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The joys of Christmas last long into the New Year for repair shop owners, explains Lee, as they attempt to help "new" computers live up to expectations
I'm sorry to mention the 'C' word at this time of year, but the first quarter of a technician's year is traditionally occupied with rectifying seasonal distress, and 2022 has not disappointed. It takes many forms, the most common relating to the selling, arguably mis-selling, of gaming PCs.
William's desktop arrived on Santa's sleigh, but the family couldn't agree who decided it was the gaming thoroughbred that would have shot William to e-gaming superstardom. The reported issues related to speed and performance, which shouldn't be a cause for concern with a new PC. Speaking over the phone, I suggested they contact the vendor as there would be a warranty procedure and possibly a free repair. Eventually, I agreed to take a look and find the fault, so they could report back to the seller.
If you've bought a new de sktop recently, you'll be aware that the aesthetics of case design have altered. While it's still possible to find a black box to shove under the desk, what really catches the punter's eye is recessed ARGB lighting and glass panelling to observe components that sync-pulse a strobing rainbow each time the mouse is clicked. If you're 14 with a pocket full of Robux, it'san inescapable siren call, and it had beguiled William. I plugged it in, watched the POST display LENOVO, then made some toast in the time it took for Windows to load. You may have already spotted the problem.
Inside William's machine was a new Nvidia GTX1650, but its performance was limited by the rest of the system, which was composed ofthe salvaged remains of a Lenovo ThinkCentre M92p, circa 2011. In its original form, the machine was a slimline desktop for the corporate world for which its Core i5-3470 CPU would have been perfectly suited. Ten years later, and the i5 had been replaced by an i7-2600 and the 2GB of DDR3 RAM had inflated to 8GB. It had a SATA hard drive, but the great news for William was that there's no fault and he actually owns a fascinating machine that showcases around...