Dodgy Sales Guy

[oz_surfer]

Long story short.

Girl at work got quote for basic machine for her home use.
Specks chosen by shop sales person

Chip
Quad Core Q9550 - AU$499

Memory
2 X 4GB 1066 CORSAIR XMS2 - AU$418

Hard Drive
1000GB SATA 2 32M - AU$169

VIDEO CARD
2GB HD4870 X 2 - AU$699

MONITOR
24" BENQ V2400W - AU$449
or
INTERL CORE 2 QUAD CORE Q9440 - AU$1099

She asked me if they were ok, becauase they seemed a bit weird to her.

She wants a medium to high end gaming machine that needs the 24" monitor.
Why would shop quote the 8GB RAM for XP built machine
Why would they suggest 2GB HD4870 X 2 graphics card

On a personal level, of the two chip sets listed which is better, and what board would you suggest that goes with it.

[zoobie]

Offhand, it sounds like they quoted the best they could build...the highest of the high end...which allows them to make more of a profit

Ask her if she can't find something else to do besides flush money down the drain

Gamers...

[Baldrick]

Please post off topic stuff in our off topic or computer section. Moving you.

[yoda313]

Why would shop quote the 8GB RAM for XP built machine
Why would they suggest 2GB HD4870 X 2 graphics card

#1 - it could be a 64bit version of XP which could utilize more than 4gb of ram - though why they wouldn't try to sell her a VISTA 64 bit version is beyond me...

#2 - It could be a sli system capable of two or more graphic cards. I don't know what that model number is so I can't verify if it is a sli system.

FYI if she is unsure of this and just wants to play any game perhaps you should convince her to get a ps3 or xbox 360 instead.........

[wtsinnc]

oz_surfer;

Those price quotes are ridiculous.

The listed configuration omitted more than it included;

which motherboard ?
power supply ?
optical drive ?
hard drive ?
warranty ?
-and much more-

Anyway, your friend is being hosed. Tell her to look around for a better deal; that shouldn't be hard to find !

Try: www.techbargains.com

[jagabo]

The machine quoted is a high end gaming system. The core of a medium gaming machine would look something like:

Core 2 Duo CPU
ATI Radeon 4850 based graphics card, 512 MB
2 to 4 GB DRAM
512 to 1024 GB Sata drive

And of course a quality motherboard and ~500 watt PSU.

[oz_surfer]

Thx Jagabo

Any suggestions for the motherboard for
GB Lan
4-6 SATA sockets

[greymalkin]

these people should be shot.

I had a guy try to rip my sister off at her office (she is a dentist). She was having network issues and he tried to tell her her computer systems were about to fail and it would cost $6500 to replace them all. She has 3 computers consisting of 2 client machines and one "server" which is just a little bit better desktop. All 3 could be upgraded with more than what she needs for under $2000.

In the end I resolved the issue by running some windows updates on her server. I called the owner of the company and went line by line down their quote telling them what they were charging and what it actually costs. scumbags.

[Soopafresh]

When you consider 1 Australian Dollar = 68 Cents American, it isn't that bad.

[Supreme2k]

I called the owner of the company and went line by line down their quote telling them what they were charging and what it actually costs. scumbags.

Good for you.

I usually do that with customers; I quote them on what they need (plus a little bit more) so that they don't get reamed. I had one customer say that $300 for a system upgrade (plus my fee) was too much (they were friends of friends). It was almost a complete overhaul, and would have made them at least current. They ended up paying a shop (Best Buy or something) almost $2000. I asked them why they did that, instead of coming back to me when they price shopped, they said, "We were too embarrassed."

Pride and ignorance can sure screw people up. I should have charged at leat a grand, so that the number would look more "prestigious".