
Jenny asks…
How do I find out what kind of video card slot does my motherboard have?
Is there anyway you can tell by looking at the back of your CPU or something whether I have PCI, AGP, PCI-e slots or whatever? I have a 5-year-old PC, 2.0GHz Intel P4, 736MB DDR1 RAM, but I don’t know what kind of motherboard I have, and my DirectX Diagnostic Tool tells me that I have no video card installed on my motherboard.
I wanted a low-end 128MB Radeon or GeForce to run mid-range 3d creation apps like DAZ Studio and Poser – I checked their system requirements and found that I have more than the needed specs except the video card.
Another question, do video cards support certain OS? I have Win XP Professional SP1, my dad doesn’t want me to upgrade to SP2 because he thinks that it may affect some of his programs (important office work) while downloading. So does that matter?

Administrator answers:
… Download for FREE Belarc Advisor and then look for what motherboard you have then find the specs for online:
http://belarc.com/
… Since this is an older PC stay away from SP2 and SP3.

Daniel asks…
Video-game-career position for a person that likes to work on strategy & balance in characters/abilities?
I need help!
I want to be in the video-game business, but I dont know where i fit in all of the fancy technical descriptions that job vacancies list or if i even fit at all.
I wiil tell you about myself and maybe you know the position I should seek:
Here is me:
I have no degrees, & hardly any experience with any particular programming tool or language. And i do not wish to ever become proefficient in any either or do anything more than dabble or to tweak something by adjusting some values of a previous made creation/script.
I am good with computers in general and have a firm understanding of them. However, i am not a person that likes to get too technical with knowing all of the intricate things behind software or programming languages. I am more of a creative person than a tech-head. My abilities in math is lower than average but i enjoy it to some degree but have no interest in going above agebra 2 level. I have some skills in art and am more of a right-brain than left-brain thinker. a realist.
I am a gamer for life with experience playings thousands of games since Atari 2600, Coleco & Vetrex days. I mostly love competitive games like fighting games, card games like Culdcept, Rpg’s, and Real-Time-Sategy.
Work:
I love to problem-solve and draw on my imagination games.. i create full games in my mind and am constantly coming up with ways of improving on existing games.
What i would love to do in this business is put together games with a focus on strategy concepts … cause and effect and work on the balance of characters and their spells/abilities as well as the balance of the worlds/environments and how they relate to those characters.
Decide on concepts and designs of these things to remove things and add things that match with the overal design; deciding what fits or what makes no sense. And deciding on adjustments of values of things like how much damage a spell should do, mana cost and how long the player should wait to do it again. Or deciding on the tweaking of a units animation speed to coincide with the crea

Administrator answers:
You will not find a full time career doing that without doing other work. Get a degree in the Creative Arts and you will be able to get a job in the video-game business where you can be creative. Game-play Testers do tweaking and balancing (They write the reports on what is good and bad) and most companies do not have full time game-play testers.

Laura asks…
New Computer Build. Comment, Suggestions?
CPU: AMD Phenom II X4 955 Black Edition Quad Core Processor 3.2GHZ AM3 8MB Cache 125W Retail Box http://ncix.com/products/index.php?s…5&promoid=1323
GPU: Sapphire Radeon Xtreme HD 5850 725MHZ 1GB 4GHZ GDDR5 PCI-E DVI HDMI DisplayPort Video Card http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=60714
RAM: G.SKILL F3-12800CL9D-4GBRL Ripjaws PC3-12800 4GB 2X2GB DDR3-1600 CL9-9-9-24 Core i5 1.5V Memory Kit http://ncix.com/products/index.php?s…5&promoid=1323
DVD: Samsung SH-S223C 22X DVD Writer SATA Black OEM http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=46792
Heatsink: Coolermaster Hyper 212 Plus Direct Touch 4 Heatpipe Heatsink AM2 AM3 LGA1366 LGA1155 LGA1156 120MM (Are heatsinks necessary?) http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=41337
Case: Coolermaster Haf 912 Black Mid Tower ATX Case 4X5.25 1X3.5 6X3.5INT No PS Front USB Sound http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=55583
PSU: Antec High Current Gamer 520W 40A 24PIN ATX12V V2.3 Active PFC 80 Plus Bronze Power Supply 135mm Fan http://ncix.com/products/index.php?s…7&promoid=1323
HDD: Western Digital Caviar Black 500GB 7200RPM 32MB Dual Proc SATA 3.5IN http://ncix.com/products/index.php?sku=33883
Mobo:
Gigabyte 890GPA-UD3H 890GX AM3 ATX DDR3 2PCI-E 2PCI SATA3 USB3.0 HDMI GBLAN CrossFireX Motherboard http://ncix.com/products/index.php?s…5&promoid=1323
Total cost is $$725.30 ($800 is my max budget). Am I getting the most out of what I’m paying? I want a high-end gaming, while a viable tool for audio creation and video editing.

