My brother Psyko told me to inquire about some "knomes". Think he meant gnomes> _>

[Akai Kitsune]

Howdy; I've never registered on a forum before, but due to my suffering from a severe bout of dumbass syndrome regarding computer specs and their general workings, I've been forced to do just that. I hope the internet is proud of itself. Anyway, I've kind of got my heart set on a Radeon HD 6950 graphics card, but that's about all I've got my heart set on. I've tried surfing around, looking up prices and seeing what looked reasonable, but due to the sheer level of spam and advertisements dripping with prime colours and a small library's worth of information on each and every page of each and every pc selling website I come across, it's a little tricky to figure out who to trust. So my question is as thus: where the hell do I start?

[SnipingCoward]

Start off by telling us exactly what you want.

Are you trying to find where to buy this card?

[LITOralis.nMd]

1. your bro is killing me here.
You trying to buy a laptop or a desktop? Pysko was asking for help on a laptop earlier this month.

6950 is quite nice, will be good for long time.
If not overclocking, any 6950 will do.

For laptop GPUS, use this list:
Mobile Graphics Cards - Benchmark List - Notebookcheck.net Tech

FOr desktop GPUs, use this site:
http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php
The list of 6950's shows the clock speeds of the various models available, you pay for your speed, so find something that fits your price range.

[Psyko]

I lol'd

[Akai Kitsune]

Took me a minute to figure out how to send another message, but it's okay now. I figured it out-feel like a pc wizard using this forum... now; what's a GPU? I looked around and found the aforementioned card, and a lot of options for buying it... the cheapest I came across was about one sixty something dollars, but it's XFX, I believe; either way I read up on the different companies and got bad feedback for XFX, but will it really matter? I don't see myself overclocking since I don't know the first thing about overclocking. I just balance the options and in the oddest scenarios tweak the ini files. Okay, now I'm going to finish this arseways comment by writing the first thing I should have written: I'm looking for a gaming desktop for about 600-700 euro ($796-92 roughly. Basically I've been using a slimline business pc for gaming for about a year now in spite of the fact that I live off of it - .- it's got a Nvidia 310 chip and that's probably the best of it's hardware... couldn't believe I was able to run Oblivion on it

[Akai Kitsune]

that's 920 then a bracket btw. Damn autoemotes get me every time.

[Wicca]

There is an edit button i think. But thats allright

The GPU is the graphical Proccesor Unit. Put simply, if your Graphic card has 2 gb of VRAM. It doesnt really matter, all that matters is if the CPUs clock speed is higher than say 700mhz. As the issue is that reloading stored textures takes time, and that time is spent loading the textures from your VRAM onto your GPU.

So, the faster the GPU. The higher FPS to some degree, it also depends on your CPU.

[Akai Kitsune]

I see, I think. So if the VRAM is filling up faster than the computer can process it, there's no difference between 1 gig and 2? I was shooting for a 1 gig card; frankly I'd prefer to get 6 month old technology than pay double, if you know what I mean.

[MaSSive]

Processor - Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I52500K = $220

Mainboard - Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD4 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard = $210

Graphic card - Newegg.com - SAPPHIRE 100315L Radeon HD 6850 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card with Eyefinity = $150

Memory - Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B = $50

Hard disk - Newegg.com - Western Digital AV-GP WD20EURS 2TB 64MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive = $150

SSD - Newegg.com - OCZ Agility 3 AGT3-25SAT3-120G 2.5" 120GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) = $160 optional

Case - Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Elite 430 RC-430-KWN1 Black Steel / Plastic Computer Case = $50

________________________________________________________________

Total = 830 + 160 SSD = $990

If you can find by similar or lower prices these components in Ireland Id suggest it. If Lito has and objection or anyone else Id love to hear it.

PS: This is roughly high end config. If you want to go cheaper we can go with AMD based config.

PPS: If you have any parts of old PC that you can throw into this one, such as hard disks, dvd drives/burners, memory cooling solutions..etc...you can save even more on this one.

Edit: Even better deal would be 6870

Graphic card 1 - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6814131378 = $160

If you compare 6850 and 6870 you can see here http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php ... &card2=636 that 6870 is has a bit more hp for just $10 more.

Also I failed to include power supply to all this.

Power supply - http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.a ... 6817139020 = $90

_________________________________________________________________________________

So total would be 830 + 90 = $920 or + $160 (SSD) = $1060 + $10 ( 6870 ) = $1070

Any combination you like, but Id go with 6870 rather than 6850. In that case without SSD it costs you $930

[Akai Kitsune]

Lol, for a moment there I was a bit shocked by the price, but then I remembered it was in Dorrals <(me being japanese) I recognise the case as well; you're the guy who designed my bro's pc I take it. Alright, first, why would I go with a 6850 instead of a 6950? Are they similar in power? Memory's a lot cheaper than I thought it'd be. I don't know motherboards, processors or SSDs from a mole's ******* though; so the big question is, just how powerful would a machine like that be? Oh, and a very important note is that, once again, I'm a bona-fide turkey *** when it comes to computers, so I won't be able to construct this beast myself. How much would it cost to get it whipped together?

