Get the Radeon 6950 and forget about the extra RAM. A 6870 with a RAM disk will still fail against a 6950. And if you aren't using a RAM disk 8GB doesn't really matter over 4GB. You will get a very slight performance boost going past 4GB just because Windows can keep more of itself in memory but nothing noteworthy.

Games themselves aren't allowed by Windows to use more than 2GB of memory so 8GB is really unnecessary.

You've deleted the partitions but the boot manager still has residual entries pointing to where the old OS's used to exist. You just need to remove the extra boot options from the config file it uses.

There's several ways to remove the unwanted entries. Easiest is probably to run msconfig, click the boot tab and delete the unwanted entires.

Otherwise if it's the Windows XP boot manager you can use these instructions:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/289022

If it's the Win 7 boot manager you should have a tool called bcdedit.exe in your Windows\system32 folder that will help you edit the boot configuration data. Here's some instructions on how to use it:
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/2676-bcdedit-how-use.html

You can also just edit the boot.ini in notepad.

If it's LILO or GRUB you'll have to spend some time on google. But it is most likely the Win 7 boot manager as it would replace the Win XP one when you installed it, and the Windows boot manager does support other OS's, they just show up as 'Other OS' (which you could rename if you were inclined).

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Originally posted by anarkaia
So let's say I go with a cheap, used computer, that works. From Goodwill or someplace else that sells them.
What is the resolution in WoW, or DCUO? I want the best, but I may have to settle for used that works.
And a motherboard, cpu and card that is like a year old. I have not looked at Goodwill's selection.
I'll most likely buy what I've been planning to buy, though.

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How much do you have to spend, and what were you planning to buy? I'd try to get an Athlon II x4 640 and a Radeon 5770 for 1650x1080 or 1920x1080. If you are only on 1280x1024 you would be fine with like a 9800GTX+ or GTX 250.

If you're willing to I'd check anandtech.com, hardforum.com and overclock.net and go to their For Sale/Trade forums to buy used. I much prefer buying from enthusiasts who are only selling because they just upgraded to the newest top of the line than to buy from someone from ebay who may be unloading a piece of junk.

I've had a 5770 since it came out, very excellent card for the price. Pretty much the perfect card, just enough to run everything at high settings and AA.

It's best to unlock by using a modified 6950 BIOS with the extra shaders unlocked rather than using a 6970 BIOS. The 6970 BIOS is set to higher clock speeds for RAM and GPU, and the 6950 RAM isn't suited for the higher clocks.

It allows you to increase one thing at a time before becoming unstable - shaders, then gpu clock, then memory clock, rather than tweaking all 3 up at once.

My friends still play WoW and every night I hear at least one of their groups have a member bail after a boss because no one gives a damn about their groups anymore since they just hop in the queue and wait for random players from other servers to fill the spots.

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Originally posted by anarkaia
A few questions. i5 vs. i7 vs. AMD's best CPU, especially if I use it for watching TV online. And videos on iTunes. Plus gaming and *maybe* Photoshop and After Effects. Not all at once, though. One task at a time.
I think I'll go with CyberpowerPC, their site. Not Newegg. But someone mentioned a few other build-your-own-sites. I can't find the comments and I didn't save the link.
Liquid cooling...necassary, considering my uses? Obviously I'm still a newbie at this.
Any other suggestions are appreciated. And this assumes $1500.00 budget. Roughly.
My tv/monitor and extras (keyboard, joystick, etc.) do not have to be factored in. But it would be nice to get the most bang for my buck.

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Another good site is ibuypower.com. $1500 budget is huge when you don't need monitor or anything. But unless you need top of the line like an i7 and a GTX 580 you won't need that big of a budget. Honestly if you are wondering about performance advice an i7 and GTX 580 isn't something you're going to find useful for the money. They're very overpriced for the performance.

For the uses you listed, watching TV online/videos on iTunes, those will run fine on anything modern. Photoshop can make some use of a faster computer but I'll assume you want a good gaming rig since that's the only thing really demanding.

