pc not fit for purpose?

richardha

I bought a PC 6 months ago for £800 from pc world. I specifically asked for a gaming machine, and one which was possible to upgrade as and when necessary. I got it home and found I could only playy games on very low level graphics settings. Because of the problems I had with my previous pc, also from pc world, I decidecd to put up with it. I recently bought a new game, and by a re from pc worlds own admission, the graphics card and power s upply is not adequate. I went into store and they claim because I did not approach them sooner there is nothing they are prepared to do. worst thing is that when I look into replacing the components I find they are very difficult to source because of this type of low profile machine. AND even pc world do not stock the components for it. do I have any rights here at all/? Thanks.

bris

You bought it six months ago, you have clearly accepted it, not a lot you can do now.

In future there are a lot of comp forums you can go on for advice about the best gaming system you can get for your budget, there is a tech forum here where you can ask too.
Pretty unusual that you can't upgrade though, go over to the tech forum and ask in there about upgrade options, just let them know the model number. There are plenty places online where you can get much better graphics cards etc than the rubbish pc world sell, much cheaper too.

£$&*"($£&(

bris wrote: »

Pretty unusual that you can't upgrade though, go over to the tech forum and ask in there about upgrade options, just let them know the model number.

It's a low profile machine and gaming graphics cards don't come in this format, except perhaps one or two, and they aren't too good I believe.

I guess the moral of the story is to do more research and don't belivev a word an "expert" shop assistant tells you.

esuhl

I would say that it's pretty ambiguous as to whether the PC was fit for purpose since the fact you want to use it to play "games" does not really indicate a minimum specification. Maybe if you said you "want to play game X at resolution Y with the best available settings for graphics quality" then it would be easier to claim.

Not only that, but claims under the SoGA must be made within a reasonable time frame. Such a problem should (I would have thought) have been noticed soon after purchase, otherwise (as bris says) I think you would have had the PC too long to be able to reject it.

Next time, as well as doing more research, I'd be much more specific when asking whether a product would be suitable for your needs. Ideally, get any claims like this in writing (maybe you could submit sales questions by email so you have a record).

I'm afraid I don't think there's much you can do now about this PC, though - sorry :-(

richardha

Yeah, I pretty much expected this answer. Thanks guys. I'm not saying it is not possible to upgrade, only that a low profile graphics card because of its housing is difficult to source. Also you can't get top spec low profile graphics cards which is a serious pain. I have looked into maybe getting a new case, but even this seems to be difficult with this specific machine.

You are all right, my initial research was poor, and pre-builds from pc world are definitely not suitable for my personal needs. I'm currently teaching myself to build my own!!

Thanks again for your replies!!

steveE2

richardha wrote: »

Yeah, I pretty much expected this answer. Thanks guys. I'm not saying it is not possible to upgrade, only that a low profile graphics card because of its housing is difficult to source. Also you can't get top spec low profile graphics cards which is a serious pain. I have looked into maybe getting a new case, but even this seems to be difficult with this specific machine.

You are all right, my initial research was poor, and pre-builds from pc world are definitely not suitable for my personal needs. I'm currently teaching myself to build my own!!

Thanks again for your replies!!

Not really difficult to source
21 Nvidia here from £24.48- £405.93
http://www.ebuyer.com/search?limit=50&store=2&cat=215&sq=low%2Bprofile&sort=pricelow&page=1
or
11 ATI £24.08-£107.08
http://www.ebuyer.com/search?limit=20&store=2&cat=48&sq=low%2Bprofile&sort=pricelow&page=1
Or Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=sr_nr_n_0?rh=n%3A340831031%2Ck%3Alow+profile+graphics+card%2Cn%3A%21340832031%2Cn%3A428655031&bbn=340832031&keywords=low+profile+graphics+card&ie=UTF8&qid=1321556962&rnid=340832031#/ref=sr_st?bbn=340832031&keywords=low+profile+graphics+card&qid=1321556974&rh=n%3A340831031%2Ck%3Alow+profile+graphics+card%2Cn%3A!340832031%2Cn%3A428655031&sort=-price

texranger

richardha wrote: »

