Acer Aspire AM5641-U5630A Review

April 12, 2009 BinaryDemon 3 comments

Hi. I am BinaryDemon and have offered to assist Porkchop by guest reviewing some technology from time to time. I’d also like to show you how to get some amazing deals. My first review will be a recent computer system purchase, the Acer Aspire Model# AM5641-U5630A (http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883103198)

The Hardware Specs:

Intel Core2Quad Q6600 2.4 ghz processor

4gb DDR2-800 memory

320gb SATA Hard drive

DVD Super Multi optical drive

nForce 630i motherboard with NVIDIA GeForce 7100 onboard video and audio

300W power supply

Windows Vista Premium x64

Unpacking:

The outside of the case is stylish. It’s not perfect, the DVD eject button is off to the side and takes some getting used to. The black plastic parts of the front bezel tend to attract dust much like a PS3 or iPhone, but overall it looks good. The inside also looks good. Wire management is excellent, and I like the cone installed on the CPU cooler which brings cool air directly from the side panel intake. The hard drive is installed in a bad place if your going to install a PCI-E graphics card, and the internal drive bays might not allow enough clearance for the largest graphics cards. The 300W power supply is insufficient for many modern graphics cards, if you plan to convert this system to a gaming rig a power supply upgrade will be required as well.

Using the Computer:

Booting into Windows revealed the standard OEM software bundles like Mcafee Virus Suite trial, Microsoft Office 2007 trial, Microsoft Works, ect. Most of which I immediately uninstalled in favor of freeware alternatives. The computer runs surprisingly quiet. Typical tasks like Word Processing, Web browsing, Video and Music Playback are extremely fast and responsive. The only thing this system has trouble with is modern gaming. The onboard 7100 video is fine for most casual games, but cannot handle newer 3d games.

Miscellaneous thoughts:

The BIOS does not allow for overclocking, but fortunately since its a nForce 630i motherboard, you can download nTune from Nvidia’s site and do some minor tweaking. Since you can only adjust CPU FSB the extent to which you will be able to overclock will be dependant on your memory. I did a quick test at 2.533 ghz (DDR2 @ 422 mhz) and there were no issues with heat or stability. Certainly not comparable to the monster overclocks a Q6600 is capable of on high end motherboards, but since I wasn’t expecting anything it was a pleasant surprise. Your mileage may vary.

I also ended up installing a Nvidia 7600gs which I did some quick before and after benchmarking using 3dmark06. The onboard 7100 only gets about 500 3dmarks, the 7600gs is easily 4x-5x faster.

Wrap up:

A pretty fair review right? A decent system but not without flaws. So why am I so happy? Most places sell this system for ~$500. I got mine for $309 + shipping. It was a newegg.com Open Box deal. Newegg.com frequently has excellent deals on returned items. I regularly checkout Open Box videocards, computers, and laptops. Now Newegg does have a disclaimer on Open Box items, here is part of it -

“Open Box components are only tested by the original manufacturer. Due to the varying quality of manufacturer testing, YOU ARE TAKING A RISK WHEN BUYING OPEN BOX PRODUCTS. These are previously-owned items returned to Newegg.com. We guarantee open box products for 15 days, but CPUs must be returned within 7 days for refund…”

They also claim that Open Box items might not come with all the accessories that ship with the Retail item. It’s possible I have been extremely lucky, but every Open Box item I have ever ordered has come in good condition with all the accessories. Of course there is a limited number of the items available so these deals usually don’t last long. It seems newegg.com tends to update these Open Box deals between 11-12pm EST, but it’s possible that could change. If you love deals like I do, check often. Newegg also has a recertified section, which I check frequently.

I hope you enjoyed my review of the Acer Aspire AM5641-U5630A and Good luck Bargain Hunters!