lorne

Don't know why gamers would be so concerned about it. The highest upload i have seen playin a game is 10 KB/sec which even the most basic broadband easily covers of course. What they should be concerned about is their ping to the game server

No it should be fine with 9. Have you scanned for spyware and viruses? How many processes do you have running in the background? What is the temp of your CPU while under load?

The 9800 Pro will play that game no problem. What drivers are you using?  The CPU is a little weak but should be able to play it ok. What resolution are you using? What quality are you playing at?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ProductList.asp?Submit=list&SubCategory=147&bop=and&srchInDesc=240-Pin

There are some different brands there in my custom search

I use no AV at all. I like having minimal stuff running on my system and AV's use alot of resources. I test once a week at Trend Micros online scan. If i think it has missed something cause my computer seems a little off i will download a trial version of Panda Titanium or something and scan with that and than shut it off.

This has worked great for me i am going on 2 years with the same install of XP and it is still running fast and smooth. I do have Agnitum Outpost Pro configured very tightly and that has helped greatly. I haven't had a virus actually since i decided to configue it like i am paranoid and that was 3 months ago I also surf behind a anonymous Proxy alot of times just cause i am paranoid

Cool glad it worked out good for ya, now CRANK it and enjoy the new sound card

Disable onboard sound in the Bios on the boards i have had to do it on. After that install the card and you should be good to go.

As for the CPU i don't think it will make any difference, it will lessen the load on your NB though

Technically 2 sticks of 512MBs of RAM does not equal

Yep 2 of 512=Dual chanell

1 gig stick= no dual channel

It depends on what your budget is and what you are going to use the computer for. Post what you can spend and i will post some parts for ya

My 9800 Pro fried and now i am stuck with a sweet 64MB MSI. Can't run it of course and i really want to try it out

Nice post HaloBox I forgot to mention that part about

make sure you read the docs and understand the keys in use, storage of those keys, and recovery.

Yep movies i have found 6X to be the speed that you still have the quality of a slow burn but with some speed. Anything over seems to start degrading the quality not by much but it is noticeable. For software (except Windows) as fast as you want. Windows should be done at 4x to ensure good quality cause we all know how damn finnicky (spelling) it is.

I didn't believe you should "backup" windows that slow and tried at 6X and it wouldn't install.

Get PGP (Pretty Good Privacy)  it is a military Encryption that very few people would be able to get in to. And the chances of those few targeting your C:/ is about 1 in 10000000000000000

Google for it and you will find it. Also setup your router make sure password protected. Between that and PGP i wouldn't worry.

Personally i think it is fine to OC your first system ONLY after researching it and doing it properly. If he builds the system with future OCing in mind he can get gains that will be quite noticeable. Definetly a great way to learn about your computer!!

I agree the 64's have dropped a fair bit in price and would be the way to go. The Venice core is getting the best OC's currently. Let us know also what your budget is 

AMD is better for gaming Intel is better for video editing and that type of thing. AMD is better bang for the buck so i have always went with AMD. Intel has higher clock speeds but AMD chips do more work per CPU cycle. For example a Athlon 2500 runs at 1.83 GHz but is = in the amount of work it does to a P4 3.0 GHz.

Once you decide what processor you want to go with post here and we can help you on the next part. Overclocking is alot of fun so you can also build your system with that in mind. Once you have it built and are familiar with it you can get alot of xtra speed out of it. I OCed my first rig i built 2 days after i got it running. If you want to build a rig that is highly OCable post here and we can recommend some different CPUs that OC well

Most of the FPS games like Doom and BF1942 use about 10 KB/sec. RPG games usually use less about 1-4 KB/sec. You will be fine, 

My bad double post...here is a article

http://www.cbc.ca/stories/2004/03/31/canada/download_court040331

It seems to be a grey area, one thing i do know as of right now 4 of the 5 major canadian ISP's will not give out your identity to the RIAA or the CRIA. They are fighting it here is article  http://www.canfli.org/

I will see if i can find a article on it after work. 

Music i know forsure it is legal. Not sure on the other stuff, i do know i have yet to here of anybody in canada being harassed for file sharing since the courts passed the law that it was legal to share music.

donjunior it doesn't matter if you have a disclaimer, if they are on your computer or server and you have them available to download, you can get nailed. Usually you will get a E-mailed warning from a corporation sayin to shut it down, and if you don't than they will take further action.

I find torrents are best. Never have had a virus from a torrent. Programs like Limewire, bearshare and WinMX are anonymous sharing so people don't hesitate to share a virus. Torrents sites have a forum and is a community, so if somebody posts a torrent with a virus you know right a way and they get banned. This discourages people from doing it with torrents.

Unless you live in Canada, it is illegal to share movies, music and cracked programs. It doesn't matter on the program it is the sharing that is illegal. Chances of getting busted are pretty slim but can happen. Could always put yourself behind a proxxy in China and than share..but it would be a little slow

Couldn't edit for some reason..ahh well double post

I was thinking of switching to FF but found a great add on browser for IE. Its called Avant, check it out here http://www.avantbrowser.com/index.html

It is alot faster than IE and has the security of FF, a ton of great options and skins. I am very happy with this. Does it get any better than more speed than IE and as secure as FF... I don't think so

Why even remove it just install and use FF