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Tips For New Forum Members

Max_Settings

I thought I would put together an ongoing list of tips for people who are new to the forum. These are things that you can do for us to help you better solve your issues and to get better advice.

 

1. Give a budget: When you are asking about a PC build or want to buy an item please give your budget. One of the most common mistakes that I see people make is, they ask for a PC that will play certain games at certain settings, or they give a build list with no price. So if you ask for a build that will play certain games at certain settings, we can give you the build to do so, but we have no way to know if you can actually afford it. Giving us a budget allows us to see how much you can spend and if you are effectively using your money in your build. The same applies to when you are looking for a certain items. If you ask, "What's a good gaming monitor for me?" We can't tell you unless we know how much you can spend. Giving a budget is a must when it comes to asking about a PC build, or single item.

 

2. Don't Use The Word "Best" Without A Price Range: This question is similar to #1. I often see people ask a question like, "What's the best headphones?" and then they go on to ask "What's the best headphones that I should get?" Well by the way you asked that question the answer is probably the Sennheiser Orpheus for $50,000. You need to once again give a budget when asking "What's the best..." questions. Then when you ask, "What's the best headphones under $150?" Then it is easy for us to give you suggestions.

 

3. Don't Immediately Take The First Piece Of Advice Given: This is a common mistake I see among new forum members. While most people around here know what they are talking about, the first piece of advice given is not always the best or always correct. Wait for several responses from several different members so you can here other opinions or options. That way you can be sure you are getting the best advice or the best options for what you should do.

 

4. Please Be Open To Advice: I often see people on the forum ask for advice on something, and when advice that is different from their original intent, they become hostile and will refuse to take it. Now obviously we are not the be all end all when it comes to being correct and giving advice, but if virtually everyone is giving you tips that are all basically the same, you probably should take that into consideration. For example, if you wanted to build a gaming PC with CPU X, and everyone tells you that CPU X is now outdated and a little slow and that CPU Y is a much better choice, don't become hostile and say that we don't know what we are talking about and continue on your way. What's the point of asking for advice if you will not accept any differently? Doing stuff like this also makes people become a little irritated and makes them feel as if you just wasted their time.

 

5. Please Post Your Topic In The Correct Section: I see many people put their topics in the General Discussion section when there are clearly better places to post it. For example, if your topic's name is "What GPU Should I Buy?", don't put that in general discussion. Please put that in the section labeled "Graphics Cards" that is a better place for it. Putting your topics in the right section saves our lovely moderators and admins a lot of work of having to move them to the appropriate section.

 

6. Use the Quote Button When Responding To Someone:  I often see that new members do not know how to quote someone who responds to their post. They often just write a response without quoting the person, or simply just @ them. If you do not quote the person you are responding to, they will never know that you are responding to them to maybe ask a follow up question. You must use the quote button to be sure they know you are responding to them. This will also save you the time of having to type in their @

 

Here's what the quote button looks like. Hit this and then type your response under the quote.

quote.png.5f7959d3312fbaaaa51b7951ad8f7b16.png

response.png.a04703e73d2e230bd8f5bd57de522b7c.png

7. Please Read The Community Standards If You Plan To Be Here Long Term: This is one of the more obvious ones, but if you plan to be active on the forum a lot, it will probably pay off to know all of the rules to make sure that you do not get in trouble and risk being banned.

 

8. Please Include Your Currency: If you don't include your currency, chances are you are going to get suggestions in USD $. If you are from outside the U.S. I would recommend giving your currency type or location so you can be sure you get suggestions in your native currency. (Thanks to @myspeakersaremuffled for the suggestion)

 

Well guys these are my  useful tips for new Forum Members. What tips do you guys have for new members? Comment them below and I might add them.

 

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#6 isnt really required I dont think in the grand scheme of things it really matter one bit.

 

You should add - Currency because $1 is equal to $0.70, $0.25, $0.52 in other countries that use the $

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Just now, yathis said:

#6 isnt really required I dont think in the grand scheme of things it really matter one bit

It is not required, but it helps 100% How else is the person going to know that the OP is responding to them without continuously checking back to the post?

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1 minute ago, yathis said:

#6 isnt really required I dont think in the grand scheme of things it really matter one bit

of course it does, how else are you meant to know if someone has sent your a reply

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Just now, Max_Settings said:

It is not required, but it helps 100% How else is the person going to know that the OP is responding to them without continuously checking back to the post?

Ya its neither here nor there really, other people will just respond to it anyways.

