I have long but decent new builder/idiot story...

[KarateHottie93]

So this PS4 guy in my department at work is building his first PC. He's 22 but looks 14, has no life outside of video games, lives with his parents, and is the stereotypical definition of a loser. He checks every box. I know those are awful things to say about somebody but the kid is a dick. He's a lazy worker that puts no effort into his job and brags about getting carried. He always makes the most rude and condescending remarks to people for absolutely no reason, and he has no manners whatsoever. He's also delusional beyond belief and lies to girls online about how he looks. I try to like the guy but it's hard.

 

Well last week he had told me he was about to build his first PC. We got to talking and I told him I was kinda interested in getting back into it myself. He immediately told me to tell him my price range and he'd make me a list of compatible parts so I didn't "screw it up". I thanked him but said I'd be okay. He got all pissy but yeah.

 

We eventually ended up on the topic of graphics cards and he was complaining about how expensive they are. He then pondered the idea of going to the used market. I gave the typical warning about being careful after the latest mining craze we experienced but told him I typically buy used myself.

 

The more we dug into the topic though, the more obvious it became that his expectations were very unreasonable for his budget. Feeling bad, I offered him either a 980 Ti Amp or Fury Nitro for $150. I also gave him the option of a 280X Toxic for $75 in case he just wanted something decent enough to run on for now. Well a few days went by and he ended up going with a used 970 FTW for $170 on eBay and thought it was a steal. He proceeded to show me an Amazon listing for that card new at $280.

 

I explained to him that the 970 hasn't been made in years, the card on Amazon he saw was just a very overpriced private listing, and that almost $200 for a used one was a dumb purchase...especially when he could have gotten a 980 Ti from somebody he actually knows and can trust FOR $20 LESS.

 

He got PISSED!!!!! He started yelling about how Zotac "isn't exactly known for their quality" which is blatant nonsense with no merit. I brought up the exploding 1070's from EVGA and he accused me of making shit up.

 

Later in the day after he'd cooled down, he was telling me about how excited he was to get his 970. He mentioned that it came with 4GB vram...I literally face palmed.

[Automobili3XF]

Some people man, i've had experiences like this but not as bad.

My experience with Zotac has been flawless so far, the only problem i've ever had with their cards was a coil whine on my 1070ti and even then they replaced it with a 2070.

[star_pilot475]

Wow, what an idiot.

If he had done some searching he could’ve totally found some better deals. I got a cheap starter card (MSI Radeon R9 380 4G) for $60. Sure, it’s only got 4gb, but for the price, I can deal with it. 

Edited March 22, 2019 by star_pilot475

[trevb0t]

Some people have this complex where they just won't take advice. I have had plenty of friends with similar attitudes. (Guess what! We didn't all stay friends for too long!) That said, I wish someone I know had offered me their working 980Ti for $150 when I was building!

[KarateHottie93]

On 3/22/2019 at 8:06 AM, Chevy_Monsenhor said:

Some people man, i've had experiences like this but not as bad.

My experience with Zotac has been flawless so far, the only problem i've ever had with their cards was a coil whine on my 1070ti and even then they replaced it with a 2070.

Yeah lol I love them...best build quality in terms of solid feel I've experienced with any Nvidia brand besides Galax back when they made the HoF 980.

 

EVGA has never let me down in terms of support and whatnot but I've never been overly impressed with their cards. I find them to be good enough. Zotac just always ceases to amaze me with what I get for the money though.

 

On 3/22/2019 at 10:33 AM, star_pilot475 said:

Wow, what an idiot.

If he had done some searching he could’ve totally found some better deals. I got a cheap starter card (MSI Radeon R9 380 4G) for $60. Sure, it’s only got 4gb, but for the price, I can deal with it. 

 

Indeed, 4 gigs is fine. I mean my 280X only has 3 gigs and it's never caused me any notable fits at 1080, where it still hangs pretty decently overall. I just wanted to yell "3.5" so bad when mentioned the "4GB" it had. I can only take arguing with a wall for so long until I get burnt out though lol.

 

On 3/22/2019 at 10:43 AM, trevb0t said:

Some people have this complex where they just won't take advice. I have had plenty of friends with similar attitudes. (Guess what! We didn't all stay friends for too long!) That said, I wish someone I know had offered me their working 980Ti for $150 when I was building!

 

I feel you bro. I mean I can't say the Toxic or Nitro were any better of a deal than you'd find on eBay...but they're sentimental lol. That AMP card was just me being considerate though. Really, I'm glad he turned it down cause I plan on using it again now, but it still sucks to know I work with somebody so unbelievably incompetent.

[tatte]

It doesn't sound like you're actually friends or even getting along that well, so him choosing not to source his card from you is completely understandable. I also don't know your local market, but your prices sound like they're likely below market, so him having to resort to a worse card doesn't surprise me. What he paid is roughly in line with what the card costs here, and budget is budget: there's always something better if you just spend a little more. Bad pick is bad pick, but it's an intimidating field to enter. He'll have better picture of his needs and be more comfortable doing more research in the future.

 

He may be unpleasant, but you sound frankly worse. "Buy my card or I'll bash you online." Or "take my advice or we're not friends anymore" (the other absolute hero in this thread). Maybe your own delivery and mannerism isn't that great either, prompting resisting reactions. 

[KarateHottie93]

6 minutes ago, tatte said:

It doesn't sound like you're actually friends or even getting along that well, so him choosing not to source his card from you is completely understandable. I also don't know your local market, but your prices sound like they're likely below market, so him having to resort to a worse card doesn't surprise me. What he paid is roughly in line with what the card costs here, and budget is budget: there's always something better if you just spend a little more. Bad pick is bad pick, but it's an intimidating field to enter. He'll have better picture of his needs and be more comfortable doing more research in the future.

 

He may be unpleasant, but you sound frankly worse. "Buy my card or I'll bash you online." Or "take my advice or we're not friends anymore" (the other absolute hero in this thread). Maybe your own delivery and mannerism isn't that great either, prompting resisting reactions. 

Lol you're just salty that everything I said about him describes you. Go outside.

[trevb0t]

On 3/22/2019 at 8:33 AM, star_pilot475 said:

Wow, what an idiot.

If he had done some searching he could’ve totally found some better deals. I got a cheap starter card (MSI Radeon R9 380 4G) for $60. Sure, it’s only got 4gb, but for the price, I can deal with it. 

 

On 3/24/2019 at 11:34 PM, KarateHottie93 said:

Indeed, 4 gigs is fine. I mean my 280X only has 3 gigs and it's never caused me any notable fits at 1080, where it still hangs pretty decently overall. I just wanted to yell "3.5" so bad when mentioned the "4GB" it had. I can only take arguing with a wall for so long until I get burnt out though lol.

Interesting side topic, from what I've seen, even the HD 7870 or 7970 with 2GB can run 1080p high settings on modern titles. The only place where that 2GB can become a bogging point is if there are a shit ton of shaders to render in a single frame. (we are talking 2400+, which for MOST titles is a tall order.)

 

That said if it does manage to top that shader count, they start to fail to load (and look HORRIBLE in that event. Usually like a mash of grey and black blobs, but could go back to shader defaults at something like bright green.) 

 

So really that R9 380 is still a fairly formidable card, and the 4GB loads more than double the shaders (it got more efficient in that change as well, so more like 6k or so.) VRAM does more than load shaders, but in a competent enough card that is all you're going to notice directly if it's underperforming.