PlaneShift
Fan Area => The Hydlaa Plaza => Topic started by: Moogie on August 30, 2005, 11:52:11 pm
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Thought I\'d post something for those thinking about buying from Alienware. Here\'s my personal experience so far.
It was delivered today, not too late, but not early. There was a slight problem; they didn\'t include a power cord. :) I\'ve sent off an email about that.
Now this machine is a monster. Not just in specs (AMD64 (HT) 4400+, 2GB RAM, GeForce 7800 GTX), but in sheer size. Slightly over two foot tall and wide, and a foot in width. It was a bit awkward getting it up the stairs, and god forbid if you don\'t have much room on your desk (or under it).
It\'s also noisy. No, noisy is an understatement. You see, even with the optional extra of \'Acoustic Dampening\' to the AlienIce cooling system, this thing can be clearly heard from downstairs. Sent off an email about that, too. ;)
Took a while for me to find where to plug in the speakers, but that wasn\'t anything wrong with the machine. :) I\'ve just never had a decent soundcard before. Audigy 2 ZS.
So, that\'s all well and good, normal sorts of problems that happen to everyone, blah blah... you want to hear how it runs, yes? :)
Gorgeous. Fantastic. Brilliant. Beautiful. If my last machine was a steam turbine capable of doing press-ups with the Eiffel Tower, this is a Behemoth with the unbridled power of a thousand galloping stallions that have been fed steriods their entire lives. In outer space.
...Because there\'s no wind drag in outer space.
...Ya.
On to looks: it is a piece of art. Mine is black with blue \'eyes\'. It glows menacingly in the dark. Very sleek, very stylish. :)
Hmm... pics, you say? Pics?! Of what speaketh thou! Okay then, I\'ll take some pics. Later. I\'m tired right now, and the machine\'s deafening noise is driving me insaaaaaaaaaane!! I\'m going to find a way to turn them off. Or pull them out. One thing\'s for certain, I\'m not sending it back to their warehouse. Because the warranty makes you pay for it. THE WARRANTY IS EVIL.
I\'ll be back later with pics.
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Overall: :P
I\'ve got an ALX. I mean, the liquid cooling doesnt give me problems, sure beats my 9 fans I once had :D
And the power cord thing, would so not be worth the time of an email ^^
Though the eyes thing to me, seems pointless, and freakin scary in the dark...It watches me all night, at the foot of my bed *shivers*
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I vaugly(sp?) recall a while back Moogie saying that she was not going to get an Alienware...
Oh, you forgot to tell us something... How much did you shell out on that beast?
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My laptop is alienware.
Now if only I had something to use with it...
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I would still rather get a voodoo or a falcon northwest.
But over anything I think building your own pc is still the cheapest.
The only time id get a computer like a voodoo would be when I want to buy parts not just anyone can buy and I would have to turn to them. But when will that ever happen...
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Voodoo PCs are so expensive x__X
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i built a voodoo that cost 20k, then drooled for a second, and hit the X button
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Originally posted by Karyuu
Voodoo PCs are so expensive x__X
Ya but who else is going to stick on 2 graphic cards so powerful you couldnt buy them if you wanted to. :)
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they look ugly (alienwares i mean)
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you need that for 2d 8o!?!? of course you could have built it yourself with a nice (but maybe not \"as nice\" a case) for much less.
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ok NO-ONE ever dare even say that they\'ve got a bloody loud comp, you should hear mine. It\'s deafening, the fan sounds like a jet engine the motherboard sounds like a Boeing 747 passenger plane and the CD drive which incomveniently runs only at 6x sounds like 5,000 turbo boosted cars reving outside your window :p, ok I may be over exagerating a bit here but I\'m just getting my point across...
I was going to buy an AlienWare computer a while ago but then I learned it\'s cheaper building your own computer with the right skills and knowledge and that you can also save $1,000 +. Also if you build your own then if it busts up and won\'t work you should know what it is and then have the ability to fix it yourself. Which also leads to all the \'OverCharging\' computer and I.T. freaks down at your local computer shop or computer repair centres to run bankrupt which will lead them to walking around with brand new computer cables around their necks trying to strangle themselves will bearing the thought that I\'ve said that making your own comp can save $1,000 +, :P:D, hehe
??anything here is under copywrite of Verideon and anyone caught copying it will be put near my computer and forced to listen to it all night! Verideon also takes no responsability to any Computer and I.T. peoplez killed during their frenzy! He also takes no responsability in anyone left with burst ear drums, major headaches, and deafness if you do and most likely will copy this post! :D
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Yay for Moogie!
