Upgrading Time !!

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.

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??

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 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??

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

- My Budget is about £500 [Approx]

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Macman

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

- My Budget is about £500 [Approx]

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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??

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.

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.

http://gpuz.techpowerup.com/12/07/03/38f.png

http://i45.tinypic.com/dgzh2.jpg

Screenshots...

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??

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.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 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??

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http://i45.tinypic.com/15zs2zo.jpg

HDD:

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

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

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 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.

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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.

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

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

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

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.

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

Quote:

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Originally Posted by 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

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Perhaps,the OP should try the Release Preview before they splurge their money on it.

Thanks for your advice guys!

I'll keep you posted on where I go from here.

Sadly I don't think the upgrade offer applies to people building their own PC.

the £14.99 is the upgrade offer - it would seem the upgarde offer for everyone else would be £25>£30... and you can get rid of metro interface as well

Quote:

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Originally Posted by HalloweenJack

the £14.99 is the upgrade offer - it would seem the upgarde offer for everyone else would be £25>£30... and you can get rid of metro interface as well

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Can you?? With the Release Preview you could not remove Metro.

Latest 'possible' purchase:

http://i50.tinypic.com/ape1y8.jpg

Comments?

You already have a pair of 1GB DIMMs,so I would add another 4GB to make it 6GB which should be more than enough for your puposes AFAIK.

You really need to look at the PSU,otherwise it will a recipe for utter disaster. From what I gather it is a LITEON 300W PSU:

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

Just open up your PC and have a look. Also check how long it is,so we can get a better impression of what PSUs will fit.

I would probably get one of the following PSUs:

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

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/550w-...12v-fan-atx-v2

They are somewhat shorter than normal(140MM).

This PSU is modular but is longer:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/500w-...12v-quiet-fan-

Also measure how much space your case has for a graphics card,ie,located where your PCI-E slot is and measure the distance from the backplate to the HDD cage. Also,the GTX550TI is not good value for money.

There is a picture of your case on the HP website:

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

There is a video on the webpage which is useful for you to watch.

Here is another picture:

http://www.tech-forums.net/pc/f77/wo...n-ever-245276/

http://img14.imageshack.us/img14/9099/computersidev.jpg

http://img40.imageshack.us/img40/9808/theramhorrorz.jpg

An easy card to fit should be the following:

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

This card is faster but much longer:

http://www.cclonline.com/product/802...-Card/VGA0597/

Your case is quite cramped so it might run a bit hot and also the dual slot cooler may clash with your cabling.

Back to the drawing board!

Thanks Cat; will take this on board! I'll get it opened up soon and get the pics etc

As for your cramped case, you could be old fashioned and get an Antec 300, you could pick up the case for £40, which would aid cooling if you decided to get a few new fans in the future.
I'm assuming you're still wanting that NVIDIA GTX 550Ti, though with the budget you're on it might be worth going for the ATI graphics card route.
It looks about the same price for a 550Ti but did a small amount of searching and found http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=GX-163-MS this is probably a bit faster and doesn't cost more either.
With a graphics card this powerful you will need a new PSU. The stock ones that come with pre-built computers will not provide enough power.
The CPU isn't bad, and I do recommend you do that ram upgrade and get windows 7 64bit and even a SSD if you can push that all into your budget.

Just to clarify; Memory - RAM

My BIOS indicates:

2048mb / PC2-5300 - so I'd be better going for this one?

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/4gb(2...d-cas-5-5-5-15

As you had indicated:

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

Or am I able to use 4GB DDR2 PC2-6400 ??

Is it 2X1GB sticks??

Edit!!

Both RAM sets should work:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...41&dlc=en#N127

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Macman

Just to clarify; Memory - RAM

My BIOS indicates:

2048mb / PC2-5300 - so I'd be better going for this one?

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/4gb(2...d-cas-5-5-5-15

As you had indicated:

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

Or am I able to use 4GB DDR2 PC2-6400 ??

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6400 will just run at 5300 speeds if the motherboard cannot support the higher ones. The same is true if you mix different speed sticks on the same motherboard, they will all revert to the lowest common denominator

Quote:

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Originally Posted by CAT-THE-FIFTH

Is it 2X1GB sticks??

