lets welcome Xandevious to the forum

[Ynir]

Xandivious is my new computer, named for the demon Spangles summons to clear horde from Winterfall Village.

main components:

CPU: AMD 64 3800+ ATHLON X2 939P RT
dual core 64 bit processor
$295.00

mobo: ASUS A8N-SLI Premium NF4SLI 939
nvidia chipset, neat heat pipe to cool it, supports dual nvidia graphics cards; lan, sound, raid drivers onboard
$163.49

memory: 1Gx2 Patriot 184P D400 PDC2G3200LLK
$235.00

disk: 74GB WD Raptor 10,000RPM 8MB WD740GD
fast SATA drive
$153.00

video: LEADTEK PX7800GT EXTREME TDH
bought two cards, installed one, will compare the effect of mono/dual video
$289.00 each

OS: MS WINDOWS XP PRO X64
has a built-in (x86) emulator that runs WoW, so no hyperthreading/multitasking that wasn't available on single core, I guess
$142.45

The practical effect of Moore's Law is that every two or three years I build a computer that costs approximately what the last one did, and get massively more of everything: speed, storage, memory.

This machine went together in three hours. Posted, and installed OS first time no problem. Took another two hours to tweak BIOS, load drivers, customize XP and load WoW. Brought up Spangles, set up sound and video, then logged out and copied the Interface/Addons and the WTF/Account folders into the WoW directory. Instant account cloning no problem.

I built this machine to mitigate causes of lag on my side. I wanted to eliminate the paging, and the video overload that cause lag and stutter when Spangles makes the scene in Ironforge.

I loaded only WoW after the OS. No background utilities, no virus checking, no nothing. The machine sits behind a Netgear router/firewall that has kept my lan clean for the last three years.

WoW runs in (x86) emulator mode. So why bother with dual core? Well, I dunno, but life on the bleeding edge of technology is its own punishment, and its own reward. Maybe I'll find something else for it to do while I'm gaming.

Things I like:

This is a motherfast machine. Disk drive activity is minimal, and Spangles doesn't lag into the moat when she runs out of the Stonefire tavern. I will reserve judgement on paging mitigation until she runs around in IF when it is very crowded.

WoW video enhancement options are all on and maxed, while performance enhancers are turned off. I think I might return the second video card. I have not encountered a situation yet where I think it might help.

The coloring and texturing is very pretty. Some objects look slightly glossy, as if buffed with wax. Spell effect enhancements are spectacular but I will turn them off if they continue to distract in combat.

Things I don't like:

Onboard sound is harsh, so I put in a X-Fi Fatal1ty sound card from Creative Labs. Went to the website for 64 bit drivers, and all is serene. Sound from the speakers is marvellous, I'm hearing things that I didn't know were there. I will listen carefully with headphones and report.

There is no 64 bit button-reconfigure utility for my Logitech Trackball Marble FX. There never will be, for this legacy device. So I switched to a Kensington Expert trackball. New drivers will be available 'real soon now'. Meanwhile, learning a new pointing device is hell. But I know already that results will justify the learning curve, and I will soon be able to shift-loot quick as a wink.

The (i386) version of Vent does not run, so I run it on a nearby machine. I listen to guild chat as if it were the radio, and don't say much, so this is a minor inconvenience.

I will update this post with new infos as they happen.

[Roland]

OS: MS WINDOWS XP PRO X64
has a built-in (x86) emulator that runs WoW, so no hyperthreading/multitasking that wasn't available on single core, I guess
$142.45

WoW runs in (x86) emulator mode. So why bother with dual core? Well, I dunno, but life on the bleeding edge of technology is its own punishment, and its own reward. Maybe I'll find something else for it to do while I'm gaming.

And therein lies your mistake. There was NO reason to get a 64-bit OS just because the CPU SUPPORTS it (NOT requires!). There's hardly any 64-bit compatible software out there, and NONE of it is gaming-related.

So, you built a gaming rig (and a fairly nice one, at that), and then crippled it. Seems a little silly to me.

There's nothing wrong with the dual-core processor. It may help, it may hurt (albeit ever so slightly), all depending on the software you use (or, more importantly, how well they coded it to take advantage of multi-threading). In fact, I wouldn't buy a single-core processor right now. It's pointless - it's already obsolete, right out of the box, especially if you want it to last 3 years. What killed you was the OS choice. WinXP Pro 32-bit would have been ideal. My advice is to scrap that crappy OS you chose, and get a 32-bit one. Even Linux with Cedega would be a better choice. :P

(Edited to remove unneccessarily harsh tones on my part. Apologies all around, specifically to you Ynir. I didn't mean to sound harsh at the time, and looking back on it, that's exactly how I came off. I'm sorry.)

(Edit 2: BTW - Don't know if I said this already {I'm very tired and have a splitting headache, so excuse my poor memory ATM}, but that's a sweet rig. Congrats, even if it does have a crappy OS. ;))

[Ynir]

Well, ok. Don't feel crippled, tho.

I'm gonna run LabVIEW 8x on it. Thats irrelevent here.

[Roland]

Well, ok. Don't feel crippled, tho.

I'm gonna run LabVIEW 8x on it. Thats irrelevant here.
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Does that require a 64-bit OS? If so, then I guess the decision is justified, if you have to run that program for some reason. Otherwise, it was a waste. Granted, a redeemable one, but still.

64-bit computing is at LEAST a year off, maybe 1.5 - 2 years for gaming.

[Tal]

*snip*
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I'm sure that there were ways to impart your opinion that didn't involve insulting and flamming Ynir. Please try to exercise those ways in the future. :)

[Ynir]

Does anyone know how to get rid of the Recycle Bin in 64 bit XP?

Powertoys/TweakUI doesn't work anymore :angry:

[Roland]

Indeed. I edited it to fix such problems. It surely wasn't my intent, but there's no other way of reading it. I came off as harsh when not meaning to, so apologies given and offending text altered.

[Roland]

Does anyone know how to get rid of the Recycle Bin in 64 bit XP?

Powertoys/TweakUI doesn't work anymore  :angry:
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I don't know how to get rid of the Recycle Bin in 32-bit. I vaguely think I may have at one point, but if I did, it's escaped me. Try googling it, maybe? I honestly don't have an answer.

Why would you want to get rid of it though, anyway? The only problem I see with it is Norton taking it over, which I have personally seen literally destroy two computers (one it ate the OS, and the other it caused a memory leak that was almost persistent through a reboot - i.e. each time you booted up, you had considerably less time before the whole system hard froze). Now that's an issue I'd want to avoid, but I'd think just not using Norton would be the simpler answer. ;)

[Ynir]

I have always removed it one way or another, and now suddenly I can't.

There were lots of nice tweaks in the TweakUI that I have become accustomed to and miss greatly.

[Tal]

Indeed. I edited it to fix such problems. It surely wasn't my intent, but there's no other way of reading it. I came off as harsh when not meaning to, so apologies given and offending text altered.
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/target Roland
/bow
/salute

:)

[Ynir]

I always knew what you meant :P