Christmas is over and perhaps you did not get the game you had hoped for. Gaj-it.com has compiled a list of the most bought games on all platforms for week 1 (1st - 7th December 09)
Call Of Duty - World At War
Fifa 09
Need For Speed - Undercover
Mario Kart Wii
Wii Play
Tomb Raider - Underworld
Guitar Hero - [...]
Overview
With processor speeds getting faster and faster, it was only a matter of time before PCs caught up with the technology speed race. Packard Bell has brought out a range of PCs, which include the Packard Bell iMedia 2524 that take advantage of these leaps in technology while keeping the price nice and low. So does Quad core (4 processors) justify the leap?
Review
Style
With it being a Packard Bell, this PC looks just as good as you would expect from a top brand PC. Coming in a slick black case this PC will look the part in anyone’s home, although the sides leave a lot of be desired for with it’s dull grey frame. However, somehow this PC pulls it off and with the mouse, keyboard and monitor coming as a matching set which will please even the toughest of pickiest partners.
Under the bonnet
As we have said before this PC comes with Quad core technology, which means that rather than the usual 1 processor we are all use to, this PC comes with 4 processors on one chipset. So let’s say for example that we have a PC and say it has a Quad processor that runs at 2.0GHz, to find out its true speed we must multiply this number by 4 so 2.0 X 4 = 8.0.
Now lets get back to the iMedia. This has a processor that runs at 2.4GHz so when all processor are running at their peak you can expect performance in the range of 9.6Ghz, which is a huge boost. But at the time of writing most of this software does not support Quad core technology so expect to be running at least 2 of the processor at the peak for now, but hey at least your future proof.
Coming built in with this PC is 4GB of DDR2 667MHz RAM so with this amount of memory, Vista and all other applications should run like a dream. This helps with having 4 processors running as well as the operating system will use the processor to full effect making multiply applications run without a hitch.
Now we come to my favourite bit, the graphics card. I just don’t understand why PC manufactures have to build a top notch PC system with the above spec, only to drag it back down to earth by putting in a slow performance graphics card…I suppose it’s to keep the costs down. Anyway, this PC comes with a NVidia GeForce 7050 but I cannot tell if this is a integrated graphics card without opening the case up as Packard Bell are also a bit sketchy with the spec of the card so don’t quote me on this but I am assuming it is integrated.
However, even if this was not an integrated card it still doesn’t change the fact that this is not a powerful card. Coming from the 7th series of NVidia card (we are now on the 9th series) means that this card is old. It will handle most gaming applications well but for the near future this card will become obsolete I would advise upgrading this card asap.
Back on to better news. Storage wise, this PC comes with a whole 640GB to play with, which means that it should leave even the happiest storage hog ample space to play with even with thousands of high def videos and more MP3’s that can be played.
After that it’s a usual affair, Dual layer DVD writer etc. This PC even comes with a monitor that can handle gaming like a dream thanks to its 5ms standard response time.
The Gaj-It Verdict
Design 8/10
Usability: 8/10
Features: 7/10
Value: 8/10
We Say
If it was not for the graphics card this PC would have scored more, so my advice would be to ask if you can place a better graphics card in without voiding the warranty, if so then this is a PC that will last and with £100 off at the moment it’s a bargain to boot.
Technical Specs
- Processor - Intel® Core 2 Quad Q6600 processor / 2.40 GHz ( Quad-Core )
- 4 GB DDR2 SDRAM - 667 MHz
- 640GB - 7200 rpm
- Microsoft Windows Vista Home Premium
- 19” Widescreen TFT - 2.5 ms with overdrive / 5 ms
- Dual Layer DVD Rewriter
- NVIDIA® GeForce® 7050
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Oct 31, 2008 at 16:56:39
Great review. Thinking of getting one of these myself. Torn between this or the new Dell Studio in black!
Oct 31, 2008 at 17:15:11
Well if you give me the model number of the Dell i’ll let you know which one looks the winner. I’ll also do a review on it.
Dell would be my choice as they have better support but it depends on the spec so i’ll let you know.
Oct 31, 2008 at 19:53:17
It’s the new Dell Studio Desktop 540 + 20″ Dell Monitor @ £649: http://configure.euro.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?b=&c=uk&cs=ukdhs1&kc=DRS54003&l=en&m_30=111787&oc=D115405&rbc=D115405&s=dhs
Nov 3, 2008 at 10:32:28
hhhmmm looks like the Dell wins, still has the same problems Video card wise however but im sure if you ask Dell they will upgrade this at an added cost without voiding your warranty.
Shame it is not the same price howver but with slightly better system spec to can argue this is why.
Nov 20, 2008 at 23:53:59
Chuffed to bits with my new i2424 desktop.
Only one small downside I stumbled on subseqent to purchase…I thought I was getting a full 4 Gig of RAM, only to discover that Vista 32 bit can only utilise 3 megs of RAM??
So 1 Gig will never be used?
A rather crazy and bizarre situation to arise?
Apparently it’s cheaper to install 4 Gigs than a combination of sticks totalling 3 Gigs??…
Nov 21, 2008 at 15:30:16
Install Vista SP1 fella, will allow you to use the whole 4GB of your new machines RAM.
Just do a google search, for some reason Microsoft have not yet published it on thier update site but at distrobuting discs with it!!!
Nov 22, 2008 at 11:13:52
Chuffed with mine too. In System part of Control Panel it states that the system has 4gb RAM installed, but when you go into Task Manager it says 30% RAM in use and when I look how much that is, it’s around 1GB mark, which indicates only 3GB of RAM :/ I’ve got SP1 installed too.
Nov 24, 2008 at 13:14:29
It seems I fotgot to mention my favorite part of Vista in this review is that it will eat up a whole Gig of your RAM, which will leave you with -1 Gig to use on your everyday applications.
Unfortunatly there is no way to get around this unless you want to turn off some of Vista featuers.