March 08, 2009

Q 1. I have an Intel core 2 Duo E7300 processor and XFX NVIDIA nForce 680i LT SLI board. Please suggest any good graphics card which can support 2-way SLI technology under the budget of Rs13, 000.

2. What is the difference between BFGTECH, XFX and INNO3D graphics cards?

A 1. Please do understand that SLI configurations vary between motherboards.

Some motherboards do SLI MODE 8x8x = 16x; SLI MODE 16x8x = 24x; SLI MODE True 16x16x = 32x (full speed SLI)

The cheaper boards do not offer true SLI, reducing the speed to 8x (half the speed of a single SLI card). So I see no point in using SLI mode on these motherboards. You are lucky, however, that your motherboard supports True SLI mode of 2x16. Secondly, SLI only helps in pushing pixels, not for rendering of the image. If your system is pixel limited then SLI cannot help in greater amount and, more often than not, there will be little to no difference with SLI.

Also do remember, SLI does not offer heavy performance increases. At the very best you will get 2x the performance of a single card. If you go and compare some of the FPS (frame per second) figures on the cards you would like vs a card twice the price, you will find that the price/performance ratio gets better only as you move up, until you hit the extreme cards, of course, (GTX, et al). So here I am trying to say that it is better to have a GTX card in Dual Mode, than say a 7300 GT card in Dual Mode.

So with that in mind, a single card solution is better than dual for you. If you are not a heavy gamer, get the 7600GT, 8600 GT/8800 GT or the x1950 Pro especially since buying two cards at the offset, at such high price points do not make any sense. If you buy a decent card now, you will be able to SLI it later when it will be much cheaper than a straight upgrade. After saying that, I will also say that if you have money, than a dual Radeon 2900XTs are pretty good value and will give you a better performance than a single 8800GTX. Plus they are quite a lot cheaper.

2. XFX is a subsidiary of the Hong Kong-based Pine Technology Holdings Limited Group that specialises in the manufacturing of video cards based on NVIDIA and AMD graphics processing units and motherboards. XFX is also one of the leading graphics solution manufacturers in the US, and is ranked number one in Europe. They produce some of the best cards found in our markets.

Inno3D is a brand of InnoVISION Multimedia Limited which is a pioneering developer and manufacturer of a diverse range of cutting-edge multimedia PC hardware products. It was established in 1998 Hong Kong and they produce in Shenzhen, China. They also produce good cards; however, they have been known to use cheaper components than their competitors, which is why these cards are usually cheaper than XFXs.

The BFG Technologies is a privately held US-based supplier of premium 3D video cards based on NVIDIA graphics technology. These are also good cards.

Q I have a P4 with Win XP. The problem is that the ‘search’ option from the start menu has vanished and I cannot find it any where. How can I get it back?

A To enable search function, just go to Start > Run and copy and paste the following command and press OK to proceed.

REG ADD “HKLM\Software\Microsoft\ Windows\CurrentVersion\Policies\Explorer” /v NoFind /t REG_DWORD /d 0

This will enable the search function in general (as this will enable the search option in HKEY_Local_Machine). If you are still experiencing problems, go to Start > Run and copy and paste the following command which will enable the search function specifically for the current user:

REG ADD “HKCU\Software\ Microsoft\Windows\ CurrentVersion\ Policies\ Explorer” /v NoFind /t REG_DWORD /d 0

Most likely the search function disappears due to malware on your system. In this case, we would recommend that you download PrevX CSI and use it to detect any viruses on your system. If you have any, use Avira AntiVir (www.free-av.com/)  along with Ad-Aware/Spybot S&D (www.download.com)  to clean your system.

Q Please tell me which antivirus is the best and how can I download it for free?

A Right now the best free antivirus in our opinion is either AVG (free.grisoft.com) or Avira AntiVIR (www.free-av.com/.)  After the latest version, we have found Avira performing better than AVG, however, the choice is yours.

Q I want to buy a system with the following specifications, kindly review and advice that the following components are compatible or need change please also recommend any other best combination.

Processor: Intel core 2 Duo E8200 2.66 GHz (6MB cache – 1333MHz FSB)

Motherboard: XFX (NVIDIA) nForce 630i (775PINS-SND+GIGA LAN+VGA 7100 series) PCX Slot

Hard disk: Western digital 250GB 3.5" HDD 7200RPM 16MB cache (WD2500AAKS)

Ram: Corsair XMS3 DDR3 Twin Kit 2X2048-1333 (1GBX2) XMS3 Dual Memory Kit DDR3

Power Supply and cooling + case: Cooler Master 600 watts extreme power SLI ready (RP-600-PCAR); Cooler Master Chassis CM 690

Card: XFX GeForce PCX 9800GTX plus 512MB (256BITS)

A This is hard to do because you have not mentioned what you would like this system for. If it is for an average computing experience such as Office, email, casual games, multimedia (DVDs, films, etc.,) than this system is over-kill.

If you would like a machine for gaming (which I suspect very much), then this would be quite suitable. If you want to play games in Hi Res, Hi-Frame rates, however, I would recommend getting another 9800 GTX card or slightly less powerful cards however, in SLI mode.

Q I want to know the procedure required to format drive C and also for installing a new Window.

A Put the installation CD of XP or Windows 2000 into the CD drive assembly and start the computer again. It should soon say ‘Press a key to start from CD’. If not, you have to change the boot sequence in the computer’s BIOS. Another option is to use a special function key which shows a boot menu where you can chose the CD drive, if provided. The most common keys for this are [F12] and [Esc].

Simply follow the prompts to format the C drive and reinstall Windows

Q I use Hotmail for my daily mails but I want to use MS Outlook not outlook Express. I am using VWireless for internet. Kindly guide me how to use or create my account on MS outlook.

A To access your Windows Live Hotmail account with Outlook, you must first install the Microsoft Office Outlook Connector for Windows Live Hotmail which enables you to use your Windows Live Hotmail, Windows Live Contacts, and Windows Live Calendar within Outlook. You can download it from http://office.microsoft.com/search/redir.aspx?AssetID=XT102249071033&CTT=5&Origin=HA102218231033.

Open or save the file, click Open. When prompted to run the software, click Run. Follow the instructions on your screen to complete the installation.The next time you start Outlook, you are prompted to configure the Outlook Connector. Enter the following information:

• Your e-mail address

• Your password

• Your name as you want it to appear in the receiver's Inbox

Click OK. After Outlook opens, your Windows Live Hotmail account will now appear in the Navigation Pane.

 

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