ZeroDamage

The reason for doing the uninstall in safe mode is because the drivers will still be in memory and some files may still be in use and may not get uninstalled. Safemode uses the default svga/vga drivers so none of the nvidia/ati drivers will be in use.

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She could be the same girl. She could be the same girl. I am not sure though now that this has been brought up. I am not sure though now that this has been brought up.

It is preferable to post up an asking price.

You can typically run drivercleaner and it is almost the same thing since all entries for the previous video card's drivers is removed completely. The problem is that Vista is different enough that it may not work or it may break the OS. http://www.drivercleaner.net There is a new .net version apparently that is coded to work for Vista. He charges $9.99 for it. May be worth picking up.

The site has been used by my former employer without any problems (that I am aware of) and the products are of pretty good quality. I've never used them myself but if I needed a cheap laptop that could somewhat perform, I would consider them. Please call them and check them out first though. check out their reviews here: http://www.resellerratings.com/store/CyberPower It also looks like they keep up with the reviews on the resellerratings website and respond professionally. :-?

Do not discount the link I provided above. The laptops are no name but you end up with better video than those 1500 dollar dells. http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/

I would avoid using driver cleaner until the maker (Spike) has time to write a version that will work with the Vista system. You can probably just get away with uninstalling the previous drivers, shut down, remove the old card and put in the new one.

It looks like the high end Athlon processors are still viable options for gamers here. With the price of AMD motherboards being much cheaper than their Intel counter-parts, AMD looks like a likely option for many. For the exception of when you overclock and video/photo manipulation uses, AMD is still hanging on, even if only by a thread.

This is why I may go with the 6600 processor after the price drop. I am not sure to be honest. All I know is that motherboard prices for Intel stuff is ridiculous! This is where the AMD price may make sense for many if they want dual core on the cheap. And let me add that the 209 priced Mobo by Asus that you posted looks nice but the user reviews for it look horrible. Almost everyone has had problems and many had to RMA the boards. That is a bad sign to me.

Check out the link I posted above from Xbit. They were able to overclock the ... I think 6420 which will be out in the next few weeks to over 3ghz. This is the link here: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/displ...o-e6420_11.html 2.9~ without a vcore bump, 3.7 with. That is an awesome overclock considering these things outperform most of AMD's stuff before an over clock. The 6420 is replacing the 6400 by lowering the price and adding 2Mb of cache to make it 4MB total. According to this page at the bottom: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/displ...2duo-e6420.html The 6400/6420 will be priced at 183 or so when the price drop comes. It right now sells for 220 with only the 2MB version. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx...N82E16819115004 That is what I will be getting when it comes out next month.

Cujo, What is your recommendation on a motherboard? What is your top of the line recommendation? What is your under 200 recommendation (the new nvidia that is a 680i but slightly stripped down?) Intel or nvidia chipset? It also looks like Cujo that the E4300 and 4400 only have 2MB cache where the 6600 and etc have the 4MB cache. I honestly did not know about the E4300 and 4400 CPU's and currently the 4400 is still not available for sale. This is a must read article: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu/displ...2duo-e6420.html At least read the first page and notice the price drops in April. If you can wait a few weeks, please do. The 6600 will become quite affordable and the new budget processors with 4MB cache will show up. Very nice. I personally will be waiting after all.

I've never bought from them but I have heard good things from them. Their prices are really good as well. http://www.cyberpowerpc.com/

I assumed this was a minor cpu upgrade. If you are going the route of a new CPU, mobo, and RAM, then you want the new Intel chip. I've always been an AMD guy myself but this new processor from Intel is the way I plan to go when I upgrade in the coming months.

Exactly. They are over priced and the performance difference is negligible. I would put that money elsewhere such as a better PSU.

So no boilersax for you eh?

First thing is first, this card performs really well in comparison to the other GTS cards. You can also see the different between 320 and 640 memory in these graphs at Anandtech: http://www.anandtech.com/video/showdoc.aspx?i=2926&p=3 This is a 640MB card which is a GTS model with fewer shaders. The price is pretty good at under 400 bucks. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp?...MP=OTC-d3alt1me I honestly believe a 640MB GTS card is an excellent alternative for someone buying NOW and they can not wait a little while. The price is not over bearing like the GTX and you will only lose some performance on current games. The extra shaders may be helpful with the DX10 games but I do not think it will hurt too overly much. The 320MB card is a great card for the cost for those who will be playing only CSS. It will also run some of the newer games but will be limited when you turn on AA and AF eye candy features since that can typically double the amount of video card memory used. This graph, if the image works here comes from Anandtech. You can see what the different in shaders can make but it may not be enough for some who only play css. WILL come in handy with UT2007 and other newer games. Notice the top two cards. One has 96 shaders, the other has 128.

Considering how much that 7950 costs, it would be foolish to go with it over an 8800 of some sort. The cost difference is small considering the performance boost you will get. Also, the 8800 gts's in SLI would be much better than two 7950's in SLI..

Yeah, Source has some issues for me, always has. After an hour maybe, my frame rate will become erratic and the only way to fix it is to completely reboot the machine. I am not sure if it is the game or if it is my system needing a reinstall of XP. I am waiting on that until I do my upgrade.

The 640MB card would be the better deal. It will last you longer for the newer games coming out in the coming months. The lower memory card would be limited before you know it and you will be kicking yourself for it.

It mostly just depends on the application. Some games and programs like video or photo programs love the extra cache. Others do nothing or only see a 1~% difference. Due to CSS being so CPU intensive because of the physics, I recommend you grab the 2x1MB Cache chip. ********* If you really do want to go the 1mb cache route per core, then look at the Opteron 165 chip. It is socket 939 if you are going that route and even though it is only 1.8 Ghz, it comes with the premium heatpipe heatsink and it over clocks to 2.2-2.6 with ease. Mine is at 2.4 with all of my settings at stock. I take back what I said. Just go with the best processor you can afford that is dual core. It looks like most every cpu on the AM2 list of cpu's is only 2x512 unless they are 3 times as expensive with the 2x1MB cache chips.

I am guessing he should be ok but I do not think I would go much higher than the 7900 gs due to the crappy Power Supplies that Dell supplies these things with. Hard to say for sure without knowing his exact specs but my best guess is that he should be ok.

Well, it cost 2400~ but I did not pay a cent. My employer paid for it. Thing is heavy as crap but I can game on it if I end up traveling.

This thing is a beast. I initially ordered an XPS but my work (yep, they paid for it) went with the cheaper Inspiron 9400. Same exact specs for the exception of the OS which I replaced anyway. Cure 2 Duo 2.0 Ghz 2 Gigs / DDR2 677 RAM 7900 GS 256MB Intel onboard HD sound DVD burner, etc. 17-inch display THose are the important specs. Best thing about it, I did NOT pay for it.

Right now, the Intel Cure 2 Duo are the best processors. Picking out a motherboard and chipset is the hard part right now.