Finally bought a quad core!

[Guts3d]

Chip

Ram

Motherboard

Vista Home Premium

Bought off of Craigslist, for $400. All boxes sealed, he was going to update but needed cash quickly. I felt guilty until I started setting it up...

[NooNoo]

Enjoy your 3d jigsaw puzzle!!

[CCT]

What I have had a hard time understanding is why the multi-coring didn't target separation and synchronization of the graphics, audio and programme operations so that we actually saw a MAJOR change.

Imagine graphics on their own processor!

Seems logical to me, but I am a bit un-techie.

[NooNoo]

That would be the operating system's job....and the programs that use the hardware directly.

Umm on the graphics, it does have it's own processor...and memory or did I miss a smilie?

[NooNoo]

Yes, but the bulk of the work is done on the GPU - DX10 especially...

[Guts3d]

The onboard vga / dvi Intel GMA 3100 seems sufficient, as I don't do gaming or anything like CADD. I think I have a few cards in stock at home if the video doesn't thrill me. I bought another 2 gigs of similar ram to bump it up a bit. I loaded Windows® XP 32 bit, and will load XP64 bit tonight and put it in my Lian Li case. Bought another 4 port KVM with a switch built in to handle the 3 computers on my desk now, with one port for testing and building.

[xpuser357]

Chip

Ram

Motherboard

Vista Home Premium

Bought off of Craigslist, for $400. All boxes sealed, he was going to update but needed cash quickly. I felt guilty until I started setting it up...

I thought chip meant that square dillibob soldered on mother board and
what you showed was a central processor unit (CPU)??

[Guts3d]

Processor, processing chip, I guess it's just a Pittsburgh thing...

[Guts3d]

Had a devil of a time getting it to load the drivers for my 150 gig Raptor drive, but after a bios update and a few sleight of hand tricks it found it and installed fine. But, after a reboot, the usb stopped working completely in 64 bit mode. The usb works as usual in 32 bit mode, so it isn't a bios thing. There are no ps2 ports, so I can't depend on that. I tried last known good and also safe mode in 64 bit to try and troubleshoot, but no dice. Any suggestions?

[CCT]

A possibility: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/941600

edit: this also may work (found at Experts Exchange):

"Try Vista System File Checker:

Click Start » All Programs » Accessories.
Right click Command Prompt.
Select Run as Administrator .

At the command prompt type
sfc /scannow (don t miss the space before the /)
Click OK.

You may need your Vista DVD if prompted for SFC.

If SFC doesn't work, try a Vista Repair:

Vista repair options don't include XP's Repair Installation. A giant leap backwards.
However you can do something similar - instructions here:"
http://vistasupport.mvps.org/repair_..._vista_dvd.htm

[Guts3d]

Thanks, but I cheated and went online, found out which U.S.B. cards had native drivers in XP64 and plugged one in I happened to have sitting in another computer. Windoews booted up , found the new PCI card and new mouse, which allowed me to go into device manager, delete and reload the borked drivers. Another reboot, and all is well! Thanks again for the tip, CCT.