Did I buy a good computer for gaming?

[Tr1cK]

Don't people ever research anything before they throw out money? Ever heard of a second opinion? I think it's a lesson now learned.

[mullet]

Thats horrible man, I would return it if you can. I hate to PC shops take advantage of people that hard wow. This is just an example of a system under 1900 bucks.

ASUS P5B Deluxe LGA 775 Intel P965 Express ATX Intel Motherboard - Retail
Item #: N82E16813131045
$179.99

Intel Core 2 Duo E6600 Conroe 2.4GHz LGA 775 Processor Model BX80557E6600 - Retail
Item #: N82E16819115003
THQ Gift - Supreme Commander PC Game - OEM
Item #: N82E16800997016
$308.00

ZALMAN 9700 LED 110mm 2 Ball CPU Cooler - Retail
Item #: N82E16835118019
$59.99

CORSAIR XMS2 2GB (2 x 1GB) 240-Pin DDR2 SDRAM DDR2 1066 (PC2 8500) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model TWIN2X2048-8500C5DF - Retail
Item #: N82E16820145173
$349.00 $40.00 Mail-in Rebate

Western Digital Raptor WD740ADFD 74GB 10,000 RPM Serial ATA150 Hard Drive - OEM
Item #: N82E16822136033
$159.99 $20.00 Mail-in Rebate

Leadtek PX8800 GTS TDH 320MB Extreme GeForce 8800GTS 320MB GDDR3 PCI Express x16 HDCP Video Card - Retail
Item #: N82E16814122022
$299.99 $25.00 Mail-in Rebate

ASUS 18X DVD±R DVD Burner with LightScribe and 14X DVD-RAM Write Black SATA Model DRW-1814BLT - OEM
Item #: N82E16827135145
$35.99

SILVERSTONE TJ09-BW Black Aluminum ATX Full Tower Computer Case - Retail
Item #: N82E16811163073
$279.99

SILVERSTONE ST85ZF ATX12V / EPS12V 850W SLI Certified Power Supply - Retail
Item #: N82E16817256007
$289.99

Total - rebates = 1,877.93

[spaceigg]

why didn't you ask before buying it? researching and pricing????

[consumed]

My cousin and I are going to go back to him and try for a refund. I should have done my home work, I assumed he was a decent guy but from the looks of it he ripped me off pretty good. I never checked the prices on the induvidual parts, my cousin just told me what I should get.

I have been pricing out systems from a few vendors around the web, and you are all right, I could have gotten a Core 2 Duo computer for much much cheaper. Good thing is he HAS to take back the computer because it's been slightly under a week, and although I will have to take the 25% restocking fee, I think I'll come out of this alot better. The $400-500 hit is hard to take but at least I've learned.

What parts should I be looking to get for a system to last me 2-3 years? Like I mentioned in my first post, I primarly play first person games.

[DiscipleDOC]

Originally Posted by consumed

My cousin and I are going to go back to him and try for a refund. I should have done my home work, I assumed he was a decent guy but from the looks of it he ripped me off pretty good. I never checked the prices on the induvidual parts, my cousin just told me what I should get.

I have been pricing out systems from a few vendors around the web, and you are all right, I could have gotten a Core 2 Duo computer for much much cheaper. Good thing is he HAS to take back the computer because it's been slightly under a week, and although I will have to take the 25% restocking fee, I think I'll come out of this alot better. The $400-500 hit is hard to take but at least I've learned.

That is still a huge hit. I would threaten him with the better business bureau before you just rollover and play dead. I know it may seem like an intimidating factor, but he did you wrong, and you should let him know about it.

Originally Posted by consumed

The more retailers I visit online, the more I'm thinking this guy took me for a ride. The guy is a dealer, he owns a small shop down the road from where I live. I bought from him because he's close and has been there for a few years. It seems for the same price that I paid $289, I could have gotten even a Pentium D 3.4GHz, or even one of those Core 2 Duos being mentioned.
Here's a breakdown of the invoice and I was wrong, 1800 was before tax, it was $1782 + taxes:

Pentium D 2.8Ghz $289
Asus P5B Motherboard $199
2GB Ram DDR2 $289
Geforce 8800GTS 320MB Video Card $579
Creative Labs Audigy $129
OCZ Power Supply $149
80GB Western Digital $89
LG DVD Burner $69

The case was not listed so I suppose maybe it was a gift...

Go look at www.newegg.com for the prices on you components. If you paid $579 for a 320MB 8800GTS, you were swindled outright. You should probably take this guy to small claims court.

Open up your computer and look at what you got.

What is the P5B edition?
What kind of RAM is it?

It looks like you were taken badly on almost every component. I bet you're looking at about $800 for parts, then the rest must be his labor costs.

