Rukus

I have the same monitor, with the same issue. I've never done much soldering, how hard is it to desolder the capacitors? Would I need to get a desoldering tool?

No, Windows does not consider/utilize video RAM as system RAM. Two completely different animals as far as Windows is concerned.

Where are you seeing these price drops? Certainly not on Nvidia hardware. The vast majority of Nvidia DX10 hardware cannot come down in price. There are many articles out there elaborating as to why. The manufacturers are stuck with the component pricing from Nvidia. Nvidia hasn't blinked (as yet) and dropped any of their prices on parts to their affiliates. Even if Nvidia would drop prices, that doesn't change the cost of units still in the distribution pipe. The units already completed still have to be sold/cleared out at higher prices, even if on a razor thin margin. Look at Nvidia GTX 275 prices, for only a small amount more you can have a 5850 that blows it away. With some GTX 275 variants, the 5850 is cheaper. And where are you obtaining these framerates of 120 fps to 150 fps? Even with the 5870, some games at maxed quality levels with maxed AA on big resolutions struggle to get past 40 fps with single card solutions. These aren't benchmarkers. These are avid gamers. Your average gamer isn't getting those sorts of framerates on an average budget GPU while playing on high to maxed quality settings, except on some older titles. The drivers for the vast majority of DX 9/10/10.1 cards have fully matured and the components are about as tweaked/OC'd as they can get. For gamers wanting higher resolutions and higher quality settings from their games, the older crop of GPUs just isn't cutting it and their performance is just about maxed. New software titles are bound to push the envelope even further. The only thing that's allowed the older GPUs to hang around this long has been the refocusing of the game industry on consoles instead of the PC platform. Otherwise, units like the GTX 260 would have been obsolete quite some time ago.

The GPU market already has trouble on the horizon, without DX versions even being in the picture. Not at all. Have you even looked at any 58xx test reviews? The performance of the 58xx's is a significant improvement and will get even better as the drivers are tweaked.

Just wanted to ask a question to those who have already installed Win7 from an OEM disk. The licensing states that you must use the MS OPK (OEM Preinstallation Kit) to install the OS. Has anyone actually used the OPK? I would gather that it isn't required (outside of the licensing wording) in terms of loading Win7 from the disk or I would have read about people having yet another MS hoop to jump through. I just ordered the OEM version (Home Premium 64 bit, system builder) and was just curious as to whether I need to mess around with the OPK software just to get it installed?

Right, but I was also thinking about DX11 as well. Personally, I'd rather spend slightly more and be ready for next generation games. It all depends on what plans (and budget) the OP has in terms of which direction he should go. If the OP is just looking for a 'fill-in' card to just get by, then a single 4870 would suffice and not sting their wallet. However, if the OP is looking for a card he can live with for a long time, then I feel the 5850 is a better choice over CF'd 4870's.

I agree. The only thing the 57xx's really have going for them is DX11. Outside of that, they are very unimpressive as they stand right now. The best option would be to save a bit more cash and go for a 5850. As many have stated already, the 5850 is simply the best performer (in many aspects) for the money out there at the moment.

Hehe, still thinking it over. I feel customer service is a big plus and when I add that factor into things, EVGA wins hands down. I've emailed ASUS several times with support questions and have never received a reply. I don't even own an EVGA product (yet) and emailed them several questions, all were answered within 24 hours and on one question they even followed up their response with a clarification later. If both cards are relatively equal in performance and around the same price point, then I'm going with the company that provides the better support. I've never had an issue with any of my ASUS mobos but their support, as far as I've experienced, has been disappointing. The difference being that EVGA wants me to be a customer and ASUS appears to take me for granted. Best way I know of to express my sentiments on the matter is with my wallet.

Thanks for all the responses! I'm gathering that there really isn't anything appreciably different between the ASUS and EVGA cards I cited in terms of components and design. As far as the small side trip the thread took, I know many companies that have the exact same stance as EVGA about Ebay purchases. I can't knock EVGA for that as I agree with them for the most part. The warranty spells things out clearly.

I had looked at XFX and BFG cards. I decided to pass on them as I had read rumors that both companies were not doing that well financially. I've also read several discussions that indicate quality control is not what it used to be at XFX. I've only read positives about EVGA graphic cards for the most part. I know ASUS mobos are good (having owned several) but really know nothing about their video cards. EVGA appears to have excellent support and a warranty to match. The price difference between the ASUS and EVGA boards isn't enough for me to worry about, so I was more curious as to whether there was anything outstanding about the ASUS board to make me choose it over the EVGA. I don't plan on OC'ing the card as I've read the 275's don't have much headroom anyway. I am more or less just looking for a reliable card that will last me a year or so for gaming.

Hi, I'm building a new system and all other components have been selected, just down to picking a video card. I've decided to go with an Nvidia 275 GTX. Narrowed my choices down to either the EVGA 896-P3-1170-AR or the ASUS ENGTX275. I can't seem to find a review that has a head-to-head comparison. Both should be fairly comparable, but ASUS claims their cards run cooler for longer life. I'm leaning towards the EVGA due to the sheer number of positive reviews, but I felt that the ASUS offering deserved some consideration as well. I know both companies are well respected, just wondering if anyone has first hand experience with either (or, preferably, both) cards? Appreciate any experiences (good or bad). Thanks! P.S. Not planning an SLI set up. System: i7 920 (OC to 3.4), P6T mobo, 6 GB DDR3 (1333, 6-6-6-6-18).

One testing site recommends placing a 100 to 150 GB partition on WD 1 terabyte drives. Best to read their entire test article for the reasoning. I haven't seen any other reviews/tests of the drive that make that recommendation, so I'm not certain how valid their points are, especially since they didn't post any results with their theory in practice as far as I can tell.

Thanks for the info! Very helpful. I was pretty sure the majority of current high performance coolers would fit, but was thrown off by CM's wording in the case's 'manual'. I am still not sold on the sandwiched fan concept. I've read various test reports and it obviously works, but I still can't figure out why. I mean, you are sucking air through one stack (which cools that stack), then blowing that heated air through the second stack. Seems to me that this seriously reduces the cooling efficiency of the second stack because the air being pushed through it has been warmed by passing through the first stack. I have yet to read an explanation as to why this appears to work as well as it apparently does. I finally narrowed my choices down to the Prolimatech Megahalems and the Titan Fenrir. I went with the Titan Fenrir, as a matter of fact, it just arrived a few hours ago. Both seem to do fairly well in all the reviews I was able to locate. Went with Arctic Silver 5 thermal grease. I plan on clocking my i7 920 somewhere between 3.2 and 3.4 GHz, so there shouldn't be much strain at all on the cooling set up. Thank you again for the insight and advice!

HardwareSecrets is linking pricing to the wrong (or at least different) case in the article. The Elements G case is ~$145. Still a bit on the pricey side though for a mid-tower. I think the Antec 1200 is a better value for $20 more.

Actually, references to the 932 are helpful. The two cases are very close. The 922 is actually 1" wider, so what fits in a 932 (height-wise) should fit in a 922. At least I'm hoping that will be true, given the decent sized bump-out for the optional side fan(s) on the 922.