Vekoma Fan Boy Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 As of now I'm saving up some money to replace my junk eMachine T-series computer. I'm not looking to spend 2000$ on building my own computer, but I do want to buy a decent desktop computer set with Windows 7 and a larger hard drive than my current one, which is 145GB. I'm looking for decent gaming ability. Nothing Crysis-level, but I would like to be able to run games like RailWorks, Garrys Mod, Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike: Source, No Limits (and eventually NL2), as well as programs like Autodesk Inventor well. My maximum budget is about $750. I have one option I'm considering as of now, but I'm definitely open to new suggestions. THIS HP Pavilion Desktop: Pros: Nicely within budgetWhole Package: Tower, Monitor, Mouse, Keyboard4GB DDR2 RAM included, expandable to 8GBComes with Windows 7 Home Premium 64 bitNVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE integrated graphics4 Slots for Graphics cards (1 PCI-Express x16, 2 PCI-Express x1, 1 PCI) Cons: 500GB hard drive. I would prefer a 1TB.Only has room for one extra hard drive.Only 4 USB ports in the back. (I hate using front USB ports for anything but photo transfers from cameras and such) Any help/input would be awesome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Band-Aid Posted November 1, 2010 Share Posted November 1, 2010 If you don't mind using external hard drives, then 1 TB shouldn't be a problem Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatle11 Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 Hard Drives are very cheap so if you have to upgrade it's not a big deal. You might be even able to get an upgrade to the 1TB depending on where you purchase. You could also buy a USB hub, something like This one that you could plug into one of your back USB ports and give you extra space. You could also but a PCI card for that but you have only one slot. One thing I'd like to mention is that I'm not a big fan of integrated graphics on a gaming system. I'd spend the money to get a dedicated card. Click here for some choices. Hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vekoma Fan Boy Posted November 2, 2010 Author Share Posted November 2, 2010 ^Thanks for all the info on graphics cards! I just have a few questions though, I figure since the computer I'm looking at seems to be such a nice deal, and the graphics card is a non-essential item I can save for and get after the computer, I may as well throw my current Nvidia GeForce FX5200 into the computer, then wait a bit and splurge and get the ATI Radeon Sapphire 6870. But I have a few questions: I can see on the card that it is a single slot card, and is listed as a PCI-Express 2.1 x16 slot. The computer I am looking at is listed as having one PCI-Express x16 slot. Are these two slot types compatible? (If there is even any difference in the first place) Also, the Sapphire 6870 is a very physically large card, how can I be sure it will fit inside the computers tower? And, probably most importantly, how do I know this thing won't rape the power supply? I can't find any information on how much power the card requires, or how much power the computer's supply puts out. If you want to take a look, HERE is the computer, and HERE is the card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Yamez Posted November 2, 2010 Share Posted November 2, 2010 Just a thought: If you're building a new computer (or buying one for that matter) I'd suggest waiting until Black Friday later this month. You can get some really awesome deals on sites such as newegg.com or tigerdirect.com. Edit: Processor wise I'd suggest something in the core i5/i7 range if you can afford it, they are phenomenal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatle11 Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 ^^The video card should work in the PCI-Express slot. I'd try and contact the manufacturer, in this case HP (although I'm not sure how helpful they would be) about the brand and model of the motherboard so you can look it up, as well as how much power you get from the power supply. Anything short of 500 watts is definitely not going to suffice if you want to get a powerful card like the 6870, and that may be pushing the limit. 