Desktop PC - €500 - Aldi

white apples

http://www.aldi.ie/ie/html/offers/offers_week30Thursday09.htm

Jonathan

Specs:


AMD Phenom™ X4 9650 Quad Core Processor
ATI Radeon™ HD4550
640 GB hard disk
4 GB 4096 MB DDR2 RAM
Windows Vista Home Premium 32 Bit

jayteecork

Not really a great card for gaming if that is what you migth eb using it for.

The Radeon HD 4550 is what it is really, don't expect much from it other then the fact you have a versatile product for roughly 50 USD in your hands. Playing modern games with reasonable image quality settings ? Forget about it, absolutely no way. Though performance has improved heaps over the previous low-level graphics cards, the game industry has moved on as well. Games are getting more complex to compute and render. So gaming wise, surely you can play older titles reasonable well, but do not expect to burn a hefty FPS on the newer titles as for that you need to take down the image quality settings a couple of notches to do so.

Next to increasing game complexity seen from a rendering point of view, that 64-bit memory bus is limiting the 80 Shader cores significantly. The card could seriously need more memory bandwidth and definitely would have been much faster if 128-bit memory was used, but in this price segment .. that's just a hard thing to achieve production costs wise. But I'd like to say to the chipset manufacturers .. let it go folks please, move onwards to 128-bit memory in the budget
segment. Games wise if you are on a very small budget, I recommend you to go for the best next alternative, the Radeon HD 4670.

But hey .. gaming is not really what this card was intended for anyway. For roughly 50 USD you'll have a very capable dual-link 512MB graphics card that can drive a high resolution monitor and then an analog one up-to 1920x1200. You'll also have a dirt cheap solution at hand to decode and accelerate HDCP encoded blu-ray movies or upscale DVD playback to 1920x1080 and actually have the GPU enhance and accelerate that content for you. So if you plan to build a cheapo Home Theater PC, this might be a very affordable alternative.

So it boils down to this, don't expect to play modern games with this entry-level card, please spend a little more money, at 90 USD the Radeon HD 4670 is you next best thing. But other than that the Radeon HD 4550 is a very versatile highly feature rich graphics card that will allow you to do all the normal daily PC stuff. And the good thing here .. it definitely doesn't break the bank at all.

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jenno86

Could you install Windows XP x64 on this machine?

TouchingVirus

jenno86 wrote: »

Could you install Windows XP x64 on this machine?

Yes

Xcellor

jenno86 wrote: »

Could you install Windows XP x64 on this machine?

I'm confused. Why are you wanting to install Windows X64 if you can't figure out from those specs if its possible. Is it just because 64 is bigger than 32 so must be better? Or are you wanting to gain the full 4 gig address allocation?

X

Thargor

Does anyone know when Lidl or Aldi are due another decent laptop again? Not a Netbook or notebook, a proper specced laptop. I know you wont have an exact answer but roughly how regularly used they come?

Jonathan

Xcellor wrote: »

I'm confused. Why are you wanting to install Windows X64 if you can't figure out from those specs if its possible. Is it just because 64 is bigger than 32 so must be better? Or are you wanting to gain the full 4 gig address allocation?

X

Where does it say you cannot install it?

The CPU is 64bit.

Karoma

Jonathan wrote: »

Where does it say you cannot install it?

The CPU is 64bit.

I don't think he said it cannot be done, I think he's just condescending.

Thargor

Did you even read his post?

jenno86

Xcellor wrote: »

I'm confused. Why are you wanting to install Windows X64 if you can't figure out from those specs if its possible. Is it just because 64 is bigger than 32 so must be better? Or are you wanting to gain the full 4 gig address allocation?

X

Am, because I want to. Why would they bother making a 64 bit version if it was not better? One of my mates has it and says its good.

Did you get out the wrong side of the bed this morning or something?

