Power and Usability versus price.

Hi there,
I am looking for a good review article comparing Apple's overall performance (iMac, if available + MS Office 2008 for Mac) with comparibly priced professional quality pc hardware running linux + virtual windows for a broad usage spectrum including apporoximately 50% unix-based science applications and 50% Microsoft based office applications.
Individual experiences and recommendations are very welcome, too!
Thanks,
Joe.

If you are looking for reviews then use Google. This is not a general research site. If you want to know what users have posted here, then search the forums.

Similar Messages

  • My iPhone ran out of power and now it won't be turned on

    Yesterday I got a "message" on my iPhone display which I had never seen before. The power was so low that it just showed a falshing bettery icon and a symbol that showed that I needed to connect it to a power source. I didn't have time to do this before it ran all out of power.
    As soon as I got home I connected it and it was connected to the power source all night. Now, however, when I try to turn it on, while it's still connected to a power source, it shows the Apple logo for about 10 secs, then the light is dimmed in the display, still revealing the Apple logo, and then it just turns off again.
    I've tried holding the power and home button at the same time also, that didn't work either. When it's not connected to a power source nothing at all happens when pressing any buttons.
    Can somebody please help me with this?
    Thanks!

    I hope you are able to solve your problem. The iPhone is definitely designed to be able to run the power all the way down. In fact, the instructions to maintain your battery suggest doing that once a month. I do it now and then, not usually once a month and I am always able to get my phone back to where it would be usable in about 10 minutes of charge. I always keep it in the charger until it is fully charged, however.
    I just didn't want you to think you made some big mistake to let it run out of charge. There must be something going on with your phone or the battery.

  • Recording of temperature, power and speed at the time of confirmation

    Hi experts,
    My client requires to record the temperature,power and speed of the equipment while doing the phase wise confirmation. I'm planning to put inspection characteristics for the operations. I'm not going to use PI sheet.
    Is this inspection characteristics assignment to record the parameters is correct?
    Any other option to do this apart from PI sheet.
    Anybody help me.
    Naren

    Dear ,
    It will be better  to capature those  parametres as Inspection Characterstic  before confirmation posting .
    However , if you want to capture as activity through certail formula key and activity price , then you can identify them as Satndard Values as like Labour , Machine and Setup .
    Go-to : OP7B "Parameters Overview"
    Define your requirements Eg.  For Power u2013 say ZELECT like that 
    (Short Key work/Keyword u2013 Electricity, Dimension " Energy", Std. Value Unit u2013 KWH)
    Then Go-to : OP19 " Standard Value Key Formula : Overview "
    Select SAP1 u2013 Normal Production and Copy as (F6) and Create new Activity Type Say eg. ZELE
    Then Assign this new Parameter ZELECT and save (handle the transport request)
    For Formula Definition :
    Go-to : OP54 "Formula Definition"
    Select SAP002 u2013 Prod.: Machine Time and Copy as (F6) and Create ur new Formula Say Eg. ZELECT
    And replace SAP_02 with your Parameter u2013 ZELECT
    Then itu2019ll look some thing like "ZELECT * SAP_09 / SAP_08 / SAP_11"
    Assign The Standard Value Key " ZELE" to your Work Center-Basic Data Screen
    Now Go-to Costing Tab Page assign your formula to your Predefined Activity Type for Power.
    (Otherwise u2013 First Create Secondary Cost Element (T.Code KA06), Assign this Sec. Cost Element to your new Activity Type, then KP26 " Change Activity / Price Planning" 
    Assign Activity Type in Work Center Costing Tab & Assign Your Formula)
    You can assign max. 6 Standard Values to your WC, I.e If you want to capture Power & Fuel Consumption for an Operation you can have both parameters set as per above procedure
    Regards
    JH

  • Mac Pro Quad core power and cooling concerns

    My current MDD 867 is getting a bit long in the tooth. I am looking at getting a quad mac pro this fall. Waiting till MacWorld is a verrrrry long wait option. Did I mention that the MDD cooked off one of my drives recently?
    What I plan on building is the following :
    Mac Pro Quad 3 GHz
    4 Gb ram
    Ati X1900 (extra cooling fan?)
    250 GB boot drive
    500 GB Barracuda mirror raid
    16X SuperDrive
    Knowing the power and cooling issues that the MDD has intimately, this new machine configuration gives me pause. Can anyone attest to the power and cooling capabilities of the Mac Pro? Will the above configuration be ok? How about possible fan speed noise? The MDD, with new power supply is a noise beast!
    TIA
    Poirot

