, then I'd replace it (duh). If it's the monitor then (you guessed it) replace it. Also, try moving your speakers away from your monitor. If speakers aren't magnetically shielded, then they can cause all sorts of interference in displays and sometimes trigger hard disk corruption.

Same thing happened to me when I installed a new mobo but kept the same OS :/ I found out that it was a bad mobo in my case. First, press F8 while Windows is booting and try to boot into safe mode. It should list some files. If it freezes and/or restarts on a particular file, then you may want to restore it from the WinXP CD, which I'll explain later. Or it could boot and you'll just do diagnostics from there. If it still doesn't work, then get into your BIOS by pressing Del or whatever it says when your comp starts up and reset it to optomized defaults. This way, if anything halppened to the BIOS settings, they will be back to working order. If THAT doesn't work, then try flashing your BIOS with the latest manufacturer's update, and check that all the jumper settings for integrated audio, etc. work. In addition, it would be a good idea to get PHLAK and burn it to a CD. Then boot from it and just let automount and fstab do the rest; copy all your files to a USB drive or something. Using PHLAK will also help you to determine whether it is a hardware problem that occured at a very inopportune, coincidental time or if it's WinXP. You can additionally install PHLAK to the hard disk and uncab and copy files from the WinXP CD manually, if you think Windows or a particular file is messed up.

*sigh* Whenever I state a FACT, not even an OPINION, I get slammed by everyone and "omfgwtfbbq!!1111" ensues. Perhaps everyone would LEARN TO READ?

Could you give more reasons for the zen micro "blowing?" As of yet I have had totally wonderful experiences with it. And just because everyone has something does not make it automatically better (very apparent in the case of AIM vs. MSN) In addition, the click wheel is not as intuitive as the Zen Micro's touchpad, in my opinion. The Zen Micro is easier to operate by feel alone, whereas you must look at the iPod mini to use it.

I have the Creative Zen Micro, and I like it better than the iPod Mini - nobody else has one, it looks cooler (in my opinion), better sound quality, more space for money, voice recorder, FM, user-changeable battery, custom EQ, and more. But since you're obviously looking for a high-capacity mp3 player, I would go with the Creative Zen, which is just the same thing, but bigger capacity and size. It's only available in Asian Markets (see http://hk.creative.com//products/produc ... duct=11519 to buy), but it apparently uses English software and such, so you should be okay. Be aware that I haven't used the Zen itself, but it's supposedly identical to the Zen Micro except for capacity, so I'd go with it. But if you need photo then just get another iPod.

I agree with Dan. I will give everyone the honest-to-God truth. I run NOTHING on this computer, at all. No anti-virus software, no Spybot, no Ad-Aware, no nothing. This is against conventional wisdom. But, ladies and gents, I have something that other people do not have: COMMON SENSE (and a bit of skillZ). I've been using the internet and related services for 7 years now. In all that time, I have NEVER gotten a virus, trojan, keylogger, etc. I have gotten spyware ONCE in all that time, and I promptly removed it without the use of any software. Just listen to me for a second. If you don't open suspicious emails, then you can't get viruses. If your email client doesn't parse as HTML as soon as you view it, you won't get viruses. If you use Firefox and have all the patches and don't download suspicious applets, you won't get viruses. If you don't download suspicious programs, you won't get viruses. If you don't accept files from strangers, you won't get viruses. It's simple as that. And, if you run behind a router, then nobody can get to your computer, unless they use a trojan and reverse connect, in which case you're screwed anyway. So, in short - if more people took the time to be educated and woke up to the dangers of the internet, then spyware and such would not be much of a problem. But most unfortunately we have people running around downloading [Caution: ExecutableFile] files because they think that they're Christmas pictures (I actually got paid $50 to disinfect a machine that had this happen). So stop trying to come up with cockamaniac ideas to circumvent keyloggers and don't get them in the first place. Plus, NetDevil, Optix, CIA, and Beast ALL detect application changes, keyboard pastes, and backspaces, and can retrieve encrypted password files. "Hackers" do not write their own trojans, rather, they download special software that allows them to use an existing codebase and create thier own custom-tailored trojan file, which has identical features to any other trojan created using the same software. In other words, if "hackers" use the same trojan software (which many do), and use the popular ones (NetDevil, etc.) then they ALL detect backspaces and stuff, meaning that the average trojan is "smart" enough to detect it. So let me reiterate for the third time: don't get them and you'll be fine. If you get a trojan or a keylogger you're pretty much screwed. And Dan said that first.