Cheap desktop to upgrade later on

[bgt123]

Hey everybody,

I currently have a mac, and am sick of never being able to play the games I want. My plan is to continue to use the mac for everything, but to buy a cheap pc desktop for gaming.

I am considering purchasing the HP Pavilion p7-1380t Desktop and then upgrading the graphics card. Is this a good idea, or are there better options?

Currently, I do not want to take on building my own pc, i know that all of you are going to say its the best option, but I just dont have the time or knowledge to do so. Also, the idea of having no tech support or operating system in the beginning scares me.

I need advice as to what I should buy. Heres some information about my budget and the computers use:

Budget: $400-500, possibly up to $600, but thats my definite max.
What I need: Everything - I need a monitor, mouse, keyboard, computer, etc.
Computer Use (from most important to least): Gaming, web, possibly school work (mostly word and powerpoint)

I want to use this to play Guild Wars 2 on at least medium settings, and be able to play future expansions when they come out. I'd also like to be able to play other modern games, but I don't need to be able to use the best settings, mid range is perfect.

Once again, I am looking for an affordable gaming desktop that I can easily upgrade in the near future. I'd prefer to avoid making my own, unless it isn't as complicated as I think it is.

Thanks for the advice!

 

[moornix]

I suggest watching a couple "Do it yourself" computer build video's on youtube before you completely dismiss the idea of building one.

Generally, pre-built PCs can't handle expansion well, because of their PSU. If you buy the HP desktop, you'll need a new PSU to handle a mid level graphics card. You could get away with a low end graphics card, but you may as well just use integrated graphics at that point.

 

[Proximon]

Any pre-built system you buy will probably need a PSU upgrade before you can upgrade the graphics.

The HP is a good price
http://www.shopping.hp.com/en_US/home-office/-/products/Desktops/HP-Pavilion/A7F22AV?HP-Pavilion-p7-1380t-Desktop-PC

However, the board will have limited functionality, the PSU will not be adequate for an upgrade, and the case has very poor cooling for a gaming GPU.

You have SEVEN parts to assemble to make your own PC. It's not hard, and there are plenty of guides.

Here is a fully upgradeable system. The monitor you can buy used, locally.

■ASUS DRW-24B1ST/BLK/B/AS Black SATA 24X DVD Burner - Bulk - OEM
■SAMSUNG Spinpoint F4 HD322GJ/U 320GB 7200 RPM SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
■SAPPHIRE Radeon HD 6670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.1 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card (11192-22-20G)
■AMD Free WinZip Pro 16 Coupon
■Logitech MK120 Black USB Wired Slim Desktop
■G.SKILL 4GB (2 x 2GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Dual Channel Kit Desktop Memory Model F3-10600CL9D-4GBNT
■ASRock B75M-GL LGA 1155 Intel B75 SATA 6Gb/s USB 3.0 Micro ATX Intel Motherboard
■Intel Pentium G860 Sandy Bridge 3.0GHz LGA 1155 65W Dual-Core Desktop Processor Intel HD Graphics BX80623G860
■Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium SP1 64-bit - OEM
■Rosewill Green Series RG530-S12 530W Continuous @40°C, 80 PLUS Certified, Single 12V Rail, Active PFC "Compatible with Core ...
■Rosewill Blackbone Black Steel / Plastic ATX Mid Tower Computer Case
TOTAL: $512.90

 

[bgt123]

Thanks Proximon, this advice has been really helpful.

Based on what you said, I think I might try to build my own computer.
It seems like it would be much easier to upgrade the video card and processor later on.

Do you think a build like this would be able to run a game like Guild Wars 2?

Here are the requirements:

Windows® XP Service Pack 2 or better
Intel® Core™ 2 Duo 2.0 GHz, Core i3, AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 or better
2 GB RAM
NVIDIA® GeForce® 7800, ATI Radeon™ X1800, Intel HD 3000 or better (256MB of video RAM and shader model 3.0 or better)
25 GB available HDD space
Broadband Internet connection
Keyboard and mouse

 

[bgt123]

Best answer selected by bgt123.

 

[Proximon]

Yes, the build exceeds those minimum requirements by a good bit.

The CPU appears in the TH article recently done:

And the GPU is there as well:

If you want to have better graphics you will need more GPU though
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/guild-wars-2-performance-benchmark,3268-5.html

 

[bgt123]

Thanks for all of your help!