    Thanks for the reply.
    To be a a little more clear, when I referred to quad, I meant 2x dual-core processors.
    The raid was for storage of my images. I have an external firewire drive for backups of the system drive, and other important files. Photography is my hobby, and need to build a new workstation to store and edit the images.
    The UPS was a good idea. That was in the back of my mind. I could try and bring an APC SU2200XL from work
    I was hoping that Apple would announce the new Mac Pro this fall. I know that the raw processor speed difference is not that much, but the FSB speed difference could make a nice improvement. I just didn't want to get one now, and then 10 days later, there is a new one. I would be really mad at myself. I was looking at the refurb models. The price difference between the 4 and 8 core models is $100, when available. The downside is that the 8-core model does not come with the Ati card.
    The allure of Leopard is not that strong to me. We are running the beta at work, and while nice, it is still too buggy.
    The main intent of the thread was to make sure that the specs'd out model would not generate too much heat, and suck up too much power from the power supply. I know that the MDD compared tot he Mac Pro is night and day, but a little reassurance is always helpful.
    Thanks
    Mack

  • TS1538 ipad does not come on once its unpluged from power source,it enters recovery mode when both power and home botton are pressed with usb on powersource but does not come up at all when connected to computer or out of power source

    ipad does not come on once its unpluged from power source,it enters recovery mode when both power and home botton are pressed with usb on powersource but does not come up at all when connected to computer or out of power source

    What model iPad do you have? If it's an iPad 1, the battery may have expired and needs replacement.
     Cheers, Tom

  • My ipod touch wont turn on!! i have tried EVERYTHING!!! rebooting , trying to put it in DFU mode , pressing volume , power and home buttons , charging it but nothing works!it doesn't show up in itunes. my warranty is expired. what to do please help!

    MY ipod touch 5 wont turn on. i tried holding the power and home button together to reboot but didnt work. i tried pressing only the home or power button but no response . it doesn't show up in itunes. i tried keeping i in charge but it doent even show the charging icon! it does not show the no battery icon either. i tried leaving it with no disturbance for a few hours but still no luck . it has no response . My 1 year warranty is already expired. is my ipod officially and completely DEAD????

    See if you missed anything here
    Try:                                               
    - iOS: Not responding or does not turn on           
    - Also try DFU mode after try recovery mode
    How to put iPod touch / iPhone into DFU mode « Karthik's scribblings
    - If not successful and you can't fully turn the iOS device fully off, let the battery fully drain. After charging for an least an hour try the above again.
    - Try another cable                     
    - Try on another computer                                                       
    - If still not successful that usually indicates a hardware problem and an appointment at the Genius Bar of an Apple store is in order. The appointment is free. No warranty required
      Apple Retail Store - Genius Bar                              

  • Performance and usability problems with Illustrator imports

    I am usually an enthusiast advocate for Adobe Software. As a UI/Interaction designer I regularly showcase your products as a shining example.
    That's why I am somewhat frustrated about the Flash Catalyst Beta. I trust you guys to come out with SOMETHING GREAT eventually, but I have just spend an entire day with Catalyst and it was not particularly a joy. Couldn't you have released it a bit later to save me the frustration?
    Situation:
    - Medium size Adobe Illustrator CS4 import (10 screens/stages with 20-100 Illustrator objects per screen)
    - Target : 800x600 embedded UI for medical product
    - Illustrator file chosen as starting point
    Performance / reliability problems include
    - Crashing (Vista Core2Duo with 2gig of Ram)
    - Super poor performance (wait 8 seconds to hide/show a layer)
    - No show of thumbnail images anywhere
    - No matching of document size (exact 800x600 from Illustrator became 800x599)
    - Playing the file did not work
    Usability issues
    - Poor test display
    - Poor match with Illustrator file (things seem to be rendered differently!)
    - Window selecting does not work well
    - No hand tool
    - No ability to lock layers
    - Cluttered interface (Not enough space for the "stage"or what you call it)
    - No way to resize Illustrator elements from one of 9 edge/center points
    - etc. etc.
    Building a wireframe version from the ground up (with Illustrator import) seemed to work fine
    I played around with the MS Blend beta for a while, and while the basic concept of your product is much more clear, the execution of the MS product in the beta phase was lightyears ahead in terms of stability and usability
    I'm sure you can do better!
    Koen

