Upgrading Time !!

[Macman]

Current Spec:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/p...roduct=3542411

Plans:

1. Dual Monitors
2. Upgrade RAM
3. Upgrade OS - Vista to Win 7
4. Graphics Card - If need be
5. Motherboard
6. Processor

I would prefer to increase my memory first and fore most, the usage of the PC is not gaming orientated. so don't need a hi-spec. I generally only play FM or EVE online. surf the net or music and watch p0Rn as you do lol.

I might be looking at this wrong, but any suggestions? What to do and what not to do? Haloween Jack advised me that 32bit Win Vista restricts memory usage. How would I gain the most out of memory, upgrade to 64bit etc?

Any comments would be much appreciated.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

Run CPU-Z and GPU-Z to see exactly what components you have. The HP link is not very informative. Also,what is the model number of the PSU?? You will need to look inside the computer for that. How high is your budget??

[Macman]

Run CPU-Z and GPU-Z to see exactly what components you have. The HP link is not very informative. Also,what is the model number of the PSU?? You will need to look inside the computer for that. How high is your budget??

How do I run the CPU-Z/GPU-Z; Can I get this info from the Bios?

- My Budget is about £500 [Approx]

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

How do I run the CPU-Z/GPU-Z; Can I get this info from the Bios?

- My Budget is about £500 [Approx]

It will be easier to run both CPU-Z and GPU-Z instead:

http://www.cpuid.com/softwares/cpu-z.html

http://www.techpowerup.com/gpuz/

This webpage does list some specifications for the PC model you are using:

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport...odTypeId=12454

However,it is for the base model I suspect.

The PSU model number is also important.

Can you also look inside your PC model number,so it can be possible to find who makes it and how big it is??

Is it possible to take a picture of the inside of the case,to see what size parts you can fit inside it and what level of cooling there is??

[dokdek]

Might as well build a new PC with that budget, you can get plenty performance out of 500 pounds, especially since you dont need a really strong graphics card.

[Macman]

Considering I still have to buy possibly 2 monitors. I won't have that much £££ left.

I'd rather keep the unit I have and upgrade the necessary bits.

[Macman]

Screenshots...

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

What is said under the mainboard and memory tabs??

Have a look inside the case and note the model number of your PSU.

How big is your HDD and is it SATA??

[Biscuit]

Q6600 is still a decent chip, although it was famous for its overclocking and with a stock HP motherboard there wont be much room for that.

Depending on what the memory tab of CPU-Z says, i would throw some more ram in, get an SSD, install windows 7 64bit, get your monitors and be happy with it at that.

[Macman]

What is said under the mainboard and memory tabs??

Have a look inside the case and note the model number of your PSU.

How big is your HDD and is it SATA??

HDD:

C: 290gb
K: 298gb
N: 1.81tb

I'm sorry I'm still noobie on terminology, SATA means?

[Macman]

Q6600 is still a decent chip, although it was famous for its overclocking and with a stock HP motherboard there wont be much room for that.

Depending on what the memory tab of CPU-Z says, i would throw some more ram in, get an SSD, install windows 7 64bit, get your monitors and be happy with it at that.

I'm thinking along those lines. But would like to give it a bit more oomph and I think the memory would do just that. But just want peoples advice as they would know better than myself lol.

[Phage]

Dual monitors will need a new GPU. Something like a 6850 would be good.

[Biscuit]

an 8500 would be good enough for dual monitors wouldnt it, or does it not have 2 x DVI?

[Phage]

I didn't think the 8500 supported dual display. You might be able to kludge something with the VGA port.

[CAT-THE-FIFTH]

This appears to be the motherboard used:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...641&dlc=en#N64

I would add another 4GB of DDR2:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/4gb-%...edcas-5-5-5-18

I would get this PSU:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/450w-...n-atx-v231-psu

AFAIK,the HP ones are not always great on their cheaper models and your system is probably a few year old now.

An 8500GT should be fine with two monitors,although newer graphics cards have better performance per watt and have improved media decoding.

The thing is I am uncertain how CPU and GPU intensive the games you play are though. I suspect an HD6850 1GB or GTX560 1GB might be OTT,although you can get them for around £90 to £105.

I would say that an HD7750 is worth considering:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-s...ink-dvi-i-hdmi

It is not the fastest or best value for money graphics card,but consumes very little power,has decent multi-monitor abilities and should be fine for video decoding.

[HalloweenJack]

which version of windows do you have? windows 8 upgarde offers are about to appear - with huge rumours it`ll be around £25 to upgrade, which would good value for you