old rig + 750 ti + wow! But whys this happ?

mack84

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I have a hp pavilion from 2004, with a stock AMD Athlon 64 X2 Dual Core 5000+ on a HP A8M2N-LA. The PSU is from 2004 thermaltake 700 watt. Vista 32 bit. 3gb ram, one slot wont work with so only 3 out of 4 fill w 1 gb sticks.

Upgraded card from Geforce gt 200 ]

It works great graphically on games skyrim,outland,metro, many others on high settings. But, the PROBLEM is I have to unplug everything else for I to work, and I mean ps/2 keyboard, usb mouse, dvd burner and there is no other usb plugged in at time of use. That is w out boosters or overclocking. Can someone please tell me is it my CPI, MB or PSU or can I Set the psu a way to give more amps to mb? It was 300 + dollars in 2004, shocked its the issue I cant afford a new system and need the cheapest sollution, or ill send the card back which i got for 140.00 please help!
 

mack84

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I upgraded the bios from hp website, it is deff an issue w power distribution, I recently reformatted and reinstalled OS. I still have stick of ram in bad slot, I did the switch ram sticks to another ram slot test.* The sticks passed one slot is dead or not working. *

The card is great and makes this old rig play like a new mid level w just 3 gb ram, I will look at psu model in the next hr. There may be a way to channel more amps from psu im hoping or watts to the card. on a budget what would you recommend I do guys?
 

Yingda Wang

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No. Its just the mobo is old
HP pavion mobo are generaly solid. Really solid in my case. (my is made by foxconn which makes parts for apple)
But it doesnt have all the features mobos nowdays have.
Its pretty much designed to never be upgraded.
So buggs happens and u gotta live with it :(
Its NOT the psu. although Thermaltake psu are horrible, 700w is overkill.
And no, u cant controll psu output cause bios is locked
 

JUICEhunter

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I would try another PSU before spending anymore money so maybe hit up a friend to borrow or buy one from a place that has a good return policy if you have the same issue you can return it. Although your PSU is powerful it is also really old.
 

mack84

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I love the psu design recommended by swifty, so I will be seeing if frys electronics here in AZ has it. Also I am looking into a motherboard and cpu set, I like to game with one gpu and in future may add another what is a strong yet affordable board? And, do I go AMD or INTEL?
 
try and get something with around 40amps on the 12v rails. enough connectors for what you need and a couple of 6+2 pci-e wires so you have something to bring to your next build.

seasonic/fps group/silverstone/sparkle... be selective/xfx had some decent ones....... don't get corsair cx label.

why not mail order the one listed above?
 

mack84

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I was getting ready to go and get one of those PSU's and all of the sudden I got everything to work, onboard audio, ps2 keyboard and usb mouse, the 360 gamepad, and I transferred 25 gbs data to the external hard drive w all else plugged in. It worked and all usb ports worked with the 750 ti! THEN it restarted. And, again only the usb mouse on front panel work, plug anything else in to a usb, it makes the sound, but nothing loads or works, xbox light goes round and round on controller instead of staying solid.

How I got it to work: I was uninstalling drivers in device manager and restarting. Something I didn't that I cant seem to do again fixed it long enough to play games for days, before the dreaded restart. Also, ran various driver update programs to make sure all is up to date and it is, I have cross checked.

While it may be PSU, or MB, or both, I am the type that once I see there is life left I don't want to move on just yet. I played strenuous games for days and had no keyboard or mouse or gamepad issue. I transferred all that data and checked it, no issues. So now I ask those with greater knowledge to help me once again in diagnosing the driver/usb controller/ whatever is in device manager that could fix it all til reboot.?
 

mack84

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Also, in vista 32 bit how do I take all the memory from past devices and wipe it? I need to start fresh and I think the usb ports are confused and overwhelmed with phones, tablets, gamepads, mouse, and hard drives.
 

mack84

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It does currently play current games, that is invalid. I had the gamepad and all other usb's working again last night for hours. I uninstall all usb devices in dev man and it works but thinks the 360 gamepad is a mass storage device.? and it works , so the usb ports are confused.
 


You can drive a Ford Focus around a track, does that make it a race car?

360 Controllers are not mass storage. Should show as a 360 Controller.

The HP workstations are not designed for gmaing, they are designed for being a workstation. Replacing components won't always work out for you, since the motherboard's BIOS is restricted and programmed specifically for that board.
 

mack84

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you cannot tell me a reason I am able to play half the time on high specs? sometimes not other times I play on HIGH settings. For many hours it works fine, the some days wont read the controller but I can play w a mouse on high settings. I want to play w gamepad, duh it should say 360 gamepad. Can you tell me how a vista machine could get that confused. I play tropico 5 on high w mouse do you get that? so it plays new games, why the usb controller would thin its a damn usb storage device hmmm?
 
Java:


You are using ancient technology. Don't except great results. You can look into firmware updates, bios updates, etc for the motherboard, but it's time to ditch the computer and stop beating a dead horse.
It's time is gone.

You are spending more time trying to make it work vs. just having a computer that works fine.
 

JUICEhunter

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This computer would be a good replacement:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16883220672

an i3 tower with 8.1 for $420 and will work amazing with your 750ti. I can understand you wanting to fix what you have as well we are just concerned with CPU bottleneck plus the current problems you are having. Getting the i3 will open you up to faster GPU's when you feel your 750ti isn't cutting it.
 
Solution
It's a work station tower. It's design to be used in an office, and restricted from people configuring it. It's not supposed to run games. On top of that, it's really old, it's using the worst Windows operating system (besides Millennium) and it's only 32 bit, which means it's not using most of your videocard VRAM.

If you are in an office, and you don't want people reconfiguring your workstations, HP's are great.
But for gaming use, you need to replace it with a computer that is designed for gaming. Stop throwing money away on that computer and start saving for a new one.