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I have a question...

I've done some research, and it would seem that all sources point to this: The Nvidia Quadro 6000 is simply the best graphics card out there, at least in Nvidia. Is there a better AMD one? Or am I correct?

The Nvidia Quadro 6000 has 6GB Dedicated RAM, and 589 or so CUDA cores. That was the highest spec I could find.

Is that the best?

Also.

I recently inherited/stole/took my dad's older Alienware. Don't give me grief about it, it's just a nice computer to inherit, so I like it.

The thing is, it's got 2GB of RAM, but a Quad-Core 3.4ghz CPU. I'm not sure about graphics card. Would it be able to run games well? Will it be possible for the computer to run, say...
Let's just say most Steam games, or something. Valve games, i.e. Portal, Half-Life, that kinda thing.

Actually, that's a bad example. My crapware Mac can do that.

But how good will it be? I'll edit the post with the grpahics card in a sec.


Also, what does 'overclocked' mean?
I have heard the phrase a lot, and don't really know what it means. I hear about new nerd terms every day here. I know that the Ghz is how fast it spins, therefore allowing more computations and things along those lines.
But what does overclocked mean? You modified your CPU to go faster? I also heard that someone said you need more powerful system coolant to keep an overclocked CPU running right. Is this ALSO true?

Quote from zuned1 »

I have a question...

I've done some research, and it would seem that all sources point to this: The Nvidia Quadro 6000 is simply the best graphics card out there, at least in Nvidia. Is there a better AMD one? Or am I correct?

The Nvidia Quadro 6000 has 6GB Dedicated RAM, and 589 or so CUDA cores. That was the highest spec I could find.

Is that the best?

Quadro cards are for workstations, not for gaming. The Quadro 6000 is the equivalent of a GTX 470 in terms of raw power. In fact, I'm pretty sure its the exact same card, but the Quadro will perform FAR worse in games.

If you're getting a workstation, for 3D modelling, for instance, then yes, a Quadro is the right choice.

Quote from zuned1 »

I recently inherited/stole/took my dad's older Alienware. Don't give me grief about it, it's just a nice computer to inherit, so I like it.

The thing is, it's got 2GB of RAM, but a Quad-Core 3.4ghz CPU. I'm not sure about graphics card. Would it be able to run games well? Will it be possible for the computer to run, say...
Let's just say most Steam games, or something. Valve games, i.e. Portal, Half-Life, that kinda thing.

Actually, that's a bad example. My crapware Mac can do that.

But how good will it be? I'll edit the post with the grpahics card in a sec.

Without the graphics card, we can't give you any sort of idea.

Quote from zuned1 »

Also, what does 'overclocked' mean?
I have heard the phrase a lot, and don't really know what it means. I hear about new nerd terms every day here. I know that the Ghz is how fast it spins, therefore allowing more computations and things along those lines.
But what does overclocked mean? You modified your CPU to go faster? I also heard that someone said you need more powerful system coolant to keep an overclocked CPU running right. Is this ALSO true?

Overclocking is modifying a component to run faster than its rated specifications. Overclocking a CPU, for instance, would change the frequency from, say, 3.4 GHz to 3.8 GHz. You can overclock more than CPUs, and it is often done. Overclocking the GPU is becoming common, as is overclocking RAM.

Overclocking usually relies on keeping temperatures low. Past a certain temperature, a CPU will stop working, and may even suffer permanent damage. You can certainly overclock with a stock cooler, just not far at all. An aftermarket cooler, even an air one, will do you wonders.

Oh. I see what you're saying. So I want the GTX 470? Is that better? The Quadro had 6GBs Dedicated RAM and 598 of those CUDA cores. What's the GTX's specs?



Cancel that on the Alienware. I don't know what the hell happened, but some circuitboard or something got fried badly. And it won't be working, perhaps ever again, just because it's older. And it might be hard to get it replaced.


Alright. Thanks for clearing that up.

Quote from zuned1 »

Oh. I see what you're saying. So I want the GTX 470? Is that better? The Quadro had 6GBs Dedicated RAM and 598 of those CUDA cores. What's the GTX's specs?



Cancel that on the Alienware. I don't know what the hell happened, but some circuitboard or something got fried badly. And it won't be working, perhaps ever again, just because it's older. And it might be hard to get it replaced.


Alright. Thanks for clearing that up.

You need to not look at the specs on paper, because those are hardly comparable between two lines of cards. The 470 has 448 cores, and 1280MB of memory. More memory != more performance. Don't believe that crap. Past a certain point, all it's doing is sitting there being a waste of space.

