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| Thread ID: 95787 | 2008-12-17 02:25:00 | graphic hardware problem | zehonghe (14321) | Press F1 |
| Post ID | Timestamp | Content | User | ||
| 730012 | 2008-12-17 04:34:00 | This was the cheapest one with a discrete GFX card:www.trademe.co.nz You can porb sell yoru old comp for a bit tho |
Blam (54) | ||
| 730013 | 2008-12-17 05:14:00 | zehonghe, you have 2 routes you could go down. 1/ Get a PC that is able to run this particular game smoothly. 2/ Get one that is able to run more modern games as well (a bit more expensive). These are the recommended specifications for running Team Fortress 2 according to wikipedia: Pentium 4 processor (3.0GHz, or better), 1GB RAM, DirectX® 9 level Graphics Card, Windows® Vista/XP/2000, Mouse, Keyboard, Internet Connection You should be able to pick a PC with those specs up for $500 on trademe. As for what particular brand and model I can't really say, sorry. I build my own >.< Perhaps some other kind PF1'er could enlighten you on that one.. |
Catweazle (2535) | ||
| 730014 | 2008-12-17 08:06:00 | I have little knowledge of computer . I'd rather buy a new one . Do you think Dell Inspiron 530S is good for kids gaming, like the link below? NEVER buy a "brand" thing for gaming . They aren't built for it, thats why you are now in this situation . Find a GOOD PC shop and talk to someone there about the sort of games your son will likely play . Read the stuff below: Buying from a chain store The drawbacks are many, but mainly stem from the fact that the salespeople will end up confusing you by talking about such thing as the screen and CPU, which is far less important than things like RAM and motherboard speed and what sort of graphics card is included, if any . Most “brand” computers do not make a big deal of which components they use . They will, of course, tell you the basic specs of the system, but often do not elaborate on the brands of the equipment they use . Most lower to average priced pre-built PCs use more or less generic hardware . And hardware that is often obsolete or about to become obsolete . It gets the job done, but what you get is what you get . Upgrading can be a problem for this reason . Most chain stores do not conduct repairs themselves . Your computer will be sent to a 3rd party service department, which is likely to take a week or more, and it is difficult to assess the skill of the service people when you can’t see or talk to them . I suggest that if you are going to spend money on a PC at a chain store, that you go to a real computer store and see what they can offer you . Buying from a computer shop This is the best option - you will get helpful, professional people who are good at explaining technical information in an understandable fashion . They will be able to assist you in making the right choice in computer selection and will conduct repairs either on-site or at their own shop . • Do a bit more research and get sorted in your mind exactly what you want . Salesmen love customers who don't know what they want, who often end up with exactly that, what they don't want . • Look for quality components, especially the more expensive ones Motherboard, Hard Drive, Monitor, Graphics . Don't compare donkeys with racehorses . • Not all dealers are competent/competitive, so, deal with a good company . Location is not as important as dealing with a good company . You can ensure you get good, name brand hardware which will have proper manufacturer support and driver support . Most importantly, you can ensure you get hardware that will perform . Warranty On pre-built PCs, there is typically only a 1 year warranty on the whole system, and in many instances, you are offered an extended service plan at the time of purchase . All component manufacturers offer their own warranty on parts and with quality components this is often 3 to 5 years . Parts of the Computer BUS Essentially, a bus is a channel or path between the components in a computer . Its is controlled by the motherboard . Having a high-speed bus is as important as having a good transmission in a car . If you have a 700-horsepower engine combined with a cheap transmission, you can't get all that power to the road . There are many different types of buses . A typical desktop PC today has two main buses: • The first one, known as the system bus or local bus, connects the CPU (central processing unit) and the system memory . This is the fastest bus in the system . • The second one is a slower bus for communicating with things like hard disks and add-on cards . One very common bus of this type is known as the PCI bus . These slower buses connect to the system bus through a bridge, which is a part of the computer's chipset and acts as a traffic cop, integrating the data from the other buses to the system bus . Motherboard The motherboard is the foundation . Everything attaches to the motherboard - the CPU, memory, hard drive, monitor, mouse, keyboard, add-on cards, even additional peripherals like printers, scanners, and speakers . The motherboard is like the nervous system and skeleton of the human body - it provides support for the internal components and also passes information between the computer parts . CPU If the motherboard is the nervous system, then the CPU is the brain . Most of the mathematical manipulations that make computers operate are done by the CPU . . In general the higher the number, the faster the CPU, however the amount of memory or cache the CPU has significantly affects this also . A simple definition of Cache would be: A temporary storage area where frequently accessed data can be stored for rapid access . Once the data is stored in the cache, future use can be made by accessing the cached copy rather than re-fetching or recomputing the original data, so that the average access time is lower . Computer Memory RAM (Random Access Memory) is the part of the computer that stores information the computer needs while it is operating . It is Random Access because the computer can get the data in any order, not necessarily the order in which it is stored . Generally speaking, the more RAM, the better . 