Last night as I was wondering the world of Azeroth as my imaginary and thus virtual self, I got a message from eBay- not actually that way- that would disturbing- getting ebay message in WOW (ick)
Anyway- I got this message from a buyer on eBay that the video card I sent him was crap and he wants a refund. It that had been it - I would be fine, but no. Mr. Buyer than has to inform me that the card had encounter the random monster called static electricity while it was being shipped to him and this was why he wanted to return the item. Because he got the card which was not in an officially state-sanctioned antistatic bag and placed it in his win 7 64bit computer and it DIDN'T WORK!
I replied and said the following:
(not exact words) Uhmmm. static electricity? the card is not win 7 compatible, but go ahead and return it for a refund anyway.
This morning, I get a message on how mr. PC consultant has packaged and returned the item. AND A FULL PAGE WIKIPEDIA LEVEL ENTRY ON HOW everything he believes about the card works in the known (his known) universe works.
1. did you know that all hardware is compatible with all hardware? well all PC hardware is compatible with all POC hardware and it is ONLY the drivers that determine compatibility? No?
2. that if nvidia makes it there is a compatible driver for it? No?
3. that if you are a computer consultant than you understand the science of static electricity to the extent that you can explain how two plastic bags- one with metal fiber and one without can defend against all this static electricity running amok in the USPostal system? No? well If I were YOU, I would be very careful the next time I checked the mail!
4. I can type this all in nice neat orderly paragraphs with nice punctuation
"I am packaging up (in your original packaging) and shipping back to you at the address indicated on the package for full refund.
Thank You.
Dave R.
Note: I am a computer consultant who is both a techncian and programmer with 18 years experience. The video card hardware itself is not (in)compatible with an operating system, only with other hardware - in this case the card requires a PCI Express x16 slot/system BIOS. The machine in which I installed it is brand new and has a PCI Express x16 v2.x slot in addition to several x1 slots.
It's the DRIVER software that may or may not be compatible with the operating system - in this case Windows 7. NVIDIA is the manufacturer of the chipset that drives the video card (MSI just purchases the GPU - graphics processing unit - from NVIDIA and adds whatever flourishes they want to the card). NVIDIA makes the driver software and fully supports this card in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7.
This card is not even being detected by the physical computer itself, let alone Windoss - it does not show up in the BIOS as being installed even though it's correctly in the slot.
Also - FI - Static electricity is a common killer of electronics (even more so in dry weather) and it is important to not touch circuits unless you are grounded and to store/ship them in antistatic containers."
Anyway- I got this message from a buyer on eBay that the video card I sent him was crap and he wants a refund. It that had been it - I would be fine, but no. Mr. Buyer than has to inform me that the card had encounter the random monster called static electricity while it was being shipped to him and this was why he wanted to return the item. Because he got the card which was not in an officially state-sanctioned antistatic bag and placed it in his win 7 64bit computer and it DIDN'T WORK!
I replied and said the following:
(not exact words) Uhmmm. static electricity? the card is not win 7 compatible, but go ahead and return it for a refund anyway.
This morning, I get a message on how mr. PC consultant has packaged and returned the item. AND A FULL PAGE WIKIPEDIA LEVEL ENTRY ON HOW everything he believes about the card works in the known (his known) universe works.
1. did you know that all hardware is compatible with all hardware? well all PC hardware is compatible with all POC hardware and it is ONLY the drivers that determine compatibility? No?
2. that if nvidia makes it there is a compatible driver for it? No?
3. that if you are a computer consultant than you understand the science of static electricity to the extent that you can explain how two plastic bags- one with metal fiber and one without can defend against all this static electricity running amok in the USPostal system? No? well If I were YOU, I would be very careful the next time I checked the mail!
4. I can type this all in nice neat orderly paragraphs with nice punctuation
"I am packaging up (in your original packaging) and shipping back to you at the address indicated on the package for full refund.
Thank You.
Dave R.
