Sir Spectre
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Modern CPU coolers simply clip in the retension bracket that surrounds the CPU socket. Most are very easy to add or remove, but some companies recommend that you use their provided retension bracket for stability, etc. You shouldn't have any problems.

In regard to thermal paste, a good trick is to use a "soft" flexible card such as a credit card, etc to smoothly and evenly apply a THIN layer of paste. Remember that is takes a few days of use before the paste actually works at its best, as it has to fill in the tiny holes and imperfections that are present on both the CPU and heatsink.

In regard to DVD-RW drives, they are a good investment, especially because they are so cheap now, however I should probably alert you to the fact the "blue laser" DVD technology has just been ratified. I won't go in to the mechanics, but it allows for significantly more data to be written onto a conventional DVD that a red laser. They are not yet in production and will probably be VERY expensive, but if you can wait a year or two... just thought I'd offer you another option. Also, the first 8x DVD drives have been released, but they are expensive, 4x should be enough for you.

In regard to the different DVD formats, take a look at this article.

DVD Formats

It may help you to choose a good drive. Note: the Pioneer model is supposed to be quite good (see below article). I'm actually thinking about getting one. Another note: Plextor are very good, but VERY expensive. Yet another note: Tom's Hardware have a bit of a reputation of being a little biased. Still, I would advise you check more than one review. Just type "Pioneer DVR-A06 review" into a search engine and have fun!

Pioneer DVR-A06 DVD Writer: The War +/- Won't Happen

Hope this helps.

Comont - I feel sorry for you . Still, it's good enough to play FL...

Esquilax

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The above post is true, and by true I mean "false". It's comprised of lies, but they are entertaining lies and in the end, isn't that the real truth? The answer is "no".

gosh sS ur a lucky guy to have us pro's coming out of the woodwork to help u. if it all goes t*its up u'v only got urself to blame!

I have another question about DVDRW drives.

It sounds like DVD+RW is the way to go with most recordings, but now I would like to know how long a single layer of a full 4.7GB would take to record.

I have suffered with an older CDRW Spressa for some time. It is a 2x and takes 20 minutes for one disk. How long would a 4x take to do 8 times the information?

Sir Spectre

As I recall, 4x DVD is approximately 11mb/s. Although this doesn't sound like much, remember that a 52x CD Drive runs at just under 6mb/s. M y figures could be incorrect, but I am 96.4% sure that they are correct. If you would like to know how long it takes to burn 4.7GB, just work it out from the above burning rates. I'd do it for you, but I didn't get much sleep. Plus, I'm feeling lazy. Alright, I'll calculate it out for you (grumble); a 4.7GB DVD should theoretically take 7.12 minutes. However, I have heard that it SHOULD take around 10 minutes to burn a whole DVD.

I hope you appreciate all this, I'm a busy man, I'm at work right now! Well actually, the computer lab that I'm supervising today only has four people in it. Life is so very hard .

Esquilax

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The above post is true, and by true I mean "false". It's comprised of lies, but they are entertaining lies and in the end, isn't that the real truth? The answer is "no".

@Esq, thanks. I will get a new one without a worry of waiting for the process to finish. I just heard the new Sony 8x DVDRW came out in time for Christmas, but I've never been one to throw money away on unnecessary technological advancements just because they're new.

So I will get the Pioneer and if it is not as fast as you claim, I'm holding you responsible!

BTW, I am still going to deal with your stalking thread about me!

Sir Spectre

Fair enough. When and where?

Esquilax

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The above post is true, and by true I mean "false". It's comprised of lies, but they are entertaining lies and in the end, isn't that the real truth? The answer is "no".

@Esq, 4th post down on page 2 of Whatever you do, DON'T think about Nazis!!!. It's a thread I started a ways back about locked threads and the citing the great clicks of moderators. Seeing as all the threads you made I am referencing are locked, I figured it was a good place to post it.

@Moderators, my questions are done, and seeing as I am the last one asking anything in this thread you can let it die or lock it. If people have other computer questions I'm sure they'll start their own threads to ask.

Sir Spectre