QMax

As a random update: I found an Asus G53JW-A1 on kijiji in my area that was only used a couple of times. Buying it for $950 tomorrow =) I ditched the whole HTPC as the cost of a good TV and the system would have much outweighed what I use it for. Sadly the best offer I have for my desktop is $200 for the tower..what do you guys think it's worth? Case: Antec 900 Processor: Intel Core2 Quad CPU Q6600 @ 2.40GHz 8MB cache w/ Arctic Cooler Freezer Pro 7 fan (can be overclocked but never has been) Memory: OCZ 4GB PC2-6400 PSU: Corsair 620W Hard Drive: 2 Western Digital 320GB 7200RPM 16MB Video Card: NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GTX Monitor :SyncMaster 2053 20"widescreen 2ms response time! (1600x1050 native) Motherboard: ASUS P5N-D (has been nothing but stable!) Optical Drives: 2 LG DVD drives, one a burner (20x write speed) Keyboard: Logitech G15 Gaming v2.0 Mouse: Mouse: Logitech G5 Gaming Mouse (with weight cartridge) Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium 64 bit

Thank you for that suggestion!! I wouldn't have thought of this; it would be a good way to hook up a larger monitor to use as a TV with guests or even get controllers and as a old-school rom gaming system! Space is the problem, I could even wall mount the monitor. I still want gaming capability, although I don't play it really would it support BFBC2? If so it would definitely cover all my other games that I am more set on playing than new releases. Oh, also to potatochobit; I was definitely looking at having a SSD + 500GB, the external backup is a great idea! Edit: Looking at it now this whole mini itx thing is the bomb! Exactly what I want, hook up a few xbox360 controllers after and I can have a NES,SNES,n64, PS1/2, Xbox and TV all in one system!

It is a big choice I have to make here, but I think it's time I downsize to a desktop replacement. I don't game nearly as frequently as I did before and I could use the space as well. 1. What is your budget? $1500-$2300 2. What is the size of the notebook that you are considering? Bigger is better! 3. What screen resolution do you want? Again higher is better! 4. Do you need a portable or desktop replacement laptop? Desktop replacement 5. How much battery life do you need? Doesn't matter will be plugged in 99% of the time 6. Do you want to play games with your laptop? Yes! But not the newest most intense graphical games. 7. What other tasks do you want to do with your laptop? (Photo / Video editing,watching movies, Etc.) Amateur music recording (just myself singing and playing guitar) 8. How much storage (Hard Drive capacity) do you need? 1TB would be great! 9. If you are considering specific sites to buy from, please post their links. 10. How long do you want to keep your laptop? 2-3 years preferably 11. What kind of Optical drive do you need? DVD ROM/Writer,Bluray ROM/Writer,Etc ? DVD/bluray, but I doubt I'll use them. 12. Please tell us about the brands that you prefer to buy from them and the brands that you don't like and explain the reasons. Nothing super flashy is all I care about. 13. What country do you live in? Canada 14. Please tell us any additional information if needed. Basically I don't want to look like a huge nerd (I know, sorry guys) when girls come over, and my bright lit LED desktop....well you know what that would look like. So that's why I'm ready for a desktop replacement, as well as because of the decrease in gaming hours. I think the newest game I play is Civ4 haha. I would like something with a great graphics card that will last for 2-3 years, and as you can see I am willing to spend the money.

With that said, if I need to upgrade GPU, Monitor, and PSU I think at this time I will just wait and make a new build in 6months or so when Sandy Bridge comes down in price (hopefully)

Haha, slightly conflicting opinions here. Power supply wasn't sure, but thinking 650W would be enough. I agree the upgrade to GPU and OC (maybe) the CPU + buy new monitor would be all I need really. Would the DDR3 make a noticable difference in gaming? Honestly I never even max out my ram usage as is. Edit: For new monitor + GPU, suggestions on monitor (available in Canada) For GPU, GTX570 seems much better price/performace than GTX580 atm so I think I'm set on that. Also any ideas on size of 570 compared to 9800GTX+, I have little extra room for the GPU in this case, which is why I had picked that Thermaltake because its slightly larger. For power supply I would think my 600W is still sufficient, yea?