Note: I am a computer consultant who is both a techncian and programmer with 18 years experience. The video card hardware itself is not (in)compatible with an operating system, only with other hardware - in this case the card requires a PCI Express x16 slot/system BIOS. The machine in which I installed it is brand new and has a PCI Express x16 v2.x slot in addition to several x1 slots.
It's the DRIVER software that may or may not be compatible with the operating system - in this case Windows 7. NVIDIA is the manufacturer of the chipset that drives the video card (MSI just purchases the GPU - graphics processing unit - from NVIDIA and adds whatever flourishes they want to the card). NVIDIA makes the driver software and fully supports this card in both 32-bit and 64-bit versions of Windows 7.
This card is not even being detected by the physical computer itself, let alone Windoss - it does not show up in the BIOS as being installed even though it's correctly in the slot.
Also - FI - Static electricity is a common killer of electronics (even more so in dry weather) and it is important to not touch circuits unless you are grounded and to store/ship them in antistatic containers."
nice punctuation- see?
things that make me go hmmm.
There are holes up there.
1. Microsoft determines compatibility by and large. They have an extensive list of compatible hardware and questionable compatibility hardware.
2. Nvidia didn't make the card, Gigabyte made (or had the card made by a third party unnamed vendor) and they dropped a nvidia chip on it. The Gigabyte website says the card is not compatible with win 7. So while Nvidia drivers for some cards are compatible it does not mean all NVidia cards are capable of even compitible with all versions of windows
3. Nevermind that it largely depends on the motherboard that all this is plugging into. Not all motherboards were created equal otherwise budget boards and computers would be frolicking with high end software and computer games.
case in point. USB 3.0 - USB3.0 depends on things that no one lists on stuff like Power requirements, BUS speeds, Bandwidth of the PCI slot. Firmware drivers, software drivers.
in short you can buy a PCI-Express USB 3.0 card BUT it does not mean that USB3 device you have (Blackmagic Intensity Shuffle) will work on any motherboard or computer (HP AMD Quad core).
4. Static electricity by and large no longer is a valid threat to most computers, or computer parts,If one looks at the origianl anti-static bags- they were more metal than plastic back in the day and looks at what passes for one now (mostly plastic with some metal fibers) one might think that either the industry has gotten to be cheapskates about it or the threat was never all that real.
a 286/386/486 motherboard was quite sensitive to ESD (electro Static Discharge) But since we are well past 686 motherboard architecture I seriously doubt it is much of an issue anymore.
NOTE: evidence for this is much the same as the bag materials. Once upon a time a computer tech had to put the shoes covers on, walk on anti ESD mats and wear these ridiculous straps while they worked (I even got a couple of them) all of it was awkward and uncomfortable and got in the way all of the time.
These days, some tech wear special latex gloves when dealing with computer parts- mostly to prevent the transfer of body oils onto electronic parts not to stop ESD.
Once there was a HUGE AND I MEAN HUGE DEBATE on whether a tech should leave a PC plugged in or not when working on it. Leaving it plugged in would ground the PC. But with newer motherboard I.E. 586 on motherboards which keep a constant flow of electricity going through them even when turned "off" the Most techs who valued thier skins rejected this thought line. the advice then was to "ground" yourself by touching or staying in contact with the metal case at all times. Given the continued tight confines of most cases this is unavaiodable but the interest thing to note (if you have falled completely asleep by now) is that no one not even the hard core geeks and nerd breath a word about ESD anymore.
BOTTOM LINE: (yes you can skip to this section and avoid my entire tirade altogether)
I bet good money I will drop this card in a PC when it arrives and it will work fine.
I bet that I will still not give much of a damn whether the buyer is a PC consultant or a Microsoft Technician in 15 minutes
I bet that I will resell the card regardless since I have free shipping on it
and you can bet that I nodded and thanked him for his input and assured him I would give him a refund even if I were going HMMM or grinding my teeth.
and that is the tech life according to Mike.
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