My friend just bought a computer from HP. However, his team won a local CS tournament and the main prize was an alienware, so he has no need for his HP. He said he'll sell it to me for $750, and he'll throw in a 22 inch monitor.

Specs:

Intel Core 2 Quad Q6600 (2.4 Ghz)
4 GB RAM
NVIDIA GeForce 9500GS
640GB SATA 7200RPM

I'll probably upgrade the GPU to an 8800GT, so it'll cost around $925 in total. I know this is a pre-built, but it seemed like a sweet deal. Thoughts?

The price sounds fine but the graphics are crap. And I'd say look at Radeon HD4850 instead--$150-$180 shipped in USA.

I live in Canada

YES! Definitely take it! That's less than £400 (£550 if you include the graphics), so absolutely take it. congrats on a bargain!

I hate Canadian prices as well...
http://www.tigerdirect.ca/applications/Sea...&CatId=3670

Well duh... you're using tigerdirect...

Here you got mate , currently on for 169$

http://www.ncix.com/products/index.php?sku...facture=Diamond

That's better. You see... I refuse to buy computer parts whenever I go to Canada, or I'm just not there long enough. NCIX is the better deal. I just try to ignore foreign prices because it makes me laugh, cry, and tease the buyer (just ask Acid ) a bit. Anyways--drop the 4850 in if you're unhappy with the system performance.

heh.. no problem , just gotta know what stores to use in Canada, I also heard that newegg was opening up a branch somewhere in Canada with shipping from here and not from usa so there won't be any ridiculous shipping prices

Saw a GTX260 on newegg for $220... makes a worthwhile buy over a 9800GTX+

That computer is fine - just remember that you may need to upgrade both the power supply and graphics card to bring it up to date as a gaming computer.

I'd say odds that a new PSU is present. I don't know myself--I'd hope you can get away without one.

It all depends on the basic system. Still, a Seasonic SS-500ES in the USA costs $67 or so, and there are other alternatives that should work well.