I wanted to buy an Alienware comp but i relised i didnt have $3700au (no moniter,why buy when i have 2 :) ) in my pocket so i did what dragonfire999 did but i have a pic of my specs and what it looks like :D
(http://img178.imageshack.us/img178/5117/allup3700au6pt.th.jpg) (http://img178.imageshack.us/my.php?image=allup3700au6pt.jpg)
(http://img313.imageshack.us/img313/9513/alianware9tk.th.jpg) (http://img313.imageshack.us/my.php?image=alianware9tk.jpg)
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Just seeing the word \"alienware\" and \"moogie\" together remind me of what I don\'t have... *sigh*
A great computer and talent to draw stuff... (you thought it was a Moogie huh?)
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It was VERY expensive, but then, I can\'t build PCs, so it\'s worth it. To their credit, they send an awful lot of stuff with it:
I\'ve got an entire bag stuffed with metal bits and wires and things I wouldn\'t even know where to put. :D
They construct the PC firmly, neatly, all the wires are packed together and placed so that airflow through the comp is optimal.
As for drivers, everything is the latest versions, and the OS is all pre-configured to run as smooth as possible.
And it has it\'s own WinXP theme! :D
http://www.albinomoogie.net/images/alienwaaare.JPG
Plus I already received a reply to my email. They are sending both a power cord, AND a new chipset fan. Apparently, the one I have \'does that alot\'. :P So hopefully that will help with the noise.
Cost: approx. ?2300 (something like $4000 for the yankies :) )
Now, I have pics. Sorry about the quality. In the second one, you can see how big the monster is compared to my speaker, monitor, and a CD case. :P
(http://www.albinomoogie.net/images/alien1.jpg)
(http://www.albinomoogie.net/images/alien2.jpg)
Edit: The pictures are mirrored, so it\'s all back to front. :D
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GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
Now I want one!!! But without XP I\'m putting Magic Mugs OS in it! :D
Oh the XP theme pwns! :D
*unmirrors the pics
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Pretty! and expensive.. and FAST.. what kind of FPS do you get in PS now?
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*grins at Lordbug*
We agree then. :D
Very, very sweet, Moogie. That thing is massively frightening. Be carefull not to let it fall on you. We would hate having a flattened Moogie sittuation on our hands.
So what is the first high fps program you\'re going to load? You shouldn\'t have to worry about that laggy mouse problem anymore, no matter what you try.
Have fun. :D :D :D
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the whole, the pictures are mirroed thing is reall confusing me :/
I dont understand... the pictures are taken from the bakc? the pictures are taked from the other side? i dont know?
*looks from all didfferent ways trying to work it out*
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The webcam somehow mirrors the images it takes. So in the pics, you currently see the PC on the right side of my desk, with the LED lights on the left side of the case, etc. Whereas in reality, the comp is on the left side of my desk and the LED lights are on the right side of the case. If you look closely at the CD in the second pic, you can see the writing is back-to-front. :P
I\'m trying to grab some benchmarking software to really find out the potential, but I\'ve already tried Thief 3 on full details with 4x AA and it runs with no noticeable lagging or slowdown whatsoever (couldn\'t see a fps count anywhere, unfortunately).
Btw, did I forget to mention that this thing has TWO CPUs? :)
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Btw, did I forget to mention that this thing has TWO CPUs?
8o
what the?!
You mean like 2 virtual cpus? or two cpus?
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Oi! I ent no yank ye know!
ANyways, beautiful comp. I have nice POS pavillion :D
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Lordbug: It\'s a dual-core processor, two 2.2GHz CPUs in one thingy.
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I thought you were going to say it was custom built for $2500, but for $4000, you might as well have gotten this (http://store.apple.com/1-800-MY-APPLE/WebObjects/AppleStore.woa/71707/wo/9N1pukR6YMza2wSnoz829maLKKe/4.0.11.1.0.6.3). My dream machine would have the 8 GBs of RAM, of course, but that\'s an extra $2000... Anyway, it\'s interesting to see that high-end Macs and PCs can have comparable specs at similar prices (excluding the custom-built ones, of course).
