Computer Replacement, help me choose.

[adt]

Hi guys,

I got my computer from PC World last year and it stopped working the other day so I took it back to them and they offered me a replacement. I'm not really a hardware person but if you guys could help me decide if the following PC is going to be good/better than my old one.

My faulty PC Specs are in my profile.

PC specs of offered replacement:
Packard Bell iXtreme I8819uk

full details on the PC ---> Information and Instructions - IXTREME I8819 UK - PT.U300X.010 - iXtreme - platform_ixtreme2009 - Desktop

• 640GB hard drive
• 1.5GB NVIDIA GeForce GT230 graphics
• DVD Rewriter
• 8x USB ports
• Intel Core i7 920 processor
• (2.66GHz, 8MB Cache)
• 6GB memory
• Bulldog Plus Motherboard (more about the mobo http://support.packardbell.com/uk/item/index.php?i=spec_motherboard_bulldog_plus&ppn=PT.U300X.010 )

The thing that's pulling me away from that PC is the motherboard. I've never heard of the make and I don't want my motherboard to fry again. As for the power supply and graphics I already have an 800w PSU and a GTX 285 ready.

I will be using the PC to play the latest games, word processing and surfing the web.

So do you think I should go for the replacement or not? All replies appreciated.

 

[Frostmourne]

Get a refund and a build a better PC - that graphics card is rubbish and laptops have bigger hard drives. What about the PSU? Is it 80+ Certified Bronze? As for the motherboard it might be propietrary - stick with name brands like Gigabyte.

 

[Extensa]

I think the first thing that needs to be asked is what you are using the computer for.

Are you a gamer? If so, what games need to be able to run?
Do you run intensive rendering apps such as Photoshop, 3dCAD, etc.

After that, we can make a better attempt at helping you.

 

[adt]

Get a refund and a build a better PC - that graphics card is rubbish and laptops have bigger hard drives. What about the PSU? Is it 80+ Certified Bronze? As for the motherboard it might be propietrary - stick with name brands like Gigabyte.

They don't do refunds only replacements otherwise I would have done that already and built my own. I also forgot to add that I have a 800w power supply and a GTX 285 graphics card ready in order to replace the ones that they have in there. Is everything else okay? As I usually use my computer for games and surfing the web.

 

[adt]

I think the first thing that needs to be asked is what you are using the computer for.

Are you a gamer? If so, what games need to be able to run?
Do you run intensive rendering apps such as Photoshop, 3dCAD, etc.

After that, we can make a better attempt at helping you.

Sorry about that, edited my post.

 

[Frostmourne]

Build a new PC - although that 285 is getting old.

 

[SIW2]

I think you'll find they don't like to do refunds. They probably will if you press them .

Mention the Sale of Goods Act.

 

[Wishmaster]

MOBO is the backbone of everything.

i don't blame you. I wouldn't trust a unheard of brand. not saying its bad, it may be good, but I shy away from things that aren't very well known know for PC builds.

MOBOs Id stick with better known, trusted, reliable brands like:
DFI, Gigabyte, ASUS

i would see what others they will offer for a replacement, with similar specs, yet diff. MOBO. Such as 1 of the 3 listed above.

my 2C for what its worth.


Hard drives, graphics etc etc can easily be added or upgraded.

Search around see if you can find anything about that brand.

 

[adt]

I think you'll find they don't like to do refunds. They probably will if you press them .

Mention the Sale of Goods Act.

I will try asking for a refund, but I doubt that they will actually refund me.

MOBO is the backbone of everything.

i don't blame you. I wouldn't trust a unheard of brand. not saying its bad, it may be good, but I shy away from things that aren't very well known know for PC builds.

MOBOs Id stick with better known, trusted, reliable brands like:
DFI, Gigabyte, ASUS

my 2C for what its worth.


Hard drives, graphics etc etc can easily be added or upgraded.

Search around see if you can find anything about that brand.

I've been trying to find out information about the mobo but I can't find any information about it. I have only found out that Packard Bell uses it with most of it's PC's.

 

[Frostmourne]

MOBO is the backbone of everything.

i don't blame you. I wouldn't trust a unheard of brand. not saying its bad, it may be good, but I shy away from things that aren't very well known know for PC builds.

MOBOs Id stick with better known, trusted, reliable brands like:
DFI, Gigabyte, ASUS

i would see what others they will offer for a replacement, with similar specs, yet diff. MOBO. Such as 1 of the 3 listed above.

my 2C for what its worth.

Hard drives, graphics etc etc can easily be added or upgraded.

Search around see if you can find anything about that brand.

Technically the chipset is everything - the motherboard is nothing but a physical conduit for it and the parts you stick into it. For AMD you would want 790GX as a standard board - 8x/8x Crossfire or an FX for 16x/16x. New chipsets are coming too from AMD.

 

[Wishmaster]

I respectfully disagree.

Take a X48 chipset board for example

If you were to take a Biostar,Gigabyte, and DFI, Set them up the exact same, and benchmark them... Same hardware, Same Chipset.
Youd be surprised at the difference between the 3, even at all stock settings, as they will all perform differently.