I bought a PC 6 months ago for £800 from pc world. I specifically asked for a gaming machine, and one which was possible to upgrade as and when necessary. I got it home and found I could only playy games on very low level graphics settings. Because of the problems I had with my previous pc, also from pc world, I decidecd to put up with it. I recently bought a new game, and by a re from pc worlds own admission, the graphics card and power s upply is not adequate. I went into store and they claim because I did not approach them sooner there is nothing they are prepared to do. worst thing is that when I look into replacing the components I find they are very difficult to source because of this type of low profile machine. AND even pc world do not stock the components for it. do I have any rights here at all/? Thanks.

you buy any PC off the shelf gues why they are the price they are because they have the basic specs and parts.


youi wanted a gaming machine the machine you bought played low spec games as you say so it is a gaming machine, so fit for purpose.

go online get yourself a new high spec graphics and sound card and change them in your machine and bobs your uncle you now have a high spec machine.

visidigi

texranger wrote: »

go online get yourself a new high spec graphics and sound card and change them in your machine and bobs your uncle you now have a high spec machine.

easier said than done, its a half height card and they are not generally a format that features high end GPU performance.

On board sound should suffice - this is more to do with the CPU, Memory and GPU combination.

PC world do sell high end gaming machines, but £800 doesn't buy you one.

texranger

richardha wrote: »

Yeah, I pretty much expected this answer. Thanks guys. I'm not saying it is not possible to upgrade, only that a low profile graphics card because of its housing is difficult to source. Also you can't get top spec low profile graphics cards which is a serious pain. I have looked into maybe getting a new case, but even this seems to be difficult with this specific machine.

You are all right, my initial research was poor, and pre-builds from pc world are definitely not suitable for my personal needs. I'm currently teaching myself to build my own!!

Thanks again for your replies!!

i always go online to somewhere like Dell so you can build your own machine to your own requirements.

it only cost me £180 for my last PC 3yrs ago (did not need monitor) and this was high spec. I will shortly be upgrading the graphics and sound card which i expected to do anyway after 3 to 4 yrs usage.

visidigi

steveE2 wrote: »

Not really difficult to source
21 Nvidia here from £24.48- £405.93
http://www.ebuyer.com/search?limit=50&store=2&cat=215&sq=low%2Bprofile&sort=pricelow&page=1
or
11 ATI £24.08-£107.08
http://www.ebuyer.com/search?limit=20&store=2&cat=48&sq=low%2Bprofile&sort=pricelow&page=1
Or Amazon
http://www.amazon.co.uk/s/ref=sr_nr_n_0?rh=n%3A340831031%2Ck%3Alow+profile+graphics+card%2Cn%3A%21340832031%2Cn%3A428655031&bbn=340832031&keywords=low+profile+graphics+card&ie=UTF8&qid=1321556962&rnid=340832031#/ref=sr_st?bbn=340832031&keywords=low+profile+graphics+card&qid=1321556974&rh=n%3A340831031%2Ck%3Alow+profile+graphics+card%2Cn%3A!340832031%2Cn%3A428655031&sort=-price

Very few, if any are high end, most are multiport development or CAD design use cards, they aren't gaming cards.

In addition...the problem with a try gaming card which would run are high or more level of detail is they will need dedicated rails from the PSU to run - something an SI like Packard Bell wouldn;'t have included as default.

OP will need to factor in a GPU, CPU, Memory, Power Supply and Case to get a true gaming machine.

Problem with PC world is your machine is fit for gaming, just not fit for the sort of detailled Crysis style gaming... You don't have a case here for them to be liable...

texranger

visidigi wrote: »

easier said than done, its a half height card and they are not generally a format that features high end GPU performance.

On board sound should suffice - this is more to do with the CPU, Memory and GPU combination.

PC world do sell high end gaming machines, but £800 doesn't buy you one.

wont get many high end gaming machines for £800 if any.

OP would of been better going to dell http://www.dell.com/uk/p/alienware-aurora-r3/pd