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Quite nice... I wouldn\'t trade my PC for it though. I prefer my slient liquid cooling and better looks to lots of fans and a slightly better spec. :) Maybe if I had the spec as well as my looks and liquid cooling..... *drool* What version of windows does it have btw? XP x64 I hope? :P
And blueCommands new PC pwns yours :D
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dual core is not dual cpu, so if you have a 2.2ghz dual core system, you do not get 4.4ghz of performance (although you should, cheapskate intel!) the pentium d 2.2 gets about 3.6ghz or so of performance.
Well, my pc will pwn it! >:D with a 4ghz equivalent (amd64 3500+ venice core oc\'ed to 3.0ghz) squeeze those mhz! ya! :D 2gig of pc3200, dual 160gb hdd\'s, but the grapcics card lacks compared to yours, only a 6600 oc\'ed as i can\'t afford a 7800 (well, I *might* wrangle one, but probably not)
so actually, yours is really better, but...
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Wow..very nice computer. GeForce 7800 GTX... very nice. AMD Dual core as well. What hard drives does it have? That thing with Raptors would be almost the best realistic system you can get. (Except maybe RAM.. if you had something ridiculous like 4GB or 8GB.. and some better cooling).
What version of windows does it have btw? XP x64 I hope?
One would assume so, since the 32 bit version wont work on 64 bit processors?
dual core is not dual cpu, so if you have a 2.2ghz dual core system, you do not get 4.4ghz of performance (although you should, cheapskate intel!) the pentium d 2.2 gets about 3.6ghz or so of performance.
Incorrect. Dual core IS dual cpu, I think the only thing that is shared is the cache. The reason that you dont get double performance is that not many programs have support for dual CPU\'s at the moment, so most dont utilise the two processors, and so it wont run twice as fast. However its useful if you\'re running more than 1 CPU intesive app at a time, or multi threaded applications.
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personally im with chaos macs to me are good they are silent, fast, and reliable we have had 5 os\'s in the time windows has had 1 (just sumthin to think about) and when the new windows is out guess wat mac is releasing another os 10.5 its called leopard
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Hmm... Suprisingly, no, it doesn\'t have WinXP64... at least, not that I can tell. Is it a large version change that would at least be written somewhere during startup?
Oh, I got a new desktop now by the way. The... \'device\' to the right is something I just HAVE to take a video of and show you- it\'s a skinned WMP (don\'t scream, I know...) but it has the most awesome animations I\'ve ever seen. :D
http://www.albinomoogie.net/images/aliendesktop.jpg
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Of course XP32 runs on amd64... :P
If you have XP 64 then the loading screen for windows will say: Windows XP x64 Edition. It\'s quite a bit faster as well, and far more secure because it\'s using the 2003 kernel. If you\'re running on XP32 then half of your processor is pretty much turned off. I\'m suprised it didn\'t come with XP x64. And dual core is not dual CPU. Dual core just means 2 cores, each with their own cache. They still share things like the memory controller, so they won\'t have the performance of 2 CPU\'s, but you\'ll certainally notice the difference when doing things like compiling. You won\'t notice much performance improvement in games until games are written to take advantage of the 2 cores properly. But still, I don\'t think it really matters that much, because there aren\'t any games out that can take full advantage of even a single core amd64 yet except for farcry. And with that graphics card I don\'t think you\'ll have any problems running any game for some years to come. :)
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since i did some tidying, ive really gone off the idea of a \'busy\' desktop... mine is now just blue (a special blue mind you) with a colum of shortcuts down each side.
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Ooooohh.. man :D *drools*
Well about noise, The OLD desktop (NEC pentium II)\'s fan made this weird sound when it first started, but anyway it was loud enough that you can hear it clearly 2 floors up from the room its in O_o
And my old laptop\'s hard disk was loud enough you could hear it VERY clearly across the room.