    Koen,
         Thank you for the detailed feedback about the performance problems you have experienced and your thoughts about features you would like. Let me respond to each of your points
    Performance: We are aware that Catalyst doesn't perform well with large complex files. We have made many performance improvements since the current plublic beta, so you should find Catalyst more responsive with larger projects when the next beta is posted.
    Here are a few things you can do to work around the performance issues you are seeing with the current beta:
    - Consider rasterizing complex elements that don't need to scaled in Catalyst
    - In Catalst turn complex artwork into optimized graphics using the "Convert to optimized graphics" in the float HUD (heads up display panel)
    We have also found that particularly on Windows that Catalyst can run out of memory with large files. This area is also being worked on so stay tuned for the next beta.
    Features:
    - Poor test display [tv] Do you mean the design display doesn't match the appearance of the published project?
    - Poor match with Illustrator file (things seem to be rendered differently!) [tv] we have fixed a lot of bugs here. Expect this to improve a lot in the next beta
    - No hand tool - [tv] coming soon :-)
    - No ability to lock layers [tv] coming soon :-)
    - Cluttered interface (Not enough space for the "stage"or what you call it) [tv] Yes, Catalyst currently cannot dock/undock panels
    - No way to resize Illustrator elements from one of 9 edge/center points [tv] This is also a known limitation. I agree it is useful
    I hope the next beta comes closer to meeting your expectations. A lot of performance work and new features has been done since the last public posting, so look forward to beta II.
    - Ty

  • My ipod touch is stuck in  white screan i tried the power and  home buton but is not working

    while i was restoring my ipod touch on itunes an icon popped out with a usb an itunes symbol i did the reset thing wih them power and home button and i just turned white. my ipod wont even shut off i also tried letting my ipod die and when i turned it back on it sill went white. I NEED HELP

    Try the other suggestions for the white screen include here.
    iPod touch: Hardware troubleshooting
    However, you likely have a hardware problem.

  • Okay before my ipod power and volume buttons werent working but i never dropped it, then one day i was in a app and my ipod froze so i held the home button down and the screen went a bright green color and isnt showing up in itunes

    okay I just recently bought a ipod touch 4thG and im already having issues. recently the power and volume buttons stopped working after i syncd my ipod, i shrugged it off figuring it would come back i could live without it. but today I was on my ipod while it was charging and the screen just froze so i pressed and held the home button (being that's the only button that actually works) then the screen turned this bright yellowish lime green color and its not responding to ANYTHING! my computer isnt even reading it when i plug it up into itunes! so what should i do? can anyone help me? i feel like i just wasted $200...

    Try:
    - iOS: Not responding or does not turn on
    - If not successful and you can't fully turn the iPod fully off, let the battery fully drain. After charging for an least an hour try the above again.
    - If still not successful that indicates a hardware problem and an appointment at the Genius Bar of an Apple store is in order.

  • HT201263 When my Ipod touch is in autolock I can only restart the device holding the sleep/wake button and home button at the same time for 10 seconds.  While in auto-lock it is using battery power and will do so until the battery is drained.  Whats wrong

    When my Ipod touch is in autolock I can only restart the device holding the sleep/wake button and home button at the same time for 10 seconds.  While in auto-lock it is using battery power and will do so until the battery is drained.  Whats wrong?

    - Try a reset. Nothing is lost:
    Reset iPod touch: Hold down the On/Off button and the Home button at the same time for at
    least ten seconds, until the Apple logo appears
    - Connect the iPod to your computer and try to restore via iTunes. Try placing in Recovery mode if necessary to restore.
    - If you can't turn the iPod completely off, let the batter fully drain. After charging for at lerast anhour try again
    - If still not successful time for an appointment at the Genius Bar of an Apple store since it appears you have a hardware problem.