[MaSSive]

Alright, first, why would I go with a 6850 instead of a 6950? Are they similar in power?

They're not similar in power. 6950 is much more powerful than 6850 but it costs additional $100 or more - depending on model. 6850 will serve you well it was a king of the graphic cards for a long time, and its still kicking ***.

This will give you specs and prices overview of the two http://www.gpureview.com/show_cards.php ... &card2=636

Memory's a lot cheaper than I thought it'd be.

DDR3 1600 is cheap in general. Since youre not going to overclock ( thats clear ) this will be quite conveniant for you. It can take the beating, but for any serious overclocking better memory is required at higher speeds.

I don't know motherboards, processors or SSDs from a mole's ******* though; so the big question is, just how powerful would a machine like that be?

Powerful enough so it can run just any game you throw at it. This processor is currently the best money can buy it has 4 cores and it can run almost any game smoothly when paired with enough of memory, and a good graphic card.

Mainboard is a base of any PC. You must have quality mainboard, if you're going to run this processor on it, and this graphic card. Think of it, as youre buying a shell for you brand new v12 engine for a custom car youre building. You can buy it for $50 but it will probably fail at some point since its not quality.

As for SSD those are very much faster than any hard disk. Its used for storage like hard drives but it has no mechanical parts, its all electronics. Ever seen how memory chip looks like? Well that's all this is a bunch of high speed memory chips. Most gamers are buying them to speed up their system in a hole and install games on them so they have smoother gameplay cause fps do depends on hard drives speed in many games.

Oh, and a very important note is that, once again, I'm a bona-fide turkey *** when it comes to computers, so I won't be able to construct this beast myself. How much would it cost to get it whipped together?

You will have to ask around in your local shops about that and be very careful whom you will trust this work to do. Note that you will need operating system too, so if you have a legal copy of any you're in luck. Windows 7 Ultimate 64bit is a must for this config.

And no I didn't built PC for your bro. I'm just another grease monkey here

[LITOralis.nMd]

Just got in an extra long convo with your brother because he didn't give us his price range before we (we being the highly trained tech monkeys) picked out components.

Tell us your price range in Euros.
Also, tell us how to calculate the Ireland VAT, I think it is 27% tax rate, but I am not sure.

I have one objection to Massive's post. The OCZ SSDs are scary to use, they are prone to bricking randomly. It is a PITA to deal with, and worth the extra 20 to 40 Euro to buy a Crucial, Samsung, Intel or Plextor brand SSD.

Everything else listed in Massive's post is fine, you will probably find other options i.e. something on sale, just ask us, we'll tell you if it's worth it, on a value for quality basis.

[mangeface]

Oh, and a very important note is that, once again, I'm a bona-fide turkey *** when it comes to computers, so I won't be able to construct this beast myself. How much would it cost to get it whipped together?

I basically said the same thing. But after some self-convincing, urging and help from the local PR community I built it myself. TRUST ME, it's not nearly as hard as you may think it is. Here's some videos I bookmarked from when I built my rig.

YouTube - Broadcast Yourself.

I have one objection to Massive's post. The OCZ SSDs are scary to use, they are prone to bricking randomly. It is a PITA to deal with, and worth the extra 20 to 40 Euro to buy a Crucial, Samsung, Intel or Plextor brand SSD.

Fingers crossed, mine still lives.

[LITOralis.nMd]

Forgot to mention.
I use a OCZ Vertex3 for BF2 R and Arma2. I do not trust the OCZ SSDs enough to install my OS on one of them.
SO if I have to RMA the Vertex3, it's just an inconvenience, not a life shattering event where I can not access my PC.

[Akai Kitsune]

Pardon, people. I ran into a very technical internet issue in which I didn't pay my bill for a long time and they cut me off, so this is my belated post now that I've sorted out that mind boggling puzzle.

Well first off, I'm liking most of the specs you're throwing at me, but I've got my heart set on the 6950. Frankly I can see it ageing better, and I'm sick of playing games in low graphics. My aim here is to be able to play Skyrim on high graphics settings, and maybe Crysis too. So an SSD is a harddrive that's put into segregated chips rather than on a hub based HD, is that right? Question is, can a gnoob like me work with something that avant garde? I have a friend who'll whip the PC together for me; ran into him the other day and he said he'd do it for free. I can't think of a human being in this country who's got more expertise than him either, so I'm in luck there. Oh, and I already put the price range up in Euros and Dollars 600-700 euros, 796-920 dollars. I thought the VAT would have been included in the price guides for parts online though.

[MaSSive]

If you want 6950 along with parts I posted previously you will have to opt out SSD drive. Simply put you dont have enough cash.