So for your budget I'd wait for the i5-2500k to be re-available. AMD has nothing appealing at all in the high end CPU market unless you're on a tight budget stringing along an AM2+/AM3 platform, and i7 is pretty unnecessary with the i5-2500k now.

For video card you'd be looking at a GTX 570 or Radeon 6970 depending on which company you prefer. They're both pretty good cards. If you really want to go big you could buy a pair of 570's or 6970's and that's the only way you're going to approach your $1500 limit.

Memory wise 4GB is 'enough' and 8GB won't really see much use. With the budget you're working with you can splurge on the 8GB if you wanted but it's pretty unnecessary. Unless you're doing some *serious* work with Photoshop you aren't going to see it. I'd just get 4GB and a few years down the line if games ever go 64-bit you could always grab another 4GB. (32-bit apps are only given access to 2GB of memory by Windows)

For storage look to get an SSD along with a 1TB hard drive for mass storage. It's simpler and faster than RAID, and faster and cheaper than any Velicoraptor setup.

Liquid cooling.. waste of time/effort unless you want a silent cooling setup. Heat-wise you can do plenty well with air. Just get a good heatsink/fan and case cooling.

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Originally posted by Ihmotepp

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Originally posted by Jenuviel
Yes, I'd play a game with a leveling line rather than a leveling curve, though, ideally, I'd like to play a game that had a flatter leveling curve where the levels were all quite a bit faster, but there were far more levels. We've recently been trending towards levels that are faster to achieve without increasing the number of levels available, which results in faster capping. I'm not a big fan of this shift towards "the endgame is everything." I'd love it if one or two modern, AAA games were released in which the level progression was everything. Give me 300 levels, 500 levels, 1000 levels and a remort system, eliminate raids and pvp entirely, and I'd be in gamer bliss.

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Actually, I might like less levels than more.
It's fun to level when you get something new. Once everything is the power or skill you already have, +1, it's not quite as much fun.
Get a fireball spell you didn't have before? That's pretty cool. Level, and get fireball +1, then fireball +2, then fireball +3, that's kind of boring after a while.

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That was like Anarchy Online to me. Felt like I was just increasing spreadsheet entries. The level cap is like 200 or something, which made me get bored at 40 even though that was only a week of play or something.

I think the leveling curves are fine. You level fast in the beginning to make the game exciting while you develop an attachment for your character, then it slows down just when you are feeling committed spending time building up your character and want it to be slow.

But I like fast leveling in large part because I play with a lot of RL friends and it's difficult to stay the same level, so sooner we can get to cap sooner we can stop worrying about it.

Vindictus requires some decent timing for playing Fiona (sword and board type), and learning bosses moves. Course you can kinda beat everything even without being good at it, so it's only self rewarding to pull off counterattacks and work bosses over without getting caught by attacks.

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Originally posted by mkarl91
I find it hard to find a good laptop that suit best for gaming. I do already have a laptop but i use it for documentations and presentations, i installed a game but a blue screen had pop out. That means it has a low memory for gaming purposes. Can anyone help me find a good laptop that i can use for gaming? Hope to hear from you guys soon.

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What's your budget?

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Originally posted by eagles12555

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Originally posted by peteski123
I would not spend too much so your best bet is ebay, maybe somehting like this
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/INTEL-CORE-2-DUO-2-8G-3M-1066M-SOCKET-LGA775-SLB9Y-/260734410939?pt=UK_Motherboards_CPUs&hash=item3cb4fb60bb
 
But I will also send you a link to www.overclockers.co.uk    I have been using this site for Years and this is where I learnt to clock myself on the forums..  hope this helps. enjoy

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Thanks a bunch. I went to the american version for that website and i still am not sure what i'm doing :\ is there a tutorial or guide on how to overclock ?

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http://www.overclock.net/intel-cpus/497993-newbie-guide-overclocking-updated-core-2-a.html

Is a fairly in depth guide. I've seen simpler shorter ones but that has everything you could want to know, probably more than you want to.

