Help Please!

[Jmears44]

I have been going through this for a while now and I am completely stumbled any help would be greatly appreciated! I have a HP Slimline Model s5310y. I am Currently looking to upgrade this computer to be able to run Star Wars The Old Republic at least..

Specs: 3.00 gigahertz AMD Athlon II X2 250, 4GB RAM, 220 WATT PSU.

Link to all specs here http://reviews.cnet.com/desktops/hp-pavilion-slimline-s5310y/4507-3118_7-33968312.html?tag=mncol;subnav


I would like to save as much money as possible but can work with around 400$. I was thinking about buying a new case PSU and graphics card but i have no idea! Any help again greatly appreciated.

 

[jrazor247]

I found an image of the internals of that model. It looks like the PSU is non standard size, so upgrading that is an issue. Cnet reports that it has a 220 watt PSU. That is not much; though I've found HP PSU's to be underrated, I'd guesstimate you could probably do 550ti or similar AMD midrange. Because the case is slimline, you would have to choose a low-profile video card. Also, you could reassemble the system in a new case to fit a larger power supply and video card, provided it has standard ATX power connectors & mobo mounting holes.

 

[jrazor247]

I just found this PSU upgrade on ebay: http://compare.ebay.com/like/260923242748

And it looks like nVidia only has 430 and 520 in low profile still in stock @ newegg and a ton of AMD. I had a similar setup a year ago- bought a refurb HP with core2 duo and added a 450, total cost 430$. Wasn't sure if the PSU would hold up but it did. I took them back and eventually built a complete i3-2100 system for around $260 excluding GPU & HDD ( i went 240GB SSD and no video card since it was for work). The cost of performance has dropped dramitically is what I discovered. So for 400$ you could add a nice GPU and have a pretty nice system that will last a while longer than upgrading.

 

[Jmears44]

So you're saying I will be able to just upgrade it with a PSU and video card nice... What do you recommend I buy via graphic card with a link i could'nt seem to find them seaching? And how do i know it will be able to run Star wars TORP Skyrim Diablo 3 etc in high quality? please

 

[jrazor247]

I dunno about game performance, but with a low profile card you prob can't run it at high settings. What is your monitor resolution, or resolution you feel comfortable playing at? Go to newegg or tigerdirect, and use the filters to select 'low profile'.