Ryan

@Bugses A 1920x1200 monitor is a 16:10 aspect ratio, not 16x9. Set the custom resolution to 2560x1600 to get rid of the black bars. If you ever watch 1080p video on your monitor, you'll have the same black bars. My Samsung 245BW works great at 2560x1600 downsampled to the native 1920x1200. No performance hit in older games, which I think this is ideal for. I'm running a GTX570.

You can only have one default in and out set by windows. Different pieces of software or two instances of one software can simultaneously input and output audio, so long as they are not each set to use the windows default. I suggest also looking into a USB mixer if you are interested in recording multiple sources. This will allow you options for mixing after recording has finished. They are basically usb soundcards and mixers built into one package.

Wow, thanks. It wasn't an original idea; I saw it in a video some time ago, and wanted to try it myself. Yes, there are two neodymium magnets for the head to move back and forth. When i unscrewed them I was confused for a second when they didn't come apart... I will endevor to do so, although the best I may be able to do is a pellet gun. Might do some neat things to the platter. I thought I might get some fun ideas for the motor. Perhaps if i cut blades into the platter and make a fan? Way better bearings than any computer fan I'm sure. I sure don't need a 7200rpm fan though...

It's already disassembled, I put the platter on display on my desk, makes for a nice round mirror with a hole in it. I've also already connected the read/write head to an amp and played music through it - surprisingly not bad sound for something that isn't a speaker. Can't decide what to try with the motor/bearing. Ideas??

Thanks for the suggestions, I highly suspected RAM myself. Booted by cd and tested ram, it was fine - 18 passes. Prime 95 ran for hours ok. Finally found hd errors and swapped to two older drives that were known working with same results. Decided it was a mobo issue, maybe ide controller and called it.

Reset your CMOS on the mainboard. This involves moving a jumper from pins 1 and 2 to 2 and 3 with the power off, then back and power back on. You will need to reset every option in the bios that is not default. It should stop and report a new cpu.

Umm, strange, I clicked quote, and now there is more quoted here than in the post. Once I've tried win 7, which is installing now, I'll boot into linux as suggested. Any recommendations on software to test stability in linux? I'm not an expert at linux by any stretch. Win 7 install just BSOD'd - IRQL_NOT_LESS_OR_EQUAL From microsoft: "This Stop message indicates that a kernel-mode process or driver attempted to access a memory address to which it did not have permission to access." "If you encounter this error while upgrading to a newer version of Windows, it might be caused by a device driver, a system service, a virus scanner, or a backup tool that is incompatible with the new version." Well there's nothing on there, since the drive is formatted before the install, seems to keep pointing to memory being the issue - does anyone know another memory scanner (possibly that will run inside a linux boot from CD version?)

I'll try win 7 now for the heck of it. I was asked to reinstall win xp simply because the computer can't handle anything special than win 7 can do, and she's familiar with xp. I'm not sure what is meant by installing all drivers - I"m doing a fresh os install.

I'm trying to repair a computer for a friend, I'll make a long story short, I couldn't repair the current install, as I kept getting random bsod messages - every one was different, all to do with memory: "Could not write to read only", page file errors, etc, sorry I don't have the exact messages. I suspected a problem with the memory or hard drive. I ran MemTest86+ overnight as suggested which passed 18 passes with no errors. I also ran a long test with SeaTools which came back with no errors. Upon trying to install a fresh copy of windows xp, I keep running into bsod or fatal errors, all at different steps - sometimes further along than others. I have also turned off features in the bios, such as AHCI, and turned off as many onboard devices as possible. Oh yes, I did confirm there was nothing to be saved on the drive, in case you were concerned. I now suspect there must be something on the board which is causing the random errors. Possibly the memory controller or SATA controller - I'm not sure if the memtest or disk diagnosis would be affected by these, as they ran fine. My third time through with a fresh install, I tried another install disc (cannot boot to USB on this system, unfortunately) The system is an old HP Media Center - Pentium D 2.8GHz, 1G RAM - DDR2-400, onboard video, Seagate 250G Hard drive 7200.8. Before you tell me to just recommend a new computer anyway, which will probably happen regardless, I'd really like to find out exactly what is causing the problem, as this is the first computer in probably a dozen I've repaired with similar issues that I can't definitively find the culprit. If anyone needs any further info, let me know - I can't think of anything else relevant.