Quote from Bassdoken »

You need to not look at the specs on paper, because those are hardly comparable between two lines of cards. The 470 has 448 cores, and 1280MB of memory. More memory != more performance. Don't believe that crap. Past a certain point, all it's doing is sitting there being a waste of space.

Ah... I don't speak Java. I speak Objective-C. Whats '!='?

Yeah, I suppose you got a point. But would 1280 MB be good?

Quote from zuned1 »

Quote from Bassdoken »

You need to not look at the specs on paper, because those are hardly comparable between two lines of cards. The 470 has 448 cores, and 1280MB of memory. More memory != more performance. Don't believe that crap. Past a certain point, all it's doing is sitting there being a waste of space.

Ah... I don't speak Java. I speak Objective-C. Whats '!='?

Yeah, I suppose you got a point. But would 1280 MB be good?

Lawl. It's not Java. It's the universal symbol for 'does not equal'.

1280MB is plenty for displays up to 1920x1200. Past then, it would be better to get a 2GB card.

Oh, XP.

Oh.


Now, on the topic of upgrading hardware.

I want to get a new computer, for gaming, and I would like to build one. I've done research and stuff, and know that it would be smart to do it myself. However, I have no knowledge of things like... Bodies, Motherboards, Power Inputs, I only have minor knowledge of cooling units...

I want to purchase parts on my own, because its cheaper that way. However, I have no prcatical knowledge of things like motherboards or power input units, and I only know a little about cooling units. If I wanted to get a rather baseline, yet upgradeable computer, with simply a good CPU to start, because that's supposed to be the hardest to remove/replace, I think it would be an Alienware.

I was thinking get the Alienware ALX desktop. I have a couple reasons: 1, it's Alienware. I know that these days, thats not exactly good, but still. It's certain qualities are good baseline, and the reason I choose the ALX is because it has Liquid cooling, so I could overclock my CPU safely, I could add more GPU/CPU later if I want, and still not worry, theres plenty of space for customization... In reality, the only thing I would do is get more RAM and a different GPU later because that's the only thing I feel safe replacing/adding/customizing. I don't understand the rest of it very well, so I figure I could just get the overclocked CPU, Liquid cooling, and add a second graphics card and more RAM later.

I know thats not the most cost efficient way, but for someone who doesn't understand hardware the best, would that be smartest? I think it would be, and I just have a thing for liking Alienwares for their brand name/I had alienwares when I grew up, and I just love them.

Another shorter question is...

Would dual Nvidia GTX 480s be better or worse than 1 GTX 580? I think that the Dual would be better simply for the fact that totaled it has .5GB more memory and it totals more cores. Or would it be better to just upgrade later?

Quote from zuned1 »

Oh, XP.

Oh.


Now, on the topic of upgrading hardware.

I want to get a new computer, for gaming, and I would like to build one. I've done research and stuff, and know that it would be smart to do it myself. However, I have no knowledge of things like... Bodies, Motherboards, Power Inputs, I only have minor knowledge of cooling units...

I want to purchase parts on my own, because its cheaper that way. However, I have no prcatical knowledge of things like motherboards or power input units, and I only know a little about cooling units. If I wanted to get a rather baseline, yet upgradeable computer, with simply a good CPU to start, because that's supposed to be the hardest to remove/replace, I think it would be an Alienware.

I was thinking get the Alienware ALX desktop. I have a couple reasons: 1, it's Alienware. I know that these days, thats not exactly good, but still. It's certain qualities are good baseline, and the reason I choose the ALX is because it has Liquid cooling, so I could overclock my CPU safely, I could add more GPU/CPU later if I want, and still not worry, theres plenty of space for customization... In reality, the only thing I would do is get more RAM and a different GPU later because that's the only thing I feel safe replacing/adding/customizing. I don't understand the rest of it very well, so I figure I could just get the overclocked CPU, Liquid cooling, and add a second graphics card and more RAM later.

I know thats not the most cost efficient way, but for someone who doesn't understand hardware the best, would that be smartest? I think it would be, and I just have a thing for liking Alienwares for their brand name/I had alienwares when I grew up, and I just love them.

Alienware is not building one. It's a configured pre-built. Not the same as building one.

If you're wanting to get a decent pre-built, then go with something like CyberPowerPC or iBUYPOWER. I personally wouldn't recommend anything except building it yourself (meaning going out and buying the individual components and piecing it together yourself) because you just save a bunch of money that way. And when you're done, you feel good about it.