Administrator answers:
On a strict budget, you’re not doing too bad. You can save some money by ditching the Coolermaster Heatsink. Your CPU should come with a heatsink included. There aren’t many aftermarket coolers that perform well enough to justify the extra money, so just use the stock cooler (FREE).
Your power supply choice makes me nervous. It’s decent quality (for a change, most people choose crap quality power supplies) but it’s sized “just right” which makes me nervous. I like to leave some room for capacitor aging at least. I’d suggest you spend a little LESS money and get this power supply instead:
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=52174
Not only is it better quality than the Antec HCG series…but it’s a more appropriate size for this particular build. And it’s less expensive, too.
OK, There are a couple of problems with your RAM choice. One is, it won’t allow your motherboard to boot (that’s a problem!). Your motherboard supports RAM at that speed, but NOT at stock settings! As you want to do video editing, it’s not possible to have too much RAM. Normally I’d say 4GB is plenty…but for video editing? Luckily, these two problems are easy to fix. You should have saved some money by not purchasing a CPU heatsink you don’t need, right??? So spend it on this:
http://ncix.com/products/?sku=55544
The hard drive choice is both right and wrong. It would be perfect for a gaming system. It’s way WAY too small though, if you want to use the same system for video editing. For video editing, a 500GB hard drive would be too small for video storage alone. Then where are you going to put your operating system, applications, games, etc? I can understand the tight budget though, so some compromise needs to be made somewhere.
How about a 1TB blue to start with?
Http://ncix.com/products/?sku=58881
Partition it half and half…1st partition OS/applications/games, 2nd partition video storage.
Then it will be easy to add another hard drive later when you have more money. Just switch your video storage to the new drive!
A black drive would perform a little better, but the blue drive will be fine for games, and a better choice for video editing.
Actually, the perfect combo (if you can afford it) would be to get a black drive as a boot drive and then a HUGE “green” drive as video storage. But I think this would push the cost of the build just over your budget. So I think spending just little more money on a 1TB blue drive is the best bet.
OK, I think the changes I made brought your system up to about 730 or 740 I think? But it’s what I’d do for your budget and what you intend to use it for.

Steven asks…
HP laptop recommendation
I’m looking at buying a laptop for my A level subjects coursework(ICT,Computing,RE,Business and Geography) and to be able to do lots of other things such as run the Sims 2 and Open for Business,my Nike thing,Itunes etc,Maybe movies etc
I prefer HP as I have an old HP laptop and a HP desktop but I don’t mind looking at sony or tobisha.
I looked around and the HP Pavilion dv9885ea (KU177EA) looked good.
The Specs are:
Processor, operating system and memory
Processor type
Intel® Centrino® processor technology
• Intel® Core™ 2 Duo processor T9300
• 2.50 GHz , Level 2 cache 6 MB
• Intel® PRO/Wireless 4965AGN Network Connection
Operating system installed
Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium 32-bit
Standard memory
4096 MB
Memory layout
(2 x 2048 MB)
Internal drives
Internal hard disk drive
320 GB
Hard disk controller
SATA Hard Disk Drive
Hard disk drive speed
5400 rpm
Optical drive type
Blu-Ray ROM with SuperMulti DVD±R/RW Double Layer
System features
Memory card device
5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for Secure Digital cards, MultiMedia cards, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, or xD Picture cards
Modem
High speed 56K modem
Network interface
Integrated 10/100/1000 Gigabit Ethernet LAN
Wireless technologies
Intel® PRO/Wireless 4965AGN Network Connection
Wireless capability
Bluetooth® wireless networking
External I/O ports
4 USB 2.0, 1 HDMI connector, 1 VGA port, 1 RJ11 modem connector, 1 RJ45 ethernet connector, S-video TV out, 2 headphones-out, 1 mic-in, 1 IEEE 1394, remote control infrared port (remote optional), cable docking connector
Video capture interface
IEEE 1394 FireWire® Interface
Expansion slots
One ExpressCard/54 slot (also supports ExpressCard/34)
Display size
17″ WXGA High Definition BrightView Widescreen
Display resolution
1440 x 900
Video adapter
NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8600M GS
Video RAM
Up to 1791 MB Total Available Graphics Memory with 512 MB dedicated
Control panel
HP QuickPlay media player software and its dedicated menu controls, music and DVD buttons
Webcam
HP Pavilion WebCam with Integrated Microphone
Remote control
HP Mobile Remote Control
Internal audio
3D Sound Blaster Pro compatible sound 16 bit integrated
Speakers and microphone
Altec Lansing® speakers
Keyboard
Full size desktop keyboard (with separate numeric keypad layout)
Pointing device
Touch Pad with On/Off button and dedicated vertical Scroll Up/Down pad, volume control, mute buttons, 2 Quick Launch Buttons
Power supply type
90 W AC Power Adapter
Software
Software – Productivity & finance
Microsoft® Works and Microsoft® Office Home and Student 2007 60-Day Trial Version
Pre-installed software
Microsoft® Internet Explorer 7.0; Windows Mail; Adobe® Reader 8.0
Optical drive driver software
Windows Media Player ; Windows Photo Gallery ; DVD Play ; Windows Movie Maker, Windows DVD Maker ; Cyberlink DVD Suite ; Windows Media center, QuickPlay for Windows ; HP Total Care Advisor
Software included
Recovery partition (including possibility to recover system, applications and drivers separately); Optional re-allocation of recovery partition; Recovery CD/DVD creation tool; Symantec™ Norton Internet Security™ 2008 (60 days live update); Notebook Help & Support
Dimensions / weight / warranty
Weight
3.55 kg (7.8 lbs)
Package weight
5.10 kg
Dimensions (W x D x H)
28.50 cm (L) x 39.60 cm (W) x 3.16 cm (min) H / 4.18 cm (max) H
Package dimensions (W x D x H)
480 x 170 x 350 mm
Warranty statement
1 year, pick-up and return, parts and labour
Limited warranty coverage and exceptions
A 2 years warranty extension is available – HP Care Pack U4819E or U4821E (including Accidental Damage Protection) Express service UE601E (D 2 Turn around Time)
Source:http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/uk/en/ho/WF06b/321957-321957-3329744-64354-64354-3675209-3717517.html
Does this look suitable as I need it to last me for about another 4 years.Thanks very much.If you need me to add more I will.Also post recommendations if you have any.Thanks.

