LegacyOfNothing

Distinguished
Feb 11, 2012
8
0
18,510
I'm looking to upgrade an HP p6674y for under $300.

I was only planning to upgrade my graphics card, but from what I've read it looks like I won't be able to do that with any real leap in quality without upgrading my power supply. Right now it's 250w.

My concern now is compatibility. I found this combo on newegg, and it looks like it should give me the performance improvement I'm looking for.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/ComboDealDetails.aspx?ItemList=Combo.824435

Any thoughts on the quality of that combo for this game specifically would be appreciated. as well as other suggestions.

My other question though, how do I know it will fit? Is there any way for me to check? I've replaced graphics cards on other computers in the past, but the power supply thing is new to me. I just want to be sure this will work with my computer.

Thanks!

Other computer specs:
AMD PHENOM II 820 Quad 2.8GHz
6GB DDR3
250W PSU
Looking to swap out ATI RADEON 4200 that's currently giving me 6-20 avg FPS.
 

LegacyOfNothing

Distinguished
Feb 11, 2012
8
0
18,510
Just went to BestBuy (got impatient). I took your advice, and went with a Corsair GS600 power supply, that should be pretty solid. The best graphic card option they had that kept my total under $300 was the Radeon HD 6770. From what I've read people are split on it, some say it's well above what is needed to run SWTOR at max settings, others seem really underwhelmed, and advise going higher. We'll see. Now I get the fun task of learning how to install these bad boys without destroying my computer, haha.


 

Vettedude

Distinguished
Apr 10, 2009
661
0
19,060
You bought a GPU and PSU at Best Buy? You just got ripped bro. For $300 bucks on Newegg with patience of literally under 5 days you could have gotten WAY more GPU performance with a 6850 or even 6870.
 

Gamer Dude

Distinguished
Feb 10, 2012
226
0
18,690

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bsjabpq4dFE
 

catatafish

Distinguished
Feb 6, 2012
448
0
18,810
Meh....after shipping and whatnot Best Buy isn't too far off from Amazon or Newegg. Don't have buyers remorse, you probably got within $20 or less from what you could have gotten online not to mention the convenience of easy returns. I bought both my case and memory there for within a couple of bucks of interwebz.

I'm running SWTOR maxxed out with the onboard HD2000 integrated graphics so you should be fine. Here is a great link for a rough comparison of performance vs. price. You can see how far up you are with the 6770 compared to my rig and you've got a solid power supply with the Corsair. According to this link, you'll be able to enjoy far more demanding games than SWTOR with the one you bought.
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/gaming-graphics-card-review,3107-7.html

Power supply and GPU was my first solo upgrade as well.....just follow the directions, take your time and don't force anything and you'll be golden.
 

LegacyOfNothing

Distinguished
Feb 11, 2012
8
0
18,510
I paid $74.00 in-store for the GS600, Newegg is listing it for $89.99. The 6770 was like $111. $300 was my limit, but I only ended up paying around $233. I don't think I got "ripped bro". I'm not a gamer in general, and I don't need it to run anything heavier than SWTOR. Hopefully the 6770 is sufficient for that, people seem kinda divided on it. If it works well, and I'm $70 under my limit I can get a decent headset, heh. Thanks for the help.


 

LegacyOfNothing

Distinguished
Feb 11, 2012
8
0
18,510
Thanks, I hope it works out. I was hoping to get it in tonight, but I have many hours of backing up I'd like to do before I start digging into my computers guts. I've had some rough experiences with computers shitting the bed, learned the hard way to be cautious.


 

Gamer Dude

Distinguished
Feb 10, 2012
226
0
18,690

Installing a PSU and GPU is F all and nothing the chance of a failure would be even higher if you left in the old generic PSU but swapping the old junk built in PSU with that GS 600 will up the stability and reliability of you PC.