Need Help (PC Gamers Please)

[Judas-]

Hi, I'm starting work at a video game retailer soon and, although my knowledge of up and coming as well as past popular video games across all platforms is vast and quite in depth, my main shortcoming is my knowledge of PC hardware and specs in relation to video games.

All I'm asking of you, hopefully, is to help me by giving me a rough understanding of what constitutes as Entry Level, Midrange and High End machines. From this, I'm going to try drawing up an Excel Spreadsheet that helps me put the video games in relation to different specs.

Thanks a bunch.

 

[Cpt_Oblivious]

Cheater's guide to specs:

Look at the back of the Crysis box. That's high-end, minimum.
Now look at the box for something like World of Warcraft. That's low to mid range stuff, as they want it as accessable as possible.

That's as in-depth as my knowledge. I look up specs for games on the web then check mine before I buy something. But I can usually run pretty much everything. (I would give specs but gaming PC's not on at the moment and I'm out soon.)

 

[aidspatient]

Cheater's guide to specs:

Look at the back of the Crysis box. That's high-end, minimum.
Now look at the box for something like World of Warcraft. That's low to mid range stuff, as they want it as accessable as possible.

That's as in-depth as my knowledge. I look up specs for games on the web then check mine before I buy something. But I can usually run pretty much everything. (I would give specs but gaming PC's not on at the moment and I'm out soon.)

So true.

 

[asinann]

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System Information
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Time of this report: 6/30/2009, 02:21:22
Machine name:
Operating System: Windows 7 Ultimate 64-bit (6.1, Build 7100) (7100.winmain_win7rc.090421-1700)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: Gigabyte Technology Co., Ltd.
System Model: P35-DS3L
BIOS: Award Modular BIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E6750 @ 2.66GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.7GHz
Memory: 4096MB RAM
Available OS Memory: 4094MB RAM
Page File: 1777MB used, 6409MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
User DPI Setting: Using System DPI
System DPI Setting: 96 DPI (100 percent)
DWM DPI Scaling: Disabled
DxDiag Version: 6.01.7100.0000 64bit Unicode




---------------
Display Devices
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Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 8800 GTS
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 8800 GTS
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0193&SUBSYS_C8153842&REV_A2
Display Memory: 2088 MB
Dedicated Memory: 297 MB
Shared Memory: 1791 MB
Current Mode: 1920 x 1080 (32 bit) (59Hz)
Monitor Name: Generic PnP Monitor
Monitor Model: H243H
Monitor Id: ACR0074
Native Mode: 1920 x 1080(p) (59.934Hz)
Output Type: DVI

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Disk & DVD/CD-ROM Drives
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Drive: C:
Free Space: 95.5 GB
Total Space: 131.1 GB
File System: NTFS
Model: WDC WD7500AAKS-00RBA0 ATA Device

Drive: D:
Free Space: 496.0 GB
Total Space: 584.3 GB
File System: NTFS
Model: WDC WD7500AAKS-00RBA0 ATA Device

Drive: F:
Model: UFQP 89EFCX2RG SCSI CdRom Device
Driver: c:\windows\system32\drivers\cdrom.sys, 6.01.7100.0000 (English), 4/21/2009 20:23:27, 147456 bytes

Drive: E:
Model: Memorex DVD+-RAM 525G v1 ATA Device
Driver: c:\windows\system32\drivers\cdrom.sys, 6.01.7100.0000 (English), 4/21/2009 20:23:27, 147456 bytes

I know it's a touch long, but I don't know how to use spoiler tags. That is the higher end of mid-range or the lower end of high-range.

It runs Crysis with all the shinies on.

 

[megalomania]

Theres a lot of variability in PC components so the knowing exactly what graphics cards will run every game is kind of unrealistic! Basically you will be most interested in the amount of RAM: 1Gb is the minimum to run any games these days, upwards of 2Gb for stuff like Crysis. As for graphics cards; you can wikipedia Nvidia and ATI cards and get a complete list of all the cards available, what you should look for is the 'Generations' of cards which will give you some insight because chances are the back of the box will quote a specific generation of cards from both manufacturers that will run the game.

