Attention all ATS/BTS members - Ocelot's Hardware Questions Thread

If any of you guys need any advice or suggestions for buying new computer hardware or are having any "hardware related" problems post them here and I'll try hard to answer them. I've been meaning to do this for a while so if anyone needs any help with their hardware post your questions here.

[Edited on 11-1-2004 by Ocelot]

Where can I still buy unlocked AMD Athlon 2500+ Bartons??? I need one badly...but they are all shipping PERMANENTLY locked...
Or if you know of a way to unlock these new locked chips...i would like to know.

This Sux....

Barton's dont come unlocked anymore. I think the first batch of them that were made came unlocked, but those are hard to come by. There is a way however to unlock the multipliers manually. I found a link that explains how to do it however try it at your own risk.

www.tomshardware.com...

www.ocworkbench.com...

Wrong batch....these are the VERY newest chips...damnit..ill have to go P4 for the very first time in my life....

Originally posted by dreamlandmafia
Wrong batch....these are the VERY newest chips...damnit..ill have to go P4 for the very first time in my life....

Dude why? Get an Athlon 64 3000+ or a 3200+. They are very cheap now and beat the P4 in almost every benchmark out there. They ae also great CPU's if you plan on doing some heavy gaming.

Have you checked the MOBOs for the AMD 64?? They are pretty expensive....but if I sell my old comp (p3 dual Xeon) i may be able to afford one. Another question.....whats better for gaming...a CRT or a LCD? Iv heard a flat panel CRT cuz they have a higher FPS, dont ghost and have a higher refresh rate....is this true??

Originally posted by dreamlandmafia
Have you checked the MOBOs for the AMD 64?? They are pretty expensive....but if I sell my old comp (p3 dual Xeon) i may be able to afford one. Another question.....whats better for gaming...a CRT or a LCD? Iv heard a flat panel CRT cuz they have a higher FPS, dont ghost and have a higher refresh rate....is this true??

For Gaming it's better to have a Flat Screen CRT monitor since the color representation is way better than LCD's and plus no ghosting. You also have a higher variety of resolutions to choose from unlike LCD's. The size for a perfect gaming monitor is 19 inches. As for the Ahtlon 64 MoBo's they are not really expensive. This is a link to the mobo im using for the machine im building right now and it has everything you could want and its only $128 at newegg.

www.newegg.com...

I never understood the need of people to always over-clock their CPUs. I only have a 2 Ghz CPU (AMD 2400) and I'm FINE with it, and more than fine. I can do whatever I want to do, play whatever game I want to play, I can runs multiples program at the same time,etc...

I really don't see why I would want to over-clock it, especially considering that it could cut my CPU lifes in twice. And it's not even the fastest chip out there!!!

And your right about monitor, CRTs are still better for gaming, but overall, since I started having a LCD at work, I noticed they are WAY nicers for the eye, and give so much less head aches... But gaming prevails, so I still have a CRT at home hehehe...I also have a 19 inch hehehe...

[Edited on 13-1-2004 by m0rbid]

Originally posted by m0rbid
I never understood the need of people to always over-clock their CPUs. I only have a 2 Ghz CPU (AMD 2400) and I'm FINE with it, and more than fine. I can do whatever I want to do, play whatever game I want to play, I can runs multiples program at the same time,etc...

I really don't see why I would want to over-clock it, especially considering that it could cut my CPU lifes in twice. And it's not even the fastest chip out there!!!

[Edited on 13-1-2004 by m0rbid]

I have always overclocked my CPU's and I've never had a problem with them. OC'ing is fine as long as you have great cooling for your CPU. I OC because I like to get the most out of my CPU as I can.

A duron 1600 will mod to an Athlon XP...

Consistently overclocked to 2.3 GHz+ aircooled

Not a bad deal...

Originally posted by rahboni
A duron 1600 will mod to an Athlon XP...

Consistently overclocked to 2.3 GHz+ aircooled

Not a bad deal...

indeed.

Well, I just want to keep mine as long as I can, so I'll let it run at it's normal speed, plus it's already kind of running at high heat sometimes, I would have to get a water-cooled system or something, and I don't want to put more money on the PC for right now...

I got 384 megabytes of ECC ram. How much could one sell it for? $15? $50? $150?

Originally posted by DramaQueen
I got 384 megabytes of ECC ram. How much could one sell it for? $15? $50? $150?

That depends. What type of ram is it? PC100?PC133? DDR 2100, 2700,3200?? I need to know what type of ram it is... and how long has it been used.

[Edited on 14-1-2004 by Ocelot]

probably PC100. It's old as all hell. like 4 years. I'm just curious; I dont' intend to sell 'em.

1. I am having truoble with the performance of some games. I have the right processor enough space. First the video on some of the games is horrible. Cutscenes in games move, slow skip, or don't move at all. Sound is ok for some games but others it'll skip, and on one game the music will not work but it would work in MIDI format. I think I need a new graphics card and sound card, but I'm no expert.

2. Do those dicsk repairing things like disc doctor and OPptifix Pro really work to repair things?

Originally posted by DramaQueen
probably PC100. It's old as all hell. like 4 years. I'm just curious; I dont' intend to sell 'em.

Damm that ram is old!! LMAO!! But still as long as its working I would sell all 384 for no more than $25-50 bucks.

Originally posted by JediMaster
1. I am having truoble with the performance of some games. I have the right processor enough space. First the video on some of the games is horrible. Cutscenes in games move, slow skip, or don't move at all. Sound is ok for some games but others it'll skip, and on one game the music will not work but it would work in MIDI format. I think I need a new graphics card and sound card, but I'm no expert.

2. Do those dicsk repairing things like disc doctor and OPptifix Pro really work to repair things?

OK in order to answer question #1 I need to know what type of hardware you have. For Example... CPU, HD, RAM, MB, VID Card... etc... Then I can probably tell you whats wrong.

As for #2 to tell you the truth I dont really use disk repair tools much. I just use the diagnostic tools provided by the HD manufaturer in order to diagnose and fix problems on HD's.

*BUMP*

I thought I'd revive this thread in case anyone here needs any advice. Come on people take advantage as I usually charge for these services in my business and you can get advice for FREE!

Anyone need help deciding what parts to buy? Buying a new system? A Laptop? Need recommendations? Ask away and I'll get to your questions one by one.