I just bought a new compaq 5320f computer the price was right but from what i understand the graphics card is lacking. The specs are Amd athlon II x2 240 2.8ghz (65w) Processor Geforce 6150se nforce 430 Intergrated 3 gb ram 2.75 usable? 250w power supply windows 7 64bit Will this processor work with the new games? If so what kind of graphics card should I be looking for? I know if I change the card I will have to change the power supply. I'm sorry if this is in the wrong forum.
The X2 240 is a reasonably decent dual core processor for games, you should be able to run pretty much any current title reasonably well with that. However, you have not done yourself any favours by buying a system with a cheap graphics card and intending to upgrade it, as this approach is usualy met with difficulties since prebuilt PCs will not fit high powered graphics cards for three reasons - Power, cooling, and physical space. The 6150SE is utterly hopeless for games, you will need to buy a physical graphics card to enjoy current titles (The 6150SE is integrated, not an actual card as such). There are cheap graphics cards you can buy that will fit a prebuilt system like yours, and while they are not very powerful by comparison to top-end cards, I am guessing that by the X2 240 CPU you're on a reasonably tight budget as that is one of the cheapest models. The best card you can probably squeeze into the system will be a Radeon HD5670.
OK I looked that card up on newegg and i'm trying to find one for around $60 so what kind of card should I look for a 256mb or 512mb? Also I have one pcie x16 slot but It doesnt say if its 2.0 or not are 2.0 graphics cards backward compatible?
You won't find an HD5670 for $60, it's a $95 card. If you can't afford the HD5670, then perhaps get an HD4670 instead, they can be had for $70-$75. Below that and your ability to play modern games becomes quite poor, I wouldn't recommend spending much less than an HD4670. Memory size is not important for low-end users. PCI Express versions are backwards compatible with each other.
OK I think I found one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161287&cm_re=HD4670-_-14-161-287-_-Product or this one http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814102855&cm_re=HD4670-_-14-102-855-_-Product
If I can I will try to get HD5670 like you sugessted but I will probaly end up with one of the ones I posted. What would be the gforce equivelient to the hd5670 hd4670?
The nvidia equivalent to the HD4670 is the 9600GSO, but there were two versions of the 9600GSO, one of which was based on the G94 chip, which was much slower than the other version. The HD4670 is slower than the proper 9600GSO by an average of about 20%, but is faster than the slow version by at least 30%. This is all relatively meaningless, as the 9600GSO is a large bulky card (it's old) and would not be suitable for your system. The best nvidia card you can use in your system would be the GT220. The GT220 costs $60, but the HD4670 outperforms it by a good 30%, more in some titles. The HD4670 is a much better card for the money.
OK I've decided to get the first card I posted made by HIS ,now I just need to pick out a powersupply and make sure its all going to fit in my case.
You won't need a new PSU to use that card, I chose it deliberately for that reason. Compaq systems typically use custom-size Power Supplies which means they can't be replaced by standard units anyway.
The current power supply I have is 250w but the HIS card says I need a 400w minimum. Are you sure I dont have to upgrade it?
Yes. A 250W unit will handle the HD5670. It will not, however, handle a card that requires a PCIe power connector. The 400W estimate is based on higher-performance components in the rest of the system than you're using.
Ok I just wanted to make sure that if I plugged this card in with 250w powersupply that it wouldent melt my motherboard or other componets. If later on i wanter to change my powersupply could I use a standard one? Heres the mobo specs http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?lc=en&dlc=en..&cc=us&docname=c01925534
I dont mean to be rude but Sam has clearly answered the question just 4 posts up. Please read carefully.
Sorry I was just checking. I'm going to get the HIS HD4670 card. I opened up my case and it looks like it will fit. Also I looked at my power supply and the number is Liteon PS-5251-08 and it looks like its a standard atx but it has a 20 pin connector plugged into my 24 pin motherboard and the connectors have been atapted to be used with sata, so I might upgrade it later when I add my second burner.
It looks like you have been lucky and have a PSU that can easily be replaced. Make sure, however, that the rest of the connectors are suitable. Sometimes the ATX wires on HP/Dell systems are different to what they would normally be on other power supplies and motherboards.
I'm working in the same situation as the OP. I have an a6203w HP desktop, with an AMD 64x2 4400+ 2.3ghz processor, 4 gigs of ram, the 6150se graphics chip, and a 250w power supply. I was looking at the 4670 and the 4650 by ati mainly. I was also concerned with the PSU but I was going on what the two other posters on this thread said as well. I know my processor is low end, but in the future I plan to upgrade that to an AMD athlon 64x2 5600+ 2.8ghz. It is the highest my mobo can handle. This isn't going to be a WTF OMG gaming pc, but the above changes will do me fine to play all the games I want to. Thanks. Also to the OP, when you get in the 5670HD on that stock PSU, let me know how all that works. I'm just paranoid when it comes to my pc.
I just ordered the HIS HD4670 card and Devil May Cry 4. I should get them tomorrow or the next day. I will let everyone know how it goes.
