Which HP to buy?

[Guest]

Hello,
My current computer is a x64 4200, Geforce 8600gt, 4gb ram, 320gb HD, have had it since 2006. The system is not meeting the minimum requirements for the newer PC games.
Best Buy has two HPs that I am looking at, one with a phenom x6 1045t and radeon 5570 and bluray. The other one is a phenom x4 945 with a radeon 5450 no bluray. Memory(8gb) and hard drive(1tb)is the same. The X6 is $929 and the x4 is $799. I play games and surf the net. Which computer is a better bet? I can always upgrade the VC in the 945.

 

[bavman]

None of them are good at all. Those graphic cards are really weak. If you want to do gaming build your own pc or look for one with a better card in it. It would be much cheaper if you just built it too.

 

[oz73942]

build your own for sure, heres a good deal for a little over 800 with way better specs.

http://secure.newegg.com/Shopping/ShoppingCart.aspx?submit=ChangeItem

pretty balanced and well rounded, at least 1 year warranties on everything, and high quality parts compared to the generic parts used in the hp's, and the joy and pride of putting your own system together

 

[kitaware]

Hello,
My current computer is a x64 4200, Geforce 8600gt, 4gb ram, 320gb HD, have had it since 2006. The system is not meeting the minimum requirements for the newer PC games.
Best Buy has two HPs that I am looking at, one with a phenom x6 1045t and radeon 5570 and bluray. The other one is a phenom x4 945 with a radeon 5450 no bluray. Memory(8gb) and hard drive(1tb)is the same. The X6 is $929 and the x4 is $799. I play games and surf the net. Which computer is a better bet? I can always upgrade the VC in the 945.

I have no reason NOT to recommend building your own, as others already have...
...but as you posted this in the pre-built forum, and specifically asked about HP, here goes....

The HP office/business outlet has MUCH better machines at better prices...
If you aren't afraid of a short-term warranty that goes with refurbished PCs....

Check out HP business outlet:

http://h71016.www7.hp.com/html/hpremarketing/daily.asp?jumpid=re_R295_store/buspurchase-refurbished/computing/price-list#HHO1

You can start with this:
HP Pavilion Elite HPE-310t W7HP-64 i5 750 2.66GHz 700GB SATA 6GB DVDRW(LS) 1GB ((video card) NIC 15-in-1 Rmkt PC $495 (listed in High Performance Desktops)
or
HP Pavilion p6580t W7HP-64 i5 650 3.2GHz 1TB SATA 6GB BluRay Writer 1GB NIC WiFi-LAN TV 15-in-1 Rmkt PC $591 (listed under Value Desktops)

Hardware specs indicate that the HD is 7200rpm ...

Good luck

 

[Guest]

I have $800 dollars in Best Buy gift cards. I would love to build my own, but at the present time, a pre-built system is what I have to do.

 

[oz73942]

I have $800 dollars in Best Buy gift cards. I would love to build my own, but at the present time, a pre-built system is what I have to do.

ah ok, the biggest issue with those is the gpu which are pretty weak unless your running a low res.

what kind of res are you going to be gaming at?

 

[bavman]

I would grab a system with and i5-750/760 at least 4gb of ram and no video card, as cheap as possible. Then using the remaining money to get a decent card and psu.

 

[kitaware]

I was thinking the same as bavman, (see my recommenations above) but the only i5 I see at BB's website is:
http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Lenovo+-+Ideacentre+Desktop+/+Intel%26%23174%3B+Core%26%23153%3B+i5+Processor+/+8GB+Memory+/+1TB+Hard+Drive/1492849.p?id=1218262977672&skuId=1492849

for $750....compared to $799/929 for the AMDs

I don't know if the difference between the i5-650 and the i5-750 is much...
(see: http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/274180-28-tomshardware ), but there is a difference between the AMD and the i5-650, favoring the 650, if only a bit......and still, it is inside OP's budget.

This chart give SOME idea of the difference...according to the chart below OP's AMD CPUs are on the same level as the i3, and one "tier" separates the AMDs from the i5-650....just as there's one tier difference between the 650 and the 750....
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-gaming-cpu-core-i3-athlon-ii-x4,2791-6.html

...but in this case (at BB) i5 is CHEAPER than the both AMDs....and there's a bit money left over for a video card...if on-board graphics won't work for OP....

 

[Guest]

I was looking at the core i5 and i7 systems, specifically the HP i5 with the 760 pcu. I was also looking at the Dell with the 870 i7. My only concern with the core systems offered at Best Buy were that the platforms these i7 and i5 are on is considered a "dead" platform since intel is moving to the 1366 architecture. The 870 i7 and the 650/750 i5 are on the 1156 platform. I was mainly looking at the AMD systems due to their AM3 socket and across the board compatibility.

I am still using a Viewsonic CRT display, 24". I'm still not sold on the LCDs, as the first ones that appeared back on the market when I bought my x64 system were horrible at displaying fast motion.

I usually don't play games at max resolution or with all the bells and whistles on. The current game I play the most, L4D, I usually have the resolution at 1280 x 1024. Any more than that and I get horrible frame rates.

I guess I'm looking for a system that I can upgrade down the road without spending too much. I don't want to have to buy a new system in 2 years.

 

[bavman]

even though the 1156 is "dead" its still very good and for gaming you could still use it for a couple years. the 1366 is gonna die soon too after they release the last update for it, then a new socket for sandy bridge is gonna take over the higher end cpu's. As long as you get a quad core like the i5-750/760, i7-860/870, amd 9xx series i think you'll be fine cpu wise.

 

[oz73942]

with the i7-8xx and i5-7xx, you shouldnt have to worry about replacing it in two years especially with a little overclocking.

The way programs and games are adapting at a slow pace it will be more then about four years, before we see them slouching in real world situations and not just sythetic benchmarks.

By that time it will be a better value to upgrade the platform, then the cpu.

 

[Imonhotep]

I have decided to get the HP with the Phenom quad core 945 :

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/HP+-+Pavilion+Elite+Desktop+/+AMD+Phenom%26%23153%3B+II+Processor+/+8GB+Memory+/+1TB+Hard+Drive/1244663.p?id=1218240959102&skuId=1244663

and this video card:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/PNY+-+NVIDIA+GeForce+GTX+460+1GB+GDDR5+PCI+Express+Graphics+Card/1234118.p?id=1218239484650&skuId=1234118

along with a new power supply:

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Corsair+-+Gaming+Series+800-Watt+ATX+CPU+Power+Supply/1073715.p?id=1218217267478&skuId=1073715

After researching the motherboard in this computer, while it isn't the greatest, it does allow me to upgrade the pcu up to the current AMD 6 core processors.

Your thoughts?
I know intel is the king of the hill at the moment, but I've had good luck with AMD the past 5 years and I like to root for the underdog.