Rsaeire

jenno86 wrote: »

Am, because I want to. Why would they bother making a 64 bit version if it was not better? One of my mates has it and says its good.

Did you get out the wrong side of the bed this morning or something?

"Better" is such a subjective term. A 64bit OS will allow your system to address more physical memory, 4GB+, but driver support will still be an issue until 64bit OSs are more mainstream in the world of Microsoft.

TerrorFirmer

jayteecork wrote: »

Not really a great card for gaming if that is what you migth eb using it for.

That post is quite misleading; game websites bench games at maximum settings with AA and AF.

For example:

http://www.overclockersclub.com/reviews/sapp_4550/10.htm

Radeon 4550, Call of Duty 4 1920x1200 max settings with 4x AA: average FPS is 29 frames per second (25 plus being the accepted necessity for smooth gameplay). Not astounding, but pretty damn good for a cheap video card, and COD4 is one of the most popular games out at the moment. So you can imagine if you were playing on a smaller monitor at the likes of 1280x1024, it's a pretty good card.

jenno86

Is it possible to upgrade the graphics card?

byte

Seems to be a standard PCI-e graphics card, so you should be able to change it.

Further info here:
http://www.medion.com/ms/aldi/md8328/ie/
http://ati.amd.com/products/Radeonhd4500/index.html

TerrorFirmer

jenno86 wrote: »

Is it possible to upgrade the graphics card?

Yes, but keep in mind the power supply probably limits your choices somewhat. I've no idea what PSU is in that machine, and I'm sure it's okay, but its highly unlikely to be beyond about 350w which would be unsuitable for most performance cards.

Something like this would be a considerable upgrade, is cheap and should work fine.

pauly3

You can install Windows 7 64-bit without problems. Then you have access to the full 4GB of memory, which is recommended anyway for this OS (the 64bit edition, that is). The graphics card is very good for processing Hi-Def as it has ATi Avivo dedicated hardware decoding of H.264 video, thus taking almost all the load off your CPU. For gamers the card can be changed out easily enough. But this machine is really best for processing video (transcoding) and the only things I would upgrade are the storage (eg add a 1TB HDD and a Blu-Ray Player, both for around €66 from Dabs).

jenno86

I think I'm going to go for it. Do they get many into the stores? I wonder what time I'd have to be there by? If I went for Windows 7 would it be hard to find the programs that are compatible with it?

melekalikimaka

jenno86 wrote: »

If I went for Windows 7 would it be hard to find the programs that are compatible with it?

very easy, easier than xp64

Kess73

jenno86 wrote: »

I think I'm going to go for it. Do they get many into the stores? I wonder what time I'd have to be there by? If I went for Windows 7 would it be hard to find the programs that are compatible with it?

Just remember that Windows 7 does not come with an internet browser preinstalled, and needs to have one installed, which you can do by downloading the one you prefer onto a memory stick or cd and then loading it onto your PC that has Windows 7.


Pretty sure the Aldi system comes with the upgrade link to Windows 7 though.

Firetrap

If you're not happy with it, you can always take it back. I've never had any great hassles leaving stuff back to them.

Effluo

jenno86 wrote: »

Am, because I want to. Why would they bother making a 64 bit version if it was not better? One of my mates has it and says its good.

Did you get out the wrong side of the bed this morning or something?

64bit xp not a good idea matey! Has very poor driver support which is only going to get worse as Windows 7 comes out...

If you want a 64 bit operating system just wait another couple of weeks to get Windows 7 64 bit, it's going to be the most used os soon and not to mention it is savage!!!!

mjsmyth

Kess73 wrote: »

Just remember that Windows 7 does not come with an internet browser preinstalled, and needs to have one installed, which you can do by downloading the one you prefer onto a memory stick or cd and then loading it onto your PC that has Windows 7.