About the graphics cards:

A 580 is around 30% faster than a single 480, and I would choose that over dual 480s because of the heat they put out, the power they consume, and not every game supports SLI (Scalable Link Interface - used to run multiple Nvidia graphics card as a single entity). Plus dual 480s is a lot more for not much of a noticeable of an increase in performance up to a certain resolution (like 2560x1600 or 5760x1080, which is multiple monitors).

So what I'm trying to say is, the 580 will be a better solution because it isn't as hot, doesn't require as much power, and the drivers would be more stable since they only have to deal with one graphics card.

Oh. So get the single card.


The thing is, today, I had a little accident trying to install some RAM/modify some GPU, and it didn't turn out well for the computer. I don't really want to risk that again.

Either way, it's hard to make a computer from scratch. I also don't have that kind of time. That also requires studying a lot, to find out which Motherboard to get, and I just don't want to learn every aspect of it. I'll go with the Alienware and just upgrade it. :tongue.gif:

I also don't really trust those third-party brands like iBuyPOWER. I can't expain why, they just seem fishy to me.

Quote from zuned1 »

Oh. So get the single card.


The thing is, today, I had a little accident trying to install some RAM/modify some GPU, and it didn't turn out well for the computer. I don't really want to risk that again.

Either way, it's hard to make a computer from scratch. I also don't have that kind of time. That also requires studying a lot, to find out which Motherboard to get, and I just don't want to learn every aspect of it. I'll go with the Alienware and just upgrade it. :tongue.gif:

I also don't really trust those third-party brands like iBuyPOWER. I can't expain why, they just seem fishy to me.

Yep. Generally, a single card solution is better than a dual card solution when you weigh the pros vs cons.

Well, if you don't know what you're doing, then you shouldn't be trying to install ram/modify some GPU. You can read/watch several build guides, and as long as you follow the guide, you will be fine.

If you don't think it's worth saving a few hundred bucks, then go ahead and get Alienware. By the way, they're owned by Dell. So keep that in mind.

Quote from zuned1 »

Oh, XP.

Oh.


Now, on the topic of upgrading hardware.

I want to get a new computer, for gaming, and I would like to build one. I've done research and stuff, and know that it would be smart to do it myself. However, I have no knowledge of things like... Bodies, Motherboards, Power Inputs, I only have minor knowledge of cooling units...

I want to purchase parts on my own, because its cheaper that way. However, I have no prcatical knowledge of things like motherboards or power input units, and I only know a little about cooling units. If I wanted to get a rather baseline, yet upgradeable computer, with simply a good CPU to start, because that's supposed to be the hardest to remove/replace, I think it would be an Alienware.

I was thinking get the Alienware ALX desktop. I have a couple reasons: 1, it's Alienware. I know that these days, thats not exactly good, but still. It's certain qualities are good baseline, and the reason I choose the ALX is because it has Liquid cooling, so I could overclock my CPU safely, I could add more GPU/CPU later if I want, and still not worry, theres plenty of space for customization... In reality, the only thing I would do is get more RAM and a different GPU later because that's the only thing I feel safe replacing/adding/customizing. I don't understand the rest of it very well, so I figure I could just get the overclocked CPU, Liquid cooling, and add a second graphics card and more RAM later.

I know thats not the most cost efficient way, but for someone who doesn't understand hardware the best, would that be smartest? I think it would be, and I just have a thing for liking Alienwares for their brand name/I had alienwares when I grew up, and I just love them.

Overclocking requires a considerable amount of technical knowledge, and understanding how your parts work. If you can't build your own computer, I doubt you'll be able to overclock.

If you want, we can help. Its not particularly hard.

Quote from oops_ur_dead »

Overclocking requires a considerable amount of technical knowledge, and understanding how your parts work. If you can't build your own computer, I doubt you'll be able to overclock.

If you want, we can help. Its not particularly hard.

Correction, it requires a considerable amount of technical knowledge to do it self-sufficiently. Anybody can just set x to y speed without fully understanding what they're doing. But if they want to do it without having to ask someone else every step of the way, then they'd need to know what they're doing, and what it will cause, etc. I agree; if you can't build your own computer, I doubt you have the knowledge to overclock.

We can help, though. It's fairly lengthy to explain, unless you want us to hold your hand the whole way through (I wouldn't help in that case).

I'm kind of odd, in that my knowledge of hardware is delightful, but not down to the techincal side of it. Or the side where you deal with it.

