Did I rip this guy off?

[DaFinn]

In short:

A guy I know comes to me all excited about this new computer he build with the help of his friend (whom I don't know). He goes on about the bits and pieces they bought... 3Ghz P4/I875 mobo/etc. Then he mentiones he got a 1Gb reg. ECC RAM stick for it??? :Q I'm like WTF, WHY? "Oh, my friend said its the best stick out there, made by Samsung and overclocks better because its ECC and..."

At this point I inform him he would be much better off with 2 sticks of 512Mb high quality normal RAM. He has a dual channel mobo anyways.

So, I agreed to change his 1Gb reg. ECC stick to 2x 512Mb high quality sticks. He prolly didn't realize how much more expensive that 1Gb stick has been?

So, did I rip him off or did I do him a favor???

 

[GtPrOjEcTX]

true it should perform better in dual channel, but you got the better deal, if you did a straight trade.

 

[GRIFFIN1]

I would have told him about the price difference and told him that he should exchange it. You know he is going to tell his other friend about the trade he made with you, and you can be sure that the other friend is going to tell him how he got raped.

 

[ironcrotch]

You shall spend eternity in hell.

 

[Mo0o]

You should just have him sell his own ram and buy 2 512s

 

[bleeb]

Originally posted by: ironcrotch
You shall spend eternity in hell.

 

[z0mb13]

Originally posted by: ironcrotch
You shall spend eternity in hell.

ouch I can feel the love here

 

[cavemanmoron]

what? I didn't know their was a cost difference
I would have thought that 2 sticks of 512 would have been less than one 1gb,

Used to be 2 128 sticks cost more than a single 256.............

 

[her209]

You totally ripped him off. Hel, I wasn't even involved with the trade, and I feel ripped off. :|:disgust:

 

[DeviousTrap]

Originally posted by: cavemanmoron
what? I didn't know their was a cost difference
I would have thought that 2 sticks of 512 would have been less than one 1gb,

Used to be 2 128 sticks cost more than a single 256.............

You must have missed the part where he said it was ECC ram.

 

[aplefka]

Originally posted by: her209
You totally ripped him off. Hel, I wasn't even involved with the trade, and I feel ripped off. :|:disgust:

Hahaha... I don't.

The guy is a total noob if he thinks ECC makes it a whole helluva lot better. You really don't need that if you're running just one system. ECC is more for business-type setups.

 

[HonkeyDonk]

Originally posted by: cavemanmoron
what? I didn't know their was a cost difference
I would have thought that 2 sticks of 512 would have been less than one 1gb,

Used to be 2 128 sticks cost more than a single 256.............

i've always seen that buying 2x of one stick is cheaper than 1x of a stick that is double one of the other two.

2x 128 cheaper than 1x 256, 2x256 cheaper than 1x 512, etc.

 

[Muadib]

Originally posted by: ironcrotch
You shall spend eternity in hell.

 

[n0cmonkey]

ECC rocks, you got a good deal.

 

[machintos]

yep, you ripped him off.

 

[lobadobadingdong]

he didn't know the difference, he got a faster pc, you got some cash (difference in price) for the information, I don't see anything wrong with it.

 

[Kelvrick]

If it was registered too, he must not be walking straight anymore.

 

[DaFinn]

Well, the cheapest i found this 1Gb Samsung reg. ECC PC3200 (DDR400) stick was ?294,90 (dunno what he ACTUALLY paid though). The Kingston HyperX kit I gave him (DDR434) was ?224,-
Thats 70,- for the information and "better" memory for his setup and OC needs...

Hmmmm...

 

[SpunkyJones]

Originally posted by: machintos
yep, you ripped him off.

 

[simms]

How can you even use ECC memory? I recall that you needed certain mobos in order to use ECC registered... IMO?

 

[Lonyo]

Originally posted by: simms
How can you even use ECC memory? I recall that you needed certain mobos in order to use ECC registered... IMO?

You need certain mobo's to use the ECC, but the RAM will work in any board, just withough ECC AFAIK.
SO basically, it's useless to get ECC unless you have a board that will use it.

 

[Injury]

Are you a best buy employee?

 

[poopaskoopa]

Originally posted by: DaFinn
Well, the cheapest i found this 1Gb Samsung reg. ECC PC3200 (DDR400) stick was ?294,90 (dunno what he ACTUALLY paid though). The Kingston HyperX kit I gave him (DDR434) was ?224,-
Thats 70,- for the information and "better" memory for his setup and OC needs...

Hmmmm...

If you feel comfortable telling him the last part, then I respect that. I'd think you're a prick, but I'd respect that. If you don't feel comfortable telling him that, then you know you stole something from him.

 

[gururu]

Originally posted by: Lonyo

Originally posted by: simms
How can you even use ECC memory? I recall that you needed certain mobos in order to use ECC registered... IMO?

You need certain mobo's to use the ECC, but the RAM will work in any board, just withough ECC AFAIK.
SO basically, it's useless to get ECC unless you have a board that will use it.

if I'm not mistaken, most i875 based boards can use it.

BTW, that was alow down dirty trade. You were on the right track with the dual channel suggestion, but the difference in speed isn't IMO worth 70 dollars. I'd ask him to trade back since you can't afford the difference (or do you even want to?) and let him eat it or replace it.

 

[HappyFace]

I'd give him some money to offset the price difference, maybe not the entire $70 ... but at least some of it. Tell him that the 1GB was worth more, but the 2 512mb sticks are better for his rig.