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Buy this or build my own?


totter
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I have been wanting to build my own PC for a while. I was looking to spend just under 2 grand on it.

But then i saw this offering in my local ALDI:

 

Medion Akoya P7300 D

Intel Core 2 Quad Q8200 (2,33 GHz, 4MB L2 Cache, 1333 MHz FSB)

4 GB ram (667 mhz)

1000 GB harddrive

Geforce 9600 GT 512 mb

and 3 years of warranty

 

The trick is, it's only 900 dollars here in Denmark (500 dollars in the US i believe).

It seems like a good value offering, and with the money i save i could easily buy upgrades later, such as better graphics card, if the power supply etc. will support it. I can't really find any info about what motherboard and power supply it has.

 

Should i buy this PC? My current PC was a similar offering from Aldi, also a medion PC. It's been running great for 3 years.

 

Or could i build a PC with the same specs for the less money?

 

heres the page with the full specs: ALDI

 

any help appreciated!

-- Christopher smile.gif

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i know that everybody is going to say build your own

 

but not everybody has the patience to do so

user posted image
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i know that everybody is going to say build your own

 

but not everybody has the patience to do so

Just do what I did, get it built by Professionals.

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i know that everybody is going to say build your own

 

but not everybody has the patience to do so

Just do what I did, get it built by Professionals.

Yep, no need to get your hands dirty. Fix up your own setup sheet, buy the parts, have it built by the store. Easy as that. All of our family's PCs were made that way, and they worked good.

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Tommy-Vercetti19

thats what i would suggest to and id say they did a good job with elanman and Drag_Drifts with their specs biggrin.gificon14.gif

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Well you would never find those parts for $500 USD. My biggest worry would be the quality of the build, really. Assuming you get at least a 1 year manufacturer warranty with it, then I'd say it's a good buy, for sure. It will definitely exceed the minimum requirements to play GTA IV, although the graphics card and processor are little low to meet the recommended requirements. Still, you'll be able to probably play it on medium-high settings with that PC.

 

For $500 USD, you can't beat a PC with a 1TB drive, Q8xxx series quad core, 4GB RAM, and an actual (and totally decent) graphics card.

 

edit: Appears it has a TV tuner as well. Here's a review I found.

http://m.pocket-lint.co.uk/reviews/review_...esktop-pc.phtml

 

edit 2: And although it comes with Home Premium 32-bit preinstalled, it has the 64-bit version on a DVD you can install yourself, which I would recommend to unlock all 4GB.

http://www.hotukdeals.com/item/280532/medi...base-station-4/

Edited by Picolini
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Well you would never find those parts for $500 USD. My biggest worry would be the quality of the build, really. Assuming you get at least a 1 year manufacturer warranty with it, then I'd say it's a good buy, for sure. It will definitely exceed the minimum requirements to play GTA IV, although the graphics card and processor are little low to meet the recommended requirements. Still, you'll be able to probably play it on medium-high settings with that PC.

Apparently the 9600GT is RIGHT at the speed for Recommended, that's what I heard.

90FHTZo.png

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Apparently the 9600GT is RIGHT at the speed for Recommended, that's what I heard.

Yeah, it is, and I was going to say this too. I think you're completely underestimating the 9600GT, Picolini. I wasn't expecting as much as I got when I bought it, but I am completely impressed by the overall performance so far and I'm convinced it will run GTA IV very well. I am able to run all of my games on highest settings, and was able to run Crysis at Medium-High, but only because of my single core CPU. (which I'm upgrading this Christmas) Also, I'm overclocking the 9600GT a bit passed what stock 8800GTs usually offer. So, it overclocks well.

 

Core: 714MHz (600MHz stock)

Memory: 1980MHz (1800MHz stock)

 

The only problem that PC might encounter is the slower clock speed with the quad CPU.

Edited by Vicehog
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Hmmm... maybe I should get rid of my two 8600GT's and pick up a 9600GT. After all, the other 86 is just sitting in my closet...

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I can run everything on high with a 3.5Ghz Penryn, haven't tried Crysis yet, I think its a crappy game to be honest.

90FHTZo.png

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Thanks for the great and fast answers, everyone!:D

 

I think I'm gonna buy the PC. I might be able to upgrade the CPU and graphics card at a later stage i suppose. And I'll have a lot of money leftover so it's no issue to buy new parts.

 

As for the quality of the build, that PC is pretty much just an upgraded version of the PC i already have. Almost same case, also Medion, also Aldi haha. It has been working for 3 years and still plays Call of Duty 4 on medium, and I've never had problems with it of any kind, it's not even showing signs of slow down. So in my expirience Medion does a fine job on the build quality.

 

I read the review, it looks great! Thanks for the link Picolini!

 

The memory speed is also the same as in my current PC, so i suppose I could reuse the 2 gb I have in my current pc, given i install the 64 bit vista!

 

Once again thanks for the advice:D

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thats what i would suggest to and id say they did a good job with elanman and Drag_Drifts with their specs biggrin.gificon14.gif

Cheers, it's great colgate.gif .

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Tommy-Vercetti19

Hve a good time Gaming Totter and i hope to see you on here biggrin.gif

No Problem elanman icon14.gif, Im currently undergoing a PC upgrade now all thats left is a new CPU and a Case biggrin.gif

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Hey everyone !! On background of your recommendations i bought the new PC! It was a struggle to get, had to run inbetween a few stores (they had 2 computer in each store, with about 70 people wanting them, in each store.) But i got it at last.

 

I've installed Windows Vista both 32 and 64 bit on it. It scores the top rating, of 5.9, in the experience index. I'm currently struggling to get XP on it tho! (Stop error, inacessible_boot_device?)

 

Anyway, it runs Crysis perfectly, my old computer would struggle with low, and a few settings to medium. I've got everything on high, and a few things on very high. It bursts over 40 fps usually, with around 30 fps in stressfull situations! The GPU benchmark was jumping around 40 fps most of the time.

 

I'll be buying Far Cry 2 and Call of Duty 5, now i can actually run them!

 

It looks exactly like the old, 4 year old computer, which was in the same series haha.

user posted image user posted image

Old and new computer. Guess which is which (the plastic wrapping that hasn't been taking off yet is a hint),

 

EDIT: One thing i think is impressive, is that the air that comes out from the fan on the back is actually cold ! My old computer was like the steam shower you get when you take this lid off your boiled potatoes. (And it was part watercooled!)

 

Oh, and it looks like I'll be able to play GTA IV too biggrin.gif

user posted image

 

Thanks for the advice everyone, looks like i wont be regretting this purchase! All of this, including the new monitor, totalled 695 dollars!

Edited by totter
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Enjoy mate, happy gaming. CoD: 4 is well worthy of a purchase, I suggest you buy that too...I'll frag you online biggrin.gif .

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Tommy-Vercetti19

id add you guys,but id be owned playing on my Sh*t as* PC thank God im getting a new GFX card for X-mass

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Happy gaming totter. colgate.gif Make sure you spread the spirit of online pwnage this coming christmas season. icon14.gif

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Glad we could help Totter. Don't hesitate to come back for any more computer questions/problems you may have. A lot of us don't mind to help someone with questions.

 

Happy Holidays.

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