Need PC help. (my Pcs are slow as ****)

i've recently purchased a should-be powerful gaming PC. with the specs
 
Nvidia Geforce GTS 230 1,5gb dedicated RAM. (direct X 10)
Intel I5 750 2,7 Ghz Quad Core.
8gbs ddr3 ram. 
running on Win7 Home 64.
 500gb HDD 7200 rpm harddrive, about 200gbs free space left
These specs should run any game, great. they just don't. the pc itself is just about one month old, i've only updated the graphics and sound driver since then.
 
When testing with Crysis, i could'nt get a decent framerate on very high or even high without scaling down the resolution way down.
 
my other PC which is a laptop, about 2 years old. doesnt run very well either. i've updated all the drivers and the specs are something like this
 Nvidia Geforce 8600 512mbs dedicated RAM
2gbs ddr2 Ram
Intel Duo 2 ghz processor
120 gb harddrive with 70gbs free space. 
Running on Winxp Professional
 
this one barely functions... it should be able to run most newer games pretty well... atleast on lower graphical settings. but it doesnt
 
is there anything i can do to make sure the hardware lives up to the expected performance?, any advice would be greatly appreciated.
 
thanks.

The laptop has a very poor CPU and GPU combo.  I'm not sure where you heard it should be able to "play newer games pretty well" but that's just not the case. 
 
You might have a spyware/malware problem too, so give it scan with Malwarebytes Antimalware (it's free).
 
My guess is that CPU isn't the problem but that 8600 is.  I'll need the laptop Make and Model before I can help you further.