I'm running a 3.0GHz EMT64 CPU, 1GIG of dual-channel memory, Windows 2000Pro (hyperthreading turned off) and a 64-bit capable motherboard of course. When I close or a window such as IE, I can't reopen it from the taskbar although I can still see it open down there. After about 15 seconds, it goes away. Also doing a three finger salute makes the CPU graph in task manager increase the CPU usage to 100%. The motherboard supports PCI-E, but I'm currently using a S3 Diamond Stealth 3D 3000 4MB PCI video cardin a PCI-E x1 slot. I want to speed up my system/video rendering but I'm not sure what steps to take. Thanks in advance. BTW the PS is 680W.

You seem to be running a good system, but what on earth is going on with the 4mB graphics!!
The best advice that I can give would be 2 fold, 1 part is a must and the other is totally up to you.

The MUST part.
Get a decent grphics card. There are a number of excellent cards currently on the market that won't break the bank and you will notice a dramatic improvement instantly.

The OPTIONAL part.
Dump Win 2000 and use XP instead. The new 64bit version is now out and would be the best move, but the normal XP Pro will work brilliantly with this setup.

Just one other thing is that if you can enable Hyperthreading then it makes quite a difference when used. Your current setup comes nowhere near to making the most of what you have, hardware wise.

Hope these ideas help in some small way.

Yeah... I agree that I should purchase a better quality graphics card. This was all I had lying around. I heard that enabling hyper-threading in Windows 2000 Pro actually did more harm than good so that's why it's currently disabled. I'm sort of on the fence regarding the jump to a new OS. Do I go with Windows XP Pro 64-bit or 32-bit? Anything good about Windows Vista? They say that many devices don't have 64-bit drivers for them yet. Should I go with 64-bit? Everything I have is onboard except for my dial-up modem which can be replaced rather cheaply. The cheapest video card I've found is about 100 dollars. For PCI-E that is. Might you make any actual suggestions as to want brands/features of/on video cards to look for? I appreciate the suggestions. 64-bit is out you say... Will updating components in my system like drives and video cards void the OS activation? I heard with OEM that you aren't allowed to make any hardware changes after installing or you will have to re-purchase Windows.

First, that graphics card has to go and fast. Surely Windows 2000 or XP can't work with a graphics card with such little memory.

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Originally Posted by computerguy_86

Do I go with Windows XP Pro 64-bit or 32-bit? Anything good about Windows Vista? They say that many devices don't have 64-bit drivers for them yet. Should I go with 64-bit?

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Windows Vista isn't out yet and won't be for a while yet. Don't bother with a beta version as it'll be very buggy and won't be worth the hastle. As for going for a 32bit or 64bit version of Windows XP, well you have a lot of 64bit components, it'll be worth going for the 64bit version otherwise those components are not being used to their fullest. It does depend on

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Originally Posted by computerguy_86

Might you make any actual suggestions as to want brands/features of/on video cards to look for?

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There isn't much between the choice of Nvidia or ATI chipsets. They are both pretty damn good. As for the actual manufactorer, don't worry about it too much. I would just look on a popular computer parts site and compare the process. See what you are willing to spend and go on that.

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Originally Posted by computerguy_86

Will updating components in my system like drives and video cards void the OS activation? I heard with OEM that you aren't allowed to make any hardware changes after installing or you will have to re-purchase Windows.

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The activiation will change but you can just ring up and you'll get a new code. It's all computerised, you just type in the number given to you on the screen. As for the OEM line, surely that's not right. They can't stop somebody from changing something in their PC - what if something broke? They would be expected to repurchase Windows every time a PC needed a repair. That can't be right.

Will do as recommended.