How do I find out the lot number?

Also, I seem to get the "Red Ring of Death" whenever I first turn on my brand new xbox after a long period of being off (at least a few hours). Should I be worried? The xbox runs fine after a subsequent reboot.

All right, I've installed Vista Ultimate, just for kicks (I already had it lying around). Seems to be working all right, but I've noticed a VERY signficant hit on performance.

When I was using windows XP, Unreal Tournament 3 demo ran at 60fps constantly. With vista, my fps has dropped 20 and sometimes 30. So, on average I'm playing at 45-ish fps, which for me, is unacceptable (since I can see the lag).

Now... I'm hoping its not my 8800gts that's my problem.

I've noticed that vista is constantly using 30% of my ram... no matter what/when/how/why. This means that I'm effectively running my games at LESS than 1.5gb ram, right?

So my logic is this: if I want to get my performance back to where it was pre-vista, I could compensate for that 30% ram usage by adding one more 1gb stick of ram, right?

Any/all input is appreciated, thanks.

Well I guess I can live with a clean install; makes sense since you're right, Vista does use a new Kernel.

As much as I appreciate the 3dmark06 result, it has no practical use for me as I don't use or have 3dmark06. But I would still like to know what kind of hit on performance I can expect. (Also... modai11, you have a computer that's at LEAST twice as fast as mine... with such a powerful rig, I wouldn't have expected a major decrease in performance XD)

For instance, I'm running the Unreal Tournament 3 demo at max settings at 1280x1024 at a constant 60fps. How much of a decrease in fps should I expect?

Also, modai119 suggested going 64-bit, but I never fully understood what this means. Can anyone explain the difference between 64-bit and 32-bit in layman's terms? =D Also if there's any advantage to go 64-bit... and if my rig can support it?

This is my rig:
Intel Core 2 Duo e6600 @ 3.0ghz
2gb RAM DDR2 800 (PC26400) timing: 5-5-5-18
300gb 7200rpm SATA 3.0Gb/s HDD
Asus P5N-E SLI motherboard
EVGA GeForce 8800gts 320mb pci-e superclocked edition
Antec 900 case
Antec Truepower Trio 550w power supply
Windows XP Pro

Now... this beast was obviously meant for some serious gaming, but with new games using DirectX 10, I was wondering if my rig would be all right upgrading to Windows Vista Ultimate.

I've heard horrific stories of how Vista murders computer performance, so I've pushed off upgrading until now. But the allure of enhanced graphics is too much for me to ignore.

I request advisement...

Will my computer handle Vista Ultimate without sacrificing too much system and game performance?

How much of a decrease in performance should I expect?

Does the currently marginal improvement in graphics warrant the Vista upgrade?

Reasons why I should upgrade?

Reasons why I shouldn't?

Also... I'd like to know whether or not doing the upgrade (not the fresh install) will force me to reinstall my apps and games.

Thanks for your help in advance.

Well, I've already decided to get the 8800gts. I've been drooling over the specs for the G92 (Geforce 9800) since I found out about this morning and I'm definitely going to take advantage of EVGA's Step-Up program (provided the 9800 comes out in the next 3 months... and provided that EVGA does indeed manufacture a 9800GTS).

I've sold my 7950gt to a friend to offset the cost of the 8800 (friend needed a card that could run CoD4 anyway). I hope the 8800GTS lives up to everything I've heard and read about it. Thanks for all who took an interest in my problem.

I guess this thread is now a discussion about the sexy new Geforce 9800?

Some specs I found on the first page of Google search:

• Chip Technical process : 65- nm
• More than one billion transistors (681 mln. in G80, on which is built GeForce 8800 GTX)
• Performance is more than 1 TFLOPS (trillion of operations with the floating point per second, in 8800 GTX this value is equal to 520 GFLOPS)
• 512- bit memory system bus (384 bits in G80)
• UP To 1024 mb memoryGDDR4
• Support directX 10.1 and OpenGL 3.0
• eDRAM memory as buffer, that ensures free 4- multiple anti-Aliasing (used now in gamingconsoles)
• Built-in audio chip with HDMI
• Improved algorithms AA and AF

Apparantly, the beast is going to be at least twice as fast and powerful as the 8800GTX and will run much cooler and quieter due to reduced power consumption.

I really damn hope EVGA will manufacture this card! XD

oh... well... technology advances so quickly these days... so hard to keep up ^_^;; hehe.....

well I think I'm going to grab a 9800 when it comes out... but for now I've purchased the 8800gts (for any of you who still care haha). Hopefully the 9800 will be released by eVGA within the 90 days of their step-up program.

Well either way... I've got a buyer for my 7950gt so... can't let him down... so at this point I guess I'm stuck buying the 8800gts (i cant find complete specs on the 2900 or know whether or not it's gonna be compatible w/ my nvidia chipset mobo).

I guess the question is at this point... when's the 9800 coming out... and if it'll be eligble for eVGA's step-up program.