Non-the-less, a reliable brand is what I meant

 

[Frostmourne]

The chipset counts - I didn't mention the differences, they make or break a board.

 

[adt]

I'm bit confused now, so do you recommend that I go for that machine if they refuse to refund me?

 

[Frostmourne]

It doesn't work, get a refund and build something suitable.

 

[adt]

It doesn't work, get a refund and build something suitable.

What do you mean by it doesn't work? There is a chance of like 0.1% that they will refund me. If they don't then I can't afford to build a new system...

 

[Frostmourne]

If you are having issues then ask for a refund - you already have some parts. It should be under warranty.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Googling yields next to nothing about that board other than Packard Bell documents. It is likely made by one of the big contract manufacturers such as Foxconn, but that tells you little. I doubt if Packard Bell makes anything. You can't tell anything about the build quality from the specs.

It may well be available under other brand names and model numbers. Someone might be able to recognize it by sight alone if they were familiar with a lot of boards. I'm not.

That is likely a Hitachi hard drive.

Best idea was previously mentioned: try to get a name brand board such as Intel, Asus, MSI, Foxconn, or Gigabyte. If we had a model number, we could evaluate it. I know absolutely nothing about PC World--in the USA that is only a magazine. You may well be out of luck if all PC World computers are Packard Bell because Packard Bell may use only mysteriously named boards.

 

[Frostmourne]

Googling yields next to nothing about that board other than Packard Bell documents. It is likely made by one of the big contract manufacturers such as Foxconn, but that tells you little. I doubt if Packard Bell makes anything. You can't tell anything about the build quality from the specs.

It may well be available under other brand names and model numbers. Someone might be able to recognize it by sight alone if they were familiar with a lot of boards. I'm not.

That is likely a Hitachi hard drive.

Best idea was previously mentioned: try to get a name brand board such as Intel, Asus, MSI, Foxconn, or Gigabyte. If we had a model number, we could evaluate it. I know absolutely nothing about PC World--in the USA that is only a magazine. You may well be out of luck if all PC World computers are Packard Bell because Packard Bell may use only mysteriously named boards.

Yes, and it might be proprietary and tied to a particular system rather than a white box system.

 

[bobkn]

Hi guys,

I got my computer from PC World last year and it stopped working the other day so I took it back to them and they offered me a replacement. I'm not really a hardware person but if you guys could help me decide if the following PC is going to be good/better than my old one.

My faulty PC Specs are in my profile.

PC specs of offered replacement:
Packard Bell iXtreme I8819uk

full details on the PC ---> Information and Instructions - IXTREME I8819 UK - PT.U300X.010 - iXtreme - platform_ixtreme2009 - Desktop

• 640GB hard drive
• 1.5GB NVIDIA GeForce GT230 graphics
• DVD Rewriter
• 8x USB ports
• Intel Core i7 920 processor
• (2.66GHz, 8MB Cache)
• 6GB memory
• Bulldog Plus Motherboard (more about the mobo Core - Bulldog Plus Motherboard - spec_motherboard_bulldog_plus - Information and Instructions - IXTREME I8819 UK - PT.U300X.010 - iXtreme - platform_ixtreme2009 - Desktop )

The thing that's pulling me away from that PC is the motherboard. I've never heard of the make and I don't want my motherboard to fry again. As for the power supply and graphics I already have an 800w PSU and a GTX 285 ready.

I will be using the PC to play the latest games, word processing and surfing the web.

So do you think I should go for the replacement or not? All replies appreciated.

A little Googling suggests that the mainboard is a Foxconn product. You could do a lot worse.

I'm not sure that I'd have gone for the GTX285 at this point in time, as the Radeon HD5870 isn't much more expensive.

I'll try to avoid joining the trend of saying that you've made a hopeless mistake if you haven't acquired the latest Core I7 Extreme CPU, 24GB of RAM, a pair of 256GB SSDs in RAID0, a pair of 2TB Caviar Black drives in RAID 1 for data storage, and two dual-GPU graphics cards to run quad SLI or Crossfire. (I'm amazed at how readily people will spend other people's money, even if they aren't members of Congress.)

Of the uses of the PC that you list, only gaming would be the least bit taxing. Omit that, and you'd probably be delighted with the GT230 and stock PSU.

 

[Tepid]

Here is what I would do....

Take the replacement... If,, and only IF, they are offering a free replacement or if you can't get a refund.
If it is not a free replacement or they won't give you a refund.
Take your losses right there and stop doing business with them. End of story.

Ditch the Mobo (yes you will void the warranty)
Research a better board and install that.
You will need to take care you get a board that will support that specific processor.

Take your losses and be careful where you buy from next time.

Here is why I say this....

The new CPU I7-920


Your Old CPU Q8200

Side by Side

Add to that an extra 2G Ram
And I think a larger HDD?

Plus you already have a PSU and Video card?

There is no question what I would do. Gut that sucker and build a Frankenstein.