Edit!!

Both RAM sets should work:

http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...41&dlc=en#N127

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Yeah it is 2 x 1gb Kingston memory sticks. The reason I had asked, a friend told me that I could only have 1 specific type of memory sticks;

1gb + 1gb Kingston + 2gb Corsair + 2gb Corsair = 6gb

Would not happen due to Kingston & Corsair being different makes? Or was he talking nonsense?

Appreciate your help on this btw !!

Regards

In theory they should be fine.

The RAM is cheaper on Ebuyer:

http://www.ebuyer.com/142387-crucial...2kit25664aa667

http://www.ebuyer.com/142403-crucial...2kit25664aa800

You also cashback from Top Cashback and Quidco.

I would get his PSU too:

http://www.ebuyer.com/264381-xfx-450...u-p1-450s-u2b9

It is compact and uses a ball bearing fan.

There is also this PSU too:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/500w-...12v-quiet-fan-

It is modular which should help reduce the cable mess in your case although it uses a sleeve bearing fan.

Edit!!

I was thinking about the GPU too.

An HD6850 1GB would be the best value for money IMHO:

http://www.novatech.co.uk/products/c...685x-zcfc.html

http://www.cclonline.com/product/802...-Card/VGA0597/

However,since your case is a tad cramped,I suggested an HD7750.

Then I realised the HD7770 has dropped in price. It is a bit slower than an HD6850 1GB,but consumes less power and runs cooler:

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-g...-graphics-card

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-m...x-dvi-1-x-hdmi

The first card is pre-overclocked and trades blows with the HD6850 1GB while consuming less power. It also uses a shorter PCB.

You have an 8500GT in your current system,and the Gigabyte HD7770 appears to be around an inch longer.

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bc/docs/su.../c02083164.jpg

http://www.legitreviews.com/images/r...7770-front.jpg

You might need to do a bit of cable management!! :p

The card can support dual monitors?

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-m...x-dvi-1-x-hdmi

I'm assuming I have to buy a splitter?

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/newli...nitors)-dv-188

Regards

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Macman

The card can support dual monitors?

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/1gb-m...x-dvi-1-x-hdmi

I'm assuming I have to buy a splitter?

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/newli...nitors)-dv-188

Regards

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No you would either need a display port or an HDMI adaptor.

http://www.scan.co.uk/products/3m-sc...ale-(cdldv-303)

I had a quick check on Scan is selling the 2nd revision of the Gigabyte card with a slightly lower 1050MHZ clockspeed instead of the 1100MHZ in length. However,the Gigabyte card is faster than the MSI and appears to use a larger cooling fan. From what I gather the MSI is around 0.2" shorter though.

Both cards can run over two monitors out of the box. The monitor you were looking at, can use HDMI and DVI which both cards have. You will need to check what cables are included with the monitor though. You can use an HDMI cable or a DVI cable for the monitor. Also an HDMI to DVI cable or adaptor should work fine too.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Biscuit

6400 will just run at 5300 speeds if the motherboard cannot support the higher ones. The same is true if you mix different speed sticks on the same motherboard, they will all revert to the lowest common denominator

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If I know HP they might of already put faster RAM in just for the sale speak and the mobo is clocking it down already.

I'm trying to find out how much it would cost me to upgrade to Windows 7; tried looking on the MS website and all I'm seeing is Learn More or Compability download.

Am I looking in the wrong place?

Got my stuff; comps upgraded! Loving it!

Thanks Guys

P.s. How do I get a cheap version of Windows 7 to upgrade to 64-bit?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Macman

Got my stuff; comps upgraded! Loving it!

Thanks Guys

P.s. How do I get a cheap version of Windows 7 to upgrade to 64-bit?

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What did you get in the end??

Was the card easy to fit in??

23.6" Acer G245HQbid, LCD Full HD M 2x £99.24
4GB (2x2GB) Corsair Value Select, D 1x £38.53
1GB MSI Radeon HD 7770, 4500MHz GDD 1x £79.77
500W Coolermaster Silent Pro M RS-5 1x £37.50
Tristar HDMI Female to DVI Male Ada 1x £0.99

Card was relatively easy to fit :D