  • I 'think' my Ipod Touch is in recovery mode and people say to hold the power and home button for 10 sec and i did, but its still not turning back on. Plus its dead and wont charge

    I 'think' my Ipod Touch is in recovery mode and people say to hold the power and home button for 10 sec and i did, but its still not turning back on. Plus its dead and wont charge. PLZ HELP ME!!!!

    - If in recovery mode the screen will have an iTunes logo with an USB plug.
    - Have you tried connecting it to your computer for a n hw and then see if it appears in iTunes. If it does restore the iPod.
    - If screen is blank, try placing he iPod in recovery mode and then restoring. For recovery mode:
    iPhone and iPod touch: Unable to update or restore

  • My ipod touch 4th gen will not turn on, i have held the power and home buttons, i have plugged my ipod into itunes and tried again, yet nothing happens, what should i do?

    My ipod touch 4th gen will not turn on, i have held the power and home buttons, i have plugged my ipod into itunes and tried again, yet nothing happens, what should i do?

    Try:                           
    - iOS: Not responding or does not turn on
    - Also try DFU mode after try recovery mode
    How to put iPod touch / iPhone into DFU mode « Karthik's scribblings
    - If not successful and you can't fully turn the iOS device fully off, let the battery fully drain. After charging for an least an hour try the above again.
    - Try another cable
    - Try on another computer                            
    - If still not successful that usually indicates a hardware problem and an appointment at the Genius Bar of an Apple store is in order.
    Apple Retail Store - Genius Bar                                     

  • I have an ipod 2 generation, but it wont charger or turn on. i try pressing the power and home button at the same time but it still wouldnt work. what else should i try to do?

    One day I was going to download music from my laptop to my ipod, I was able to download all the songs I wanted but later when I try to charger my ipod it wouldn't let me. The next day I bought a new charger but it still didn't charger. I try pressing the power And home button at the same time but it still wouldn't turn on or charger.

    Try:                                               
    - iOS: Not responding or does not turn on           
    - Also try DFU mode after try recovery mode
    How to put iPod touch / iPhone into DFU mode « Karthik's scribblings
    - If not successful and you can't fully turn the iOS device fully off, let the battery fully drain. After charging for an least an hour try the above again.
    - Try another cable              
    - Try on another computer                                                       
    - If still not successful that usually indicates a hardware problem and an appointment at the Genius Bar of an Apple store is in order.
      Apple Retail Store - Genius Bar                              

  • My i phone 5 has frozen with an i tunes logo and slider. It won't do anything, power off does npothinmg and power and home button does nothing!!!!!

    I connected my i phone 5 to the computer to download a photograph but the phoen has now frozen and a sloider bar but it won't respond. Even when using the power and home buttons it just comes back to the same frozen display.

    Hello Uprevved
    If it is not responding, check out the article below for some troubleshooting steps to get it resolved.
    iOS: Not responding or does not turn on
    http://support.apple.com/kb/TS3281
    Thanks for using Apple Support Communities.
    Regards,
    -Norm G.

  • 7 year, 100+ PC Veteran Stumped ! Power, and performance issues. Full detail included.