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Originally posted by peteski123

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Originally posted by noquarter
The cost to upgrade the CPU isn't going to be good, the prices of CPU's for that platform have skyrocketed because it hit end of life a while ago. The only sensible replacement for the CPU would be to overhaul the system and get a new motherboard and DDR3 memory to accommodate the new Intel Socket 1155 processors.

But I know you were working on a limited budget, and already invested money into some more DDR2 memory.
So your only two options in my opinion are to find an E8600 used for $100 (they retail $280 now because they're aren't manufactered anymore) or buy an aftermarket heatsink for your CPU for $30 and overclock the hell out of your E6400.

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 Not sure if this really helps, you first say to buy a new board and ram because of older chips costing more, then say but as you have just upgraded the ram and such go buy a chip for your old board? then say go clock the hell out of it even tho I have had this disscusion and the Op who know's nothing about clocking so this should NOT be advised.
So we are back to "What can your ogiginal board take"..  ???   thanks for your post I guess

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Well, his other thread said he had a budget of like $200, which he already spent on a video card and 2GB of memory. That leaves him with $0.

I dunno what's hard about my post.

Ideally he would overhaul the system. It sucks to spend a dead end platform, but an overhaul is $400.

So he can't afford to upgrade out of the platform, and does need a faster CPU. Leaving only a few options, upgrade CPU used for $100, get a new heatsink for $30 and overclock, or stay on stock coolor and overclock for $0.

The cost to upgrade the CPU isn't going to be good, the prices of CPU's for that platform have skyrocketed because it hit end of life a while ago. The only sensible replacement for the CPU would be to overhaul the system and get a new motherboard and DDR3 memory to accommodate the new Intel Socket 1155 processors.

But I know you were working on a limited budget, and already invested money into some more DDR2 memory.

So your only two options in my opinion are to find an E8600 used for $100 (they retail $280 now because they're aren't manufactered anymore) or buy an aftermarket heatsink for your CPU for $30 and overclock the hell out of your E6400.

Yup, it's a little counterintuitive but the extra charge is for making it so small + the Alienware logo.

I'd look at one of these two:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215003

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834215001

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Originally posted by Riverstar
HI guys,
I am looking to replace my windows xp desktop with either a decent budget gaming laptop or a desktop+monitor for around $1,000. I do not want to build my own desktop, so looking for a prebuilt. Can you give me some suggestions? I was looking at  the alienware mx-11, but upgraded a bit, but didn't know if it would be too small . Thanks for the help in advance!

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It's too small. I have a 10.3" netbook and while I love it, it is not pleasant for constant use. Its massive appeal is portability, and I love being able to have access to the full functionality of a PC in a small package, but it is frustrating trying to navigate web pages or do pretty much anything on such a small desktop space.

Anyone will also tell you the cost efficiency of a laptop is terrible compared to a desktop. If you don't need to move your computer around you are simply much better off with a desktop even if it doesn't feel as neat and organized.

If you want to look at prebuilt desktops ibuypower.com is a good place to have them put together for you, you can pick out every component there and the prebuilt surcharge is quite low relative to boutique shops.

If you do want to go with a laptop there are some good budget gaming laptops for about $1000 to pick from and you should look for a brand like Asus, MSI or Acer. Alienware is charging you a huge premium for its name. A couple good choices:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834115868
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16834152231

Yea you should be absolutely sure you want this type of laptop for gaming. It's only 11" screen and it's actually very expensive for what you are getting hardware and screen wise. But it is the only laptop that small with any graphics power.

If you are ok with a larger screen size you can actually get a better gaming laptop for the same price.

If you do go with this, you definitely need the 4GB of memory upgrade. The hard drive speed upgrade would be sort of nice but not necessary, especially if you have the 4GB memory which will make the laptop rely much less on the hard drive for swap file.

