Acer X3400 - Is this the computer for me?

kc_kyle

kc_kyle

kc_kyle

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Sorry if this isn't the way things are done here or I'm in the wrong section, but I'm new here and really could do with some advice. Basically, I live in Germany and am on the hunt for a desktop PC. My budget is about 1,000 euros including monitor. I've found this Acer computer, which seems sufficient on the face of it, but I'm not entirely sure whether it's powerful enough for my needs. Here's the spec:

Acer X3400 (N.B. This has been translated from German so may not be 100% accurate)

AMD Athlon II™ x4-635 Quad-Core Processor (4x 2,9 Hz, 2MB L3-Cache)
8 GB DDR3 RAM
1 TB S-ATA Harddrive
NVIDIA® GeForce® GT 320 dedicated Graphics Card, 1024 MB DDR3 VRAM
DVD-Super-Multi DL
LAN 10/100/1000 Mbits
Bluetooth
High Definition 5.1ch Surround Sound
Multi-in-1 Card Reader:MMC, MMCplus, SD,MS, MS Pro, xD,..
Ports: DVI,VGA, HDMI, 11X USB 2.0, RJ-45, 1X PCIex16 Slot, 1x PCIex1 Slot
Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium (64-Bit)

The computer would be used for general tasks such as internet, word processor, listening to music, as well as watching videos/films, downloading and playing games (e.g. Call of Duty, Football Manager 2011).

My main questions are: Is this suitable for my needs? Is Acer a reliable brand?

Any other pointers would be warmly welcomed.

Cheers.
 
Acer's a good brand, and it seems like a fairly good budget PC- I'd pay about £300 (500 euros) for it, not including monitor.

That said, I have a couple of criticisms, both deriving from the fact that it's a prebuilt PC- it's got a rubbish graphics card (and hence most likely a terrible PSU), and the 8GB of RAM is twice as much as you need. Not a problem mind you, just you're paying for something you don't need. If you're feeling confident, I'd recommend building it yourself with 4GB of RAM, a decent PSU and a good graphics card.

If not, either consider upgrading just the PSU and graphics card, or shop around for somewhere that will sell you a PC with better graphics. You will seriously struggle on games with that thing.
 
Firstly, I'd just like to reiterate that it's a desktop and not a laptop.

The price is 589 euros, so by today's exchange rate, I'd make that out to be something around £450. I think that computers in Germany are generally slightly more expensive than in Britain. I have considered perhaps getting one shipped out from Britain, but would rather not if I can find what I want in Germany.

Could someone explain what it is about the graphics card that is insufficient? Therefore, when I'm shopping around I can judge better what I need. I figured a good graphics card rested on how much RAM it had. A friend of mine also told me that it doesn't make much difference if you get Nvidia or ATI, but he did say he's been out of the loop a bit lately regarding computer specs.
 
To find out if a graphics card is good, you're basically stuck with checking gaming benchmarks, or going with popular recommendations. Video RAM is an issue, but it's quite a long way down the list. Here's a quick list of graphics cards it's worth looking at:

4850/4870
GTX 260/270/280
5770
5850/5870
GTX 460/470/480
6850/6870/6950/6970
GTX 570/580

Your friend's right that Nvidia/ATI doesn't matter too much. Just get one of the above cards, and you won't struggle for gaming. The GTX 460 and 6850 are a "sweet spot" that will run nearly everything on max at 1900x1200.
 
The site I found the PC on wasn't very flexible, but I've found another where you can improve upon certain aspects of the spec. As I said, my budget is 1,000 EUR for everything, and this one comes to 954 EUR inc. delivery. Is there anything here that could do with being improved? (Again, translated from German)

PC - CSL Speed 4555 (Core i5) (449,00 EUR)*
Processor: Intel® Core i5-760, 4x 2800 MHz
Processor cooler: Silent-Cooler at machine base 1156
Mainboard (1156): Biostar H55 HD, Base 1156, Intel® H55 Chip set

RAM: 4096 MB DDR3-RAM

HDD: 1000 GB, 7.200 U/min, SATA

GPU: AMD Radeon HD 6850, 1024 MB, DVI, HDMI, DP (179,90 EUR)*

Power Supply: 350 Watt Silent-Power

Sound card: onBoard HD Audio 5.1

CD-Rom: 24x Multiformat DVD-Brenner

Monitor: 55,88 cm (22") TFT-Display LG W2243T-PF, 1920x1080, DVI (169,90 EUR)*

Card Reader: 8,89 cm (3,5") 10/1 CardReader (14,90 EUR)*

Operating system: Windows 7 Home Premium 64Bit + Installation (94,90 EUR)*

*The prices in brackets are for the specific parts, which I upgraded.
 
kc_kyle said:
The site I found the PC on wasn't very flexible, but I've found another where you can improve upon certain aspects of the spec. As I said, my budget is 1,000 EUR for everything, and this one comes to 954 EUR inc. delivery. Is there anything here that could do with being improved? (Again, translated from German)

PC - CSL Speed 4555 (Core i5) (449,00 EUR)*
Processor: Intel® Core i5-760, 4x 2800 MHz
Processor cooler: Silent-Cooler at machine base 1156
Mainboard (1156): Biostar H55 HD, Base 1156, Intel® H55 Chip set

RAM: 4096 MB DDR3-RAM

HDD: 1000 GB, 7.200 U/min, SATA

GPU: AMD Radeon HD 6850, 1024 MB, DVI, HDMI, DP (179,90 EUR)*

Power Supply: 350 Watt Silent-Power

Sound card: onBoard HD Audio 5.1

CD-Rom: 24x Multiformat DVD-Brenner

Monitor: 55,88 cm (22") TFT-Display LG W2243T-PF, 1920x1080, DVI (169,90 EUR)*

Card Reader: 8,89 cm (3,5") 10/1 CardReader (14,90 EUR)*

Operating system: Windows 7 Home Premium 64Bit + Installation (94,90 EUR)*

*The prices in brackets are for the specific parts, which I upgraded.
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CPU and GPU wise thats a much better spec.

However 380W seems awfully low, especially if not a well known and reliable brand.
 
As a general rule, you want to buy rebadged Seasonic units, as they're the best in the business. That means Corsair (except for the newer CX units), Antec Earthwatts, Seasonic themselves, and a couple of others. OCZ have varied reliability depending on which model.
 
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