Curse

Guild worrs · Nov 11, 2006, 09:18 PM // 21:18

OK, so i bought this 1grand hp hoping itd kick ass on Counterstrike and Guildwars, And i Know i made a bad mistake, i should have made my comp. BUT whats done is done, and im going to make the best out of it. Currently My Hp Pavilion M7650n cant even run guild wars or counterstrike, my two favorite games. I have been told its probly because of the Shtty video card in this comp. I am pretty ignorant with computers, so can some of you really good computer guys give me some links to Video/graphic cards that would kick these 2 games asses? I have been told this comp has a 16 Pcie Video card slot, although i dont really know what that is. Please only give me a link to a product and u KNOW is compatible with this computer and will blow these games away. Perhaps a link to a Newegg product? THANKS in advance!

**EDIT** My specs that i know of: 2gig of DDr2 memory 320gig harddrive, It has that new 2 duo processor. It says the graphics card is this : Intel media graphics accelerator 3000.
Im not so sure what psu amperage is.. how do i check it?

If you need any other specs then just say so! thnx

Tachyon · Nov 11, 2006, 09:40 PM // 21:40

If you want to blow Counter Strike and Guild Wars away, as you put it then try this :-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130072

However, if that's a bit rich then you can't go wrong with this :-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814122010

Excal · Nov 11, 2006, 09:43 PM // 21:43

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814143049

7600GT, it will run GW and CS well, and your PSU should have enough juice for it.

EDIT: Ah sorry you beat me to it xD

Lurid · Nov 11, 2006, 09:52 PM // 21:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by Azagoth

If you want to blow Counter Strike and Guild Wars away, as you put it then try this :-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814130072

However, if that's a bit rich then you can't go wrong with this :-

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814122010

I wouldn't trust the stock PSU with either of these, especially not the 8xxx.

Post the rest of your system specs, namely how much RAM and the PSU amperage.

Alias_X · Nov 11, 2006, 10:50 PM // 22:50

Wow! I didn't realize the 8xxx was out already!

Just goes to show you whatever card you buy will be obsolete.

I suggest a 7900 or 7950. Those will definitely kick ass.

l)l2UNl( · Nov 12, 2006, 05:40 AM // 05:40

r u just gonna play CS and GW? and if you are playing the original CS you dont need a high end graphics card but, make sure that you get a decent one for cs:s

tho 1 grand for that machine isnt too bad actually w/ 2gb mem and a core 2 duo proc.

Lurid · Nov 12, 2006, 06:48 AM // 06:48

Quote:

Originally Posted by Guild worrs

Im not so sure what psu amperage is.. how do i check it?

Open the side of the case, and read the sticker off the side of the power supply. It should list the wattage, and amperage of the 12v, 3.3v, and 5.5v rails.

Guild worrs · Nov 12, 2006, 05:45 PM // 17:45

Can any1 else help? im still confused with which one is best.. idk about the psu thing

fatband · Nov 12, 2006, 06:02 PM // 18:02

ill say a cheap 7900 nvida card would work find

Kern Wolf · Nov 12, 2006, 07:02 PM // 19:02

I've always had great results with ATI:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814195024

Mushroom · Nov 14, 2006, 03:42 PM // 15:42

Quote:

Originally Posted by Excal

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Produc...82E16814143049

7600GT, it will run GW and CS well, and your PSU should have enough juice for it.

Change the power supply.

I have seen these units come in the door to my shop, and I did a double check to make sure. That unit only ships with a 300 watt power supply. That is not even high enough to run the system, let alone any additions.

If I had built that unit, I would have shipped it with nothing less then a 350 watt supply, more then likely a 420+ watt supply.

The case also has substandard cooling. If I remember right, it has a single 90mm fan out the back, which doubles as the CPU cooler. There is a reason that HP has a reputation for systems dying after 1-2 years. It is the piss-poor cooling and power supplies they use.

As a minimum, upgrade the power supply to something with 400-500 watts. Otherwise, within a year or so it will die, and 50/50 it will be by overvolting, sending 12 volts of power down the 5 volt rail. That means that not only the supply dies, but it takes the motherboard with it (and 25% of the time more components like CPU, drives, etc).

The best solution is changing the entire case. The motherboard is standard ATX, so will go in any standard case. But you have to do some slight modifications if you want to keep the front-panel AV connectors.

swaaye · Nov 14, 2006, 07:50 PM // 19:50

My bro has a Dell P4 2.6 that shipped with a R9700. It only has a 250W PSU. I thought that was rather odd and pathetic since a 9700 retail says to stick with 300W+ for the PSU. But, it has worked fine for years. I dropped a X800XL in that machine for him a few months back and it seems fine. I'm sure it's at the edge though. I think that the OEM PSUs are of high enough quality to handle a bit more than most of the horrid crap aftermarket PSUs out there.

If you don't upgrade the PSU, you definitely shouldn't go with anything other than an upgrade to a low-ish power GPU. Tech Report measures GPU power usage in their reviews. GeForce 7x00 series is the more power frugal of the current offerings compared to the ATI counterparts.

I'd go 7600GT if you have PCIe. If you are stuck with AGP, X800XL cuz it's 110nm and thus uses less power than the 130nm X800XT/X850XT.

Mushroom · Nov 14, 2006, 08:52 PM // 20:52

Quote:

Originally Posted by swaaye

My bro has a Dell P4 2.6 that shipped with a R9700. It only has a 250W PSU. I thought that was rather odd and pathetic since a 9700 retail says to stick with 300W+ for the PSU. But, it has worked fine for years. I dropped a X800XL in that machine for him a few months back and it seems fine. I'm sure it's at the edge though. I think that the OEM PSUs are of high enough quality to handle a bit more than most of the horrid crap aftermarket PSUs out there.

Actually, you would be surprised. It is a rare event for me to open a "Major Brand" computer, and see a power supply that is even 300 watts. I did work about an hour ago on a Gateway (1 year old) that had a P4 2.8 GHz processor, and a 160 watt power supply.

I seriously believe that they engineer them to fail. Since 2000, computers have decreased drastically in the quality of power supplies and cases. Most new computers in the last 3 years seem to be lucky if they last more then 2 years without serious problems. And of course, if they fail after the first year (when the warranty expires), that is fine with the makers. It means you get to go out and buy a new computer.

One trick a lot of companies are doing is by doing a "shortcut" with the 5 volt rail. If you look closely, they do not give a listing of +5 volts. This is because what they do is run a 5 volt negative, which in theory "pulls" 5 volts instead of "pushing" 5 volts through a traditional +5/-5 system.

However, the down side is that when that "5 volt pull" goes bad, it sucks 12 volts straight through the motherboard (and other components). Standard power supplies monitor the 5 volt rail, and will shut down if it goes bad.

Myself, I would never use a "stock" power supply that comes with today's computers. They are grossly underpowered, and of a questionable design. Their only advantage for the companies is that they are just good enough to make it through the warranty period. To me, anybody selling new computers with 200 watt supplies should be shot (I do not care what quality, it will still fail sooner then a supply of the proper voltage). But they do it all the time.

Lurid · Nov 14, 2006, 09:29 PM // 21:29

Quote:

Originally Posted by swaaye

I think that the OEM PSUs are of high enough quality to handle a bit more than most of the horrid crap aftermarket PSUs out there.

Sorry, but you think wrong. Take a look at those rails under load with a multimeter, and you're opinion of their quality will diminish very quickly. The power supplies they use are horrible, and as Mushroom said no major OEM, or for that matter any OEM that I have ever had the misfortune of working on, has had a half decent PSU.