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I've got a video and sound card both on IRQ 10 under WinXP, yet neither in the Device Manager is showing any conflicts. Is that natural? Well, I know Windows isn't natural. But I mean, is that expected? Under earlier Windows iterations (and DOS), such a conflict would be cause all sorts of problems.

Windows 2000 and XP are both capable of sharing resources such as IRQ ports between several devices. You may also find you've got some devices running on IRQ values above 15, which was the limit in Windows 95, 98 and ME.

sharing IRQ's

This does a pretty good job at summing it up. Are both your vid/sound cards PCI or on-board?

The video card shows as being in "PCI bus 1," while the sound card is at "PCI slot 1."

I'm still trying to find conflicts or some reason my computer crashes a-plenty in games, particularly Morrowind. I've ruled out the mods, themselves, since even the basic game causes endless crashes. Morrowind should by all accounts run wtih 256 MB RAM in WinXP. I've even got a profile that turns off many services, and set my video options to performance--and it still crashes every few minutes.

EDIT: Just spoke to my "tech guy." He strongly suspects (along with BSODs I'm getting about "page faults in non-paged areas" that we're looking at faulty RAM. He's going to look for a program that tests RAM to loan me...and if that points out the problem, great. In the meantime, we're pricing a major upgrade on the computer: new CPU, 1 GB RAM, new motherboard, new sound card.

::waves hand hypnotically in front of fable::

Buy an MSI motherboard.

Actually, he's leaning towards an Athlon one. Which makes sense, since he's gung-ho on the 64-bit Athlon CPU. Does the MSI have advantages the Athlon doesn't?

MSI makes boards for Athlon CPUs.

A buddy of mine has an MSI K7N2-Delta ILSR and loves it.

It supports Athlon XP 400 MHz FSB processors, up to 3 GB of DDR RAM, Serial ATA, RAID 0 or 1, 10/100 Ethernet, on board USB 2.0, Firewire and Dolby 5.1 AC97 sound.

The price has been coming down on them; last I checked they were retailing for about $110 on Pricewatch (including shipping).

I don't think you'll need a 64-bit CPU. For one thing, there's no 64-bit software out there and something in the range of an Athlon XP 3000+ or Pentium 4 2.8 GHz will provide more than enough horsepower for some time. Unless you really want the geek points for having a 64-bit processor, I'd go with an Athlon XP processor.

His reason for pushing the 64-bit Athlon is the upcoming 64-bit Windows, and I'm inclined to agree with him. Since my work involves reviewing software on different Windows versions, and also providing articles about the Windows OS, I'll need something that can really show the advantages of the new apps. Or so the theory goes.

Originally posted by HighLordDave
Unless you really want the geek points for having a 64-bit processor

Mmmmmmm... geek points. I'm holding off 64bit until Socket 939 is released later this year. Hopefully by the end of the year WinXP 64bit should be out too.
In reality, an Athlon XP 3200 or P4 3GHz is more than enough for most people. For the others (myself included) there's no such thing as too fast

By fable :
EDIT: Just spoke to my "tech guy." He strongly suspects (along with BSODs I'm getting about "page faults in non-paged areas" that we're looking at faulty RAM. He's going to look for a program that tests RAM to loan me...and if that points out the problem, great. In the meantime, we're pricing a major upgrade on the computer: new CPU, 1 GB RAM, new motherboard, new sound card.

::waves hand hypnotically in front of fable::
Buy a Kingston RAM or Corsair RAM

By fable :
he's gung-ho on the 64-bit Athlon CPU..

I've read some article on Windows 64 bit preview using AMD XP64 - his Gatesness still needs to fine tune that windows 64 bit. For now Athlon XP Barton 3200 already good enough, I've assembled a CPU using Athlon XP Barton 3000 for a firend last month (with MSI KT-4 mobo ) and IMO it's already good enough for most applications

I'll mention the alternatives you all discuss the next time I speak with him, and let you know his reply. But I am thinking longterm, here. I would like these upgrades to fit the next Windows perfectly--meaning that if Gates releases his next attempt to sell the universe an operating system a year or 18 months away, this machine should integrate with its 64-bit architecture. Do the recommendations being made here handle that?

there're 2 considerations : pricing and long term. for now AthlonXPsystem is very cheap compare to other system, also compared with Athlon 64 system. With lots of hardware going to 'scrap" lately I think Athlon XP already good enough in pricing and long term condisderation. If u plan to invest on Athlon64 system do remember that PCI X-press will be released soon making AGP obsolete. IMO investing Athlon 64 mobo with AGP slot is a wrong investment. let's wait for Athlon64 mobo w/ PCI X-press slot if u wanna get a 64 bit system