OMFG Some People Should Not Build Computers

[Paratus]

Well I found out something interesting today after stopping in a new computer shop (ma and pa type place). I asked the guy what kind of AGP vid cards he had as I'm thinking about upgrading. He said a couple of good ones. He came back with a 9550 pulled from somebodys machine! I told him I already had a 9600XT so he said you probably want a 9800Pro. Not great so far but here's where it goes down hill.

I told him I was think of the X800 series. He says that only comes in PCIe and I said no some are AGP. He then said they were just like the 9800 PRO and I said sort of except they had upto 16 pipes. He said how can they have 16 pipes on AGP! AGP only goes up to 8X. You need PCIe 16x for 16 pipes!:Q:laugh:

So now I know why AGP has to be replaced. Only works on 8 pipe cards. And I guess all you GTX SLI users are getting screwed when running 8x/8x

 

[bjc112]

You should have told him to log on to the forums..

 

[Eureka]

Wow. Just wow.

I feel sorry for anyone who actually shops there and takes advice.

Norm

 

[Paratus]

Originally posted by: bjc112
You should have told him to log on to the forums..

I thought about it but then he might see this thread.......

Originally posted by: cevilgenius
Wow. Just wow.

I feel sorry for anyone who actually shops there and takes advice.

Norm

I know he told me he convinced some other guy to forgo getting an SLI mobo and another 6800 and instead plunk it down on a better monitor.

So much for FPS..............
Also most games apparently do not use SLI......................

:laugh:

 

[jiffylube1024]

You didn't know this? It's an obvious limit of AGP!

Seriously, I don't know how someone even makes the correlation AGP 8X = 8 pipelines. Was he just pulling it out of his @ss, or did someone just give him some seriously bad information (and he believed it)?

 

[phaxmohdem]

LMAO nice. very nice.

I too used to work for a ma and pop type comp shop, and the manager there tried to make out the 16MB ATI Xpert2000 Cards to be 3D juggernauts to anyone shopping for a vid card. I could only just shake my head in the back room and continue on fixing computers.

 

[Creig]

Originally posted by: bjc112
You should have told him to log on to the forums..

Oh God, please not AT. If anything, point him towards NGOHQ and let THEM deal with him.

 

[GreyMittens]

Originally posted by: Creig

Oh God, please not AT. If anything, point him towards NGOHQ and let THEM deal with him.

That is probably where he's currently getting his advice.

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: Paratus
Well I found out something interesting today after stopping in a new computer shop (ma and pa type place). I asked the guy what kind of AGP vid cards he had as I'm thinking about upgrading. He said a couple of good ones. He came back with a 9550 pulled from somebodys machine! I told him I already had a 9600XT so he said you probably want a 9800Pro. Not great so far but here's where it goes down hill.

I told him I was think of the X800 series. He says that only comes in PCIe and I said no some are AGP. He then said they were just like the 9800 PRO and I said sort of except they had upto 16 pipes. He said how can they have 16 pipes on AGP! AGP only goes up to 8X. You need PCIe 16x for 16 pipes!:Q:laugh:

So now I know why AGP has to be replaced. Only works on 8 pipe cards. And I guess all you GTX SLI users are getting screwed when running 8x/8x

Then what the hell slot am I going to use for my 24 pipe GTX? I guess you can't use that card yet.

 

[Stern]

well you could cut it into 2/3 and 1/3 and put the 2/3 on the pcie slot and the 1/3 on the agp slot and there you go! assuming you have both slots that is. what could be easier than that

 

[JackBurton]

Originally posted by: Stern
well you could cut it into 2/3 and 1/3 and put the 2/3 on the pcie slot and the 1/3 on the agp slot and there you go! assuming you have both slots that is. what could be easier than that

I'm so stupid, of course.

 

[Stern]

actually, my friend who work(ed) in a comp store told me this story. this guy comes in and wants to buy a video card and the desk guy just sells him some ati 9x series card. the guy comes back with the card and his comp and says it won't fit. so the desk guy gets a hacksaw, and cuts off the end of the card, puts it in and says, there ya go, ?50 please.

it did seem a bit far fetched at first, but my friend took a picture of the card when the (very) angry customer comes back with a computer that still doesn't have graphics.

