Upgrading current old hp system.

[carllll1000]

End's up that the money my boss was going to pay me was cut in half . So i'm now thinking of upgrading my old system with a higher end graphics card. What graphics card do you recommend me buying so i can run games on max settings on a medium sized hd tv? And can I upgrade my systems graphics card

 

[MadAdmiral]

We need more details. What HP system do you have? What are its specs (CPU model, motherboard model if available, the PSU's wattage, etc.)? How much are you looking to spend? How much room do you have in the case for the video card? What GPU do you currently have, and can the board support a second one?

I will say that it may not be possible to replace the GPU without basically gutting the machine. It's likely you'll have to replace the PSU, and maybe even the motherboard and CPU, depending on the age and other factors. Right there, you're already looking at the majority of the machine. It's only a couple hundrend away from an entirely new build.

The other possible problem is that many prebuilt vendors use proprietary parts. That means you can't use aftermarket parts with their machines. This is usually limited to the motherboard, but can include the case, PSU and graphics cards. If the PSU is proprietary, it could be an unusal size (physical size), which means you can't replace it. Considering that it's extremely likely that the PSU included can't handle a fairly meaty video card, that's a deal breaker right there.

I should also say that great gaming builds can be built for under $500, and get extremely good performance. Once you get up to $700-800, you're looking at a machine that will handle any game at any resolution with maximum details. What I'm saying is that even if you don't think what you've got is enough for a gaming build, it could be if you put in the effort to build it yourself.

 

[carllll1000]

My hp is a pavilion 6130.uk. It currently has a fried 7300le in a pci-e x16 express slot. And it would take me a LONG time to save up £800 as i only earn £25 a week because im 13 and can only get a paper round All though i know saving up the money for a gaming rig would pay off more then buying a console as pc can do a lot more the games on a pc are better. You can get mods for games so that lengthens the life span of a game etc.

 

[MadAdmiral]

That was $800, which is about 500 pounds. The $400 minimum for a decent gaming system is 250 pounds. So it's not as far off...

Still, I don't know how much you're willing to spend, but the more troubling aspect is that you're looking at a PCIe 16x slot card, not a PCIe 2.0 16x slot. That means you're looking for basically an ancient card. Correct me if I'm wrong about not having a PCIe 2.0 slot. If you do only have the PCIe 16x, your looking at either the HD 2400 Pro (about 80 pounds, and entirely not worth it) or the GeForce 8400 GS (about 20 pounds). Those are literally your only options, judging from Newegg's offerings.

 

[carllll1000]

So there is no point trying to upgrade my system? I might as well just save up £500 pounds. Thanks for the help

 

[MadAdmiral]

Unfortunately, if you don't have a PCIe 2.0 slot, that's basically true. Any upgrade you could use wouldn't be worth the money you'd pay for it.

500 pounds would buy a you a fairly massive machine. Once you get over 200-250 pounds, you can probably start looking at a new build. If you don't mind buying used, you could probably start looking even before that.