But MAN I wan an alienware for my dream computer.. but I\'m about $9700 short of the one I REALLY want lmao :D
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Originally posted by Xordan
[Windows XP x64 Edition is] quite a bit faster as well, and far more secure because it\'s using the 2003 kernel. If you\'re running on XP32 then half of your processor is pretty much turned off. I\'m suprised it didn\'t come with XP x64. And dual core is not dual CPU.
For 32 bit applications, performance is pretty much the same (Windows XP x64, Promise and Reality (http://www.tomshardware.com/howto/20050823/index.html)). And driver support for XP64 is still an issue, so that might be why XP32 is installed.
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Originally posted by Moogie
I\'ve got an entire bag stuffed with metal bits and wires and things I wouldn\'t even know where to put. :D
They construct the PC firmly, neatly, all the wires are packed together and placed so that airflow through the comp is optimal.
yes yes i\'m quoting Moogie :p. ok a bag full of metal bits and wires and things says a lot. tell me what they look like and I might be able to tell you what they do and where they belong :D.
hey hey hey, I construct my PC\'s firmly, neatly with all wires packed. I bind all the wires to gether with anti-static wire. btw I absulutely hate Speggetti manier in my comps ;). and as for airflow I do it nice a good. I actually have this contraption that acts as a second inside fan that flows the hot air out the external fan :P
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You should read this (http://www.alienware.com/build_vs_buy_pages/index.aspx) and read all the steps. :D
And the case is DANG cool... :D plus you can get stuff like liquid cooling..
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but building one is more fun...
and i still think alienwares have ugly cases.
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yeah building one is good. also you can make any changes to it, like you can make it an office comp or a gaming comp and so forth. as i\'ve said you can save $1000 + by maknig your own comp plus it fun :P
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you dont really save loads... unless you are building one for like real basic needs. its more about only buying what you want and having control over what goes into it knowing about what is in it adding new stuff blah blah, also i find it interesting just learinging about advances in technology or just the basics on how things work and all that other stuff.
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OOOOooooh Alienware has servers now!!!! We all gotta chip in 20 bucks and buy one for planeshift!
Theyre cheap too, although I\'m guessing not as hardcore as Sun\'s. But the most expensive Hivemind 2525 ($2000) has 12GB of memory and UP TO 2.4TB of space!!!
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cheap, whos we all btw?
If we all chip in 20 buks(Im asumeing US+all members in forum) that $332,250 8o
Wouldnt that be cool :P
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Whoah dang :P Wait is that all the ID\'s on planeshift or all the ID\'s on the forum?
I\'d say \"We All\" is all the people who play planeshift.. :P
Dang.. 33 grand? That would buy a sun mid-range server.. dang..
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Ehem i did say \"+ all members in fourm\" ;)
And its not $33,000 its $332,000 (322k!)
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$ meaning US? whats that in real money... (?) i say we buy pie.
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Well yes its in US just because its more known. And real money...getting a bit patriotic are we? :D
332,250.00 USD United States Dollars=180,941.71 GBP
United Kingdom Pounds;)
We used to have the pound but we got rid of it, kinda good(want a President of Australia 8)) and bad(less money) :rolleyes:
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WHAT THE! Gosh I think that would guy a High-end server.. it said contact sun for price but
The High Ends have max 72 processors :P
322 grand?? Holy.. dang...
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Originally posted by Neryam
WHAT THE! Gosh I think that would guy a High-end server.. it said contact sun for price but
The High Ends have max 72 processors :P
322 grand?? Holy.. dang...
lol i dont think you get what im saying. You said before that \"We all gotta chip in 20 bucks and buy one for planeshift! \". So what i said that if EVERYONE in the forum gave $20(US) then that would = 322 grand (US) ;)
Not even Bill Gates comp would cost that much...or would it :tongue:
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Right so that\'s what I\'m saying. :P Of course, its doubtful that everybody in the forum even visits at all, but
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You got a Alien Ware 8o
Here you say you cannot afford a little wacom and then you go buy on of the phattest uber machines out there (not to mention pricest, 4 grands, holy nib)
I\'ll just look at the pics and make comp noise sound with my mouth and imagen I\'m running that beast ;)
That machine should almost be able to run PlaneShift Hydlaa with all stupid waybreads hovering around the center with no lag, but only almost :P
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Originally posted by Moogie
Gorgeous. Fantastic. Brilliant. Beautiful. If my last machine was a steam turbine capable of doing press-ups with the Eiffel Tower, this is a Behemoth with the unbridled power of a thousand galloping stallions that have been fed steriods their entire lives. In outer space.
