Computers

Im looking to get a new pc for christmas that can handle a good amount of gaming.I found one for preety cheap which is a Copmaq Presario Sr5250Nx.It has a 320 gb hardrive,1gb of ram,and intel graphics media acellator 950.I was wondering if this computer could handle like day of defeat or counterstrike.Those are the only two games i like.I want to add another graphics card but was wondering since there are integrated if i could.Im looking for about a 100$ one that will be better than the one that is with the pc.Also i want to add one more gb of ram since it can hold 2 would this be helpful with the gaming part.And aslo i heard that vista doesnt usally run well with one gb since this pc comes with vista.Please help me and those of you that do thank you.My fault if any one got offended about the caps.

I was offended - don't type thread titles in all caps!

Use complete sentences and remove the caps from your entire message and then I'll help.

Man, that first post is really hard to read. Anyways - you'd have to pay for a Vista -> XP CD or do a complete reinstall of XP if you have a copy of XP.

The "Graphics Media Accelerator" is probably some sh.. crappy on board graphics. My guess is it's equivalent to a geforce 6600 or lower. You can disable the on board graphics and use a card if the motherboard has an open PCI-E or AGP slot.

Im really not sure what psu means. And if it has a pci slot and i put a better graphics card will it be able to run day of defeat well or counterstrike. And im thinking about adding another gb of ram will this really boost my computer because ive heard that vista doesnt run to well with just one gigabyte. And what graphics card can i get for 100 dollars thats preety good or better then the integrated card it comes with?

thanks for the help so far

PSU= power supply unit. Provides your components with the power they need to run properly.

It depends on the card that you add. If you add a crappy graphics card, then no it probably won't be any better than it would have been with the integrated chip. Yes, the extra gb of RAM should help.

That depends on the RAM your computer needs.

For a decent card... I'd say ~$150. At that point, you may as well move up to the $170 HD3850 if you have a PCI-E slot and if your power supply has enough watts / amps on the +12v rail.

*edit*

From HP website on your Compaq model:

Processor
Intel® Pentium® Dual Core processor E2140
%u2022 1.60 GHz, 800MHz Front Side Bus
Operating system installed
Genuine Windows® Vista Home Premium
Chipset
Intel® 945GC express chipset
Standard memory
1.0GB PC2-5300 DDR2 SDRAM memory (2x512MB for ultimate performance) (expandable to 2GB)
Memory type
DDR2-SDRAM
Memory slots
2 DIMM (240-pin, DDR2)

I've made the important stuff bold. In order to add another GB of RAM to move up to 2GB, you'd need to buy two 1GB sticks. Why two? You only have 2 DIMM slots on your board and they are both taken by 2x512MB sticks.

I just looked at the specs for that system on HP's site. You do have a PCI-e slot which means that you can add a graphics card to it.

The memory is PC2-5300 which is pretty common and cheap. The problem is that the motherboard only has two slots for RAM so you need to completely replace it, not just add. A basic 2x1gb kit will cost you about 40 bucks: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6820134046

You could probably find an X1650 or 7600GT for around 100 bucks that will run the games you want fairly well. I believe the 8600GT and HD2600XT/pro can be had for around 100 as well.

edit: darn you rgeist, you keep beating me to the point lol.

It's a race between us to answer his questions lol. At least we seem to be on a similar page.

well also i know im getting atleast 140 dollars so can i do anything with this amount?

is there anyway i can switch it from 64 to atleast 256mb or what would i have to do the video card is the graphics right? so im not sure but if that is the graphics card i would have to buy a new one right?

I'm pretty sure you would need a new card. You can try the 8600GT or GTS. It's an ok card for the price. You'll need to go in the BIOS and disable the on board video. It would also benefit you do free up as much RAM as possible with Vista.

*edit*

Ah, that's too bad. : / GJ finding the info though.

Here's what I'm thinking:

Diamond Radeon 2600XT: $99.99 on Newegg ($79.99 after rebate)
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814103038

Coolmax 500W PSU: $39.99 on Newegg
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817159066

Might be the best option subzero4101 has.

