Welp, I got called a RETARD by a friends stepdad....

[Shd0w2]

Okay, I was contacted by an old friend over skype about his stepdad upgrading their old 07' computer. His step-dad was thinking about a $500 graphics card upgrade, which I assume was like a GTX 780. The specs of the computer are 4GB OF RAM, an old Q6600 at 2.4ghz, and an 8800GTX which may or may not be half broken. They had an $800 upgrade max, so, I recommended  instead of upgrading a really old computer with something which won't increase performance without a nice bottleneck and having other things, I said you might be interested in this:

PCPartPicker part list / Price breakdown by merchant / Benchmarks

 

CPU:  AMD FX-6300 3.5GHz 6-Core Processor  ($114.97 @ OutletPC) 

CPU Cooler:  Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler  ($29.98 @ OutletPC) 

Motherboard:  ASRock 970 Pro3 R2.0 ATX AM3+ Motherboard  ($49.99 @ Newegg) 

Memory:  G.Skill AEGIS 8GB (1 x 8GB) DDR3-1333 Memory  ($64.99 @ Newegg) 

Storage:  Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive  ($54.43 @ OutletPC) 

Video Card:  PowerColor Radeon R9 270X 2GB TurboDuo Video Card  ($169.99 @ Newegg) 

Case:  NZXT Source 210 (White) ATX Mid Tower Case  ($38.55 @ Amazon) 

Power Supply:  Corsair Builder 430W 80+ Bronze Certified ATX Power Supply  ($19.99 @ Newegg) 

Total: $542.89

(Prices include shipping, taxes, and discounts when available.)

(Generated by PCPartPicker 2014-06-03 15:51 EDT-0400)

I said you could also spend more on other parts if you wanted increased performance, although, keep in mind, this is a family use computer. (some gaming on his part, some minecraft, and other games, even battlefield maybe.)

 

He responded saying "My step dad called you a retard because we spent $4000 on that computer" after saying that, he said his step dad also said "HE CAN BUY IT THEN" referring to me.

 

 

My thoughts are, $4000 for those crappy specs? I could have built that for like 1400 in 2007 I bet, not sure. 

Thoughts?

[NInety]

Your friend's stepfather is the retard that paid $4k for a freakin' potato.

[Zeke]

Maybe those $4k weren't US dollars. Maybe it was stuffed with cocaine. Maybe his stepdad is a retard. Maybe it was a Mac Pro.

 

We'll never know.

[Sammael]

Maybe those $4k weren't US dollars. Maybe it was stuffed with cocaine. Maybe his stepdad is a retard. Maybe it was a Mac Pro.

 

We'll never know.

 

 

Pretty sure it was Pesos not dollars, makes more sense, I have to believe my story over the op.

[Shd0w2]

Maybe those $4k weren't US dollars. Maybe it was stuffed with cocaine. Maybe his stepdad is a retard. Maybe it was a Mac Pro.

 

We'll never know.

Cocaine fueled computer? Maybe it was only $800 but he needed a ton of cocaine fuel injectors...

 

Your friends stepfather is the retard that paid $4k for a freakin' potato.

a half broken potato! It can't even run minecraft at low as far as I know from my friend. He quit minecraft cause' of it

[Shd0w2]

Pretty sure it was Pesos not dollars, makes more sense, I have to believe my story over the op.

$4000 USD, they live in Tampa.

[_ASSASSIN_]

Pretty sure it was Pesos not dollars, makes more sense, I have to believe my story over the op.

more zimbabawian dollars

[SpyRosL]

Oh, non-techies. Gotta love 'em.

[Zeke]

Cocaine fueled computer? Maybe it was only $800 but he needed a ton of cocaine fuel injectors...

Not fueled, just filled with it where empty space should've been. BTW, that might explain overheating. I gotta stop playing PAYDAY 2...

 

But if they had $800 budget, why did you stop at $550 with your build? (you kinda explained that, but only kinda)

[91wow]

If I remember, the 8800GTX was like a $1K GPU when it came out.. But the Q6600 was like a $400 CPU. 