Prices posted here are prices from newegg, now that's not Ireland and taxes do differ. If you purchase all this in Ireland prices might be bigger due to VAT.

So go ahead look around in your local online shops for prices. If you have a link for some Irish online PC parts store post it and Ill take a look.

[Akai Kitsune]

It won't function with an SSD drive? What would I need to use with a 6950? Just how much would it cost?

I'm thinking that that may be a two way street; I know that American taxes are dirt cheap on smokes, but high on foodstuffs-least it used to be-and we're the opposite here, so maybe pc parts could be financially milder in either climate?

Alright, I'll take a root around, but do I only need the parts that you posted to build a fully operational machine? I was under the impression that computers were comprised of more than half a dozen parts

[MaSSive]

It won't function with an SSD drive?

Umm I never said that? I said its going over your budget. You dont have the cash for all of it.

What would I need to use with a 6950? Just how much would it cost?

I'm thinking that that may be a two way street; I know that American taxes are dirt cheap on smokes, but high on foodstuffs-least it used to be-and we're the opposite here, so maybe pc parts could be financially milder in either climate?

Alright, I'll take a root around, but do I only need the parts that you posted to build a fully operational machine? I was under the impression that computers were comprised of more than half a dozen parts

Ok here you go

Processor - Newegg.com - Intel Core i5-2500K Sandy Bridge 3.3GHz (3.7GHz Turbo Boost) LGA 1155 95W Quad-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics 3000 BX80623I52500K = $220

Mainboard - Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GA-Z68XP-UD4 LGA 1155 Intel Z68 HDMI SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 ATX Intel Motherboard = $210

Graphic card - Newegg.com - GIGABYTE GV-R695OC-1GD Radeon HD 6950 1GB 256-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card = $250

Memory - Newegg.com - CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600 (PC3 12800) Desktop Memory Model CMZ8GX3M2A1600C9B = $50

Hard disk - Newegg.com - Western Digital AV-GP WD20EURS 2TB 64MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive = $150

SSD - Newegg.com - Crucial M4 CT128M4SSD2CCA 2.5" 128GB SATA III MLC Internal Solid State Drive (SSD) with Transfer Kit = $160 optional

Case - Newegg.com - COOLER MASTER Elite 430 RC-430-KWN1 Black Steel / Plastic Computer Case = $50


Power Supply - Newegg.com - CORSAIR Enthusiast Series TX650 V2 650W ATX12V v2.31/ EPS12V v2.92 80 PLUS BRONZE Certified Active PFC High Performance Power Supply = $90
________________________________________________________________

Total = 1020 + 160 SSD = $1180

PS: If you have any parts of old PC that you can throw into this one, such as hard disks, dvd drives/burners, memory cooling solutions..etc...you can save even more on this one.

And I assume you have a working monitor keyboard and mouse and possibly a working DVD/Bluray/Whatever from your old PC that you can use in this one. Im not including that in PC builds.

Oh might get one of these its a good start, no offense

Build Your Own PC Do-It-Yourself For Dummies:Book Information - For Dummies

[Akai Kitsune]

Pardon, had a hard time deciphering your second last message... I was drunk. Mixed painkillers and a pitcher after skipping breakfast.

I found this link when shopping around for graphics cards; you'll notice there's a 6950 going for 160pounds, which is about 192 euro, but since it's in the UK, shipping will probably be a breeze Shop AMD

Are you sure your math's right btw? You listed off all the same prices with the exception of the graphics card, but the price was 190$ higher than the last time, unless I'm missing something. I see that you changed the SSD specs, but is that a replacement SSD or a secondary one?

And no offense taken. I'm quite aware that I don't know my arse from my elbow when it comes to this technovoodoo

[MaSSive]

Pardon, had a hard time deciphering your second last message... I was drunk. Mixed painkillers and a pitcher after skipping breakfast.

Thats some nasty stuff mate, dont do that shit.

I found this link when shopping around for graphics cards; you'll notice there's a 6950 going for 160pounds, which is about 192 euro, but since it's in the UK, shipping will probably be a breeze Shop AMD

160 GBP = ~255 USD which is slight higher than one I listed but still okay.

Are you sure your math's right btw? You listed off all the same prices with the exception of the graphics card, but the price was 190$ higher than the last time, unless I'm missing something. I see that you changed the SSD specs, but is that a replacement SSD or a secondary one?

Yes with exception this math is in USD not in EUR or GBP.

I changed graphic card since you insisted on 6950, so it is now.

I changed SSD model due to Litoralis remark on model I listed before, but price remained unchanged. Its replacement for previous one not secondary and as I said its optional. You dont have to buy it but if you got the cash I recommend it.

And no offense taken. I'm quite aware that I don't know my arse from my elbow when it comes to this technovoodoo

Haha, cheers. Ill take a look at your link and come up with some specs for you later.