As for my accident, I can't even say what/why it happened. It wasn't directly related to my RAM mod/GPU mod. I was looking to see if they would be compatible with each other, because one of the computers is almost as old as me, and one is new-er. (For the record, one uses DDR3, the other uses.. I don't even know. I saw an SS-something.) I just gave up for the night, and decided to let the computer defrag itself overnight and while I was at school, but when I tried to turn it on, I heard a loud popping noise, and I saw some sparks fly. (I'd forgotten to put the cover on... Don't discipline me, I was tired and had a stressful day.) I don't know what happened, but the wire was singed and the mesh covering it turned white as ash.

I can't say I'm that upset though. The computer did only have 2gigs RAM. I just wanted the graphics card, I knew It was good, as was it's quad-core 3.4ghz. And it was from the before time! (before Dell)

Sounds like you tried to put DDR2 or DDR memory into a DDR3 slot if you were moving RAM around and thing's weren't going well. Or you tried to put an AGP/PCi card into a PCI-e slot or vice versa.

Also, your GPU and RAM don't particularly need to be compatible with each other... they're compatible with your motherboard.

All I can say from here is just order something from Cyberpower, don't try to overclock, don't open the case, and you'll keep the computer safe and the fire department sitting happily at their station.

Actually, that's the reason I'm so baffled.

I was checking the RAM compatibility. I knew that it wasn't going to be compatible, so I closed the old one.

I know the graphics card doesn't need compatibility with the RAM. I was checking them both against the motherboard.

The reason I'm so baffled, is because I didn't touch a thing. I just pointed a flashlight around in there, looked at things, closed it. Then I set up the one I actually turned on. I'd looked inside, to check what RAM it used, and that's where things went bad. But I didn't touch pretty much anything.

I don't know what a PSU is.
Wait, nevermind. Google is nice. :biggrin.gif:

The power unit is a large box, I'm guessing all are. There are rather thick red wires covered in a black mesh leaving the PSU to power the entire computer. When I tried to turn it on, the wire started sparking. (1 of 3) It became singed, leaving the wire partially white, and the mesh burned white. It was no real part of the wire, it was seemingly random.

I don't know what happened. I tried turning it on, and it sparked, so my natural reaction was to unplug it, attempt to extinguish any possibly remaining fire, and close it. If you need any more info, I'll try to provide. I don't think I can get pics. It's not very easy to stick a camera+flash into it. I've also taken photos already, they don't come out well. You can't see the singes.

Ah... I don't know. It isn't a crummy one. Unless Alienware is bad. And this is a before-time Alienware, before the Dell days, ya know?

I don't THINK it took the whole computer with it. There were only very centralized sparks. While not very good, it was certainly rather entertaining. Looked a bit like a tiny computer-generated fireworks show. :biggrin.gif:

I've thought about that, the old one has a working (I hope/think) PSU. I don't know if the power I/O is good enough, though. I can't figure out what my requirements are for power, or the other PSU's power output is.

My dad says that we can just get it a new PSU, figure out the model and buy one...

I just kinda want it for gaming. But unless the GPU is good, I might as well use my stupid Macbook. (It's not stupid, it just bottlenecks a lot when gaming. Borderlands runs at roughly 24FPS when not bottlenecking, and that's on a 640x400 display. It STILL lags.) If it is a bad GPU, the only good thing is it's 3.4GHz quad-core CPU. (It's not even overclocked! :biggrin.gif:)

If it has a 3.4ghz quad core it isn't that old... actually come to think of it the only quad cores that run at those speeds on stock are the i7-2600k and Phenom II X4 965. None of the Core 2 Quads ever had that high of a stock speed (be lucky if your Q6600 made it that high).

Can you run dxdiag (open Command Prompt and type dxdiag, hit enter) and give the specs? That'll better help us know if this system is worth keeping.

Quote from 8bitwonder »

If it has a 3.4ghz quad core it isn't that old... actually come to think of it the only quad cores that run at those speeds on stock are the i7-2600k and Phenom II X4 965. None of the Core 2 Quads ever had that high of a stock speed (be lucky if your Q6600 made it that high).

Can you run dxdiag (open Command Prompt and type dxdiag, hit enter) and give the specs? That'll better help us know if this system is worth keeping.

Nope, it's old alright. It's a 7-year-old Alienware from the before-Dell times. And it's definately 3.4GHz Quad-Core. That's the reason I wanna keep it. Not an i7 or a Phenom.

But my dad said we can't. The wiring in there is complex, for sure. I don't know if it's even possible.

Nah, that's the problem. The PSU is broken. I can't get it to turn on.

Although, I took the graphics card out. It's not too good- 256MB dedicated RAM, no idea specific model or CPUs. In reality, the only thing it beats my Mactop in is size, and CPU. It only has 2GB RAM, and the GPU is still rather unidentified.