Hi OCC, everyone here helped me with my last build in '08, it still works great, but I have the money to build a new tower and sell this old one to a friend for $750. I'd like to know if I should wait until newer technology or build now, I'm still on DDR2 ram and not in the newer series of GPUs. Main task is gaming, some music recording. Current Build ANTEC - Nine Hundred Ultimate Gamer Case Enermax - 600W EG701AX-VE SFMA Noisetaker II Power Supply Intel - Core™2 Quad Processor Q6600 2.4GHz w/ 2x4MB Cache -Arctic Cooling - Freezer 7 Pro CPU Cooler for P4/775 Gigabyte - GA-P35-DS4 w/ DualDDR2 1066, 7.1+2 Audio, Gigabit Lan, PCI-E x16 Crossfire OCZ - 4GB PC2-6400 Vista Performance Platinum Dual Channel DDR2 Kit (2 x 2GB) eVGA - e-GeForce 9800 GTX 512MB PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDTV-Out 2x Western Digital - 320GB Caviar SE16 7200rpm SATA II w/ 16MB Cache Samsung - SyncMaster 2053BW 20in Widescreen LCD w/ DVI, 2ms, DC 8000:1, Black Microsoft - Windows Vista Home Premium x64 (64-bit) DVD w/ SP1, OEM Possible new build ThermalTake - V5 Black Edition Gaming Case AMD - Phenom™ II X4 970 Black Edition 3.5GHz w/ 8MB Cache Asus - M4A88T-M/USB3 w/ Radeon HD 4250, DualDDR3 1333, 7.1 Audio, Gigabit Lan, 1394, Hybrid CrossFireX, HDMI Corsair - XMS3 8GB DDR3 1333MHz CL9 Dual Channel Kit (4 x 2GB) Asus - ENGTX570 GeForce GTX 570 1280MB GDDR5 PCI-E w/ Dual DVI, HDMI Creative Labs - Sound Blaster Audigy SE 7.1, OEM SEAGATE - 500GB Barracuda 7200.12 SATA II w/ 16MB Cache Seagate - 1TB Barracuda 7200.12 SATA II w/ 32MB Cache Microsoft - Windows 7 Home Premium x64 (64-bit) DVD - OEM I would be keeping the monitor (1680x1050) and all my other peripherals. New build would be apprx $1200.00, so if I sell the old tower thats only $500 for this upgrade. Do it or wait for next technology? Also any input on the new parts, switch up to 1600MHz ram/mobo? Should I move up to Phenom II X6 1090T Black Edition 3.2GHz w/ 9MB Cache?

Qmax -> ) - Tacc - (

Hopefully I'll be on next one!

My brother bought a 295GTX and is giving me his old 9800GTX which is the card I have right now. Why not hey? I've never hooked up 2 cards before, anyone have any advice? Will my power supply be able to handle it? specs 620W Corsair 2.4ghz quad-core 4gb ram asus p5n-d mobo antec 900 case 2x250mb 72000rpm HD

I have only pre-ordered one game. Most of my games I buy off Steam for great above mentioned reasons. I pre-bought Far Cry 2 because you got a $5 discount plus the original Far Cry. Insane deal obviously, so why not; I wanted FC2 since I saw the trailer (ps. I still think it's a great game)

1.8 million...Mario 3

EA is just jealous over infinity ward's $550 million in the first 5 days for MW2. Now that they saw people buy super hyped up games no matter what, and that the console gets more money in...of course they're going to change their business strategy...

I agree, this is the only way I'd play D2 again.

GPU fan speed is always manually changed before playing a game. My 9800GTX+ has a problem of not automatically increasing the fan speed enough during intensive gaming. It will rise above 100C if not changed; but I don't think this is the problem, it has only gone above that temp 3 times to 103,108, and 114 C, which is pretty hot, but managable for the card in a short period of time. It does work fine with any other game (ones that run the card even harder), I will try the DX9 option and see if that works, I'll get back to you on that. Probably just a coincidence, but this is the only game I have with SecuROM. Update: The game works fine now; although I didn't even switch it to directx9. If there is a problem in the future (like maybe next time I play it), I'll try that. Thanks for everyone's input.

ASUS p5n-d motherboard Q6600 Core2Quad 2.4Ghz (no overclock) OCZ 620W 4gb Ram (not sure make) Nvidia 9800GTX+ (driver version: 191.07) Vista Home Premium 64x Anything else you need?