moral dilema

[TheDave]

my mates getting a pc as a christmas/birthday present from his parents, it's his first.


cant remember what all the stats are he told me.

it comes with an amd athlon? 2200+ which although is becoming outdated is competant i think:ermm:

the big thing though is it comes with a nvidia 5200, apparently. now i know my 9600 pro is becoming outdated and according to toms hardware it performs 3x as good as a 5200.

now his dad told him but his mum thinks its a secret. what should i tell him to do?

[Smurfette]

Tell him to enjoy his turkey.

Seriously... what should you tell him to do about what?

[TheDave]

tell him to tell his parents to die or to get a different card

[Mr. Elmo]

how is this a "moral dilema" ? anyways, it all depends on what he uses his comp for

[TheDave]

games. the dilemma is should he let his mum know his dad's ruined christmas in order to get her to sort the card out? and is it ungrateful?

[Samurai]

hey, it's his first PC. What's he going to know about computing seriously. Given time, he'll learn to upgrade like the rest of us.

[Mr. Elmo]

if the comp is being bought at a retail store, i doubt his mom and him will be able to exchange the gfx card for another. unless his mom is buying over the net and customizing it, chances are he is going to have to buy a new card.

p.s I LOVE THIS "QUICK REPLY" ...so much faster

[Smurfette]

games. the dilemma is should he let his mum know his dad's ruined christmas in order to get her to sort the card out? and is it ungrateful?
Of course it's ungrateful. What's he gonna say... "Mom, my mate's got a better grahpics card in his computer than what's in the one dad's getting for me so he's a tight git"?
Look, there are many people that can't afford to buy things like that for their kids (our house included, with this year shaping up to be the worst in our 18 years together) and the moral issue here is whether to be an arsehole and wind him up or be enthusiastic about any gift of any value to any person anywhere.
Jealousy is a nasty trait so don't encourage it.

[lynx]

An fx5200 will run many games (except some of the latest) at highest settings. Turning off AA and Anisotropic filtering helps a lot. It is nowhere near as slow as some (mainly Ati fanboy) sites make out.

A few games are optimised for Ati cards and all Nvidia cards will run these slower, but there are just as many (maybe more) Nvidia optimised games which play comparatively poorly on Ati cards.

I wouldn't say a thing, it may sound like you are putting his new computer down. I'm sure he will be delighted with it.

[TheDave]

Of course it's ungrateful. What's he gonna say... "Mom, my mate's got a better grahpics card in his computer than what's in the one dad's getting for me so he's a tight git"?
Look, there are many people that can't afford to buy things like that for their kids (our house included, with this year shaping up to be the worst in our 18 years together) and the moral issue here is whether to be an arsehole and wind him up or be enthusiastic about any gift of any value to any person anywhere.
Jealousy is a nasty trait so don't encourage it.i'm sorry your family is poor it's not my fault though. it isn't about the money either, it's about inexperienced pc buyers choosing a custom pc. he phoned me last night to ask if the specs are good because his dad told him what they were.

i dont think its been bought yet, thats why its a dilema. even if they were on a strict budget they could cut back on other stuff to have a system better suited to gaming.

i mean dvd-writer and tft monitor btw, not food and rent

[Smurfette]

i'm sorry your family is poor it's not my fault though. it isn't about the money either, it's about inexperienced pc buyers choosing a custom pc. he phoned me last night to ask if the specs are good because his dad told him what they were.

i dont think its been bought yet, thats why its a dilema. even if they were on a strict budget they could cut back on other stuff to have a system better suited to gaming.

i mean dvd-writer and tft monitor btw, not food and rent
Thank you for your sentiments.

Now you're telling us that he's asked your advice, which is an entirely different thing and no moral dilemma at all. In this case be honest and recommend a half decent 17" CRT with the money saved going to the gfx card. You could point out, however, that if he sticks with what he's got, upgrading the gfx will be cheaper than changing to a TFT. I wouldn't worry about the DVD writer as they're so cheap it's not worth pissing around with anything else.

[TheDave]

he isn't supposed to know anything though. meh i forgotten what the fucks going on. we'll work something out

[Storm]

games. the dilemma is should he let his mum know his dad's ruined christmas in order to get her to sort the card out? and is it ungrateful?

hell yeah its ungratefull.........

"well i know you guys love me and all, but that thing you want to give me is just way to cheap"

even if money isnt an object, isnt it the thought that counts??

it might be a good idea for your friend to realize that he is getting alot more for christmas than most people, and not everybody is as fortunate as he/she is.......

is there no one that knows what Christmas stands for nowadays?

[Virtualbody1234]

If the parents would be coming to you directly for your advice then it would make sense to advise them. This situation seems different. As you said "he phoned me last night to ask if the specs are good because his dad told him what they were." So the father already has an opinion that the computer is "good".

He should just accept the gift and be happy. He can also upgrade later if he feels he needs to, which I'm sure will happen when he wants a 5 GHz computer.

[tesco]

the 5200 will be fine.

He could always get a better card later in the year, possibly with christmas money.

[freak]

I really don't see the moral dilema?! He asked ur opinion and since hes ur friend tell the truth... Tell him ur opinion about the PC since u know a lil more in that area. And leave telling or not telling his parents up to him... he's the one that should have the moral dilema not u.
But its better then u saying its great and then finding out later that u lied