*edit*
To upgrade the power supply, you'd have to take it out and put a different one in, and reconnect all the power connections to the hard drive, motherboard, dvd drive, etc. The GTS rgeist554's referring to is an 8600GTS. BIOS is the basic menu you can enter into immediately after you start a computer. The BIOS is where you would switch from using the integrated video to an added video card.

i meant do you think i should go 4 another pc

yea i think im gonna stick with this but dont know really much about adding things so ill save money from christmas or whatever and just have like geek squad install the things so christams i will prolly add ram to it and later get a graphics card and power supply so you dont think this is bad computer for the deal do you? it will last a good time right?

Yes to your games. Those are both HL games, so they use the old Quake engine, which ran in software mode without even needing a "graphics accelerator". Now, what to do about a card for new games... I would say get a 2GB kit of any DDR2 RAM from newegg.com, should be around $40, and pick up an 8600GT for under $100, which totals $140 tops. That'll have you playing the newest games as well as your old favorites. Now, if Santa brings you more money, say $70 more, buy an ATI 3850 card for around $170. That with 2 GB of RAM will keep you gaming for several years. Don't worry about your PSU, it'll be enough I'm sure.

I agree with nvalhalla.Just get a cheap card like an 8600 and the 2gigs of ram.Your PSU should handle it ok.Then find something you can do to make an extra 20 dollars a week and put it in a jar.Keep reading Toms hardware and other reputable tech sites and ask questions.In one year open your jar and build a computer that will make the compaq eat dust.Then you can sell the compaq or not.

I'll sell you my 8600GT for 90 bucks....how about it ?

He can ask for cash instead and then get what he wants in the first place.

I would a.) Not let the Geek Squad touch your computer; just letting them get in a 10 ft radius of it will cost you $200 plus another $1,000 to add whatever, (Note the exaggeration, but pretty close to truth) and b.) take up Roadrunner's offer of him building you a computer.

well my dad is buying it and my parents wouldnt really trust me send cah over the web i mean my step dad does it 4 ebay but they would be weary about it if it was my choice sure i would but im just going to go nvhalla said and get the kit and all that since he said it should be fine and one thing im rrally not sure what all tehse abbreviation smean so could you please tell me wat is Gma,ati,overclocking,gt, please and ill take your advice and not let those geeks touch it thnaks for teh help and ill try to save money and build my own computer really thanks so it only cost 40 dollars for 2gb i really didnt know that

another thing im going to get my parts off newegg and ask you guys to walk me through it trust me i want a computer custom built so bad but my parents are *********** you know what i mean but thnaks for the info it helped alot now i know exactly what to get and not be confused about which parts thnak yous again

I'll help you out with the abbreviations, as I'm not your parents and I can't really make those decisions for them

GMA: Intel-based onboard graphics. (I might be wrong in the Intel part, but I know it is a onboard graphics/chipset)
ATI-Competitor to Nvidia in the graphics cards arena
Overclocking- Making your CPU run faster than it was made to. It can be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing, but it can be highly beneficial to make a $100 CPU run like a $500 one.
GT- All of the Nvidia cards use these naming schemes. Most often to see are: GT, GTS, GS, and GTX. Google could help you more here, but for a basic rundown, 8800GT<8800GTS<8800GTX. Nvidia cards are in the "8" series right now, so the newest graphics cards will have an 8 in front, followed by a number 1-9 and then two 0's. For instance, 8600GT or 8400GS. The higher the number, the better.

i have a $2000 micro velocity for $1000 withe an e6600 and 8800gts

remanufactured from returns

Hey it would be great if you decide to build your own; just read these forums everyday for a couple of months, by then you should have the basic knowledge you need without asking to many questions. Good luck with your project though.

The PSU would probably work; I wouldn't buy it. You get what you pay for. I'd find one with good reviews in the $60-$70 range. I dont know if the ram is compatible with compaq of that model. You can use www.crucial.com and use their tool to find ram that would work. If it confirms you need pc5300 then ya it should work. The graphics card will be ok but I wouldn't buy it unless you arent going to play this falls game lineup.