Lord Diddy

I have never played Settlers IV nor tried the multplayer. In your case you should use a crossover cable instead of a normal (straight-through) Ethernet cable. You could pick one up online or at a store, http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16812107215

The best way way is to do a fresh reinstall of Windows/OSX/Linux and update all your drivers to the latest version. For extra performance you can overclock your hardware.

Read the reviews and browsed online, looks like the M4 is a winner. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820148441 Oh and any advice on the best HDD bencharmking software? HD Tach http://www.simplisoftware.com/Public/index.php?request=HdTach HD Tune http://www.hdtune.com/ ATTO Disk Benchmark http://www.techpowerup.com/downloads/123/mirrors.php Crystal DiskMark http://crystalmark.info/software/CrystalDiskMark/index-e.html

I know what you mean but even on this hard drive with a 60gb (58.5gb available) partition and my previous installs I have around 15 gb of free space left. It's possible that I would run out of space but I'm not sure if I'd need the extra space, unless of course there is one that is worthwhile from a gb/$$ standpoint. The extra money could go into another SSD that I could use for my other setup.

You are very correct with the dual channel controllers, I have a pair of 2x4gb on the way right now that should be arriving tomorrow. Also the fact that if i plan to go up to 8+ GB I can purchase another pair.

So the prices of hard drives skyrocketed, and Christmas just passed so I thought it would be the perfect time to buy. To start off I am planning to buy an SSD, roughly around 60gb, just enough to hold windows 7 OS. Currently these are the ones I am interested in buying but I need help to separate the good from the bad. I am looking for speed, reliability, and quality (aren't we all) :thumbup: http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.aspx?Submit=Property&Subcategory=636&Description=&Type=&N=100008120&IsNodeId=1&srchInDesc=&MinPrice=&MaxPrice=&PropertyCodeValue=4214%3A57390&PropertyCodeValue=4214%3A39415&PropertyCodeValue=4214%3A30848&PropertyCodeValue=4214%3A45225 I really don't have a reason to buy over 60-70gb so if any recommendations are made please keep it around the 100$ mark give or take about 20-30 dollars and within the specified Gb range. Also if you can, elaborate on what the Controller (eg. SandForce SF-1222, SandForce SF-2281) types are and what do they do. I'd really like to get my baby up to the 7.0+ mark. Any advice, suggestions, and recommendations are welcome. [hide= Specs] Operating System MS Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit SP1 CPU Intel Core i5 2500K @ 3.30GHz 28 °C Sandy Bridge 32nm Technology RAM 6.00 GB DDR3 @ 647MHz (9-9-9-24) Motherboard ASUSTeK Computer INC. P8P67 PRO REV 3.1 (LGA1155) Graphics DELL E196FP (1280x1024@60Hz) SAMSUNG (1920x1080@60Hz) ATI Radeon HD 5700 Series Hard Drives 625GB Western Digital WDC WD6401AALS-00E8B0 ATA Device (SATA) 30 °C 488GB Western Digital WDC WD5000AAKS-00UU3A0 ATA Device (SATA) 31 °C Optical Drives ASUS DRW-24B1ST a ATA Device Audio Realtek High Definition Audio[/hide]

Download the latest Firefox, from the look of it you don't have the latest one. Just go to Help -> About firefox and you should be able to download the latest one, or just simply go to their website and download it. To limit down the causes if you go to Help -> Restart with add-ons disabled, you can see if your addons are the problem. Adblock Plus + WOT addons ftw

Try this, I heard it works for some who have this problem; not guaranteed to work. You will have to find your Java path, so go to program files, find the Java folder, and find the path to the bin folder then copy and paste that. Make sure that you have uninstalled java, along with all the previous versions and reinstall the new one. I'm surprised so many people have this problem, when you first start rs and received a message box looking like this (It would look different since you are on win7) did you alllow it?

What I use Thermal Paste: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007 Heatsink: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065 (I use this in my computer 33/idle 45/load, make sure it fits in your case)

This is an HP G42-230US 14-Inch Laptop Planning to get this as a replacement screen http://www.amazon.com/HP-G42-230US-LAPTOP-SUBSTITUTE-REPLACEMENT/dp/B003ZXOOVA Just need a second opinion to make sure everything is in order. Also do you prefer matte or glossy for a screen finish?

