Ok, I posted this on Yahoo Answers, but have yet to get any help that is relevant, thanks. Ok, this question may seem a little long, but it is in detail, so please read over and help if you can. Ok, I have an HP a6203w Desktop, that I am upgrading slowly but surely for gaming. Here is the spec page on that computer as it came stock, http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...37&lc=en&dlc=en&cc=us&product=3554326&lang=en kk, as you see, the stock procc, was the Athlon 64 X2 (B) 4400+ 2.3 GHz (65W), and the stock video card was a very crappy integrated nvidia nforce 6150 se. I now have 4 gigs of PC-5300 DDR2 SDRAM Ram, and I plan to upgrade to an AMD Athlon 64X2 5600+ processor, but my first question is, go with the Brisbane (Links below), or the Windsor model, (I know the page says deactivated item, but I can find somewhere else) because it has a large cache, but only .1 ghz less of speed. (2.8 vs 2.9) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103771 (Windsor) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819103685&Tpk=amd athlon 64 x2 5600 (Brisbane) And the second question, should I upgrade to 64 bit, and stack on the ram to 8 gigs? 4 2 gig sticks.... And lastly, my video card and PSU, I plan to get the ATI Radeon HD 4770, because of its performance, low low price, (100 dollars around) and its small mounting size and depth. The PSU would be an OCZ StealthXStream OCZ600XSX. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817341010&Tpk=stealthxstream (PSU) http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814161279 (Video Card) Thanks for all the help guys.
windsor is better for overclocking but brisbane is smaller footprint (65nm vs 90nm) and runs cooler than windsor
Sounds like that system will not be using a lot of power, 600W is overkill, and the quality of the unit is somewhat questionable. Here is a link for a cheaper, better quality Corsair unit that will work just fine: http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16817139003 As for the ram, are you running out? If you are, then it might be a good idea to get more. Judging by your parts, I don't think this is your bottleneck, at least not while gaming.
Ok, That Powersupply was just recommended by a good friend who builds computers, I was looking at 600w, for the fact if I ever upgrade, and just calling it safe, I am paranoid at times with my computer burning or breaking lol. And as to the other comment about the Windsor or Brisbane, I don't know a whole lot about procc, and I do a lot of gaming and media work. Half Life, NFS:Undercover, Runes of Magic, Emulators, as well as Recording studios and Audio mixing and works. I am not looking for a huge monster of a computer that will run everything at max, I can deal without AA, and just am looking for mid to better setting with a smooth frame rate, say, 25 to 50 roughly... Yes, I know I may not NEED more RAM, it was just a concern, I think my largest bottleneck will come to be the video card first hand, then the processor later.
You only need to upgrade your video card, I have the radeon 4670 which is a notch under the one your getting and I get decent performance with it. It'll easily play the need for speed games (my ati x1650 and radeon 4350 both play need for speed pro street quite easily). The cpu you have is good enough for gaming, I have the amd x2 4800 on my gaming machine. If you need to do alot of video editing you need to get a quad (the amd x2 5600 won't be a big enough boost to video editing). My gaming machine is running on a 400 watt power supply with no problems. My video editing (amd phenom 9750) is also running fine on a 400 watt power supply. You only need more wattage if you you will be crossfiring 2 video cards. Your 4770 is recommended a 450 watt supply. I only have 1gb ram on my gamming machine (windows xp) , my video editing machine (windows xp) also only has 1gb ram. I've yet run into a situation where I needed more ram. 4gb is more than enough even on vista. http://www.tomshardware.com/charts/cpu-charts-2008-q1-2008/Quake-IV,389.html
Ok so don't upgrade to a dual core, if I was to upgrade, go quad, but that would require a new MoBo, lol. So processor aside, stay with 32-bit OS and 4 gigs of RAM, ATI Radeon HD 4770, and my only concern is with the PSU, not necessarily the wattage, but the rails, voltage, and this from the newegg site: 450 Watt or greater power supply with two 75W 6-pin PCI Express power connectors recommended The one I chose had two 6 pin, one being a 6 pin and the other a 6(2) pin. That one listed was only one 6 pin. Or am I reading into this wrong? Is it one 6 pin per card? Thanks, I am not trying to say anyone is wrong, I am just trying to understand it all lol.
First off, HP(or any prebuilt computer) isnt really a good computer for upgrades. Its questionable weather the PSU you mentioned will even fit, and most of there cases arent very good on air flow. Nor are these computers really designed to accommodate much in the upgrade department. They design there systems so that you pretty much have to buy a new computer all over if you want a significant upgrade. Your best bet is to custom build from scratch. It will be more expensive but you will have more flexibility for upgrades.
*sigh* lol, ok. You are not the first to say that, and to a part, I do agree with you. The only problem I encounter is money. I have roughly around 200 at most to spare a month to spend as I will, so is/are there a guide or preface to follow when building your own computer? This would be my first. Thanks. *note, this thread is closed now, I am moving to a new threat entitled My first build.