    Good morning everyone! (At least it's morning in wonderful Pennsylvania USA!)
    AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (New Castle)
    Thermaltake Venus 12 CPU Cooler w/ Manual Adjust
    MSI "K8T Neo-FIS2R" K8T800
    512MB x 2 Corsair TWINX1024-3200C2PT (Rated 2-3-3-6 1T)
    Antec TruePower 430w PS (+5V@36A +3.3V@28A +12V@20A)
    Gainward Dual DVI w/ VIVO GeForce FX5700 Ultra
    2x Viewsonic 19" VX900 LCD Monitors
    Creative SoundBlaster Audigy Platinum eX
    Plextor 712a Black 12x+/8x- DVD-RW
    Lite-On SOHD-167T Black 16x DVD-ROM
    Western Digital WD740GD 74GB 10,000rpm Raptor SATA
    Western Digital WD2500JB 250GB 7,200rpm 8MB IDE
    Seagate Barracuda ST3200822AS 200GB 7,200rpm 8MB IDE
    Lian-Li PC-65B Black Aluminum Case
    Vantech PCI Slot Fan
    CyberPower 825va Voltage Regulating UPS
    Windows XP Professional SP1a
         There we have it, I think that that is all you need to know to perhaps give opinions and advice. Allow me to elaborate on why I am posting today after browsing this wonderful forum for the last two weeks. (...and by the way, my hat's off to some of you knowledgeable regulars for helping out a lot of newbies and folks in trouble!) Without further adieu:
    Problem #1: POWER ISSUE
    When, or if, I remove AC Power from my PC for whatever reason I run into a problem in which after reconnecting the AC Power and attempting to turn on the computer it goes into a 3-5 second startup loop in which the PC does not post, but rather cycles power to all of the components indefinitely. I notice the LEDs on my optical drives cycling repeatedly ad infinitum until I power off using the 4-second hold method, and then press the power button again. At this point the PC boots up fine, and boots up fine going forward from all restarts and shut downs. How strange? I've never, EVER, encountered something like this before.
    Problem #2: PERFORMANCE ISSUE
    This PC has a handful of serious performace issues.
    3dMark03 scored horribly.
    Prime95 runs ridiculously slow although there are no erros! It runs much more quickly on my work PC which is a PIII 866mhz with 384MB of PC133 RAM.
    I receive, on no regular frequency, or while doing anything in particular, Explorer memory errors. Not BSOD's mind you, but "...blah blah blah referenced memory address xxxxx-xxxxx and could not be written". This causes Explorer to restart itself, blowing away the start menu, task bar, and any Explorer windows open. They reappear, of course, without incident.
    The most off performance issue of all is that when opening an Explorer window for either of my IDE HDs, designated D and E drives, I find that when using the highlighting rectangle tool the Explorer window freezes or lags. I can double-click and open or move/copy files without incident, but if I attempt to highlight by this method this halt or lag occurs.
    Also, since my update of the BIOS from 1.2 to 1.7, and then to 1.8 system startup times prior to Windows loading are HORRID. I have disabled just about everything, and yet the SATA BIOS loads for 5 seconds, and then I must wait 20 seconds for Windows itself to come to the login screen. No other BIOS related issues to report per se, but this is terrible for what should be a blazingly fast computer.
    Now let's see.. what have I tried to do to repair the issues?
    1) 2 BIOS flashes. First from 1.2->1.7, and then from 1.7->1.8. Ostensibly this was just "because". The power user need to have the latest! I noticed the incorrect CPU temperature being reported, however.. This led to me buying this massive ThermalTake HSF to replace my stocker. I also added more thermal goop than I ever have before, as well as a PCI slot fan before I became aware that it was a BIOS issue! GRRRR MSI.
    2) I thought perhaps for the one issue that one of the hard drives was an issue, and even perhaps for power, but I replaced each with new drives and tested all 4 on another PC. NO problems. Also I should perhaps mention that my IDE drives are all hooked up using Antec Cobra cables. Expensive yes, but why the hell not, right? I've never seen a hang-off grounding wire for IDE before. Decided not to use them as I could think of a great place to screw them in, nor have other PC using them had trouble skipping the ground wire.
    3) I unplugged every molex cable, the 4-pin CPU power, and the 20-pin ATX power and rerranged them all - as well as removed and then reinserted the RAM.
    4) I tried changing my memory timings and power management settings, etc in BIOS. Nothing seem to impact the issue. I didn't fiddle with the voltages, but I should not need to running the RAM at SPD or lower settings and without overclocking the system at all!
    5) Another issue that I had that seems to have vanished, come back, vanished, and then come back a "little bit" is my USB ports. When set to enable legacy devices in BIOS my USB items like my Logitech wireless keyboard would just cycle power and refuse to function. Also my UPS connected VIA USB seems to sometimes handshake with Windows and sometimes not. I've tried using all of the different ports, etc but the problem remains. I NEED 6 ports for my devices so it is all that I could do!
    6) I have an Enermax 550w EG651P-VE(FMA) with 36 amps on each voltage rail on it's way, and it should arrive tomorrow. Despite all of the crap regarding power supplies that I see on this board I am not confident that it's the problem. That Antec PSU should be able to hold it's on with 20 amps on the +12v channel. C'mon now. I build a nearly identical system with the same power supply for a customer and he has no problems at all. He also has 3 HDs, same motherboard, etc.. the only difference is he has but one optical drive and a 2800+ rather than a 3200+. That power difference should be decimal nature in amps needed.
    ...oh and the sound card is in PCI slot 3, for those that remember the glory days of sound card IRQ issues that Creative was once notorious for... oh, and I disable the ethernet boot device, etc so my slow startups should not be related. My serial ATA drive is also on connection 1 of the VIA controller.. Promise can kiss my a**.
    Soooo.. Show me what a n00b I am, oh great ones. I've built over 100 PCs since 1998 for myself, friends, families, and customers... and I've never seen an issue like this one! I'm no dummy, but please don't assume too much. Other pros on here know full well you can forget the most simple mundane detail in spite of experience! I want to solve this problem. I am on the verge of shelling out for a new motherboard and processor of the 939 pin variety.. and am now wary of MSI's long awaited socket 939 K8 Neo2 board despite it's awesome reviews. MSI has never really given me trouble before.. but I don't really want to spend money to the order of $200+ for that damned Gigabyte board. Gigabyte has always been good to me as well. Save my wallet! PLEASE!!!
    Thanks so much everyone, I tried very hard not to leave out any details!
    Az (Ian)
    You can reach me on Yahoo or AIM just about any time, and I will check here frequently.