Thats one of those statements that the company should have off to the side of their website, youve seen em before.. like those little boxes that cycle through comments. Hehe Just seems like something I would have read in PCGamer or something lol.
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Finally !!!!!! <- extra !\'s just to annoy Moogie ;)
(http://www.go-l.com/monitors/athens/features/athens_2.jpg)
I knew a PC brand (http://www.go-l.com/logo/index.htm) a long time ago that was even cooler (more spec-wise) than Alienware, but I lost it\'s name and URL.
I\'ve finally found it :)
http://www.go-l.com/home/index.htm
Now this is going to be my system, erm... after winning the EuroMillions lottery/lotto/whatever they call it.
*starts making some impossible plans:
Ok, lets see... hmmmm... maybe a couple of these to have around the house (http://www.go-l.com/laptops/hollywood_gold64/features/index.htm) and for the main desktop console (http://www.go-l.com/monitors/athens/features/index.htm) maybe one of these for A/V and 3D design (http://www.go-l.com/desktops/machl38/features/index.htm) and another one for Linux, Dev and main storage (http://www.go-l.com/desktops/machl38/features/index.htm)
One of these (http://www.go-l.com/desktops/index.htm) for main gaming console (http://www.go-l.com/monitors/cinerama/features/index.htm)
Ah, can\'t forget the living room (http://www.go-l.com/darwin/index.htm) !
er... and the bathrooms (http://www.go-l.com/capsula/index.htm) ! :P
Hmmm... then I\'ll just wait for the next-gen system (http://www.go-l.com/super_computers/index.htm) :D
They used to sell these fantastic desktops (http://www.go-l.com/desktops/machl38/features/index.htm), with embedded lcd screens on the case (now that\'s what I call looks&functionality put to good use, instead of silly little leds)
This lcd is used for status gfx&info etc, whatever one wants it to, I think.
It looks that they are now making a future new line of models (http://www.go-l.com/news/product_news/2004/index.htm), so the site has a lot of broken links now.
Oops... I forgot to make my euromillions bet this week :(
Oh well, I\'ll keep my shop list for next week, then !
EDIT: ok, I just had to put a pic on this post :P
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Originally posted by Kosh_Dukai
Oops... I forgot to make my euromillions bet this week :(
Oh well, I\'ll keep my shop list for next week, then !
Funny if his numbers pop up
You: ;(
Me: :D
Just kidding man :P
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I can\'t afford a tablet, on account of my parents won\'t buy me one. :P They only got the Alien because my dad wanted my last comp to replace his 4 year old one.
That doesn\'t matter though. If I can ever make enough material to open that cafepress.com shop I keep talking about, I\'ll spam the link everywhere in the hopes people will want to buy something. :D
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That thing has one CPU which is seen as two ones, that\'s what Hyper Threading is about. ;)
Anyway the case is uglies thing I ever seen, even sun not makes such ugly
cases. :P I think there is sort of trend for weird computer cases anyway.
That\'s what I have recently bought: http://platyna.platinum.linux.pl/case/ultramedia02.jpg
It has a great cooling and special side panels to supress the horrible sound of
five huge fans...when you open it the sound is like on an airport...
Regards.
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Platyna, \"Intel\'s\" HyperThreading is virtual dual-cpu\'s, yes, but dual-core is really 2 cpu\'s inside a chip.
(http://www.amdboard.com/vig_amdb_athlon_x2.jpg) AMD Athlon 64 X2 4400+ is really dual-core (so really 2 cpu\'s sharing the same cache, I think) although I\'m not an AMD expert.
EDIT: Temporarily Disabling 2nd Core on AMD64 X2 (http://forums.anandtech.com/messageview.cfm?catid=27&threadid=1662743)
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Platyna, that case you linked to... you think that looks good? :S Man... crazy foreigners. :P
Edit: Kosh... thank you for posting that link! I needed a solution to some problems I\'ve been having with games and this looks like exactly what I need! :D
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I figured it would become handy, Moogie ;)