MEDION AKOYA X7330 D (MD 8339)

ID: PCD11

HISTORY

I have had this computer around for some time. It was originally going to be repaired, but the cost of a new hard drive was too much and the owner decided to buy a new laptop instead. Months later when I came to inspect it for recycling, I found it complete with an 120GB SSD installed. I must have installed it for testing purposes and forgotten all about it, but it was a nice surprise and should make this a system that can be thoroughly enjoyed by it's new operator.


SPECIFICATIONS

Machine Type: Desktop Tower
Model: MEDION AKOYA X7330 D (MD 8339)
Year of Manufacturer: 2010
Motherboard: MSI 7366 (VER 3.1)
Chipset: NVIDIA NFORCE 630I
Processor: INTEL CORE 2 QUAD Q8300 2.50GHz 64-Bit (Socket 775)
RAM: 4GB DDR2 (2x 2GB 240-Pin DIMM)
Hard Drive(s): 120GB 2.5" SATA SSD
Optical Drive(s): DVD-RW SATA 5.25"
Graphics: PCIe (Nvidia)
Audio: Integrated (Nvidia)
Network: Integrated (1Gbps Ethernet)
USB: 2.0 (3 Front, 4 Rear)
Power Supply: FSP 400W ATX
Other Features: Card Reader
COA: Windows 7 Home Premium


INITIAL INSPECTION

The system appeared to be in reasonable condition inside and out, excluding a damaged front mounted USB port, but problems showed up later whilst running a Prime 95 'torture' test. The power would go off randomly, suggesting a problem with the power supply. I was surprised to find that the computer was fitted with one of the older 20-pin units without the extra 4 pins introduced in the ATX 2.0 specification, so may have simply been inadequate, especially considering the power hungry processor and dedicated graphics card.


REPAIRS & MODIFICATIONS

• The front panel USB ports were replaced.
• I swapped the power supply for one in a much older system with lower power requirements.

PREPARATION

With the repairs completed and the diagnostics successfully completed, it was time to think about software. The obvious choice here was Windows 10. The computer should run this easily, especially with the SSD, and the Windows 7 COA would provide the necessary product key.

SETUP

Nvidia chipsets are not as well supported as their Intel counterparts, so it took a bit of driver hunting to get rid of all the yellow exclamation marks in Device Manager, using Windows 7 drivers where necessary. This is where the website Driver Pack Solution comes into it's own, hosting drivers for just about every piece of hardware and every Windows system they were written for.

CONCLUSION

As expected from a computer with an SSD fitted, performance was very good, though perhaps not quite as 'snappy' as a machine adorned with a Core i3 / i5 / i7 processor. That said, this would make a great upgrade for someone with an older, slower system, and should be more than adequate for any general purpose use for years to come. I also have a Canon all-in-one printer, an Acer monitor, Dell speaker system and keyboard and mouse to give away with this system, so hopefully this complete package will help somebody out and save another usable system from the dump.