    Quote
    Originally posted by AzaghalSEI
    Good morning everyone! (At least it's morning in wonderful Pennsylvania USA!)
    AMD Athlon 64 3200+ (New Castle)
    Thermaltake Venus 12 CPU Cooler w/ Manual Adjust
    MSI "K8T Neo-FIS2R" K8T800
    512MB x 2 Corsair TWINX1024-3200C2PT (Rated 2-3-3-6 1T)
    Antec TruePower 430w PS (+5V@36A +3.3V@28A +12V@20A)
    Gainward Dual DVI w/ VIVO GeForce FX5700 Ultra
    2x Viewsonic 19" VX900 LCD Monitors
    Creative SoundBlaster Audigy Platinum eX
    Plextor 712a Black 12x+/8x- DVD-RW
    Lite-On SOHD-167T Black 16x DVD-ROM
    Western Digital WD740GD 74GB 10,000rpm Raptor SATA
    Western Digital WD2500JB 250GB 7,200rpm 8MB IDE
    Seagate Barracuda ST3200822AS 200GB 7,200rpm 8MB IDE
    Lian-Li PC-65B Black Aluminum Case
    Vantech PCI Slot Fan
    CyberPower 825va Voltage Regulating UPS
    Windows XP Professional SP1a
         There we have it, I think that that is all you need to know to perhaps give opinions and advice. Allow me to elaborate on why I am posting today after browsing this wonderful forum for the last two weeks. (...and by the way, my hat's off to some of you knowledgeable regulars for helping out a lot of newbies and folks in trouble!) Without further adieu:
    Problem #1: POWER ISSUE
    When, or if, I remove AC Power from my PC for whatever reason I run into a problem in which after reconnecting the AC Power and attempting to turn on the computer it goes into a 3-5 second startup loop in which the PC does not post, but rather cycles power to all of the components indefinitely. I notice the LEDs on my optical drives cycling repeatedly ad infinitum until I power off using the 4-second hold method, and then press the power button again. At this point the PC boots up fine, and boots up fine going forward from all restarts and shut downs. How strange? I've never, EVER, encountered something like this before.
    Problem #2: PERFORMANCE ISSUE
    This PC has a handful of serious performace issues.
    3dMark03 scored horribly.
    Prime95 runs ridiculously slow although there are no erros! It runs much more quickly on my work PC which is a PIII 866mhz with 384MB of PC133 RAM.
    I receive, on no regular frequency, or while doing anything in particular, Explorer memory errors. Not BSOD's mind you, but "...blah blah blah referenced memory address xxxxx-xxxxx and could not be written". This causes Explorer to restart itself, blowing away the start menu, task bar, and any Explorer windows open. They reappear, of course, without incident.
    The most off performance issue of all is that when opening an Explorer window for either of my IDE HDs, designated D and E drives, I find that when using the highlighting rectangle tool the Explorer window freezes or lags. I can double-click and open or move/copy files without incident, but if I attempt to highlight by this method this halt or lag occurs.
    Also, since my update of the BIOS from 1.2 to 1.7, and then to 1.8 system startup times prior to Windows loading are HORRID. I have disabled just about everything, and yet the SATA BIOS loads for 5 seconds, and then I must wait 20 seconds for Windows itself to come to the login screen. No other BIOS related issues to report per se, but this is terrible for what should be a blazingly fast computer.
    Now let's see.. what have I tried to do to repair the issues?
    1) 2 BIOS flashes. First from 1.2->1.7, and then from 1.7->1.8. Ostensibly this was just "because". The power user need to have the latest! I noticed the incorrect CPU temperature being reported, however.. This led to me buying this massive ThermalTake HSF to replace my stocker. I also added more thermal goop than I ever have before, as well as a PCI slot fan before I became aware that it was a BIOS issue! GRRRR MSI.