Only a few suggestions so far?? I honestly think the best tech gift to get is a gift card, especially if you're looking for components or peripherals. Personally, I don't know anyone that knows exactly my setup and what it could use, that I would like as a gift. This could be because I'm not a fan of just asking for something specific - that takes the fun out of it for me. If you're fine with asking for something specific, then that's fine. For a 'complete' tech gift like a laptop or similar, then any tech guy could put it to use, no matter if it's exactly the one you would get for yourself.

Linus, I hope you've read this far into the replies! I think a lot of subscribers, including myself, subscribed because of the unboxings. Please don't remove them completely. I read a lot of people saying that for items like CPUs and GPUs they serve no purpose. I agree for CPUs, however for aftermarket cooled video cards, a video says a lot more than specs. If unboxings are easier to produce, some items warrant an unboxing, and while on the subject, the b-roll shots of the product detract from your 'classic' style of unboxing, especially on the occasion when you are mentioning a part and likely pointing at it, but the video is of a slow pan across some part of the item. I enjoy the new style for some items, but the artistic style of filming doesn't work for me when I want to know what the thing looks like! I digress... As long as we still receive timely videos about new items and product launches, I'll still watch every day. I think motherboards, cases, video cards, and peripherals deserve unboxings, and some of those items can have a further review video. I believe it would be in your best interest to have a video on most new products, high end to mid range, since your videos will appear in search results more often, no matter the product being searched for. For really interesting products, make a further review video. I just thought of this - I would also be very happy with live unboxings during the WAN show (to maintain the fun unprofessional aspect) - you could even be doing it while Slick/Luke is talking about something else, and mention the interesting things included in the box, if there is something surprising included, then a quick first impression, and move on to something else. This segment could be cut out and posted on its own as an unboxing if you felt it warranted, and also include b-roll footage, again, if warranted. There might be some overlap with another topic that might be partly cut off, which may also drive views to the complete WAN show.

Yes, it is at stock (passive cooler, only for media PC and light gaming), and yes, artifacts like that, but only 2D. Hard to find a photo, sort of like this, but flickering rapidly, like the graphical ones in the video you linked. Some deeper searching led me to some posts sighting the issue as too low of 2D clock speeds. Since it is happening before I get a chance to change any clock speeds, I'm guessing the answer is again to RMA. Edit: Also, unlike this photo, mine are more colourful, sometimes continues until the windows logo appears.

I'm getting visual artifacts since I upgraded to an ASUS 7750 DirectCU video card. They are mostly during boot, or startup, so I'm sure it's nothing a driver can fix. I have luckily never had to RMA anything before, if I've had something fail, it goes bad right away and I return it. I had to backorder this card and waited so long that I didn't want to return it. The reason I got it is becuase it has a completely passive cooler, and is for my media PC. Other than the artifacts, it seems to work fine. I have not had a chance to re-install windows on the machine (as planned anyway) since it had some malware and for some reason I cannot install a component (.NET Framework 4.5) for the newest AMD driver. As I mentioned, I'm sure this won't fix the issue - since it's occurring during post and boot. Any ideas or helpful info on RMA process would be great. Thanks in advance.

Interesting, I was notified that I was mentioned in this post. Oddly I'm also looking at upgrading from my 1st gen i7 as well. Weird... If it were me, I'd go with the 2011, since in the past you decided on 1366 as I did.

@tanilolli great review, I didn't watch the video, just reading on my phone. How did you feel about the weight of the mouse? It seems light (for the size). I have been considering this since its release, but had very recently bought the Mionix Naos. I was hoping for a great palm experience, but my pinky hangs over the edge, and I don't even have really large hands. The Naos has 40g of adjustable weight, and I like it quite heavy. I've adjusted it to the same weight as the ms-3, and I'll see if I get used to it. Thoughts? Also, can you change between the profiles, other than using a mouse button? I was surprised by this on the Naos, as it seems to me to waste two buttons if you want switchable profiles. Cheers,