[GT182]

Teho, not really as you say, it depends on the computer and knowing what you bought. Sometimes the "low and max" are non existant. As an example... my soon to be son-in-law bought a so called "gaming" computer from CompUSA last year. They told him it could run any game on the market. Paid big bucks for it but got the shaft in the end. He could play COD but not COD2 and couldn't figure out why. Couldn't play MOH PA or SHIII either. So after us moving down to Delaware this fall we opened the case..... he knows nothing about computers let alone how to open it up. Guess what we found besides a load of dust..... no graphics card and a little 200 watt PSU. Tho it does have a 200gog HDD, 1gig of DDR RAM and a AMD Athalon 3400+ 64 processor. Not a gaming computer by any standards without a graphics card and a PSU that can run the card. Now he has a 400watt PSU and a GF 7600GS GFX card, and he can now run the games he couldn't before. Shame on CompUSA and the fool that sold it to him.

No matter where you buy a computer be careful what you buy and check it's guts before you buy it. I've stood in stores and watch people get the shaft not kowing what their buying. Store bought computers aren't necessarily gaming computers. The cheapest priority parts are put in them. Get it home and you have to do an upgrade first thing. Alway check the PSU wattage and GFX card before you buy one. I was almost thrown out of a CompUSA store 3 years agao for telling a customer he was getting screwed on the computer they told him was a "gaming" computer. After I explained what was missing and what he needed the sales idiot said "Gee I didn't think of that."

Now CWorth's computer is one he built it himself, as is mine. And I wouldn't buy any computer off the shelf from any store and figure it's a gaming computer. It's "buyer beware", know what's inside the case.

When I go into a store these days, I play the Ralph Nader of desktop computers.