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Upgrading my desktop for modern gaming

Tags:
  • Gaming
  • Desktops
  • Hewlett Packard
  • Graphics
Last response: in Graphics & Displays
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October 14, 2013 10:18:22 PM

From the information I got off my desktop tower I have a HP Pavilion p6674y Desktop. It's never been upgraded so it still has it stock parts. ATI Radeon HD 4200 graphics card, 6GB DDR3 System memory, AMD Phenom II 840 T Quad core processor, 1TB memory, Windows 7.

Basically my question is this, what all do I need to upgrade to play games like Skyrim and Minecraft on my PC properly and occasionally record my game play with Fraps and minimize my frame rate drop? I would also like to spend the least possible while getting the most, if that makes sense.

More about : upgrading desktop modern gaming

a c 206 4 Gaming
a b α HP
October 14, 2013 10:37:13 PM

the smallest upgrade would be a newer power supply 750w unit that you could move into a new rig latter, then drop in a faster gpu. depending on the length of the case and the case height you may have to get with the old case a low profile video card. with a working hp pc like yours you could see if you can get a tax credit donating it to library or old folks home. myself i look on newegg for there combo deals. you could reuse the hard drive and cd rom and slower memory and drop it into a newer mb and cpu combo with a larger case and gpu.
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October 14, 2013 10:48:07 PM

I would scavenge the 1 TB hard drive, the ram, and the Cd/dvd drive and Windows 7 (please tell me you have a windows disc)

And use the scavenged parts and get new parts to build with to include
-Psu- 750W made by Corsair or Seasonic
-Motherboard
-Processor-
-Graphics card- I'm a fan of my 7950
-New case- that cools better is a must browse until you find something you like (I'm a fan of Cooler Master and Nzxt cases atm)
-After maket heat sink fan for cpu

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October 14, 2013 10:52:24 PM

Ok, so first and foremost I would upgrade your graphics card as that will be the thing that is mostly holding you back, one that will perform admirably will set you back between $150 and $300 which is completely dependent on how much you want to spend and what your monitor resolution is? Secondly I would also recommend a CPU upgrade however this will also require a motherboard change as well because as far as I can tell that motherboard doesn't support the new CPUs (need AM3+ socket for AMD, yours is AM3 sadly) so that will set you back between roughly $200 and $350, however I would recommend grabbing a new graphics cards first because you may be able to get satisfactory performance out of your current CPU, it completely depends on the standards and frame rates that you want to play with

Also the power supplies in OEM computer are pretty bad so I would strongly recommend getting a new one, no matter what upgrades you do go with
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October 14, 2013 10:53:57 PM

fixer762 said:
I would scavenge the 1 TB hard drive, the ram, and the Cd/dvd drive and Windows 7 (please tell me you have a windows disc)

And use the scavenged parts and get new parts to build with to include
-Psu- 750W made by Corsair or Seasonic
-Motherboard
-Processor-
-Graphics card- I'm a fan of my 7950
-New case- that cools better is a must browse until you find something you like (I'm a fan of Cooler Master and Nzxt cases atm)
-After maket heat sink fan for cpu



Any links to specific items? When it comes to actually building a PC, I'm a noob. And no, I don't think we still have our windows disc. I wouldn't touch windows 8 with a 40 foot pole.
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October 14, 2013 10:56:49 PM

DelightfulDucklings said:
Ok, so first and foremost I would upgrade your graphics card as that will be the thing that is mostly holding you back, one that will perform admirably will set you back between $150 and $300 which is completely dependent on how much you want to spend and what your monitor resolution is? Secondly I would also recommend a CPU upgrade however this will also require a motherboard change as well because as far as I can tell that motherboard doesn't support the new CPUs (need AM3+ socket for AMD, yours is AM3 sadly) so that will set you back between roughly $200 and $350, however I would recommend grabbing a new graphics cards first because you may be able to get satisfactory performance out of your current CPU, it completely depends on the standards and frame rates that you want to play with

Also the power supplies in OEM computer are pretty bad so I would strongly recommend getting a new one, no matter what upgrades you do go with


My monitor is full 1920x1080 and I believe it supports HDMI.
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October 14, 2013 10:57:37 PM

Quick question, what is your actual budget for this? Because without a budget it is quite difficult to give specific recommendations of products
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October 14, 2013 10:59:50 PM

DelightfulDucklings said:
Quick question, what is your actual budget for this? Because without a budget it is quite difficult to give specific recommendations of products


I wish I had a specific budget, but I won't until March or April when I actually plan on going through with this, I'm doing my research at this moment.
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October 14, 2013 11:03:38 PM

fixer762 said:
Its ok, we were all computer newbs one day.

Newegg build part one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lPIXAtNGGCw

part 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d_56kyib-Ls

part 3
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RxaVBsXEiok

Agree with you on Windows 8, its garbage.

without a budget or dollar amount it is hard link parts. How much you wanna spend?


$2000 would be my absolute max but I really don't want to go over $1000. Again this assuming I have the money to actually do this is March or April. (these are USD's btw)
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October 14, 2013 11:03:46 PM

Ok, well in that case, would you be looking at top of the line parts (say a $350 graphics card etc) or would you be on more of a strict budget because if you have a big budget I would honestly recommend just building a whole new computer and saving the hard drive and maybe the ram purely because of the fact that the case hp uses will cause you nothing but pain when you're building your new computer and the other components will need replacing most likely at some point in the near future anyway (especially the power supply, that is very urgent)
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October 14, 2013 11:08:01 PM

WEll go to newegg and make account and make a wishlist with your parts month after month until you are ready to order. Post your parts list here when you are ready to buy/build in March.
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October 14, 2013 11:08:08 PM

Let me just make this simple. $1000 is my preferred budget but I might be able to squeeze as much as $1500. Basically I don't really need top of the line, just cheapest, yet best to get the job done. I do not have the budget to build a computer from scratch.
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