Harfware upgrade pls help

[leo416]

I have here my bro's pc specs that hes wanted to upgrade.Its an orig HP-COMPAQ pc with genuine windows XP pro SP2:

Processor
Intel® Pentium® 4 Processor 630 with HT Technology
3.2 GHz, 2 MB L2 cache, 800 MHz front side bus
Genuine Windows XP Professional SP2
Upgradability
Windows Vista capable
Compatible Operating Systems
Genuine Windows 2000 (Web Support), Genuine Windows XP Professional SP2,
Genuine Windows XP Home SP2, FreeDOS, SuSE Linux 9.3
Chipset
Intel® 945G chipset
Standard memory
512 MB (256 MB x 2)
Maximum memory
4 GB DDR2-Synch DRAM
Memory type
DDR2 PC2-4200
Memory slots
4 DIMM
Memory Upgrade
Expandable to 4 GB through three industry-standard DIMM slots
Internal drives
Internal hard disk drive
80 GB
Hard disk drive speed
7200 rpm
External drive bays
1 external 5.25 inch, 1 external 3.5 inch
Internal drive bays
1 internal 3.5 inch
CD-ROM and DVD
DVD/CD-RW Combo Drive
Hard disk controller
SMART III Serial ATA 3.0 Gb/s
System features
Chassis Type
Small form factor
Graphic Subsystem Name
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950
Video adapter, bus
PCI Express™ x16
Video adapter features
3D/2D Controller (Microsoft® DirectX® 9), VGA integrated controller, RAMDAC integrated (400 MHz)
Graphic Subsystem Video Card Memory
Graphics memory is shared with system memory. Graphics memory usage can vary from 8 to 128 MB
depending on the amount of system memory installed and system load
Expansion slots
2 low profile PCI, 1 low profile PCI Express x1, 1 low profile PCI Express x16 (2 full-height PCI available
via optional riser card), (Note: with riser card option, express x1 and x16 slots are not supported)

Now our queries since we are not techies:

since his budget for upgrading is only $150-$200
hes planning to upgrade the ff hardwares only: video card, the RAM and hard disk:

*****Is it just fine and OK if he'll just upgrade the video card to RADEON HD5450 DDR2 1gb 128bit ? or whats ur suggestion?
*****from 1gb RAM additional 2gb RAM= 3gb RAM
*****80gb plus additional 500gb

considering the above upgrades, will it function well and serve its purpose? your comments pls?
this system is just intended for internet, medium end gaming (average game for playing) and sometimes a monitor for BRAVIA LCD for viewing HD movies..

Radeon HD 5450 DDR2 1gb 128bit:

 

[hellwig]

I didn't see a discrete GPU listed in your components, are you currently using the onboard graphics? If that's the case, I'd say a discrete card and 2GB additional memory would be a vast improvement. No, you won't be able to play Crisis, but you should be able to play many modern games and medium to low settings at a lower resolution.

Adding more disk space is, of course, mandatory. I imagine that with only 80GB he has to uninstall one thing to install another.

If you only have 3 DIMM slots, check the supported module densities (if possible). Does it currently have 1x1GB or 2x512MB? This could affect what other memory can be placed in the system (e.g. maybe it only supports 2x2GB or 3x1GB or something like that and not 1x2GB + 2x512MB).

Here's my thoughts:

Buy the RAM, making sure its compatible, and rember, 2GB is still better than 1GB if that's what you end up with. Then buy the harddrive (consider varying the capacity to see if a 320 or a 750 might be a better deal). Being that its a small-form-factor case, you'll be limited in your GPU selection. With whatever you have left, find the best Low-Profile GPU you can for the money (that 5450 might be it, I don't regularly shop for low profile).

Just realize this is a dying system. If he could come up with another $200 by next year, it might be better to just wait a few more months and buy a whole brand new multi-core system (like Tom's System Builder Budget PC). Still, with more memory and a discrete GPU, it will be browsing the Internet and streaming HD video for years to come, you just might find its not an adequate gamer (for even mid-level games) in the very near future.

 

[leo416]

1. why is his XP not upgraded to SP3?
2. if the ATI 5450 card is a ver 2.1 then it won't work. Use a ver 2.0 card.
3. the ATI 4670 is a better card and cheaper
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102855&cm_re=4670-_-14-102-855-_-Product
4. save the rest of his budget for a new PC/build

we dont know how to upgrade to SP3
ok well try to find this ATI 4670
thanks for the suggestion

 

[leo416]

I didn't see a discrete GPU listed in your components, are you currently using the onboard graphics? If that's the case, I'd say a discrete card and 2GB additional memory would be a vast improvement. No, you won't be able to play Crisis, but you should be able to play many modern games and medium to low settings at a lower resolution.

Adding more disk space is, of course, mandatory. I imagine that with only 80GB he has to uninstall one thing to install another.

If you only have 3 DIMM slots, check the supported module densities (if possible). Does it currently have 1x1GB or 2x512MB? This could affect what other memory can be placed in the system (e.g. maybe it only supports 2x2GB or 3x1GB or something like that and not 1x2GB + 2x512MB).

Here's my thoughts:

Buy the RAM, making sure its compatible, and rember, 2GB is still better than 1GB if that's what you end up with. Then buy the harddrive (consider varying the capacity to see if a 320 or a 750 might be a better deal). Being that its a small-form-factor case, you'll be limited in your GPU selection. With whatever you have left, find the best Low-Profile GPU you can for the money (that 5450 might be it, I don't regularly shop for low profile).

Just realize this is a dying system. If he could come up with another $200 by next year, it might be better to just wait a few more months and buy a whole brand new multi-core system (like Tom's System Builder Budget PC). Still, with more memory and a discrete GPU, it will be browsing the Internet and streaming HD video for years to come, you just might find its not an adequate gamer (for even mid-level games) in the very near future.

RAM CAPACITY:
4 GB DDR2-Synch DRAM
Memory type
DDR2 PC2-4200
Memory slots
4 DIMM
Memory Upgrade
Expandable to 4 GB through three industry-standard DIMM slots

VIDEO GRAPHICS ON BOARD:
Graphic Subsystem Name
Intel® Graphics Media Accelerator 950
Video adapter, bus
PCI Express™ x16
Video adapter features
3D/2D Controller (Microsoft® DirectX® 9), VGA integrated controller, RAMDAC integrated (400 MHz)
Graphic Subsystem Video Card Memory
Graphics memory is shared with system memory. Graphics memory usage can vary from 8 to 128 MB
depending on the amount of system memory installed and system load

it has 4DIMM slots and already installed 2x512mb RAM
I tried and played games like time crisis and other medium gamers..sometimes the graphics too long tp load and its blurred when i tried high end gamers..

so this RADEON HD5450 DDR2 1gb 128bit <<<<----is not compatible to function in the system?

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been moved from the section CPU & Components to section Graphics & Displays by Mousemonkey