600+ is probably ideal. I always prefer to build a PC from scratch rather than buy a pre-built PC so you know exactly what your getting. You don't neccesarily have to spend $2000 building a system. You can build to your budget. Newegg and TigerDirect have good prices on parts if you want to go that road. If you still like the one your looking at, I'd definitely get as much information as possible from the manufacturer. One thing I noticed though, it seems that the motherboard on that system only has room for 2 dimm's of memory. You could upgrade to DDR3 if you wanted but it seems only 4gigs are supported. I hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vekoma Fan Boy Posted November 3, 2010 Author Share Posted November 3, 2010 ^Thanks, Ill be sure to check with the manufacturer when I have a chance. As for the ram, it says it comes with 4GB default (2 2GB sticks) and that each dimm can address up to a four gig stick, thus making the maximum 8GB Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beatle11 Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 ^I see. 4 Gigs per dimm. Good to know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BaMiTsPaT Posted November 3, 2010 Share Posted November 3, 2010 ^I agree! Last summer I was in the market for a gaming computer, and I shopped around for pre-built computers and the cheapest I could get the specs I wants for was $4500 from Alienware. A friend of mine recommended I buy the parts and build it myself. This was the best decision I could have made, as I was able to get the computer for around $2500 and have the experience of building it myself! I would highly recommend doing the same if you can, but if you have your eyes set on the HP, then go for it sorry if this ended up being more of a story than help, but I was in a similar situation and I thought I would share! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vekoma Fan Boy Posted November 6, 2010 Author Share Posted November 6, 2010 ^I see. 4 Gigs per dimm. Good to know. Just be aware that this is only true for DDR2 RAM at the moment. DDR3 RAM doesn't yet come in 4 gig sticks. Also, looking into the possibility of building a whole computer from scratch, here's what I've put together so far: Case: Pixxo CG-8402 Black - $39.99 Mother Board: DFI LANParty DK 790FXB-M3H5 AM3 AMD 790FX - $94.99 Graphics Card: Sparkle GeForce GTX 470 SXX4701280D5-NM - $249.99 RAM: 8 Gigs Corsair DDR3 - $159.99 Processor: AMD Phenom II X4 970 Black Quad-Core - $179.99 Power Supply: Dynapower 750W - $99.99 Hard Drive: Western Digital 1.0 TB - $69.99 Monitor: Acer G215HAbd-1 Black 21.5" 5ms Widescreen LCD Monitor 300 - $139.99 Disk Drive: Plextor CD/DVD RW Combo Drive OS: Windows 7 Ultimate 64 Bit - $179.99 Subtotal: $1244.90 Shipping: $30.00 Total: $1274.90 (I'd say that's not a bad price for a built-from-scratch computer myself ) Pros: - Awesome upgradability with my case and power supply - Great graphics card - Sexy case! - Brand new monitor - 1 TB hard drive - Windows 7 OS - >3.0GHz processor Cons: Out of my preferred price range, but for what I'm getting, I'm really not gonna bitch about that. Prices will drop by the time I buy it anyway. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comicsans101 Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 I would recommend a hp pavilion. Been using mine for almost 2.5years now, and not a major problem has occurred yet. on the other hand, sony's computers are quite fragile Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The SETGO Guys Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 (edited) Removed by user Edited January 5, 2012 by The SETGO Guys Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comicsans101 Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 but are majority of the programs compatible for mac? I heard my friend said that lots of programs are mac incompatible, and thus he recommend me not to buy a mac. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comicsans101 Posted December 7, 2010 Share Posted December 7, 2010 I just got my Macbook Pro for software programming...13 Inch with a little more memory....and I LOVE IT!!!!-Only Cons --No Limits I have to get the Mac Version --My Software Programming application (Labview) hasn't been installed --No Word/Its Expensive....but I've found some nice free alternatives for now! ----and Price....but so far it's been worth it (I saved up for quite a while) -And this is my First Apple Product...and after a week I'm hooked!!! however, i really love the mac interface!!!! windows 7 is like a 2nd prize Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
astroworldfan1 Posted December 8, 2010 Share Posted December 8, 2010 I'm in the final stages of deciding on which laptop I should get for Christmas. MacBook Pro 13 vs. HP Envy 14 I'm leaning towards the Mac mostly because one review I watched of the HP listed quite a few problems with the computer after it just came out of the box. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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