 

[Arachon]

Cheater's guide to specs:

Look at the back of the Crysis box. That's high-end, minimum.
Now look at the box for something like World of Warcraft. That's low to mid range stuff, as they want it as accessable as possible.

That's as in-depth as my knowledge. I look up specs for games on the web then check mine before I buy something. But I can usually run pretty much everything. (I would give specs but gaming PC's not on at the moment and I'm out soon.)

Not really no... I'd say minimum requirements for Crysis is upper-low to mid-range, I've managed to run crysis on low on my schools computers, and they're FAR from high-range.

 

[Syntax Error]

Visit Horticulture's thread of awesome: http://www.escapistmagazine.com/forums/read/18.105715

This stuff needs to be pinned.

 

[jasoncyrus]

To be honest working in a game retailer does NOT require knowledge of computer systems. So far every single game shop retail assistant I've come across hasn't got a clue about it. So don't worry. You are there to sell the game. As an experience customer service manager your vital line is "If you can meet the minimum requirements for the game then you will be able to play it on your system."

Otherwise you'll be there all day debating with customers over how well it'll play. It's a waste of valuable sales time that managers frown upon.

 

[aussiesniper]

Hi, I'm starting work at a video game retailer soon and, although my knowledge of up and coming as well as past popular video games across all platforms is vast and quite in depth, my main shortcoming is my knowledge of PC hardware and specs in relation to video games.

All I'm asking of you, hopefully, is to help me by giving me a rough understanding of what constitutes as Entry Level, Midrange and High End machines. From this, I'm going to try drawing up an Excel Spreadsheet that helps me put the video games in relation to different specs.

Thanks a bunch.

Alright, I'll give you an in-depth understanding of what the names of graphics cards mean.

Spoiler: Card naming conventions

For nVidia cards, the first number in the name (i.e. 8800 GT) is the series number. The higher this number, the newer the series. This recently rolled over, meaning that the "200" series is the newest series, with the "9000" series the second newest and the "8000" series third and so on.

The second number in nVidia card names is the market number (i.e. 8800 GT). The higher this number, the more powerful the card. Any card with a market number of 8 or 9 is the high-end version of that card, usually costing between $300 and $800 for a new series of card. They will usually play all new games well on absolute maximum settings. A market number of 6 means that it is the mid-range version of the card, providing satisfactory performance on all modern games. If the number is below 6, then the card is low-end, and will only play older games well (with the exception of the GTX 250, which is, for some reason, pretty good).

The letters at the beginning or end of the card name (i.e. 8800 GT) represent the sub-market for that card. "GTX", "GTX+" or "Ultra" mean that it is the high-end version of that card. "GT" is the standard version of the card, and "GS" is the budget version of the card.

For ATi cards, the system is similar, but it lacks letters, instead using a third number for the sub-market.

The first number is the series number, as in the nVidia example (4000-series cards being the most recent).

The second number is still the market number (although all ATi cards are significantly cheaper than nVida cards, costing ~$450 for the absolute top-range cards).

The third number is the sub-market, with 9 and 7 representing the higher versions of the card, 5 being the mid-range version and 3 being the low-end version (because ATi cards are cheaper, most people get the higher versions).

Summary

ATi cards are less powerful overall, but represent better value for money. A 9600 or 8800 nVidia card is good enough to play new games with quite nice graphics (they are good cards) as is pretty much any ATi card better than a 4750.

The market number is the most important number. A mid-range card from the most recent generation (the GTX 260) is roughly equal in power to the high-end card from the previous generation (the 9800 GTX+).

If a card has "X2" stuck on the end of it, it means that the card has two processors. This is roughly equal to having 1.5 cards, rather than one. This effect can also be achieved by using two cards at once in "SLI"(nVidia) or "Crossfire"(ATi).