Vista

I am using a USB Keytronics keyboard and a PS/2 Kensington Expert Mouse trackball. When I tried using the Kensington trackball directly without the PS/2 adapter, I got about a 50% response rate after reboots: half the time the USB mouse was not detected. This led me to use the PS/2 adapter for the trackball, which resolved that particular issue. There are still problems detecting the Keytronics USB keyboard if I reset the BIOS, so really the MOBO/BIOS still likes to see PS/2 devices rather than USB. I also have problems leaving my Dazzle 8-1 USB 2.0 card adapter plugged in. I've just learned to not trust USB devices, it's not only a DFI problem.

I haven't posted much lately in this forum, because my DFI NF4 Ultra-D rig has just been rocking! After the shake-down cruise almost a year ago I've been using my DFI rig 24/7 for gaming and work. I never power down the system except for long-term power outages or when I'm out of town for more than a few days, so this system has been up about 300 days total so far non-stop. I've been very happy with my DFI-based system so far; it still outperforms anything I could build a year later for a similar price with no upgrades needed. So far, I've only canned-air blasted the system twice and cleaned the NB fan blades using 99% isopropyl alcohol last week. Re: the NB fan: the only problems I've had over the past 11 months is the DFI NB Fan started to buzz at about 3600 rpm, and really rattled at full speed (about 7300 rpm). I strive to pump constant streams of nicotine and tar directly into my DFI fans, but after removing the nicotine deposits on the NB fan blades using a Q-tip and isopropyl, the noise is back to factory default levels. Just to show not everyone has problems with DFI, this is the fastest, most stable box yet! -- Vista

1600x1200 85Hz at 32-bit for everything I can. I have a few games that won't play windowed mode except at 16-bit. As my eyes weaken from looking at Veranda 8 at 1600x1200, I'm lusting after full wall monitor surfaces, preferably ones I can view from bed.

The G.Skill RAM in my sig from NewEgg worked, but it was pretty expensive. One chip is a lot better than the other, I can push it to 360ish MHz. The other does only 300, like they binned it tight, even though they have sequential serial numbers. I am running conservative on the RAM currently, as I'm more concerned about long-term reliability than one-day wonders of benching. I probably could have gotten the LE chips and done about as well in retrospect.

This reminds me too much of Guru Meditation Numbers under Amiga OS, you could customize it a bit with hacking. "SOD screen savers, collect them all!" Edit: This is my favorite DFI case sticker. Actually, it applies to most things men like

My candidiate wasn't in the list, ed_jacobson. If it wasn't for this guy I wouldn't have pulled the trigger on $2k and built a DFI rig. AG and RGone influenced me, but the hope and clear instructions from Ed pushed me over the edge. Thanks to all the others on the list, I've appreciated their sage advice and comments. Edit PS: Thanks AG!!! I adore my new avatar!

Here is a list of download links to the most oft-used free/shareware/stability/stress/benchmark software for Windows XP. I've personally tried all of these programs but I have no association with any of them and disclaim all responsibility if your results are negative! Links last tested as of 5/27/2005: 3DMark01SE: http://www.futuremark.com/download/?3dmark2001.shtml 3DMark03: http://www.futuremark.com/download/?3dmark03.shtml 3DMark05: http://www.futuremark.com/download/?3dmark05.shtml A64 Tweaker 0.6 Beta: http://home.exetel.com.au/codered/A64Tweak...er_V0.6beta.zip ATTO Bench32 2.10: http://www.attotech.com/software/index.html (registration required) Aquamark3: http://download.guru3d.com/aquamark3/ CPU-Z 1.28.6: http://www.cpuid.org/download/cpu-z-128.zip Everest 2.00.335: http://www.lavalys.hu/downloads/everesthome200.zip HD Tach 3.0.1.0: http://www.simplisoftware.com/Public/index...?request=HdTach MemTest86+ 1.55: http://www.memtest.org/download/1.55.1/mem...-1.55.1.iso.zip OCCT 0.91: http://www.ocbase.com/OpenBeta/OCCTv0.91.exe Prime95 23.8.1: http://mersenne.org/gimps/p95v238.zip RMMA 3.47: http://cpu.rightmark.org/download/rmma347bin.rar rthdribl 1.2: http://www.daionet.gr.jp/~masa/archives/rthdribl_1_2.zip S&M 1.6.0: http://testmem.nm.ru/snm.zip SiSoftware Sandra Lite: http://www.sisoftware.co.uk/index.html?dir...all&langx=en&a= StressCPU: http://home.comcast.net/~wxdude1/emsite/do...d/stresscpu.zip SuperPI 1.1e: http://files.extremeoverclocking.com/file.php?f=36 SuperPI Mod 1.4: http://superpi.radeonx.com/super_pi_mod-1.4.zip Edits and updates are welcome

I get best OC results at 2.6v, higher or lower was less stable for me. They ran fine at stock speeds with 2.5v. G.Skill usually rates them for up to 2.8v, but you might never need that much. 510-1 or -3 should work fine.

Now you guys have me paranoid. I notice that Mushkin link doesn't work anymore LOL

True burningrave101, but the Lian-Li Vxx00 series is a bit different, as it has the PSU and HDD bay partitioned off into their own zones for cooling, leaving the rear 120mm exhaust fan as the only active cooling for everything else. But the case is perforated like a cheese grater, so there are 1000's of places air could go in... or better yet, go out!

Everything your system does depends on calculations. Everything boils down to 2+2=4. If it comes up 3.999 or 4.001, you might skate by or you might end up corrupting your HDD and have weird BSODs. Whenever your system claims 2+2 is not 4 you should be worried.

It isn't as conductive as graphite (#2 pencil) or a Radio Hut circuit pen, that's for sure. Compared to Arctic Ceramique, it's still fairly resistive.

Durn, I'm going to try that tonight on my Lian-Li case, it really makes sense to me.

Yes, tons of debate. All I can say is it works as well or better than my old Creative SB Live! card on the games and apps I care about. Since I'm running an Altec-Lansing 2.1 speaker setup, it really doesn't pay for me to upgrade the whole sound system.

Quick summary, TCCD likes low volts, does good 1:1 FSB speeds and timings are not so bad. It runs cooler since it thrives on 2.5-2.7v. BH-5 thrives on volts (2.7 and up) and can achieve very tight timings at high FSB, but those high volts mean you must have a fan blowing over the RAM or they will cook. BH-5 might benefit from "burn in" (search for the uwackme thread), while TCCD usually either work or don't from day one at a certain OC and voltage. Both BH-5 and TCCD are getting harder to find, but you can still get good deals on both.