Question:

I have an Acer Aspire T160 MB-70 PC with an Acer FC51GM motherboard. It has built in graphics ( Nvidia 6100 ). It has a 2.2 ghz CPU and a standard PSU. It can take a maximum of 4GB RAM.

I would like to buy a new graphics card which can be placed in a PCI Express slot. It must be the best one that my motherboard will accept as money is not an object.

In addition, I am willing to upgrade the PSU if necessary and also the CPU.

I will be using the graphics card as an all rounder as I do gaming and watch alot of videos, dvds etc on the PC. It must preferably have a hdmi output on it and have HD capabilities. I would like this to be connected to the TV.

I am having difficulty finding information regarding what graphic cards my system in its present state will accept. I want the best I can get and am willing to upgrade other components.

I have seen one which I believe will fit into my present system which is the Nvidia GeForce 9500 GPU. Will this motherboard accept a 1GB card or do I need to drop to 1024 or even a 512 MB card?

Does my motherboard support Crossfire technology. Please help as I have no idea what card will fit into my system.

-submitted by Dom Lewis

Answer:

Hi Dom, 

Cases like yours are both extremely easy and incredibly difficult to answer. Let's start with the easy stuff first.

Your motherboard sports a single PCI-Experss x16 connector, which would be the only tecnical limitation of the motherboard as to which cards you can install. In other words, so long as the card uses the same interface (and can fit inside your case), you can use it.

Your T-160 also is limited by it's anemic 300 watt power supply, which you'll probably need to upgrade if you want to use a card with any real graphics capabilities. How crazy you go depends on which card you ultimately choose, but since you'll only be able to drive one card a 500 to 750 watt power supply from a reputable brand should be more than sufficient.

The CPU is not a limiter as to hich graphics card you can use, but is ultimately a limiter in your potential for gaming performance.

You asked about Crossfire, which for those who don't know, is ATI's technology for running multiple graphics cards at the same time. Your PC isn't Crossfire capable for two reasons. 

1. It's using an nVidia chipset (No, it doesn't support nVidia's SLI either).

2. It only has 1 PCI-Express slot. You'd need 2 of these to run two cards.

You can, however, run a card with 2 GPUs in the same card. I don't see why that wouldn't work.

That should answer your question regarding upgrades. Provided your PSU is strong enough, you could upgrade to Nvidia's top of the line GTX-295 or ATI's Radeon HD 4870. 

Now, whether upgrading your rig with something that crazy is worthwhile is another story all together. There is a point where you can upgrade your graphics all you want, but unless the CPU and the rest of the system follows, you'll never reap the true benefits of such a card. Any current gen video card in the $150 to $200 range will far outperform your integrated graphics solution (by a hundred times), which is reasonable for the age of the rest of the hardware. Regardless of how much you're willing to upgrade, there's only so far upgrades will take you based on the platform you're using.

If you really want to build a gaming powerhouse, and price is no option, I'd start with a newer PC using Intel's Core i7 processors, an SLI or Crossfire capable motherboard, and a ton of RAM.

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Question:

I'm searching in vain through my iTunes to find a way to make my favorite songs into ringtones for my iPhone.  I can't seem to find it.  How do I do this?

Answer:

Well, unfortunately for hundreds of thousands of iPhone owners who want custom ringtones, Apple doesn't make this easy for you.  Of course, you could always buy ringtones from the iTunes Music Store, but what if they don't have your favorite song available?  What if you want to use something completely different, like a video game sound effect or a recording of your kid playing the drums or something?

There are a few ways to do this - a sneaky (and lengthy) "manual" way, or you can use a third party program to make it easy.

The Manual Way

1.  Go to your Preferences Menu in iTunes and select the "General" tab.  See the "Import Settings" button in the picture above?  Click that and select "AAC Encoder" as your default method and confirm.  You can change it back later if you like.

2.  Locate the song you want to convert into your fabulous new ringtone.  You'll need to listen to it and figure out which section of the song you want to use when your phone rings.  Pick a start and end time that is about 30 seconds or less.  If it's over 40 seconds, it might not sync correctly.  Once you figure out the slice of the song you want, right click on the song and select "Get Info," then navigate to the "Options" tab.  It is here, as shown in the above photo, where you input the section of the song you want to clip.