The only legit version of Windows 7 that is available at the moment is th RC version and that comes with IE8. It should be noted that whilst this version worksand works well, it is not the finished article and will eventually start to shut down every 2 hours starting March 2019,

You are correct though, future retail versions in the EU will not have a web browser.

cronos

mjsmyth wrote: »

..... will eventually start to shut down every 2 hours starting March 2019,

Sounds wrong to me. You sure that is the correct date.

Dravokivich

jayteecork wrote: »

Not really a great card for gaming if that is what you migth eb using it for.

A budget PC for €500 euro thats marketed as a "Back to School" pc and you're complaining about the budget gear in it?

- Drav!

Monotype

Sounds wrong to me. You sure that is the correct date.

It's 2010, next year. You can use it until March, then it does the shutdown thing every two hours until June or July. But you'd want to have it replaced before then.

Trevord

mjsmyth wrote: »

The only legit version of Windows 7 that is available at the moment is th RC version and that comes with IE8. It should be noted that whilst this version worksand works well, it is not the finished article and will eventually start to shut down every 2 hours starting March 2019,

You are correct though, future retail versions in the EU will not have a web browser.

Check the small print on the Aldi brochure. The machine comes with Vista. As far as I can see you will have to wait til the official launch to get the Windows 7 upgrade/full operating system and I think it will cost you 20 euro.

Machines on sale since mid july from a number of manufacturers include this option.

mjsmyth

cronos wrote: »

Sounds wrong to me. You sure that is the correct date.

Oops.... my bad, that should read March 2010!

mjsmyth

Trevord wrote: »

Check the small print on the Aldi brochure. The machine comes with Vista. As far as I can see you will have to wait til the official launch to get the Windows 7 upgrade/full operating system and I think it will cost you 20 euro.

Machines on sale since mid july from a number of manufacturers include this option.

Yeah, I know it comes with Vista, but from the post, I presumed he wanted to install W7 straight away, thats why I gave the warning.

As for 20euro to upgrade to W7, thats a good deal and well worth it. W7 is leagues ahead of Vista in terms of speed.

jayteecork

What's the story with this 20 euro to upgrade to W7 offer?

Is that for everyone who has Vista or just for people buying this computer?

I don't know what the hell is wrong with Vista anyway, I think people were pissed because they installed Vista on a computer that wasn't able to handle it.

If you have top specs Vista is beautiful.

Alanstrainor

jayteecork wrote: »

What's the story with this 20 euro to upgrade to W7 offer?

Is that for everyone who has Vista or just for people buying this computer?

I don't know what the hell is wrong with Vista anyway, I think people were pissed because they installed Vista on a computer that wasn't able to handle it.

If you have top specs Vista is beautiful.

The €20 upgrade is just for those buying the computer. Although i was never against Vista, and felt it served me well, Win7 is far far superior in speed and it's just generally nicer to use. It's a worthy upgrade.

Sir Oxman

Alanstrainor wrote: »

The €20 upgrade is just for those buying the computer. Although i was never against Vista, and felt it served me well, Win7 is far far superior in speed and it's just generally nicer to use. It's a worthy upgrade.

I agree, Vista is fine SP1, better SP2 but Win7 beats it.

jayteecork

How the hell do you guys know W7 is so good?

CutzEr

jayteecork wrote: »

How the hell do you guys know W7 is so good?

Maybe because they used it?

Maybe because the internet agree's with them?

Maybe because it is true?

Moon54

jayteecork wrote: »

How the hell do you guys know W7 is so good?

The beta versions have been available for six months or more. The RC 7100 build is available for download from Microsoft, I believe anyone with a hotmail email or TechNet a/c can get it.

Having used Windows 7 for a while now, I can say it is really good.

jayteecork

I'll stick to Vista, unless I can get a cheap copy of win7.

So for example if I do decide to upgrade, can I just pop in the disc and won't have to transfer all my files onto an external harddrive and whatnot?

and what price retail are we talking about for W7?

Moon54

jayteecork wrote: »

can I just pop in the disc and won't have to transfer all my files onto an external harddrive and whatnot?

