New comp that need new upgrades :) (HP budget pc madness)

[Powermoloch]

Hello Hello general hardware forums.

Recently my old 5150 dimension died a couple of months ago and was replaced with a brand new HP p6510y by verizon protection plan (pretty neat !!!). I'm pretty surprised how the customer care handle the situation and the machine has already arrived

First a general on its specs:

AMD Athlon II 630 / 2.8 GHz
4 Gb DDR3 SDRAM
750 Gb HDD
PCI Express x16

# Width 7.0 in
# Depth 16.9 in
# Height 15.3 in

Currently my budget is $200 ~ to upgrade the PSU and mid-range GPU. The PSU has to be modular because of improved airflow/reduce clutter/to replace the clunky one that came with the budget pc. As for the GPU, i'm still deciding to if I should wait till the 6XXX series to come in to start a price war. I am in no rush as you can see i got 2 rigs under my wing (like i need more upgrades already !!!! ).


Anyways what would you guy recommend upgrades (mild gaming, 1440x900 res).

 

[TheFlyingSquirrel]

i'd wait
if you already have gaming capable machines than no sense in shelling out the cash now when the next big things are so near

 

[mfenn]

Your going to be very hard pressed to find a decent quality modular PSU and GPU for $200. That being said, can you define "mild" gaming? You might not need anything that requires an upgraded PSU in the first place.

 

[Powermoloch]

Your going to be very hard pressed to find a decent quality modular PSU and GPU for $200. That being said, can you define "mild" gaming? You might not need anything that requires an upgraded PSU in the first place.

As for gaming, I'm looking at the newer titles which I already have such as ME:2 , Darkvoid, Far Cry 2 kind of games with 2xAA and eye candy included. Smooth reliable performance (i'm happy with my 250GTS xlr8 on my other rig).

 

[mfenn]

As for gaming, I'm looking at the newer titles which I already have such as ME:2 , Darkvoid, Far Cry 2 kind of games with 2xAA and eye candy included. Smooth reliable performance (i'm happy with my 250GTS xlr8 on my other rig).

OK, so that's a bit more than "mild" gaming. Here's an Antec 550W that should fit the bill and here's a 5770 to go along with it.

 

[Davidh373]

OK, so that's a bit more than "mild" gaming. Here's an Antec 550W that should fit the bill and here's a 5770 to go along with it.

Totally more than mild gaming. I would have recommended the EXACT same parts. The 5770 is a small upgrade from the 250GTS and the PSU... is... well... a PSU lol .

 

[Powermoloch]

Thx for the suggestions

Yeah yeah..my definition of "mild" gaming is not the norm lol XD

 

[heyheybooboo]

If you are willing to put a little effort into it I'd go ahead and swap out the motherboard because that HP BIOS is going to hold you back as much as anything.

It's 'routine' maintenance if you snag a similar 785g AM3 chipset to replace a broken component.

You should be more careful when you are poking around with that screwdriver ....

:'(




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[Powermoloch]

Thanks for the heads up !

 

[IgoByte]

Do you still have the 5150? If so, is the mobo OK?

 

[Powermoloch]

Do you still have the 5150? If so, is the mobo OK?

I still have it. The insurance company send in a tech to replace the busted up mobo with a fresh one.

So i guess the new mobo is still in the machine.