For the past week or so, I've been trying to find an AROIA Y or AGOIA Y Athlon XP 1600+ for overclocking (my AGKGA 1700+ isn't particularly good). Anyway, a friend of mine decides he needs a computer so I tag along in case I can find one of those 1600+ CPUs. He's looking for a budget system and doesn't want to go much over $700 (all the prices I mention are in Canadian dollars). I recommend an Athlon XP 1600+ and an MSI 745 Ultra as a good entry level parts to build a computer around. So we hang around the store for a while and eventually all the parts are accounted for. My friend goes to the checkout and gets his CPU and RAM from the clerk (the processors and memory are all stored at the front desk).
Anyway, there's only a single 1600+ left and my friend gets it. I go over to take a look and find that it's the AGOIA Y! Immediately I plead for it since he's a n00b and won't be overclocking anyway. He declines, so I become desperate, offering to give him my 1700+ for his 1600+. Again he declines, and at this point I'm kinda pissed...pissed at myself since I could have just walked to the counter and taken that last 1600+ while he was selecting his parts. For some reason this never occured to me in the store and he gets the CPU I've been waiting a week for. :disgust:
Now I think, no problem, the particular downtown area we're in (Spadina and College for all of you who are familiar with Toronto) is filled with computer shops. There's at least 20 within a two block radius, so I'm guessing that it'll be easy to find another 1600+. I go into a few stores and they're either sold out or the AGOIAs they have are not the Y ones. Then, amazingly, I find a store with not just one, but two AGOIA Ys! I ask the sales clerk the price and he says $129. :Q At this point I'm really shocked since the place my friend picked up the 1600+ at was selling it for $93, and the various other stores I went to had it for around $95 to $100. I ask the clerk why it was so much when I just picked up the same processor for over $30 cheaper and he replies that he'll be losing money if he went any lower. Now I'm pissed again, but this time at the clerk for giving me such BS. I walk out disappointed, but still with a glimmer of hope since there are a bunch of stores we haven't been to.
I head to the other stores and again find that they either don't have any 1600+ processors left or only have non-Y AGOIAs. I see AGOIA Fs and AGOIA 9s but I pass on all of them based on the supposedly greater overclocking ability of the AGOIA Y. At this point, I give up and we head to the streetcar stop to go home. As we wait for the streetcar, I notice a store right across from the stop that I hadn't been to. I dash over to the store and inquire as to the availability of the 1600+. The guy I talk to says that they do indeed have one, and goes over to rummage through a drawer to find it. As soon as he brings it out I know something's not right. The core is covered with thermal paste, and the brown surface of the processor is splashed with the white goo. Sarcastically, I ask if they have one that's not used and the guy immediately tries to give me some lame excuse in a pathetic attempt to sell me the CPU. For the third time of the day I'm pissed...I've had less BS from most telemarketers, and to think that he'd try to fool me doesn't bode well for those less knowledgeable about computers. :disgust: I leave the store (vowing never to return) and go over to my friend's house, where we successfully set up his new computer.
Where's the overclocking, you ask? Well, for today, there was none. A confluence of inexplicable factors all conspired to deprive me of my AGOIA Y 1600+ (big words make me sound sophisticated
). Fortunately, there's a computer show in town next weekend and there'll be at least 30 vendors packed into a smallish convention centre building. Hopefully, I'll be able to find an AROIA Y and get it for a good price. Wish me luck!
Anyway, there's only a single 1600+ left and my friend gets it. I go over to take a look and find that it's the AGOIA Y! Immediately I plead for it since he's a n00b and won't be overclocking anyway. He declines, so I become desperate, offering to give him my 1700+ for his 1600+. Again he declines, and at this point I'm kinda pissed...pissed at myself since I could have just walked to the counter and taken that last 1600+ while he was selecting his parts. For some reason this never occured to me in the store and he gets the CPU I've been waiting a week for. :disgust:
Now I think, no problem, the particular downtown area we're in (Spadina and College for all of you who are familiar with Toronto) is filled with computer shops. There's at least 20 within a two block radius, so I'm guessing that it'll be easy to find another 1600+. I go into a few stores and they're either sold out or the AGOIAs they have are not the Y ones. Then, amazingly, I find a store with not just one, but two AGOIA Ys! I ask the sales clerk the price and he says $129. :Q At this point I'm really shocked since the place my friend picked up the 1600+ at was selling it for $93, and the various other stores I went to had it for around $95 to $100. I ask the clerk why it was so much when I just picked up the same processor for over $30 cheaper and he replies that he'll be losing money if he went any lower. Now I'm pissed again, but this time at the clerk for giving me such BS. I walk out disappointed, but still with a glimmer of hope since there are a bunch of stores we haven't been to.
I head to the other stores and again find that they either don't have any 1600+ processors left or only have non-Y AGOIAs. I see AGOIA Fs and AGOIA 9s but I pass on all of them based on the supposedly greater overclocking ability of the AGOIA Y. At this point, I give up and we head to the streetcar stop to go home. As we wait for the streetcar, I notice a store right across from the stop that I hadn't been to. I dash over to the store and inquire as to the availability of the 1600+. The guy I talk to says that they do indeed have one, and goes over to rummage through a drawer to find it. As soon as he brings it out I know something's not right. The core is covered with thermal paste, and the brown surface of the processor is splashed with the white goo. Sarcastically, I ask if they have one that's not used and the guy immediately tries to give me some lame excuse in a pathetic attempt to sell me the CPU. For the third time of the day I'm pissed...I've had less BS from most telemarketers, and to think that he'd try to fool me doesn't bode well for those less knowledgeable about computers. :disgust: I leave the store (vowing never to return) and go over to my friend's house, where we successfully set up his new computer.
Where's the overclocking, you ask? Well, for today, there was none. A confluence of inexplicable factors all conspired to deprive me of my AGOIA Y 1600+ (big words make me sound sophisticated
). Fortunately, there's a computer show in town next weekend and there'll be at least 30 vendors packed into a smallish convention centre building. Hopefully, I'll be able to find an AROIA Y and get it for a good price. Wish me luck!
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