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on your point of view!) no, Windows 7 in Europe will require a clean install.

Price to buy Windows 7 separately, atm, is about €100 from ebuyer.

mjsmyth

I have a reasonable laptop and a netbook.

The laptop came with Vista Premium installed and to be honest, I had issues getting some software to work and it just did not feel as fast as a new PC should... I had upgraded from a P3 1Ghz, and whilst there was an improvement, there was no where near what I would have expected.

A couple of months ago I installed the Windows 7 RC freely available from the Microsoft website and it was like having a new laptop. Reaction times were quicker, no problems running old software and it just gave an altogether better experience whilst not looking that different from vista.

I bought an Acer Aspire One a few months back and had been running Ubuntu NBR 9.04 on it. The netbook is a standard fair, 1Gb ram, 8Gb SSD drive, 1.6Ghz Atom. Ubuntu NBR is a nice OS, it works well but I had two problems. My cad software would not run on Ubuntu even with Wine and battery life was under 2 hours.

About 3 weeks ago I installed W7 on the netbook. All I read on the net said it could not be installed on an 8Gb SSD drive as there was not enough room. Being somewhat pig headed, I ignored the warnings on the net and also the one thrown up by the W7 install. The install completed with about 800Mb free on the SSD. After some tweaking and removing of unnecessary applications, I was left with 1.8Gb. I installed an 8Gb SD Card (bought for 20euro) and installed my apps to that.

Windows 7 runs fine on the netbook, it has a slow startup speed, but once it starts, everything runs well. I also get an extra 30 minutes battery life using Windows power saver options.

So, that's my experience with W7. Its nice, its quick, its lean and it just works. A far better product than Vista was at launch. Hopefully the launch version of W7 will be even better.

mj

jenno86

Bought it in Aldi this morning. Jaysus Vista takes an age to load up the first time!

afatbollix

just got one in castlebar... havent opened it yet.. hope its a good PC going to use it for editing and when i get the money gaming...

been stuck with a mac for a few years so kind of glad i can play games again

jenno86

afatbollix wrote: »

just got one in castlebar... havent opened it yet.. hope its a good PC going to use it for editing and when i get the money gaming...

been stuck with a mac for a few years so kind of glad i can play games again

Thats were I got mine too! I've had a Macbook for the past 2 years and the only thing I'd say bad about it is the gaming. Went up at 8.30 just incase there was big demand on them , but most of the people there were getting the 1TB external hard drives. I remember going up one Thursday morning a few years back and there was nearly a fecking riot to get 28" Widescreen TVs (massive yokes!), but the current economic climate has put a stop to that!

afatbollix

ya i thought they were all gone but i just asked as i was about to leave and she went out back and got one... it was like winning something :rolleyes::pac:

Raiser

Xcellor wrote: »

I'm confused. Why are you wanting to install Windows X64 if you can't figure out from those specs if its possible. Is it just because 64 is bigger than 32 so must be better? Or are you wanting to gain the full 4 gig address allocation?

X

I'm confused "X". Why are you wanting to be a condescending idiot if you haven't yet figured out that everyone hates this type of Muppetry. Is it because you are an expert in this field and therefore know better? Or are you wanting to post spam while failing at life?

R

jayteecork

Off topic here but downloading Win7 right now.
gonna throw it on my laptop.

mjsmyth

@Jayteecork

If memory serves me well, you must do a fresh install so don't forget to back everything up before you install otherwise you will lose everything.

mj

jayteecork

mjsmyth wrote: »

@Jayteecork

If memory serves me well, you must do a fresh install so don't forget to back everything up before you install otherwise you will lose everything.

mj

I'm keeping Vista on my desktop(2x3.2GHZ, 4GB RAM, Nvidia 9800GTX+) where vista runs like a dream, putting Win7 on my laptop.

Nothing much on there to be honest.