[Shd0w2]

Not fueled, just filled with it where empty space should've been. BTW, that might explain overheating. I gotta stop playing PAYDAY 2...

 

But if they had $800 budget, why did you stop at $550 with your build?

$800 max, and it would just discourage his dad more. I did say they could add an SSD, or a better graphics card if they want.

[Guest Kloaked]

People like that who buy electronics exaggerate A LOT about the price that they pay. I know someone in my life who swears his laptop cost over $1k, but after looking at the model and the specs that he had, he only paid a little under $800. I don't know why people do that, but I have a guess: they embed it into their mind as a truth that they paid <insert nonsense amount> for something so it'll seem like it's worth more to them than it really is.

 

The person I know who bought the laptop swore up and down that it's better than mine (I had an M14X at the time that would easily outperform his laptop) simply because I had a Windows update one day that caused my boot time to be over what it usually is, while he got his out and booted Windows quicker. My brain began to not function properly after hearing his logic, which I will spare everyone of.

[Zeke]

$800 max, and it would just discourage his dad more. I did say they could add an SSD, or a better graphics card if they want.

Makes sense.

[Shd0w2]

If I remember, the 8800GTX was like a $1K GPU when it came out.. But the Q6600 was like a $400 CPU. 

This review was on 2006, I don't think they changed the link of where to buy and the price might not have changed

http://www.cnet.com/products/geforce-8800-gtx/

[cae]

My father is similar, he hates getting rid of old tech. Maybe $4000 in today's inflated monopoly money, but yeah it was probably fairly expensive back then. Step dad doesn't sound very intelligent, not sure introducing him to Moore's law would do anything..

[MetEishYa]

more zimbabawian dollars

They actually using the US dollar now in Zimbabwe. 

[_ASSASSIN_]

They actually using the US dollar now in Zimbabwe. 

aww, no more 100 trillion dollar bills?

[MetEishYa]

aww, no more 100 trillion dollar bills?

Nope no more. US dollar is there choice of currency now.

 

Like you profile picture, "You took my jeep stuff"

[Nineshadow]

If I remember, the 8800GTX was like a $1K GPU when it came out.. But the Q6600 was like a $400 CPU. 

Nope.

"there's no reason to spend roughly $1,000 on a pair of Radeon cards when you can outperform them with a single $600 GeForce 8800 GTX. "

[Shd0w2]

aww, no more 100 trillion dollar bills?

 

no son, they made 999 trillion dollars bills instead

[techswede]

My dad spent 1000 (10.000 swedish kronor) on an old xp machine about two years ago. When i opened it up i saw some 2 core cpu with a stock cooler and 1 whole gig of ddr2.

And some bare bones foxconn motherboard

I just unplugged it and drove back down to the store where he bought it and i did not stop yelling at them until my father got his money back.

I built him a proper one for half the price after that..

[MetEishYa]

no son, they made 999 trillion dollars bills instead

Whats funny is the notes are worth more now as souvenirs than they were as currency.

[Shd0w2]

My dad spent 1000 (10.000 swedish kronor) on an old xp machine about two years ago. When i opened it up i saw some 2 core cpu with a stock cooler and 1 whole gig of ddr2.

And some bare bones foxconn motherboard

I just unplugged it and drove back down to the store where he bought it and i did not stop yelling at them until my father got his money back.

I built him a proper one for half the price after that..

noice.

[Fred Castellum]

My dad spent 1000 (10.000 swedish kronor) on an old xp machine about two years ago. When i opened it up i saw some 2 core cpu with a stock cooler and 1 whole gig of ddr2.

And some bare bones foxconn motherboard

I just unplugged it and drove back down to the store where he bought it and i did not stop yelling at them until my father got his money back.

I built him a proper one for half the price after that..

Good man. 

[techswede]

noice.

 

 

Good man. 

Im a bit miffed that i did not keep the foxconn motherboard though. Before that i did not know that they were even a thing  :lol: