HP a1230n vs. Gateway 4200-09

[biscuitasylum]

Good day, try and follow along with me on this one. lol, Okay... I currently run a HP a1230n with an AMD Athlon x2 3800+, 4 gigs ram, 500 watt power supply, and an XFX Radeon HD6670 video card. Everything listed was an upgrade to the HP from the original. The reason for such a new video card is because the previous video card upgrade that was an ATI Radeon X1650 pro finally gave out just days before Christmas 2011.

Now, I was just given a bare Gateway 4200-09 after I bought the new video card. It has the case, the mother board and the AMD Phenom II x4 9150e processor, and thats it.

Last night I bought a 2 gig Corsair XMS2 memory kit to test the Gateway out and see if it will fire. I have a 15 day grace period to return them for full refund or exchange.

I installed the power supply, the Radeon and the hard drive from the HP and the Gateway fired right up. Of course once I got to the Windows Operating system it stopped and wanted me to recertify it. lol Sorry Gates... wont be happening. Not paying for the same system software twice.

So, now, heres where i sit...

Later in the year I have plans to build a new machine from scratch. i hate prebuilt computers. I only bought my HP a1230n out of sheer laziness and I got it with warranty for 300 bucks.

What I'm trying to decide now before my 15 day grace period ends on the Gateway Memory, is whether to scrap my HP and move everything from it, Hard Drive, video card, power supply, and the cd drives to the Gateway and run it. The operating software is XP Media Center edition 32 bit.


My question is this...

Would I see enough speed increase and less bottleneck on the graphics card with the Gateway over the HP to warrant scrapping the HP for the Gateway. Or should I leave the HP system as is... take back the memory for a refund, yank the motherboard and Phenom II x4 9150e out of the Gateway to sell on ebay for a few bucks and call it good.

Any questions, ask. I accept all considerate and educated opinions.

 

[biscuitasylum]

What? No educated and considerate opinions? lol, figures. Eitherway, we've decided to chunk the gateway in the trash. Just exchanged the memory for a Cooler Master HAF series case. On to the next purchase.

 

[tsnor]

"it stopped and wanted me to recertify it. "

No problem. It's FREE, takes 2 seconds. Try it. What's happening is windows sees the MB change and is afraid you've made 100 copies. You allow it recertify, it calls home and sees there is only 1 copy that has requested recertification -- done. You're in business.

"AMD Phenom II x4 9150e processor" MUCH better than x2 3800+.

Go for teh swap.

 

[biscuitasylum]

tsnor, I tried to get it to connect online but wouldn't, so just place the phone call to Microsoft and they will handle it for me?

if this is the case... I should wait and do it when I go pick up the Asus Crosshair IV Formula and a Phenom 565 x2. Then re cert for that hardware. At least then I wont be so far behind. lol

The last computer I built was a dual Pentium II in a rack mounted system that I used on the road when i was still touring.

After I quit touring, i dumped that and decided to be lazy and buy a cheap ol off the shelf system which was the HP a1230n. I am amazed, kinda... lol, at how far behind i really am right now.

 

[biscuitasylum]

Best answer selected by biscuitasylum.

 

[Mousemonkey]

This topic has been closed by Mousemonkey