dreamin of a gaming pc... pls help

[dreadcrozz]

hello everyone..nid help badly from you experts..
i just bought myself an hp pavilion slimline s3321p pc.... and i plan to turn this small little pc into a "gaming monster"(preferably good enough to play assassins creed and crysis at max performance)... but the things stopping me from doin just that are these factors:
1.small casing
2.power supply is only 160w
3.only one pci-e slot available
(in which these are stopping me from getting a good video cards with big coolers or heatsinks and require a bit more power)

and if y'all would be so kind... could you write down a list on what is the best suited video card("take into consideration the size of the video card your recommending") for my pc and what other parts of the computer should i upgrade to make this a respectable "GAMING COMPUTER"...(nothing too expensive though just as long as it can play "crysis,assassins creed and other high end video games)

here are the specs of my computer:
HP Pavilion Slimline s3321p

Manufacturer: Asus
Motherboard Name: M2N61-AR
HP/Compaq motherboard name: Acacia-GL6E

Athlon 64 X2 (B) 5000+ 2.6 GHz (65W)
GeForce 6150SE nForce 430, Integrated graphics
Memory Installed 2 GB
Maximum allowed 4 GB (2 x 2 GB)
Speed supported PC2-5300 MB/sec
Type 240 pin, DDR2 SDRAM
Power Supply 160 W
TV tuner card
High Definition 6-channel audio
ALC 888S chipset
SPDIF out (coaxial)
PCI...One (TV tuner)
PCI Express x16(currently empty)
Windows Vista Home Premium with Windows Media Center (32-bit)
AMD Live

 

[kelfen]

Well With Intel coming out with the x58 and it having a new pin number, Best be save up for the end of this year possible 2009 with the 8 core coming out sometime around then.

 

[gamerk316]

160 Watts isn't enough to power a single graphics card...Also, is your RAM DDR or DDR2? If it's only DDR, give up on getting a gaming PC with your current setup and start from scratch.

 

[mathiasschnell]

If you get yourself at least a 500W PSU and an HD Radeon 4850, then I think you'll be fine.

 

[killtacular]

"dreamin of a gaming pc... pls help"

I suggest Night Nurse LOLOLOLOLOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mactronix]

@ dreadcrozz,

Im sorry it seems you have found out the hard way that its not as easy as buying an offthe shelf system and pimoping it up to be a gaming machine.

I will list upgrades as you have asked but i am not familiar with the case so you will have to do some research regarding what will and wont fit.
First off the PSU will need changing. I would recomend a 500 Watt unit from a good brand like Seasonic or Corsair, there are other decent brands out there, you want one that is 80% + efficiant with about 28 Amps on the +12V rail/rails. Im in the UK so the links will be in £ sometimes but this.
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=CA-006-CS&groupid=701&catid=123&subcat= or this
http://www.ebuyer.com/product/120377 would be fine.

Next personally I would get a HD 4850 Graphics card from ATI as its very good and very well priced and will handle most things you want to throw at it.

That is the best quickest way of turning around your PC around as far as i am personally concerned. There are some other issues that would affect the choice of graphics card such as your monitor size and resolution, I have said HD 4850 as it is only just shy of top end and will handle most games well up to 22" monitor size/res.
You will have to drop your sights a bit though as running Crysis on Max would need more than 1 Graphics card which as you have a single Pcie slot you couldnt do unless you went for a X2 card which is a differant ball game all together and then you would need a bigger PSU again.
You can get a X2 4850 but it starts getting complicated with driver profiles affecting performance and games need to support Crossfire. Also your motherboard may have issues with it. Not saying it will but these possabilities are there and unless i was 100% sure that it wouldnt be a problem i would stick to a single card.

Mactronix