Best video card for my POS!

my computer is a hp pavilion a6244n completely stock with a 250w powersource and a geforce 8400 gs card, what is the best card and powersource i can get to upgrade this thing that wont break my bank? also i believe it doesnt have a pci e 2.0 slot so you're going to have to deal with pci and pci e x16

Thanks guys!

this is what i was thinking?

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814161354 video card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817152028 psu


also if its fanless i need some info on what to do about that, or if it will be fine?

andd i do some avid gaming, im not hardcore like needing maxed settings on crysis 2 or anything, just need to upgrade my card because its a failure at games like civ 5

list your full system specs please....

im guessing a antec earthwatts 380w psu and a 5770

yes it does, type dx diag in the run box and hit enter otherwise type out your specs or I have no idea what to recomend you other than a new psu

Operating System: Windows Vista™ Home Premium (6.0, Build 6002) Service Pack 2 (6002.vistasp2_gdr.101014-0432)
Language: English (Regional Setting: English)
System Manufacturer: HP-Pavilion
System Model: GN702AA-ABA a6244n
BIOS: Phoenix - AwardBIOS v6.00PG
Processor: Intel(R) Core(TM)2 Duo CPU E4500 @ 2.20GHz (2 CPUs), ~2.2GHz
Memory: 3070MB RAM
Page File: 2703MB used, 3654MB available
Windows Dir: C:\Windows
DirectX Version: DirectX 11
DX Setup Parameters: Not found
DxDiag Version: 7.00.6002.18107 32bit Unicode

Display Devices
---------------
Card name: NVIDIA GeForce 8400 GS
Manufacturer: NVIDIA
Chip type: GeForce 8400 GS
DAC type: Integrated RAMDAC
Device Key: Enum\PCI\VEN_10DE&DEV_0422&SUBSYS_C7353842&REV_A1
Display Memory: 1520 MB
Dedicated Memory: 241 MB
Shared Memory: 1279 MB
Current Mode: 1440 x 900 (32 bit) (60Hz)
Monitor: HP w17e Wide LCD Monitor

I'd say 5770 instead of GTS 450. It's cheaper and faster.

Well I'm sure his CPU will bottleneck Civ 5 lol. But not all games. Still you do have a point, a 5670 is an alright partner for his system and is still plenty better than the 8400gs.

Actually I see he's running 1440x900, so that makes the 5670 an even better choice. Basically any of these, whichever is the best price: 5670, 5750, 5770

alright thanks so much for all this help guys! next question... if i were to upgrade a part a month... how would you go about doing it and which part would you upgrade too? prolly about 50 to 100 dollars a month to upgrading. thanks!

so new gpu and new powersource, what about a new 775 socket proc, even if its expensive for my mobo? would that be an OK investment?

It makes no difference that it's oem for replacing the cpu. If you want better old stuff, buy it off craigslist or something, you'd save a lot of money. The prices don't drop if you're buying new. Why waste money on old stuff that will be outdated faster (if it's not already) when you could just save a little more for new stuff and have an upgrade path after that. If you're saying 50-100 per month, cpu+ram+mobo could be ~$300 for an i5 or phenom x4.

You could even find used stuff of last generations i5 and still be a better buy than upgrading your old pos. It's just too outdated to do anything worth the money. Anything that could be upgraded is such a small improvement.

No, your motherboard lists either 800 series Smithfield, or up to 580 or 670 Prescott.

The only CPU I can even find that is compatible is 2.8ghz 820:
http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6819116389

It's only $26 though so that's pretty sweet for an 800mhz boost.

I think that's a pretty good plan for now. Don't expect it to be a whole new computer, but you should notice games are running smoother.

My girlfriend had an HP computer with a 1.8ghz dual core, 2gb RAM, and no GPU.
We first made an upgrade to a Biostar 775 mobo ($70) and an E5400 (2.8ghz, $80) along with 4gb RAM ($40) and Windows 7 64 bit ($100, she had Vista before). That alone made it run quite a bit better. After that, we got her a 5770 ($95) which gave better video quality - but she doesn't really game (except Sims 3 lol). But one of the best upgrades was we got her a new HDD. She went from a 5400rpm 320gb drive that her PC came with to a 7200RPM Western Digital 1TB Caviar Black HDD ($70) and honestly it made the PC quite a bit faster. So I guess my point in telling you this, is that after you get these parts you might consider a new fast HDD as your next upgrade.

Well, there's always places to improve. I think your plan is a good start point and definitely good prices.

Forgot to mention the E5700 link also. Putting separately coz am not able to edit my comment.

www.newegg.com/Product/Product.asp [...] 6819116381

theyre almost exactly the same except the obvious higher ghz and whatnot, except some *advanced intel technologies* are different at the bottom,
Current : http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=30781
New: http://ark.intel.com/Product.aspx?id=27512

why?

An they aren't really even close to the same, pentium D is the generation prior to the 65 nm core 2 duo's.

I saw that too, but obviously he's already got a core 2 duo or so his DXdiag says, so.... I don't really know what to recommend to him, the e5700 would be a good choice but the board specs say it won't work. There must have been a bios update but I'm too lazy/don't know where to look to find out.

I think the best bet is to talk to an HP rep, but I did find this after some googling:
http://www.overclock.net/intel-mot [...] tible.html

well its too late on the processor, should i try it or is it just going to be a waste of thermal paste?

its too late, the payment or whatever was taken, so i just threw away 25 dollars basically, if by chance can you try and link me to one of those two processors on bestbuy if they have them? im on my phone so i cant really look at it. thanks!

dw about if wolf, i just found a bag of change from when i was like 14 behind my dresser, yeahhh it had 35 dollars in change.

the wolfdale one? can you please link me?

on a 1 to 10 benski, how sure are you that thats going to work, 10 being 100%

Alright well i got the video card today... it says it recommends a 400W or more powersource... is the 380W gonna be enough for the new card and new proc?

That i did, Live Chat let me cancel the other order sooo no worries, hakuna matata haha

power source works like a champ, video card works... not on my system at the moment tho idfk whats wrong, it knows the cord is connected but theres no VGA signal? worked like a champ with my friends computer. havent even fucked with the processor yet.

You're saying the E6600 doesn't work?

Have you removed the CMOS battery and unplugged the PSU to reset the mobo? Also, does it have the most up to date BIOS?