Curse

tidusjar · Jan 01, 2010, 02:09 AM // 02:09

I am buying a new computer and i am on a very tight budget
I will be upgrading in the future. The price is £100
Is this good?

The specs are:

Very Fast Intel Xeon HT 2.8Ghz processor
1.0GB (1024) RAM memory
(upgradeable to 8GB)
80GB storage hard drive
(upgradeable to 2 x 1.5TB HDDs)
DVD-ROM Drive
Nvidia GeForce 6200 (512MB)
4 x latest USB 2.0 ports
Built-in sound
Built-in fast Gigabit Ethernet Network
Built-in Fast SCSI Controller
1 x AGP 8X Slot
4 x PCI Slots
Powerful Black/Silver HP Compaq Evo XW6000
convertible tower/desktop PC/workstation with brand new Geforce 6200 with 512MB graphics memory - Fully Windows 7 Compatible

End · Jan 01, 2010, 02:24 AM // 02:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by tidusjar

I am buying a new computer and i am on a very tight budget
I will be upgrading in the future. The price is £100
Is this good?

The specs are:

Very Fast Intel Xeon HT 2.8Ghz processor
1.0GB (1024) RAM memory
(upgradeable to 8GB)
80GB storage hard drive
(upgradeable to 2 x 1.5TB HDDs)
DVD-ROM Drive
Nvidia GeForce 6200 (512MB)
4 x latest USB 2.0 ports
Built-in sound
Built-in fast Gigabit Ethernet Network
Built-in Fast SCSI Controller
1 x AGP 8X Slot
4 x PCI Slots
Powerful Black/Silver HP Compaq Evo XW6000
convertible tower/desktop PC/workstation with brand new Geforce 6200 with 512MB graphics memory - Fully Windows 7 Compatible

The ram and 80GB hard drive will want to be upgraded...soon...
Assuming your just looking at playing Guild Wars that is just fine...I think...
As for worth the cost I don't know as I hear prices are higher over there and I don't know the exchange rate off the top of my head.
But for a Guild Wars player you should be ok and should (correct me if I am wrong someone) be able to push out max settings...

Isn't the Intel Xeon Series a server line of processors?

Elder III · Jan 01, 2010, 03:03 AM // 03:03

that will be ok with Guild Wars - I wouldn't try running Windows 7 on it though, XP will be fine however....

Quaker · Jan 01, 2010, 05:57 PM // 17:57

It's a workstation. It should play GW at some lower quality setting.

As far as upgradability goes, it's a bit limited. Even upgrading the RAM requires expensive ECC registered RAM. It only has an AGP graphics slot. It's designed for Xeon cpus.

However, the case does appear to be a standard ATX formfactor with a 460watt power supply. So you may be able to keep the case, the DVD drive, keyboard, etc.
But any real upgrade would involve replacing the CPU, motherboard, RAM, hard drive, and video card, and possibly the power supply as well.

tidusjar · Jan 01, 2010, 06:59 PM // 18:59

Yes i was going to be playing Guild Wars and upgrading this computer.
I will be upgrading the Graphics card asap and the RAM
So if i wanted to upgrade over time it would be expensive?

I am not very good with the hardware side of this so could you please explain?

Quaker · Jan 01, 2010, 07:23 PM // 19:23

ECC registered RAM is much more expensive than non-ECC RAM and (in this case), it's an older style.
Xeon cpus are more expensive than similar cpus.
AGP graphics cards are often more expensive then the equivalent PCI-e card, especially for ones using newer GPUs.

*** non of the above items could be carried over to a new motherboard/computer. ***

The motherboard has no SATA connectors, so any hard drive you buy for it would likely be IDE (or SCSI). Although you could probably carry over an IDE drive to a new computer, it would be slower than a new SATA would be.

So, basically, any money you spent upgrading that machine would be mostly wasted (except for a hard drive). Plus it would cost more to upgrade it than it would an ordinary desktop using ordinary RAM and CPU.
Of course, how much money you want to spend on it is up to you, but I wouldn't recommend spending too much.

tidusjar · Jan 01, 2010, 08:16 PM // 20:16

Ok what about:

Detailed Specifications
Make HP
Model D530
Processor Intel Pentium 4HT 2.8Ghz
Memory 1GB Memory
Hard Drive 400GB
Screen None base unit only
Optical Drive DVD Drive
Operating System Windows XP Pro Loaded & freshly installed
Sound Ports Speakers, Microphone & LIne in
USB Ports 6 x USB Ports
Network Ethernet port 10/100
Various Ports VGA Monitor output, Serial, keyboard, Mouse, Parallel Printer Ports

It dosent give me alot of information so i found the retail version and its got a bit more information here:

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applicati...685&CatId=2645

But the link above is not what i'm going to buy.

EDIT: It's Called a HP Compaq d530 Intel Desktop

Another edit:

I also found another one:

Fast Intel Pentium 4 HT 3.2GHz processor
Massive 1GB (1,024MB) RAM memory - upgradeable to 4GB
brand new 500GB storage hard drive - with 3 year warranty by Seagate
(Upgradeable to 2TB hard drive)
DVD-ROM drive - upgradeable to CDRW/DVD rewriter
Genuine Microsoft Windows XP Professional COA
8 (6 back and 2 front) x latest USB 2.0 ports
1 x low-profile PCI-E slot
2 x PCI slots
Fast 10/100/Gigibit Ethernet
Legacy Free (no PS/2 port)
And the full specs are here:
http://support.dell.com/support/edoc...ug/specs02.htm

N E D M · Jan 02, 2010, 06:44 AM // 06:44

beware the low profile it can make for upgrade nightmares

Quaker · Jan 02, 2010, 04:11 PM // 16:11

The second one you posted (the first in the 2nd post) , while better than the first one, still only has an AGP graphics slot, so it's upgrade options are limited.

The 3rd one (2nd of 2nd post) is much better. It uses common DDR400 RAM, has a PCI-e graphics slot, and SATA ports. The only two problems I can see with it are that, firstly, some (but not all) models use a Small Form Factor case which means you need to get a low profile video card (which limits your choices) and may also mean that it has a non-standard power supply. Secondly all models have a relative small wattage power supply which would need to be upgraded.
If you go for the 3rd one, try to get one with the largest case.