512 to 1024 megabytes is now entry level for memory . The most common type of RAM these days is DDR-SDRAM, which stands for double-data-rate synchronous dynamic random access memory . We already know what the RAM part means . DDR means that the data is accessed twice as fast as ordinary RAM . The latest type of RAM is DDR2 . It offers even faster access rates and is quickly becoming the standard for computer memory . Hard Drive All the data contained in RAM is lost when the computer is turned off, so there has to be a place to store it permanently . This is what the hard disk is for . It holds the computer’s operating system . An operating system like Windows uses around four gigabytes of hard drive space . The extra space is used to install computer programs and to store your personal data . 80 gigabyte hard drives are entry level now, but much larger - up to 1000Gb (or 1 Terabyte), are available . Furthermore, you can install more than one in a computer case for added security and convenience . Graphics Card Everything displayed on your screen is held in video RAM, An integrated video chipset uses the system RAM, not only limiting the amount of RAM that can be used for display purposes but taking resources away from the rest of the system . A computer with a dedicated video card will perform better, display a better quality image and will not bottleneck the system . Also, you won’t find yourself kneecapped further down the line if you branch off into areas of interest that you hadn’t considered when purchasing the computer… such as animation, 3D modelling, photo manipulation, viewing your collection of 49000 items of clipart, etc… Plus, you have the added benefit of being able to play games . Kids love games, especially Big Kids . A run-of-the-mill comp with a built-in graphics chip or a low-end graphics card will run the majority of games but performance will suffer . Graphics chip and board makers update their hardware every six months, sometimes sooner - mainly as a response to consumer demand for more complex, more realistic PC games . Those likely to need the heaviest performance cards are high-end gamers dedicated to getting the very best from their machine . However if you don’t care and only want the PC to send emails and type letters then a built-in graphics chip will do . Gaming and Graphics Cards One thing I should caution budget buyers on: if you decide on too cheap a card, be aware that its usability as a gaming card will be considerably less . Expect 6 months to 1 years decent performance before you will be forced to upgrade again . Spend more and you can expect 2 to possibly even 3 years excellent performance . Many people believe that the video card is defined by the amount of RAM . While RAM is important, the RAM only dictates the size of the textures the video card can handle, and while a card with 256mb of RAM can theoretically handle larger textures it is always limited by the speed of the video chipset . 3D performance is defined by the speed at which information can get to the GPU (the dedicated graphics processor unit on a modern-day 3D card) and the memory bandwidth determines just how quickly the graphics processor can get data to and from the memory built onto the graphics card . The greater the bandwidth, the better . You may notice on graphics card specs that there are a couple of different memory types used on boards at the moment: GDDR3 and DDR . The former is the faster of the two . Clock speed shows the raw grunt of the card . Naturally, as is the case with your PC as a whole, the performance of the graphics card isn't determined by this alone . So going for the fastest clock speed graphics card isn't likely to get you the faster all-round performer . You'll probably see more than one clock speed quoted on graphics card specs . The core speed refers to the GPU itself, the memory clock speed is the rate at which data shifts between the card's RAM and the card's graphics processor, whilst the RAMDAC (random access memory digital to analogue converter) is the pace at which the card can take the information it's given and output it to the format of your screen . DirectX support involves specific drivers produced by Microsoft to get the most out of gaming on a PC . The latest boards are designed to make the most out of the latest version of DirectX . As you would expect, older boards were designed to maximize older versions of DirectX, so while they will still work with the new version they won't give as much performance and won't be able to take advantage of the latest technologies built into DirectX . ATI vs NVIDIA While there are many companies selling graphics cards the vast majority of them license the technology of the leading manufacturers in this field: ATI and NVIDIA . Decide on a budget, consider the specs of the comp it’s going in, weigh that up against the desired performance (and probably adjust your budget) and pick the card that fits the bill . Low-end cards from either manufacturer are just that . High-end cards from either manufacturer will serve up buckets of eye candy and both have gems in the midrange . Granted, the cards from different manufacturers have strong points and weak points . The reality is that they (largely) are invisible to the naked eye . The only way to compare is to benchmark them and compare the results, and it is a matter of personal preference unless you want maximum performance for a specific game . A good resource for checking the rankings of both ATI and NVIDIA cards is . tomshardware . com/site/vgacharts/index . html" target="_blank">www . tomshardware . com |
pctek (84) | ||
| 730015 | 2008-12-17 08:32:00 | post PCT....:thumbs: | SolMiester (139) | ||
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