Want to upgrade compaq presario CQ5500Y for games

I'm not quite sure what the system requirements are for the game. Unless your speaking about the PS2 game which you could use the emulator. Do you have a dedicated graphics card or just the onboard ?

just onboard. lookin for affordable way to play game at good speed. have emulator but fps are running at 18 to 20 which is super lag. jus hopin there is an easy fix

Well a dedicated graphics card would help out a ton. It would increase your FPS by a lot. If emulated games are really the only games you would want to play I would just buy a low end DDR3 card which would cost anywhere from 50-100 bucks.

Heres a couple to choose from:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Theres a lot more to pick from. Any of these would suit your needs for playing games like that. What are other games you have in mind that your wanting to play ?

well first off thanx for the links big help and saved me from tryin to find compatible one off internet. if u have suggestions on upgrading the cpu as a whole for gaming im all ears

ive kinda settled on the zotac. is this one a definate fit for my compaq?

actually in your opinion which one of the cards that you showed me do you think will b best

I would give the same advice to you as I have for lots of other people. If your into gaming and its what you do all the time I would say to invest in your own custom built PC. If you dont know that is, its basically you ordering the parts off of computer stores such as:

http://www.newegg.com/

http://www.tigerdirect.com/

http://www.ncix.us/

I have looked up your specs and its not very powerful to game on, as for internet browsing, watching movies and things that like its fine. If your willing to want to try something like that and would give me a price range of what you would want to spend then I would be gladly to provide you with some parts you could choose from. And if you are purchasing one of the ones I sent you, or any other dedicated graphics cards. They all have a power supply requirement. Which means one could be a minimum of 200w the other could be 300. So if you are going to purchase one youll need to find what Wattage your power supply is. Normally located on the sticker posted on the power supply.

im lookin to order the zotac. would you know how i would go about finding that particular one (easily) been web surfin for this all day. lookin to order together

They all would work fine in your computer, some are more powerful and some are less powerful. In my opinion if I had to choose from any one of those I would choose the Sapphire HD 6670. There are alot to choose from so I would advise that you search around for some other that you might like and if you have any other questions I would be happy to help.

and sorry to question ya ears up but what would b a good start as far as tower for gaming. and try to keep in mind that i am familiar with how expensive it is to build one and i would most likely b putting together (example one component a month average) for building it from scratch

I'm sorry are you talking about a graphics card or a power supply ?

the power supply for ZOTAC ZT-60604-10L GeForce GT 610 512MB 64-bit DDR3 PCI HDCP Ready Low Profile Ready Video Card

As for a power supply and you saying that you would want to upgrade a part once a month I would pick something like 450-600 which gives you alot of head room for any future upgrades you want want to do.

430w: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

430w: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

520w: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

600w: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Any of these would fit most of your upgrades. If you decide later that you would want a higher end graphics card then the 430w would be ok as most of them require at least 400w, but you never want to go for what is "enough" in the power supply. You want extra of what your computer needs. So a 500-600w would be perfect.

As for your question about the Zotac graphics card. You could look at Tiger direct, and NCIX and see what there prices are for it.

You would be able to purchase both the power supply and graphics card together, from any of the website I gave you. As for a gaming case any mid tower would be perfect for you. Ill give you a couple you can choose from.

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E168...

Just a couple to choose from, there plenty more. So whatever fits your needs and your budget would work for you.

thanx again..dnt think ive ever got this much help on the net. i looked up zotac and was lookin for the suggestions that most sites have as far as additional needs. so if im starting from scratch is ok to keep compaq tower or satart with somethin better?

disregard the question about tower. did not fully read last reply

not a total amatuer to cpu's but just now gettin used to upgrading and gaming pc's. basically im trying to get the power supply but im trying to get the right one for the part im getting. u said 400w, i found but are they all compatible like universal or is there particular ones i should b lookin at for the zotac card

The Zotac one needs a minimum of 300w. So to be safe you never want to go for whats needed. You want to have head room.So a 400-450 is more than enough for now. All power supplies have the exact same cables that are needed to power anything in your PC, Example. PCI E cables to power graphics cards that need the additional power. The zotac one doesnt need that as it only needs the power thats supplied to the motherboard. They have molex connectors that connect to case fans and can be used to power video cards which needs an adaptor. But they video cards will come with that. All power supplies are all the same. Some power supplies are modular which means youll only need to plug in the cables that you need so you dont have a bunch of klumped up cables everywhere. Some that are labeled SLI/Crossfire ready means that they have 4 PCIE cables to power 2 cards. They all are the same as how they function. But there different as in the wattage and the style of it. For now with that card youll really only need 400-450w. But if you are upgrading CPU, case, motherboard later on down the road. I would grab a bigger once such as 500-600.

If you were looking into spending the money to build your own pc and you were buying lets say a mobo, CPU, and a higher end graphics card than yes. Youll need a bigger case. But if your only using that zotec one for a good amount of time then it wouldnt be necessary to buy a case.