Shazz December 8, 2008 Share Shazz Member December 8, 2008 I was given a desktop new in box...sealed! I was wondering if there is any good upgrades for this machine...or if it is ok to game with as is. Product Features * Powerful multimedia desktop with TV tuner (NTSC/ATSC), personal video recording functionality, and programming guide * 2.2 GHz AMD Phenom 9500 quad-core processor, dual 320 GB hard drives, 3 GB RAM (8 GB max), 16x LightScribe DVD drive * NVidia GeForce 8500 GT graphics with up to 1535 MB total available memory; 10/100 Ethernet; open bay for optional HP Personal Media Drive * Connectivity: 6 USB, 2 FireWire, 1 VGA, 1 HDMI, 1 S-Video, 1 composite A/V, digital audio output, surround sound speaker output, 15-in-1 memory card reader * Pre-installed with Windows Vista Home Premium (with Media Center capabilities); includes remote control Processor, Memory, and Motherboard * Hardware Platform: PC * Processor: 2.2 GHz AMD Athlon * Number of Processors: 4 * RAM: 3000 MB * RAM Type: DDR2 SDRAM Hard Drive * Size: 640 GB * Type: Serial ATA Cases and Expandability * Size (LWH): 7.6 inches, 10.75 inches, 15.16 inches * Weight: 37 pounds Any ideas on what you would do with it?? If it would be cheap to upgrade and make it a gaming system, I am all for it. But I need the tech department of GC to help me out! Ideas? I forgot to mention that this is a HP M8330F Pavilion. You can search amazon.com and ebay. Amazon had them for a descent price new. Amazons link to this system! Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preacher December 8, 2008 Share Preacher Member December 8, 2008 (edited) I personally wouldn't build an AMD system for myself because for comparible prices you can get much better performance out of Intel right now, but for a gift that is a nice deal. The video is a tad weak but will play most newer games on lower settings. The main issue is that it is using your system RAM as well as it's own 256mb-512mb of memory. That 1.5gb of memory is using at least a gig of your system ram. I would suggest a 4870 if you can swing it or a 4850 if you are tighter on cash. Other than that if you don't have the money for one of these or an nvidia gtx 200 series, I would use that one until you do, a lower end upgrade wouldn't make enough sense to justify it. RAM upgrades are also fairly cheap but 3gb isn't bad at all. I had 4gb in my system for a long time and never really pushed the limits, I have 8gb now but only because I got a really great MIR deal. Nice gift, make sure you don't give them that fruitcake you were given last year. Edited December 8, 2008 by Preacher Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZeroDamage December 8, 2008 Share ZeroDamage Member December 8, 2008 Before buying a video card, I would make sure the system has a PCI-e slot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dwEEziL December 8, 2008 Share dwEEziL Member December 8, 2008 Wow, pretty nice gift. Like was said previously, looks like all you need to (sort of) be concerned with is the vid card. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[LaW]Maverick December 8, 2008 Share [LaW]Maverick Member December 8, 2008 Wow, pretty nice gift. Like was said previously, looks like all you need to (sort of) be concerned with is the vid card. Yeah, the video card is a lil' weak for modern-gaming, but it's not HORRIBLE. It's a good time to buy though, because prices are waaay down from what they were a year or so ago. I'd set it up, play what you like on it, and see how it runs Congrats! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shazz December 8, 2008 Author Share Shazz Member December 8, 2008 http://shopper.cnet.com/desktops/hp-pavili...502.html#info-5 This link above shows all the slots and the ones that are open. One thing I noticed is that it says the video card is integrated...can I still swap cards? I have not even pulled this out of the box and set it up yet. Can I upgrade the graphics on this computer? On a side note, I don't really care how much it cost to upgrade it, as long as I am not tossing money at it with little to no results in performance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
[LaW]Maverick December 8, 2008 Share [LaW]Maverick Member December 8, 2008 (edited) $200 to $260 for a good graphics card you need to look inside the computer and see if there is a PCI-E slot, it looks like this: http://images.bit-tech.net/content_images/...gigabyte4-8.jpg They won't necessarily be that color, but it should give you an idea what to look for. If you do have PCI-E slots, then you can upgrade the graphics--I imagine you do, however. Edit: If those specs are correct, I believe you do have 1 PCI-E slot, which will do it for ya'. You just disable the on-board graphics when you stick the new one in. (most boards do this for you automatically) I would still open it up, throw a game on there you want to play, and see how it goes. Edited December 8, 2008 by [LaW]Maverick Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Preacher December 8, 2008 Share Preacher Member December 8, 2008 I agree, don't fix it if it ain't broken. Besides the video cards will only get cheaper from here so there's no hurry. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Clueless December 9, 2008 Share Clueless GC Alumni December 9, 2008 Sounds like a sweet media center PC as is....no more parts needed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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