PC Gaming

TheGame · 09-06-2010, 01:10 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheSlyMoogle

You'll also need to find out your power supply's wattage, and any new card you order needs to fit those specifications.

Very imortant point there. Pre made computers usually come with power supplies that can't be replaced unless you buy a replacement directly from the company that makes the computer. I made the mistake of thinking I could upgrade mine, and couldn't. (unless I was ready to fork over around $200 to compaq)

I'd really love to have a gaming PC that could run Final Fantasy XIV, but I doubt I have anything near enough money.

TheSlyMoogle · 09-06-2010, 06:23 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheGame

Very imortant point there. Pre made computers usually come with power supplies that can't be replaced unless you buy a replacement directly from the company that makes the computer. I made the mistake of thinking I could upgrade mine, and couldn't. (unless I was ready to fork over around $200 to compaq)

I'd really love to have a gaming PC that could run Final Fantasy XIV, but I doubt I have anything near enough money.

Meh, it's just like playing FFXI with better graphics. I played it for about 2 hours in open beta and stopped.

Ginkasa · 09-06-2010, 04:23 PM

Now that its getting into replacing the power supply in addition to the video card I'm starting to think its probably not worth it just for one game. Even if its not really expensive, I'm not sure its worth the effort.

However, I think that maybe I'll be able to play The Old Republic when it comes out... maybe, which is the whole point of these shenanigans. I went to the Intel website and looked up my card. According to them, I should supposedly be able to run Modern Warfare (the first one) on my computer. I know its a few years old, but its pretty graphically intense, yeah? Of course, I don't have this game on the PC to test so I don't know. Maybe Intel lies. I did, however, download a demo of Mass Effect 2 to see how it went. I didn't imagine it would run at all, but I figured it wouldn't hurt to try. To my surprise, however, I could totally play it. It was ugly. Everyone looked kind of like a zombie, but I was totally able to play through it with only the slightest bit of slowdown.

So, I imagine TOR, an MMO that is theoretically being designed to run on mid range systems, should be less intense than ME2. So, I might possibly be able to run it, yeah? Maybe not at the highest settings, but still play it?

Feel free to dash my hopes if I'm completely deluding myself here.

Jason1 · 09-06-2010, 08:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by TheGame

Very imortant point there. Pre made computers usually come with power supplies that can't be replaced unless you buy a replacement directly from the company that makes the computer. I made the mistake of thinking I could upgrade mine, and couldn't. (unless I was ready to fork over around $200 to compaq)

I'd really love to have a gaming PC that could run Final Fantasy XIV, but I doubt I have anything near enough money.

What? I have never heard of this. Why couldnt you upgrade the PSU as long as you hooked everything back up correctly? I mean I know there are like 20 and I think 24 pin PSU's so you need to make sure to get the right one that your motherboard uses, but other than that I dont see why a PSU upgrade wouldnt work fine on any rig...

TheSlyMoogle · 09-06-2010, 10:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason1

What? I have never heard of this. Why couldnt you upgrade the PSU as long as you hooked everything back up correctly? I mean I know there are like 20 and I think 24 pin PSU's so you need to make sure to get the right one that your motherboard uses, but other than that I dont see why a PSU upgrade wouldnt work fine on any rig...

You're right, but thegame is also right.

A lot of premade computer companies do stupid shit like that. A great example is HP and Compaq. They purposely mount their components in this plastic shit that almost has to be ripped out of the case.

It's basically one of the worst examples of fucking the consumer, in that the average computer person (Probably a majority of the older generation, and those who are less than serious about figuring out how shit works) end up reading some FAQ online about replacing a component to a PC which is easy, then open up their store bought machine only to find it doesn't look anything like the photos from the FAQ and can't get that stupid plastic shit off even if they do figure it out.

I took apart a compaq once that not only had all that stupid shit going on, but also had specially designed hardware components that made them essentially useless to put into any other machine.

Basically it's a way to either force you into getting their company to repair what goes wrong, pay a professional, or just buy a new one. A lot of people are going to go "Well "X" company made a good computer, it lasted 5 years, might as well buy another one from them" after they figure out they can't do anything to upgrade the current system or repair it because of the shit they do.

The worst part is it didn't used to be like that as the first computer I owned was an IBM that had the modem short out and I replaced it no problems and none of the bullshit.

TheGame · 09-07-2010, 01:07 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jason1

What? I have never heard of this. Why couldnt you upgrade the PSU as long as you hooked everything back up correctly? I mean I know there are like 20 and I think 24 pin PSU's so you need to make sure to get the right one that your motherboard uses, but other than that I dont see why a PSU upgrade wouldnt work fine on any rig...

Well I unmounted mine, and got one from newegg that was exactly the same just higher volts. The computer would not start with it. I called compaq, and they said I have to buy theirs for it to work because of how the computer is built... Then I looked it up online and came to find out that it is true.

It wasn't hard to un-mount and replace, it just simply did not accept the new power supply.

So I have an extra power supply sitting here at my house. lol