Administrator answers:
Ohh yeah, this will be nice enough to run for about 4 years, even more if you take good care of it. But it will be able to run the things you asked.

Thomas asks…
HP Pavilion Media Center dv2535ea Entertainment Notebook PC (GJ032EA)–ANY GOOD?
technical specifications
Operating system installed Genuine Windows Vista® Home Premium
Processor type Intel® Core™2 Duo processor T5450
Processor speed 1.67 GHz
Internal audio 3D Sound Blaster Pro compatible sound 16 bit integrated
Speakers and microphone Altec Lansing® speakers
Battery type 6-cell Lithium-Ion (Li-Ion) battery
Cache Level 2 cache 2 MB
Centrino technology Intel® Centrino® Duo processor technology
Control panel HP QuickPlay media player software and its dedicated menu controls, music and DVD buttons
Display resolution 1280 x 800
Display size 14.1″ WXGA High Definition BrightView Widescreen Display
Expansion slots One ExpressCard/54 slot (also supports ExpressCard/34)
Video adapter, bus PCI Express®
Hard disk controller SATA Hard Disk Drive
Internal hard disk drive 160 GB
Hard disk drive partition up to 9 GB partition for system recovery
Hard disk drive speed 5400 rpm
External I/O ports 2 USB 2.0, 1 HDMI connector, 1 VGA port, 1 RJ11 modem connector, 1 RJ45 ethernet connector, S-video TV out, 2 headphones-out, 1 mic-in, 1 IEEE 1394, remote control infrared port (remote optional), cable docking connector
Keyboard 101 key compatible keyboard
Lightscribe Create silkscreen-quality disc labels direct from your PC with LightScribe: Just burn, flip, burn.
Memory card device 5-in-1 integrated Digital Media Reader for Secure Digital cards, MultiMedia cards, Memory Stick, Memory Stick Pro, or xD Picture cards
Memory layout (2 x 1024 MB)
Maximum memory Supports up to 2 GB DDR2 memory
Standard memory 2048 MB
Modem High speed 56K modem
Pointing device Touch Pad with On/Off button and dedicated vertical Scroll Up/Down pad, volume control, mute buttons, 2 Quick Launch Buttons
Network interface Ethernet 10/100BT integrated network interface
Optical drive driver software Windows Media Player ; HP Photosmart Essential, Windows Photo Gallery ; DVD Play ; Windows Movie Maker, Windows DVD Maker, Roxio MyDVD Basic ; Roxio Creator Basic ; Windows Media center, QuickPlay for Windows ; Verisoft Access Manager
Optical drive type Lightscribe Super Multi DVD Writer (+/-R +/-RW) with Double Layer support
Remote control HP Mobile Remote Control
Power supply type 90 W AC Power Adapter
Downloadable software Special offer: for accessories, software and warranty promotions, please visit: www.mypcchoice.com
Software included Recovery partition (including possibility to recover system, applications and drivers separately); Optional re-allocation of recovery partition; Recovery CD/DVD creation tool; Symantec™ Norton Internet Security™ 2007 (60 days live update); Notebook Help & Support
Pre-installed software Microsoft® Internet Explorer 7.0; Windows Mail; Adobe® Reader 8.0
Software – Productivity & finance Microsoft® Works 8
Video adapter NVIDIA® GeForce™ 8400M
Video capture interface IEEE 1394 FireWire® Interface
Video RAM Up to 831 MB total graphics memory with 64 MB dedicated
Webcam HP Pavilion webcam with stereo integrated microphones
Wireless capability Bluetooth® wireless networking
Wireless technologies Intel® PRO/Wireless 4965 802.11a/g/n Integrated Wireless LAN
Dimensions (W x D x H) 23.70 cm (L) x 33.40 cm (W) x 2.60 cm (min) H) / 3.90 cm (max) H
Package dimensions (W x D x H) 485 x 112 x 360 mm
Weight 2.43 kg (5.33 lbs)
Package weight 4.40 kg

Administrator answers:
You didnt give us the price you were going to pay..it looks ok but a lot of people with vista are moaning and then again a lot aren’t!
Also were from?
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