3.  Then, as shown in the photo above, right click on it and select "Create AAC Version."  Note the tricky and tempting "Create Ringtone" button that Apple puts there.  It only works for songs you purchased from iTunes.

4.  After you do that, a duplicate version of the song will show up in iTunes next to the original.  Give it a whirl to make sure it sounds like you want it to.  Don't forget to go back to the original file and get rid of the start and end times so you can listen to it normally.

5.  Find the new file you created.  Mac users have it easy, just right click and select "Show in Finder."  Windows users will have to navigate to the folder on their own.  Once you find the file, rename it to whatever you like and use an .m4r extension.  It's crucial that you do this, or else iTunes will not accept it as a ringtone.  Avoid hyphens and special characters in the file name if you can, as it may cause syncing difficulty (but doesn't always.)

6.  You're almost done.  You now need to add this ringtone to your iTunes library.  This is as easy as selecting "File" then "Add to Library."  Once you do this, it should be added to your "Ringtones" tab and be sync-able to your iPhone.  Voila!

Using a Third Party Program

You're probably thinking the same thing I was - that the manual method is a pain in the rear.  Well, it is, and it involves quite a few steps.  If you're planning on making a whole mess of ringtones, it could get tedious after a while.  Sometimes, it's worth a little coin to pick up a specialized program to make this easier.

There's quite a few out there, far too many to cover here, but my current favorite is WireTap Studio by Ambrosia Software.  This program performs a number of useful functions and can crop, edit, and send music files to various locations on your Mac, including to your iPhone as a ringtone, all automatically.  They also offer another piece of software called iToner that only serves to create ringtones for your iPhone, so if you don't need all the extra functions of WireTap Studio, it's a much cheaper way to go.  I haven't tested any PC based programs, but a Google search should reveal many options.

Happy ringtoning!

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Question from TechLore Member snypy:

I bought a new LG HT554TH home cinema that plays Dolby Digital fine, but when I select DTS I get no sound at all, although the device display indicates that source as DTS. I asked LG technical support, but their answers were total wrong. In fact, they did not tell me anything at all, and then claimed that my home cinema does not support DTS sound at all despite their official specifications.

So, I'd like to ask, is there any way to make DTS sound work or not? The setup menu does not offer many options (in fact not a single one about Dolby Digital or DTS setup - not even in the manual) or should I send it in for service? It is still under warranty - but I'd like to know if there is a solution or anything which may help me when talking to a service staff.

Answer:

I'm not sure how to break it to you, but based on the information I've been able to uncover (and regardless of what it says on their website), I'd be willing to bet the LG HT554TH does not play DTS sound. It may recognize it, but that doesn't mean it will play it.

The big indicator is what I saw, or should I say what I did NOT see, in the user manual. Any product licensed for DTS playback would sport the DTS logo in the user manual, along with a footnote calling out the DTS trademark. I see every logo under the sun in that manual (screenshot below), but the DTS logo isn't shown. 

Interestingly enough, it probably does sport a DTS decoder since the vast majoirty of DSP processors combine Dolby Digital, DTS, MP3, and other playback formats to save cost, but the DTS portion simply is disabled. If so, LG chose not to pay the licencing fees to enable DTS playback on this model. That would explain why it can recognize DTS, but refuses to decode and play it. That said, it may be able to pass DTS via HDMI (maybe)... not that you'd use this audio system in conjuction with another. That would just be crazy. 

As far as their website indicating DTS playback as a feature... I'd say it's your run-of-the-mill error. It's not the first time something like this has happened, and it probably won't be the last. If DTS playback is truly important to you (and since you indicated you've recently purchased it), your only real option is to pack it up and return it, then begin the hunt for something else. 

If returning it isn't an option, try look on the bright side. Most can't discern the difference between source materials encoded in Dolby Digital and DTS in head to head tests, and most discussions/debates on the topic typically go nowhere. Audio specifications on paper can tell one story, but at the end of the day, how you perceive those sound waves when they hit your ear is entirely subjective. 

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