 

[destrekor]

when i was at best buy I was looking for a DVI cable
so they pointed me to the hometheater area, i was like uh oh, no computer monitor section? but figured, its an video cable, so it makes sense
i get back there, and the cheapest one is an audio research, dual-link dvi-i
im like, are there any that are just single-link digital dvi, they have less pins and are digital only
he goes, what are you using it for
i say, my computer monitor
he was like, you're looking for a 13pin cable
now im just confused, what the hell kind of cable is 13 pin? lmao this can't lead to anywhere good
im like, well a single link dvi is what i need
and he's like, he wasn't aware of any monitors that accepted dvi! and worse, a second guy comes over, and the other guy says to him im looking for an adapter
im like, no i just need a dvi cable
he comes back with an adapter, im like, alright well sorry but you guys don't have what i need

lol
that is why they need to hire me there, one i would be great for unknowledged customers, and too i can teach the unknowledged employees lol

 

[videogames101]

Some people just don't get out much.(Or do, in this case.(Tech geek joke))

 

[Stern]

what is it with people hiring idiots to handle customers in comp stores anyway? I mean, don't they make sure they actually know _anything_ before they hire them? seriously....

 

[w00t]

Thats typical you should see my computer A+ teacher its sad that he teaches.

 

[ElFenix]

any amount of FUD to sell a new system!

 

[imported_Kiwi]

Originally posted by: w00t
Thats typical you should see my computer A+ teacher its sad that he teaches.

Way off topic, sorry, but it's really true.

It was 1989, I think, maybe 1990, and the community college I taught evening classes at was finally getting a campus-wide WAN. The "Technology Department" was where the two-year certificates for heavy iron computer operators and COBOL programmers were offered, and someone in their evening division realised that their PC's needed to be on a LAN before the department could connect to the WAN. Only about a third of the daytime or evening instructors (which included several "Professors" with Graduate Degrees) actually had been using the PC's available so far, not including any of the tenured types.

One of my classes was in running QuickBasic, in that Department. I was among the most senior in age of those using PC's regularly, and was tapped for a weekend seminar to bring those assorted doofuses up to date, because I wasn't so comparatively young that they would all reflexively ignore me. I swore at the time that half of those clowns had some sort of mail order degrees and needed Remedial Reading before attending my seminar! It was worse than a bad joke, it was flat out criminal to allow cretins of that low caliber to mis-educate the young!

 

[Zap]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
any amount of FUD to sell a new system!

Exactly. Scary how much even the "experts" at mom&pop repair shops like to flaunt their lack of knowledge. I used to be part owner of Computer GURU and I was the most knowledgeable person there, yet I would never BS anyone even if I didn't know something (nobody knows everything). People have been taken aback when I've told them "I don't know." Yes, I've lost sales, but to my knowledge everyone that I've told "I don't know" to have come back for something else. Since I've left the company I've heard that there have been some changes. For one thing, the new owner refuses to sell AMD processors and will only sell SMC networking gear. Then again, this is the guy that on more than one occasion has gotten socket 775 motherboards with socket 478 CPUs. The frustrating thing for the techs that still work there is he won't listen to advice.

Here in my new digs in Kenosha, two of the more well known repair shops here also refuse to sell AMD processors.

 

[yhelothar]

Originally posted by: Paratus
I know he told me he convinced some other guy to forgo getting an SLI mobo and another 6800 and instead plunk it down on a better monitor.

So much for FPS..............
Also most games apparently do not use SLI......................

:laugh:

That's probably actually a good idea. I know several idiots that buy a high end card to use on their cheapo 17" CRT. What good is that card when you use 1024x768 resolution?

 

[McArra]

LOL! Incredible XD

 

[kylebisme]

Originally posted by: Paratus
He then said they were just like the 9800 PRO and I said sort of except they had upto 16 pipes. He said how can they have 16 pipes on AGP! AGP only goes up to 8X. You need PCIe 16x for 16 pipes!

At that point it probably would have been best to say "it is amazing what they can do with technology these days.." and shake your head knowingly.

 

[cpacini]

Originally posted by: Stern
what is it with people hiring idiots to handle customers in comp stores anyway? I mean, don't they make sure they actually know _anything_ before they hire them? seriously....

Most people that have a decent amout of knowledge wont work for 9 bucks an hour.

 

[unfalliblekrutch]

Originally posted by: cpacini

Originally posted by: Stern
what is it with people hiring idiots to handle customers in comp stores anyway? I mean, don't they make sure they actually know _anything_ before they hire them? seriously....

Most people that have a decent amout of knowledge wont work for 9 bucks an hour.

unless they're 16. But then, they don't get hired because they can only work strange hours.

 

[n7]

Oh man :laugh: