SirChadlyOC

AUGH of course I finally narrow it down to two, and you bring out 2 more great choices. DOH! OK, I'm going to skip the mishkin one. I already felt like a cheapskate enough with the $70 Antec. And if the Silverstone is really that much better, than I'll pass on the Seasonic. I was worried about it not being modular, anyway. So, again, it looks like I'm somewhere between the Antec and the Silverstone. Hmmm, time to go read a bazillion more reviews... Thanks again, Prophet...I think...

That's because my replacement motherboard is in California right now on a UPS truck. Almost release time.

Today I'm making my purchase. I'm trying to pick from these two. I'm leaning toward the Seasonic, but it's $100 after shipping. I found the Antec on buy.com for $70 after shipping, so I'm thinking there won't be much difference for $30. What do you think? Should I pony up the extra $30 for the Seasonic, or is the Antec going to be just as good?

OK, so you want the full-sized boomerang that originally came with the first-edition Xbox's, not the redesigned smaller version. Got it.

Ahh, this looks better. I also added a front-bay card reader, a USB connection for my microphone and added my TV tuner card (cable) that brought me to 381w. Would you still suggest adding about 200w for good measure? Or would a 550w be close enough? I have ruled out anything less than 550w, though. Afterall, my "Velocity Micro" brand 500w was the one that blew, so I'm thinking a slight upgrade is in order. I added the mic and tuner card afterward, so I don't think they were in VM's original calculations. (Also, what type of Xbox controller were you looking for? I'm assuming a Microsoft S? The small one, not the boomerang? And what color would you prefer?)

As I type this, a replacement motherboard is being UPS'd to me from EVGA. I still need to buy a new Power Supply, however. I know I already asked a month ago, but are there any other suggestions on buying a new one? I'm definitely going to pay attention to efficiency, but I'm not sure what else is important and what else doesn't matter as much. Prophet: I was going to study your How To Computer section on PSUs so I'd be able to figure it out on my own, but alas, chapter six doesn't exist yet. Thanks, everyone!

Guys, you realize they won't release the Scout update until my computer is fixed. They know my replacement motherboard is on its way, so that's why there was a big delay. Sorry, everyone.

The thing I don't understand is why won't SEGA just put a $20 bill in my wallet every week. I am entitled to it. I don't care what the consequences are for SEGA, I expect to have my weekly allotment of $20.

Damn you... I WAS WONDERING! HOW DID YOU DO THIS TO ME?!? ARRGGHH... Also, I have three original NES systems from when I was way younger and we thought the unrecoverable flashing lights meant that your system was dead and you needed a new one. Now I am 3x happy.

I loved how much I hated that guy in Scrubs this season. ZWAAH!

I have a bunch of players guides, but I can't sell them. I can only trade them for other goods and services. The value I want for them is pretty small. Like shipping +$2 ish for each. Also, I can post pictures if you want to see it first. FOR SALE (kind of): :::Strategy Guides::: Bully: Scholarship Edition Castlevania: Order of Ecclesia Disgaea 3 (Double Jump) Disgaea Compilation (Double Jump) Final Fantasy III (DS) Mana Khlemia I also have collector's editions of Super Mario Galaxy and Legend of Zelda: Phantom Hourglass I'd be willing to give up for something nice®. WANT: Metroid Prime 3: Corruption Strategy Guide SNES Multi-Tap (allows 4-5 players)

I've been inactive too long and am now off the leader board on HLStatsx. Sad Panda. If I don't go online and kill some bitches soon, I'm gonna rage-quit some stupid jackass customer at work. Good news is I'll then have lots more time for TF2 and L4D because I'll be jobless. Worth it?

I'm sorry, I already displayed the most epic example of computer exploding via TF2. On a related note, my PC is back in my possession, but it still needs a new motherboard and power supply. They should still be under my 2-year manufacturer's warranty, so replacing the parts should be an inexpensive, but unfortunately, very long process. I hope to play with you guys in 3 months.

Oh man, I want to send these to every one I know right now.

After searching though Velocity Micro's Web site, it seems that they automatically fill out the warranties on all the parts when you purchase a computer through the V.M. Web site. This means that my motherboard (at least) should still be under warranty. Their support staff is available for emergencies only on the weekends, so I should be talking to a real person on Monday about my suddenly busted computer. I'm not sure if they'll replace the power supply, which looks like it was Velocity Micro brand, so I might still need to buy one. Either way, thanks so much everybody for all your help with this so far. Your support and advice have really helped me figure out what to do with this situation. Also, if I'm buying a new PC sometime soon, I'm ordering it through Prophet. Then I'll make you drive it to my apartment (2 hours more than your driving limit, I know), then we'll play saxophone, frisbee, and video games. EDIT: Next stupid question: which APC UPS should I get? I didn't realize there were so many choices...

UPDATE: Computer Smith guy just called back. First of all, my hard-drive is fine. Thank God. He also said that he might recommend buying another EVGA nForce 680i SLI so I won't have to reinstall everything. My VISTA and anti-virus are all "1 user" so I didn't know if it would cause any instabilities or other annoyances in that department. Or if the annoyances would be better than getting a crappy motherboard. As for the power supply, he said that he recommends an "8 pin" for my build instead of a 4 pin or 6 pin. I think he said it was because of the processor, but maybe it was just the power cable. Anyway, he said that it could do 4, but recommends 8. I thought I was with him all the way until this point. Then I was confused again. Prophet, does this info change your suggestions at all? It does look like the power supply you recommended is a 4 pin. Also, should I be worried about reinstallations, or is that a piece of cake and it won't yell at me about already installing VISTA? THANKS!