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2 minutes ago, Vespertine said:

Nice, so how are new users going to find this who aren't registered in the next 30 minutes?

Who knows, it might stay relevant

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2 minutes ago, yathis said:

#6 isnt really required I dont think in the grand scheme of things it really matter one bit.

 

You should add - Currency because $1 is equal to $0.70, $0.25, $0.52 in other countries that use the $

It helps people know who is talking to who.

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Just now, myspeakersaremuffled said:

It helps people know who is talking to who.

Ah yes, I'll add that it helps to include your currency

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3 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

Members using the dark theme of the forum will not be able to read your post, as you match the text color with the black ground post color.

 

Sorry how would I go about fixing this?

Edited by Max_Settings
I fixed it
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7 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

Members using the dark theme of the forum will not be able to read your post, as you match the text color with the black ground post color.

 

I fixed it

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2 minutes ago, Max_Settings said:

Sorry how would I go about fixing this?

Go to edit and hit the remove formatting button

Screenshot_349.png

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1 minute ago, Max_Settings said:

I fixed it

Meh its still a silverish color

 

Just now, Abyss Gaming said:

Go to edit and hit the remove formatting button

Screenshot_349.png

 

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2 minutes ago, Abyss Gaming said:

Meh its still a silverish color

 

 

 

7 minutes ago, GoodBytes said:

Members using the dark theme of the forum will not be able to read your post, as you match the text color with the black ground post color.

 

Ok now I really fixed it

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Added the first suggestion. Comment yours for it to maybe be added

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Yo this is great for new comers I dont know who to @ to see if we can get this on the front page for new people

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11 minutes ago, AdamBGames said:

Yo this is great for new comers I dont know who to @ to see if we can get this on the front page for new people

The moderators. They are the only ones who can pin it

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One major one, and this applies not just to newbies: Your use case is not their use case. So don't offer a solution that isn't what the OP is looking for unless it's egregious.

 

As a generic example

Person A: "How do I do action X?"

Person B: "Why would you do action X? Action Y [that doesn't line up with Person A's use case] is totally better!"

 

Or maybe as a more specific one:

Person A: "Should I get a Toyota Prius or a Chevrolet Volt?"

Person B: "Neither, get an F-150"

Person C: "A used BMW would be better"

Person D: "You should get a motorcycle instead."

 

As an example of when to intervene:

Person A: "Should I get a Core i7 or an i5 with my X300 motherboard?"

Person B: "Those processors aren't compatible with that motherboard." (and offer a solution for both sides to cover your cases in case OP really wanted Intel or AMD)

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Just now, M.Yurizaki said:

One major one, and this applies not just to newbies: Your use case is not their use case. So don't offer a solution that isn't what the OP is looking for unless is egregious.

 

As a generic example

Person A: "How do I do action X?"

Person B: "Why would you do action X? Action Y [that doesn't line up with Person A's use case] is totally better!"

 

Or maybe as a more specific one:

Person A: "Should I get a Toyota Prius or a Chevrolet Volt?"

Person B: "Neither, get an F-150"

Person C: "A used BMW would be better"

 

As an example of when to intervene:

Person A: "Should I get a Core i7 or an i5 with my X300 motherboard?"

Person B: "Those processors aren't compatible with that motherboard." (and offer a solution for both sides to cover your cases in case OP really wanted Intel or AMD)

I agree with this 90%. Sometimes the person's original intentions or options really aren't good. For example. Let's say this someone was building a PC for video editing and 3D modeling and they asked what Z270 board to go with their 7700K. Well obviously the R7 1700 is a better choice than the 7700K for editing and 3D modeling because of the much higher core count. So obviously I would say that he shouldn't get a 7700K and get a R7 1700. 

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1 minute ago, Max_Settings said:

I agree with this 90%. Sometimes the person's original intentions or options really aren't good. For example. Let's say this someone was building a PC for video editing and 3D modeling and they asked what Z270 board to go with their 7700K. Well obviously the R7 1700 is a better choice than the 7700K for editing and 3D modeling because of the much higher core count. So obviously I would say that he shouldn't get a 7700K and get a R7 1700. 

However if the person insists on using Intel, you do not convince them otherwise to go AMD. All you'll do is piss them off. The other part of that is it's their money, if they want to "waste it", let them.

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Just now, M.Yurizaki said:

However if the person insists on using Intel, you do not convince them otherwise to go AMD. All you'll do is piss them off.

But then #4 applies

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