Pyro

*Trash taken out* What is it with you people and your constant needs to discuss how you acquired a game?... --- I must say that they've managed to improve the game quite a bit for the PC version. Being able to play your own tracks is great, though they should have made it more customizeable. The graphics are also improved, and the new anti-aliasing options make quite a bit of difference. They resolution changes don't seem to do much though, since the viewing area feels just as small on 1280x1024 as it does on 800x600, and the details don't change that much either. Sure, it's probably not worth buying if you already own the PS2 version, but it *IS* improved.

Oh, come on? You think a stranger just sent you a file in hopes that you'll enjoy it? It's a virus. NEVER open files from strangers. As for emulated enviroments, I don't know of any that simulates phones.

I doubt it will make much difference. The price and performance of MAC's may be slightly affected by it, but for the end user I doubt much will change. It will still not be possible to run OSX on a PC, so the change is really fairly minor.

The problem is that the motherboard in your Laptop uses a Pentium 3 socket. I do not remember which sockets are used for these, but I do know that they won't be compatible with new processors. If you can find a faster Processor with the same socket as your current one, it is possible to upgrade. My advice? Don't bother.

*me agrees* But the only thing i would say is wait for the new GeForce 512mb graphics card. I think Matt'll have a go at me and call me a GeForce fan-boy, but i'm already saving for the thing. Exactly how much are you willing to spend on this computer, too? And nice processor. I was considering getting it, but my budget was too tight, if yours isn't, i'd go for another 1Gb of DDR, Kingston is reliable. Then you will be the 'bogs dollocks'. Next generation GFX? Possibly, because I will be buying the box after summer. I haven't kept up with the release dates on the next-gen cards though. As for the extra RAM, I don't have a use for it. If I decide to spend more money on it, I'll be getting better RAM, not more :P

Find the manual, and if you can't, find instructions for your Socet/Heatsink combo online. If you do not know what you are doing, do not attempt to attach a heatsink. For starters, you could manage to kill the mobo with an ESD. If you're dead-set on trying it, go ahead. Just be carefull, and don't complain if anything breaks.

What exactly are you trying to burn?

I don't own a modern computer, I've just put an extra harddrive in my familys box that I can boot from :) I do own an old box with an unstable GFX though, which I'll be able to use as a server since I won't need it anymore.

Since I picked cheap memory, that's a pretty good indicator of how little overclocking I will do :P But yeah, a low temperature is always nice. I've decided against watercooling though, mainly because the extra work isn't worth it IMO. I suppose I only need to burner, since it's really a combo-drive. Having two drives is simply a matter of laziness, since I can copy DVD's directly without using images. I like it that way :)

I'm planning to buy a new box, and at the moment my list of components looks like this: Case: Cooler Master Centurion Chassi Silver Aluminium PSU: Hiper NÃÆÃâÃâätaggregat ATX 580W HPU-4B580 Triple Fan, Silent, PFC Motherboard: DFI LanParty UT Ultra-D - Socket 939 - ATX Nforce4 - Sata / Gblan / Raid / PCI-Express Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3200+ 2.0GHz Socket 939, 512KB, BOXED m/flÃÆÃâÃâäkt (Venice) Memory: Corsair Value S. PC3200 DDR-DIMM 1024MB Kit w/two matched Value Select 512MB GFX: PowerColor Radeon X800XL 256MB GDDR3 PCI-Express, VIVO/2xDVI, Retail HDD: Samsung SpinPoint P120S 200GB SATA2 8MB 7200RPM NCQ Optical Unit 1: LG DVD-spelare IDE 16x/48x (GDR-8161BB) bulk version Optical Unit 2: NEC DVD-burner ND-3540A IDE Silver OEM DVD+R/+RW/DVD-R/-RW (Dual layer) Floppy: Sony Floppy Drive, 3,5" 1,44MB Silver Floppy Drive Internal CPU-cooler: Zalman CNPS7700B-AICu CPU-FlÃÆÃâÃâäkt Socket A/478/775/754/939/940 And as always, it's usually a good idea to ask for second opinions since it's possible to make mistakes. What I need is reasoning, not fanboyism and similar. "Your GFX will bottleneck the system, you should consider a faster GPU. Take a look at the [x]" is a good reply, "Omg that sux, get teh 2x 6800Ultra!" is not. It's hard to set an exact budget, but I'm not far away from the maximum. The PSU might be a bit more expensive than it needs to be, but that's one thing I don't want to fail :P So, thoughts? ;P

I'm not sure what you're trying to say, but I'm guessing at 'isn't a barebone supposed to be mobo + cpu + ram? Well, when I browse any local (as in 'located in Sweden') stores, a barebone is usually a small computer with a motherboard included. Not just a standard ATX one, but one that is actually built into the case, and hence is smaller. Example: http://media.sweclockers.com/nyhetsbild ... _1stor.jpg Now, I'm sure the word can be used for other things aswell, but the only benefit of buying cases and motherboards as "barebones" would be the smaller size cases. The boxes the original poster mentioned are both standard ATX-size :?