I have developed quite a collection of video game posters, mostly by going through old video game magazines and ripping/cutting out the posters in there. I've been a subscriber of Nintendo Power for years, so I went through my old mags I still had and got to about 50 posters of random games. I used them all to "wallpaper" my dorm room freshman year, and the small bathroom (complete with N64) my junior year. It's a pretty neat feeling looking forward to pooping so you can try to find more stars in Mario 64. As for what you can do, find a store like GameStop on a Sunday and ask if you can have any old marketing signs or posters they're throwing out. (They change their marketing every other week on Sundays, usually.) I got a pretty sweet Super Smash Bros Brawl poster this way. It reminds me to reserve my copy today.

The computer was assembled by Velocity Micro. After it stopped working, I took it to a local computer repair place called "Computer Smith." They called me today and said that it's definitely my power supply, and he said it looks like my motherboard is out as well (at least in some places ...?). I don't know that much about computers, though. I'm sold on the PSU you recommended. I was thinking about going as high as 700W, but again, I'm not an expert by any means. Also, I need to buy one of those battery back-up devices you plug your computer into. That'd make me feel much better about my future computer. As for the motherboards, I have a hard time telling the difference between good ones and bad ones. I don't think I want one with less performance than the old one, but I also don't want one that's going to crap out on me in 18 months, either. Thanks so much for your help so far, Prophet. I'll make sure I get you an xbox controller for this or something! *reads your how to computer .pdf*

As stated in the TF2 forum, my computer is no longer functioning. My computer was 17 months old. I had a 1-year warranty. Anyway, I need a new motherboard and power supply to install in my old computer. Unless there anybody has other suggestions regarding what I should do about it. My motherboard was EVGA nForce 680i SLI. Here are the rest of the specifications if that helps: Power Supply 500 Watt Velocity Micro® Power Supply with Dual Blue Lighted Fans Motherboard EVGA nForce 680i SLI, Socket 775, PCI-E, DDR2 Processor Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E6750, dual 2.66GHz cores, 1333MHz FSB, 4MB L2 Cache CPU Cooling Arctic Cooling® Freezer 7 Pro Heatsink, Ultra Quiet Fan, Copper Heat Pipes, plus Arctic Silver™ 5 Thermal Compound DDR2 Memory 4096MB Corsair™ DDR2 PC6400 DDR2-800 (4x1024) PCX Video 320MB EVGA GeForce 8800GTS DDR3 PCI-E w/HDCP SUPERCLOCKED (700W+ PSU recommended for SLI) Video Tuning Basic 3D Video Performance Tuning & Optimization Audio Creative Labs SoundBlaster® X-Fi™ XtremeGamer Hard Drive 1 400GB Hitachi 7200rpm 16MB Cache SATA 300 w/NCQ Optical Drive 1 20x Lite On® DVD+/-RW Dual Layer Burner with LightScribe Labeling Technology, Black Optical Drive 2 16x DVD/48x CD-RW Lite On® Combo Drive, Black Bezel Floppy Drive & Media Reader 8-in-1 Floppy Drive & Media Reader Combo, Black Bezel On-Line Gaming Accelerator ONLY Integrated 10/100/1000MBps Gigabit Ethernet Network Adapter LAN 2 or WiFi Adapter Zonet 802.11b/g Wireless PCI with MIMO Technology (greater range and speed) FireWire 2 Integrated IEEE 1394 FireWire Ports, 1 front & 1 rear USB 2.0 Ports 6 USB 2.0 Ports, 2 front & 4 rear Any help or suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks!

Welp, the compy doctor called. The prognosis is bleak. There's not much they can do... The motherboard is fried. As is the power supply. My computer was 17 months old. I had a 1-year warranty. Further discussions on my computer will be in another topic. In this topic, TF2 is fun. I miss it. I miss all of you. But I don't miss you with my sentry gun. EDIT: Here is the new topic for my much-needed computer help. Thanks.

OMG take me literally, please. My fagtration reference didn't give it away? If I didn't like mic spam even a little, I wouldn't have been in the server in the first place. I think mic spam can be really funny if done correctly. While it is true that my computer died while on the server, I severely doubt the micspam caused the fatal error. Especially to my graphics card. (P.S.: compy is in the shop now. I should get the diagnosis tomorrow.)

So I won't be playing TF2 or L4D in several days, probably more like weeks. My computer fatally crashed on Fagtration server and hasn't recovered. I'm guessing the mic spam blew out my graphics card or something. Anyway, I have to get my computer diagnosed and repaired until I can play again. MISS YOU!! <3

This is pretty horrible. Spike needs to be way cooler than Keanu. It has to seem like he's always thinking, not completely brainless. AAUUGGHH!

OMG I've missed that picture like it was an old wallet with $100 still in it. Ahhhh, I feel so much better now. Also, I'm going to go buy an XBOX 360 wireless network adapter now. Thanks, Sgt. Rama!