Jeremy wrote a very nice post, try to POST without any ram, if you succeed try adding one by one and try to boot, if you fail to boot without ram - unplug any peripherals and try a POST. There might be a cable that got loose somehow during the upgrade. Edit - Sbrideau made me realize its not a good idea to post without proofreading, especially after 6 study marathon for finals. :blink:

You're welcome, the only thing that you might want to have a deeper look at is the motherboard. I went and got a P8P67 Pro, which was by far a very amazing board, one click and it took my i5 from 3.2ghz stock speed and overclocked to 4.1ghz (With the suggested heatsink + artic silver thermal paste). Its a few bucks more but its really quality. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813131770

Don't use registry cleaners, it really does nothing to performance and can cause problems. But CCleaner is pretty solid program to use one in a while, not a daily routine.

The i5 route might be a bit more expensive, but extremely worthwhile, the 2500k I personally use is phenomenal (Granted you buy some aftermarket cooling) CPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819115072 GPU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814150521 MOBO: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813130583 PSU: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139020 HDD: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822148697 RAM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820231428 DVDROM: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16827135204 Case: Pretty much up to you, it's whatever is aesthetically pleasing for you. Thermal Paste: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835100007 Heatsink: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16835103065 (I use this in my computer 38/idle 45/load, make sure it fits in your case) Also for monitors, pretty much anything you want in size. (Asus for quality) http://www.newegg.com/Store/SubCategory.aspx?SubCategory=20&name=LCD-Monitors&Order=REVIEWS Not nice responding to people helping you like that, especially on a forum where the advice is very good, but may take a while to come. Also to boot changing the build time estimate from 1 year to who knows when.

There are some builds that will last a few years, so I asked. Its true, technology is increasing exponentially. Due to prices changing with the new upcoming generation, what you would consider buying now might not even be worth it in 1 year times (Windows 8 might come in 2012). Also now HDD prices are horrible lmao. If you're going for a build make sure you grab some good thermal paste along with an aftermarket headsink/fan if your board supports overclocking.

Building a computer is one of the smartest things you can do, if you feel comfortable doing that. You could start a new thread and ask specifically for a new computer build (this thread might be cluttered, up to you) . Just let everyone know your price range and what you plan for the computer.

To see what PSU (Power Supply Unit) you have all you need to do is open up the PC and read the label on the unit where you attach the power cord to. According to your system you have 12 VDC, 180 W or 200 W maximum continuous output, might want to double check, the manuals might not be accurate. Honestly, your looking at a dead end computer. I've spent 50$ on an AGP card for an old computer that only provided minor improvements and when I finally built a new computer It was basically worthless. You'd be much better off building off of new technology instead of spending money on a dead end.

Anyone have any suggestions for a Firewire type enclosure that wont break the bank? I'm pretty much only going to use this for this, i doubt I'd have use for it again.

Its significantly more likely that the the motherboard is DOA. At this point i think you've concluded that there is something wrong with the mobo, especially with the bare minimum boot and outside of case. Hopefully they would send you a new one.

Possible overheating issue? is there a good, working fan cooling off the GPU? Check temperatures of it under a stress test.

A good place to start is from scratch. Take out all extra components, everything but the bare minimum. Take out all the ram, remove the video card, any cables leading to other peripherals or components. All you should have is the motherboard, a CPU with a working heatsink+fan, and the PSU, and of course the monitor keyboard and mouse. Check are all the fans running at maximum speed when you try to boot? I've solved a lot of headache producing problems starting from scratch and adding a since component at a time to pin point the problem. Also could be the case short-circuiting the board, but that's rare. You should try taking out the mobo and testing outside of case if all else fails.

I've tried that already, A main question I'd like to know is whether the limitation of booting from USB is from the model itself, or the OSX version that it is currently running. So that hypothetically if I did install Leopard on it, would it finally be USB bootable? Hmm there must be something that I'm missing...

If you have any other laptops laying around, test one and see if the problem is limited to your laptop/pc or the router itself. Post results of these tests, might be an ISP problem. http://www.speedtest.net/ http://www.pingtest.net/

Yeah I've been using a very comprehensive guide similar to the one posted. I've made the USB Bootable and have tried on a Macbook Pro (OSX 10.6) and is recognized. Sadly I feel that my model or OSX version simply cannot boot from USB. Also to make clear, I've been making the USB OSX drives using the ibook with 10.3 (Panther). Would somehow I find it more successful to make one using the MacBook Pro because of its wider range of options? Any help is appreciated.