Sorry.

[FastRedPonyCar]

I understand that the mom and pop businesses have to earn a living just like everyone else but gouging you on the prices like that is downright unethical and you should definately contact the BBB about it.

A couple of guys I work with both use to work for such companies and they DID have to charge more to put certain components into customer computers becuase they have employees to pay, bills to pay, etc.

It makes me wonder if the guy(s) who did this don't get much business. I'm guessing that's the case as any decent business with a good customer flow will be fair with their prices.

And that 25% restocking fee almost seems like some sort of bait and trap technique like they intentionally rip people off, the people later find out they got screwed and take it back and are either forced to swallow the money they got screwed out of and take the computer back or shell out the rediculous restocking percentage. Hell, that guy could have tacked on another $500 to the cost of the computer and gotten back THAT MUCH MORE if you tried to take it back. It's almost as if he EXPECTED you to bring it back wanting your money back minus 25% of whatever price tag he decides he wants 25% of back.

Unfortunately, I cant offer much advice in this situation other than to confront him with prices of those same components printed off from newegg showing him that you KNOW he screwed you. If there are potential customers in his shop, tell them loud and clear what he did to you. You could always threaten to tell the local paper or bluff and say you have friends at the local paper who will run an article about him swindling honest people out of their hard earned money, threaten him with better business bureau action as well.

All I can say is PLEASE from now on, do your homework regardless of what you're buying if it's anywhere near that amount of money. Anything over $100, I do research on google, word of mouth, you name it.

And honestly, I'm glad you learned this lesson with something like this rather than something like a car or a house where it could completely cripple your financial stablity or credit rating and those type things.

Everyone gets ripped off at one point or another in thier lives and the only thing we can do is suck it up or fight back and take the lessons we learn from those events along with us the rest of our lives and hopefully pass it on to others.

[DRen72]

Well, life is full of lessons. I've had my share too.

[a_big_burger]

Consume: Just give you an idea how good is Intel Core 2 vs AMD and Pentium D (Company of Hero):

http://www.xbitlabs.com/articles/cpu...o-e6420_7.html
XBITLABs Says:
"The situation in contemporary games is quite logical. Core 2 Duo processors offer the best performance here. AMD CPUs from the Athlon 64 X2 family show much lower fps rate. As for the old Pentium D processor family, these guys can no longer compete neither with Core 2 Duo, nor with AMD rivals."

[Saintster]

Also the fact that you will be able to get the e6600 for 224 in about 5 days. That is just friggin wrong to overcharge like that. After i bought my first and only prebuilt from a then "small company" out of Florida called Alienware and saw how much more I paid for a 700 mghz slot a processor. A 60 gig harddrive and a geforce video card all for the low price of 2650 I decided to learn how to build my own. As many have said it's a lesson you will never forget. I hope it works out for you.

Originally Posted by consumed

Last week I bought a new computer from a local store near me. I told the guy I wanted a gaming machine that would last me a few years. Can you tell me if I got a good deal for what I paid? The computer cost me about $1800 taxes in. I did not get speakers, a monitor or keyboard/mouse with it, just the computer it self. I want to play Call of Juarez, Rainbow Six Vegas and the new one coming out Crysis.

Intel Pentium D 2.8GHz Dual Core Processor 800MHz FSB 4MB Cache
A Ninja Heatsink? It's really big and has no fan.
Asus P5B with 16x PCI-Express Slot
2GB DDR2 667MHz Syncmax Ram (I think the guy said it's actually 2x1GB?)
BFG 8800GTS 320MB OC2 PCI-E
SoundBlaster Audigy 2 ZS
80GB Western Digital 8MB Cache 7200RPM IDE 133
LG 18X DVD-RW IDE
Black Case, Front USB/Audio and 9-1 Memory Card Reader
OCZ 450Watt Mod Stream? Power Supply

You should of done a lot more research. It's like anything though in this world, if you take your car in to get fixed and don't know anything about they will overcharge you. Needless to say, it always helps when you research something before doing it.

I see quite a few problems with this but if it suits you for know then you just learned that lesson the hard way, sometimes its the best way.

For example, you payed 579 for the GTS, you could have a GTX for that.

An IDE hard drive is outdated and worthless having, and also there harder to work with with there pins. He should of gone with SATA. Also, it is only 80GB which doesn't cost at all to get.

The Intel Pentium D 2.8GHz Dual Core Processor 800MHz FSB 4MB Cache is outdated and he should of cone for Core 2 if he was going with Intel. He knows that too, the guy is just trying to save some money. Also, he charged you 285 for it..wow.

However, you can always upgrade some parts if you decide to later on. 1800 for the original is way too much though.

[zoomy942]

keep us updated on how this turns out.