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Originally posted by eagles12555
So what I got from this is that if I switch to my older monitor, (its still really nice, but it works with 1280x1024) My framerates will be better.
Right now im running from a 1920x1200, so I could switch, it wouldnt be the end of the world.
Also, I'm running on 32 bit windows 7. Seeing as I can only use 3.3gigs of RAM, I'll most likely get one more 1 gig stick then. i guess ill upgrade my video card along with that.
Budget is now roughly 240~ :)
My monitor is a  Dell 2407 WFP model if that helps
 I don't get blue screens, I've never gotten one. 
Would it be helpful if i posted my DxDiag.txt ?

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Your frame rates would be better at 1280x1024 but honestly I don't think it's worth downgrading your monitor. If you really need to lower resolution I'd keep your 1920x1200 hooked up and run it at 1680x1050 with GPU display scaling turned on in the driver options.

You should plan on switching to Win 7 x64 if you are doing the RAM upgrade, didn't even consider that you might be on a 32 bit OS. Nice thing is you already own Win7 64 bit by owning Win7 at all, you just need to find a copy of it to use your key on. I have never had any compatibility issues with x64.

You can find links to the official ISO's here:
http://www.mydigitallife.info/2009/11/10/windows-7-iso-x86-and-x64-official-direct-download-links-ultimate-professional-and-home-premium/

You can make a bootable USB drive out of the Win7 ISO with the USB tool here:
http://store.microsoft.com/help/iso-tool

If you bought Win7 yourself your key will definitely work with the matching 64bit ISO above. If Win7 came with your PC (don't see how it could have with the age of your components) I'm not positive your key would work with the OEM Win7 I linked, you may have to contact the PC manufacturer to find out what to do.

You do want to go to 4GB of memory even if you stay 32 bit because you want to keep them in dual channel which requires matching pairs of RAM.

The 768MB on the GTX 460 isn't a big issue at 1920x1200, it's not going to crap out at that resolution: http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/video/display/gigabyte-gv-n460oc-768i_6.html#sect2
The 1GB is a bit better of course so I'd try for the 460 1GB if you have the money but if you don't the 768MB would be ok.

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Originally posted by eagles12555
Okay thanks for all the help guys :)
I guess I'm gonna go for the 4 gigs of ram first. Right now i have Two 1 gig sticks of ram. 
Anyone have any suggestions for the ram? like a link or something ? :D

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$35 for 2x1GB DDR2-800:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16820211066

I could probably find 2GB's of DDR2 sitting around here to sell if you are interested in used parts, kinda sucks to buy DDR2 new since it's a dead end upgrade (not usable in your next motherboard).

Also I realized you can get a GTX 460 768MB for about $100 used or $150 - $30 mail in rebate = $120 which would probably be the way to go if you decide to upgrade the video card:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814127512

Unfortunately any one thing you upgrade will be held back by the other 2 components you don't upgrade.

You have identified two areas already that you have run into a wall: the debris flying around in Red Faction causing slowdown is a CPU issue, while RIFT being playable at low/medium settings but not high is a GPU issue. And 2GB of RAM is barely enough especially trying to play an MMO which are usually memory intensive.

So the choice on which to upgrade is really tricky.

With your limited budget you may want to consider buying used, *not* from ebay though. If you check the For Sale/Trade forums on anandtech.com, hardforum.com or overclock.net you can find some good deals from people passing on their components after an upgrade rather than the questionable junk on ebay.

If you do you should be able to pick up a GTX 460 768MB for about $100, 2x 1GB DDR2 RAM for $20, and if you have any cash left over consider buying a decent aftermarket heatsink w/thermal paste so you can overclock your CPU as much as possible.

This isn't the "best" way to upgrade, especially since as Quizzical said you can always turn down your graphics to match your 8800GT and those $100-$120 video cards aren't a *huge* leap over your 8800GT. But it's the only way to address all 3 of your issues at once for $150..

If you applied the key to your account, you just need to wait now. They haven't 'invited' anyone's account to the next round of beta yet. Each beta event they reinvite everyone eligible to it which activates your account for it.

If you look at your account management page it will say if you have been invited yet. As long as you have a code applied in your Apply code section that will get you into the beta, you'll get in as soon as they reinvite everyone.