Just kill CNC.
CMM completely killed any sense of "community" left.
The community has morphed into several disparate factions;clans if you will,loosely grouped under the GC banner. Move on.
CMM resulted in too many over-competitive little factions :so and so refuses to play with so and so.That gets around and resulted in a lot of animosity.As a result, many stopped caring about "communities".Bottom line it's a computer game!
Get to BIOS on Dells from F2. Check the boot sequence. It sounds as if a format was done? That's a late 98 early XP system; so I wouldn't invest anything other than a little time. When you get to BIOS have it set to boot from DVD and try installing an OS. Good luck.
I've been using these Klipsch headphones that I also use for the iphone. They can be had for ~$89
http://www.klipsch.com/image-one-ii-headphones
They sound very good with an Asus Xonar D2X W/7.1 Virtual for games.
Also highly recommend AKGs
Check out the R30 DVD if you have a chance.They still refere to Neal Pert as "the new guy" lol. Geddy Lee affectionately calls Alex Lifeson "Lurch" ala The Addams Family.
Also... RANT ON...RUSH is still not in the Rock and Roll Hall of Shame! IMO Rolling Stone has no validity any longer since "bands" such as The Beastie Boys have been nominated this go 'round.
It is probably since it is fairly evident from their lyrics that they occasionally (gasp) read a book now and then.One of the most over-used adjectives used by critics is "pretentious"; pronounced.... I don't get it?
RANT OFF.....
Invest in a two inch wide paint brush.It's great for quick Heatsink/fan dusting and reusable Also canned air can force dust into fan bearings causing premature wear.
Yeah it is truly bleak for AMD theses days. I once had an Opteron 175 that smoked everything comparable from Intel at the time.sadly that is just a fond memory.