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Re: Buying a new graphics card, needs help

Posted: Mon Dec 24, 2012 8:41 pm
by Tony :3
oh god, can one of you just add me and we can discuss it. This is all very confusing. what is GPU and CPU. and fire saidse 400w when black saids 800w, i just want to be able to play my copy of skyrim xD

Re: Buying a new graphics card, needs help

Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2012 2:50 am
by soulharvester
Do you know anyone IRL who can help you with this?

I'm rapidly losing confidence in letting you try and manually install parts for your PC at this time.

edit: Also most people won't need to go above 700-750 Watts for most newer builds in general, unless you're specifically planning to use it for something. (extremely power hungry SLI/crossfire or some such). One of the main goals hardware manufacturers have been working on in the past 6 years is making their devices uses as little power as physically possible. You can thank smartphones and tablets for that, it's one of the better things they've influenced in my opinion.

please don't tell people who are new to building to get a 850+ PSU, unless they're specifically saying that they're going to use something that needs it (Powering some hungry ass USB speakers/tri-Crossfire/sli/etc).

edit: Hell I think phantom got away with a 500W, then again it was a lighter build.

Re: Buying a new graphics card, needs help

Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2012 3:20 am
by Tony :3
no sadly i dont. Im the first of my friend group thing to try and upgrade

Re: Buying a new graphics card, needs help

Posted: Tue Dec 25, 2012 2:38 pm
by Tony :3
allright, well Fire, im going to go with the hardware youve suggested. Both the PSU and the Graphics Card. Hopefully ill be able to run/play all my games easier

Re: Buying a new graphics card, needs help

Posted: Thu Dec 27, 2012 6:19 am
by BlackKnight
@Soulharvester He was asking generally for hardware advice and I gave it to him. Investing in a 500W PSU is utterly ridiculous, unless you are going with a very conservative build with few peripherals that work via USB, a GPU (or multiple GPUs) that have a very low power consumption (and thus, in the case of older series cards, less power), and if at some point you want to consider overclocking, forget about it.

After reading his reply, however, his lack of basic knowledge of terms has shattered the baseline confidence I put in people to be able to handle their own hardware affairs, let alone overclocking components.

The bottom line, good sir, is that without knowing the components you are starting with, you don't know your power needs.

Also, be certain that when you are getting a new GPU, CPU, nd PSU that they fit your computer. That is to say, an intel chip with an intel mobo, and that the case/mobo you have allow you to physically install the GPU. And then for the PSU, whether you get a modular power supply or not... As in, how's your wire management?

Re: Buying a new graphics card, needs help

Posted: Sun Dec 30, 2012 10:28 pm
by Breezier
Don't forget to mention the Amp rating on the +12 volt rail, if you have a psu with a watt output of 1000 watts with only 12 amps being put out to the +12 volt rail, the gpu is going to run like shit. Amp requirements are always listed.

For the card Fire recommended for $5 more:

Requirements

Minimum of a 400 Watt power supply.
(Minimum recommended power supply with +12 Volt current rating of 20 Amps.)
Total Power Draw : 110 Watts

Obviously, get a psu that at least puts out 600 watts, again atleast, nothing wrong with getting a psu that can put out 700 or 800 to prevent bottlenecking.

Edit: Always look for a psu that has atleast 2 6-pin connectors.

Re: Buying a new graphics card, needs help

Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2013 8:36 pm
by Tony :3
it all came in the mail earlier in the week. i tried putting in the power supply unit. that ended up being impossible. im hoping to have a friend of my dads help me out with this. Thanks to everyone who contributed.

Re: Buying a new graphics card, needs help

Posted: Sun Feb 03, 2013 4:14 pm
by fUry 73211
You can rarely use industry standard parts in proprietary cases like Dell or Gateway. They produce their components in a way that forces you to buy their parts.