Dual CPU's? AGP? Naw, he wants a gaming box, and games are single-threaded. There might be a few exceptions, but not many. I would most likely get something like this: AMD Athlon64 3500+ 1024 MB Ram (Of any brand that doesn't scream 'no name' out loud) 36GB 10k RPM SATA HDD (Western Digital Raptor) 200GB 7.2K RPM SATA HDD (Any) Geforce 6800GT 256MB PCI-E [or] Radeon x800XL 256MB No, this will not cost 2k US dollars. But it will be fast enough, and there is little reason to spend more. Of course there is room for improvement, but getting top-of-the-line stuff is usually a waste. No doubt you will be able to find other things to spend the excess money on :P

You mean Paladium and Next Generation Secure Base Computing or whatever they call it nowadays? Unfortunatly, I believe both Intel and AMD are involved in it, and that both Apple and Linus Torwalds has expressed interest in it. It doesn't matter. Someone will crack it :P

If that's what Tigerdirect calls Barebones I'd hate to see what a midi-tower is :|

Life after Death, with All Eyes on Me and Illmatic not too far behind.

I wouldn't be so sure. Guild Wars streams a lot of content on-demand to the client, and bandwith is expensive. The servers may not cost as much as the WoW ones do in terms of processing power and memory, but that's mainly a one-time investment with some maintenance now and then. The game will cost a lot of money to run. Besides, support often costs more than servers, and no matter how the game operates they will need that. Yeah, they are optional. But the game is competitve, and those who play it a lot will want to have every advantage they can get. Hence, the addicts will buy the expansions, and the casual gamers will most likely buy some aswell. The difference between GW and WoW in this regard is that in GW you will be able to choose how much you wish to spend on the game and get features based on that decision. For a full experience, you will need to buy expansions. Which is what Blue Tear said, so I fail to see how he is "wrong in so many ways". For the record, I do not play either game, so no one needs to bring in the fanboy argument :)

Don't delete logs. They may seem useless now, but just wait untill you need them for a problem. For the record, you should also create a system restore point before using any such program.

I prefer Windows, in this case XP. It's stable. When it isn't, it is usually because of sloppily coded 3rd-party applications. Not always, but usually. It can be made fairly secure, and as long as you keep up with patches it is no way near as vulnerable as people make it out to be. Of course, no system is ever safe, but you get my drift. It is also very easy to use, and has graphical interfaces for just about anything you need to do. I also like the shell, even though it can be a bit slow at times. That said, it's not an ideal system. It's not very effective for low-end servers, and it doesn't have quite as many options for configuration as Linux/BSD. Hence, different systems have different uses. In my opinion, all the "Windows sucks, I only use it because I have to" attitudes that are running rampant in this day and age are pathetic. If you prefer another system, that's cool, but most people simply jump on the anti-Microsoft bandwagon because it's the "haxxor" thing to do. So yeah, my favourite workstation system is Windows. It may have some flaws, but I've never had any reason to want to switch to another system. That said, everyone should test other systems as well. Who knows, you might find a system that suits you better.

The Cinema Craft Encoder is top of the line, so the creator has a right to charge for it, that's for sure :P In any case, the guide I linked to suggest three different encoders that can be used in it, and CCE is only one of them. I suggest you use one of the two others, as they are free.

Turning DivX/Xvid avi's into DVD-R's? Bad idea, the quality is too low for it to be worth it in most cases. That's what SVCD's are for! http://www.doom9.org/mpg/dvd2svcd-avi.htm As per usual, the answer to all your encoding needs is doom9.org :P

Congratulations! It get's better though, because the national tests for English B are almost identical to those of English A. In other words, you'll have a great opportunity for a top score next year too :)

i know, but if you note the link in my sig ;) You want to host a shard of said game? I don't see why you would be unable to do so on a Desktop OS. If you use the computer for anything except hosting, Windows 2003 was not designed for you.

Windows 2003 was not designed for desktop use, as it is a server system. I suggest switching to the latest desktop system within the windows family, which is Windows XP. Preferably the 32-bit version, due to the fact that so many programs and drivers are incompatible with the 64-bit version.

Did you try running the virus scans in safe mode?

Possibly. Otherwise I believe you can simply boot with a bootdisk and type "Fdisk /mbr". Or something similar, since I've only done it once my memory isn't at its best :P