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help upgradingmy pc into a gaming monster..

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hello everyone..nid help badly from you experts..
i just bought myself an hp pavilion slimline s3321p pc.... and i plan to turn this small little pc into a "gaming monster"(preferably good enough to play assassins creed and crysis at max performance)... but the things stopping me from doin just that are these factors:
1.small casing
2.power supply is only 160w
3.only one pci-e slot available
(in which these are stopping me from getting a good video cards with big coolers or heatsinks and require a bit more power)

and if y'all would be so kind... could you write down a list on what is the best suited video card("take into consideration the size of the video card your recommending" ) for my pc and what other parts of the computer should i upgrade to make this a respectable "GAMING COMPUTER"...(nothing too expensive though just as long as it can play "crysis,assassins creed and other high end video games)

here are the specs of my computer:
HP Pavilion Slimline s3321p

Manufacturer: Asus
Motherboard Name: M2N61-AR
HP/Compaq motherboard name: Acacia-GL6E

Athlon 64 X2 (B) 5000+ 2.6 GHz (65W)
GeForce 6150SE nForce 430, Integrated graphics
Memory Installed 2 GB
Maximum allowed 4 GB (2 x 2 GB)
Speed supported PC2-5300 MB/sec
Type 240 pin, DDR2 SDRAM
Power Supply 160 W
TV tuner card
High Definition 6-channel audio
ALC 888S chipset
SPDIF out (coaxial)
PCI...One (TV tuner)
PCI Express x16(currently empty)
Windows Vista Home Premium with Windows Media Center (32-bit)
AMD Live

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Just came across this post. Sorry to say mate you cant get somthing for nothing and to turn your PC into a gaming machine will require a little cash.
To play Crysis on max settings would require alot of cash.

The cheapest thing to do would be to get a new graphics card and power supply. For the Graphics I would recommend a HD4870 (will take up one PCIE slot and the PCI slot beneath it) and the power, probably a 500w psu
with the correct connections for your gfx card.

Ideally you would want more ram but with vista 32 the most you can use is 3.5 gb. That would be fine however.

Lastly you dont mention your hard drives?. Optimising them can improve performance. Also getting a vista readyboost usb stick can help if you dont have enough RAM.

Hope this has helped.

Reply to j5surferdude

Firstly i'd get a new case if i were you and transfer all the internals to it. An Antec Sonata 3 would be brilliant for you as it also comes with a decent 500 Watt PSU and looks pretty smart as well! This case/PSU combo will set you back about £70 which is pretty cheap!

This would then allow you to get a decent graphics card, something like an ATI HD4870 would be perfect for your system, they retail for about £170 if you look pretty hard.

Finally if i were you i'd add 1gb more of RAM as sometimes games get bottlenecked by 2gb but i've yet to find a game that gets bottlenecked by 3gb!

Reply to quantumsheep

4850 should do if you're strapped for cash matey.

------------------------------ E8400, Radeon 4850 512mb, 2GB OCZ 1066mhz DDR2, Asus P5K, 500GB 7200.11, 500w OCZ StealhXStream, Logitech X-550s + Mission Hi-Fi speakers, DVD-doitall drive. Amidoinitrite.
Reply to jonisginger

oh sori forgot to specify the hard drive also.... the hard drive in my computer is 500 GB SATA 3G (3.0 Gb/sec)...
ok lets say i money isnt a problem then.. what upgrades would you recommend for me??? take in to consideration the size of the parts you recommend for me.... wouldnt want to buy an upgrade that wouldnt fit in my pc...

Reply to dreadcrozz

ive been looking into a mini itx rig aswell, and im finally glad to see a mini itx motherboard with a real pci-e slot. im going to make a custom case out of wood modelled after old radio's similar to slipperskip.com size has really been an issue for me with the video card, although the 4850 is an amazing card and so is the 4870 a rule ive been going with is that the video card cant be longer than the motherboard. here is what im planning for my build so far.

M2N61-AR

HIS radeon hd 4670 1gb = which can be found for under $100.00 this card is not only really great for the price/performance area but at peak usage consumes 50 watts less than either the 4850 or 9600 gt series of cards.

amd 64 x2 5400+ uses 65w also can be had for around 100 dollars.

i think this will make a good base for a formidable gaming rig on the cheap. im all about bang for buck, and the whole reason im going mini itx is because its small, i have much love for the 48xx series of cards but they are behemoths all the way down to the 4300 series.


good luck and please post with your decision and how everything turns out.

Reply to brisingamen
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