Want Help With Your Computer Problem? Read This First.

Hardware trouble can happen to anyone, and it's almost always frustrating. It's very tempting to head out to your favorite forum and vent about this problem and get help at the same time. However, hardware is different from a problem you may have in your personal life. We require specific information to help you out, there's nothing overly helpful we can say to make you feel better. So, if you want help with something, do try to give as many specifics as possible, since none of us here can read minds (and if we could, believe me we wouldn't waste our time on forums helping you).

State the specific nature of the problem, and be as precise as possible about when, why, and how it happens. Any further information regarding the problem is also useful, like if the hardware was moved, worked on, dropped, or anything of that nature recently.

Wrong: My computer turns off randomly, help!

Right: After moving my computer upstairs whenever I run 3D Studio Max or Maya my computer restarts itself about 10-15 minutes into using said programs.

Spelling errors happen to everyone, and most of the time they're not a big deal (as long as they're clearly intentional, and not born out of laziness). However, there are certain spelling errors that can really throw hardware out of whack. Especially when dealing with model numbers, be sure you don't type something wrong, or we can be throw way off course in our efforts to assist you.

Wrong: my 850 is borked!!

Right: I believe my PNY GeForce 8500GT graphics card might be having issues.

Details, details, details! Yes, we need these things - we're not hackers, and we're not going to crack into your computer and look up all your specs for you. We need to know what sort of setup you're running in order to tell you what you need. If you don't know what kind of setup you are running, let us know or do a little searching yourself and see if you can find anything on your own.

Wrong: I've got a 2.0GHz processor, 1GB RAM, 80GB hard drive, and some other stuff, and I want to upgrade to a computer that can max Crysis!

Right: I've got a 2.0GHz Athlon 64 3000+, DFI LANParty UT nForce 4 939 motherboard, 2x512MB DDR 400 RAM, 80GB IDE hard drive, PCI-e GeForce 6600GT, 460w Xclio Stablepower power supply, Creative Sound Blaster Audigy 2 sound card, 19" Viewsonic VX922 monitor, and an Apevia X-Cruiser case, and with a few upgrades I'm hoping to play Crysis at higher settings.

Give us a budget and what exactly you want to do with your hardware. The latest and greatest components don't come cheap, but sometimes you can get the second best for a bargain price. We need a budget in order to determine exactly where you stand, and knowing what your primary and secondary uses for the hardware will be determines exactly what we'll recommend. Also let us know if you have any parts you'll be carrying over - an $800 budget might get you a great computer, until we find out that you need a monitor, router and speakers with that.

Wrong: I want a computer than can max World of Warcraft!

Right: I've got about $750-$1000 to spend on a new computer (preferably towards the lower end of the spectrum), and I'll be carrying over my monitor and all peripherals. I'm hoping to play World of Warcraft at its highest settings, and I'll also be doing some Photoshop work as well as general office stuff. I'm not opposed to building it myself, but I would prefer a pre-built machine.

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Dusted.