    2) I thought perhaps for the one issue that one of the hard drives was an issue, and even perhaps for power, but I replaced each with new drives and tested all 4 on another PC. NO problems. Also I should perhaps mention that my IDE drives are all hooked up using Antec Cobra cables. Expensive yes, but why the hell not, right? I've never seen a hang-off grounding wire for IDE before. Decided not to use them as I could think of a great place to screw them in, nor have other PC using them had trouble skipping the ground wire.
    3) I unplugged every molex cable, the 4-pin CPU power, and the 20-pin ATX power and rerranged them all - as well as removed and then reinserted the RAM.
    4) I tried changing my memory timings and power management settings, etc in BIOS. Nothing seem to impact the issue. I didn't fiddle with the voltages, but I should not need to running the RAM at SPD or lower settings and without overclocking the system at all!
    5) Another issue that I had that seems to have vanished, come back, vanished, and then come back a "little bit" is my USB ports. When set to enable legacy devices in BIOS my USB items like my Logitech wireless keyboard would just cycle power and refuse to function. Also my UPS connected VIA USB seems to sometimes handshake with Windows and sometimes not. I've tried using all of the different ports, etc but the problem remains. I NEED 6 ports for my devices so it is all that I could do!
    6) I have an Enermax 550w EG651P-VE(FMA) with 36 amps on each voltage rail on it's way, and it should arrive tomorrow. Despite all of the crap regarding power supplies that I see on this board I am not confident that it's the problem. That Antec PSU should be able to hold it's on with 20 amps on the +12v channel. C'mon now. I build a nearly identical system with the same power supply for a customer and he has no problems at all. He also has 3 HDs, same motherboard, etc.. the only difference is he has but one optical drive and a 2800+ rather than a 3200+. That power difference should be decimal nature in amps needed.
    ...oh and the sound card is in PCI slot 3, for those that remember the glory days of sound card IRQ issues that Creative was once notorious for... oh, and I disable the ethernet boot device, etc so my slow startups should not be related. My serial ATA drive is also on connection 1 of the VIA controller.. Promise can kiss my a**.
    Soooo.. Show me what a n00b I am, oh great ones. I've built over 100 PCs since 1998 for myself, friends, families, and customers... and I've never seen an issue like this one! I'm no dummy, but please don't assume too much. Other pros on here know full well you can forget the most simple mundane detail in spite of experience! I want to solve this problem. I am on the verge of shelling out for a new motherboard and processor of the 939 pin variety.. and am now wary of MSI's long awaited socket 939 K8 Neo2 board despite it's awesome reviews. MSI has never really given me trouble before.. but I don't really want to spend money to the order of $200+ for that damned Gigabyte board. Gigabyte has always been good to me as well. Save my wallet! PLEASE!!!
    Thanks so much everyone, I tried very hard not to leave out any details!
    Az (Ian)
    You can reach me on Yahoo or AIM just about any time, and I will check here frequently.
    The startup problem might just be a screwy psu. Your antec *should* be able to power your stuff just fine, but maybe it is defective in some strange way.
    What is your 3dmark03 score? If it is 3000-4000, (approx perf. level of ati 9600xt), then it is fine.
    Check your memory using memtest86+, and try underclocking it to ddr333.
    UNplug usb devices, and see if it speeds up boot. Also, I would not recommend bios 1.8 since people seem to have some troubles with it.
    Also, try disabling agp fast writes, disabling spread spectrum, and maybe boosting ram voltage a tiny bit.
    Try booting without your audigy plugged in, and try booting barebones (nothing but 1 hard drive with os) and see what happens.
    I'm no expert, but you might get lucky trying these steps.

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