How Would This PC Hold Up????

[Inspired]

Hi everyone, I'm no computer expert, I've recently made a purchase of an HP desktop computer and have recently found something that seems like a better deal and was wondering if there's any tech-guru's who can answer a few questions for me.

1) Can this PC upgrade to Windows 7 when it is released?

2) Can this PC be used for gaming?

3) Is the price reasonable? too expensive?

4) If there was no MAC would this be an ideal computer for you?

5) Can this machine play Sims 3?

6) Does this machine have the potential to upgrade to 8GB RAM?

Info and price of this machine will be listed below, Thanks for taking your time to reading this thread, I appreciate it!

PS: I'm sorry if anyone is annoyed of me always asking about PC stuff here, I just find the people in this forum to be a lot nicer in answering questions^_^




Processor: AMD Athlon X2 7850(2.8GHz)
Processor Main Features: 64 bit Dual Core Processor
Cache Per Processor: 2 x 512KB L2 Cache
Memory: 4GB (2x2GB) DDR2 800
Hard Drive: 500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 7200RPM HDD
Optical Drive 1: 22X DVD±R/±RW Dual Layer Drive
Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 9500GT 1GB PCI Express Video Card
Audio: Sound card - Integrated
Ethernet: Gigabit LAN
Power Supply: 420W
Keyboard: Logitech USB Keyboard
Mouse: Logitech Optical USB Mouse
Operating System: Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit
Special Features: Coolermaster Elite 310 Case
Motherboard
Chipset: AMD 760G
CPU
CPU Type: Athlon X2
Installed Qty: 1
CPU Speed: 7850(2.8GHz)
L2 Cache Per CPU: 2 x 512KB
CPU Socket Type: AM2+
CPU Main Features: 64 bit Dual Core Processor
Graphics
GPU/VPU Type: NVIDIA GeForce 9500 GT
Graphics Interface: PCI Express x16
Memory
Memory Capacity: 4GB DDR2
Memory Speed: DDR2 800
Form Factor: DIMM 240-pin
Memory Spec: 2GB x 2
Hard Drive
HDD Capacity: 500GB
HDD Interface: SATA II
HDD RPM: 7200rpm
Optical Drive
Optical Drive Type: DVD±RW
Optical Drive Spec: 22X DVD±R/±RW Dual Layer Drive
Audio
Audio Chipset: Integrated
Communications
LAN Chipset: Integrated
LAN Speed: 10/100/1000Mbps
Front Panel Ports
Front USB: 2
Back Panel Ports
LPT: 1
Rear USB: 6
RJ45: 1 port
Expansion
PCI Slots (Available/Total): 1 x PCI-Express x16
1 x PCI-Express x1
2 x PCI


PRICE: $609.53

 

[Eidorian]

It's fine. Also there isn't a price anywhere.

1) Can this PC upgrade to Windows 7 when it is released?

2) Can this PC be used for gaming?

3) Is the price reasonable? too expensive?

4) If there was no MAC would this be an ideal computer for you?

5) Can this machine play Sims 3?

6) Does this machine have the potential to upgrade to 8GB RAM?

1. Why not?

2. If you're fine with low/medium settings.

3. No price listed

5. Yes

6. No model number to pull the motherboard specifications.

 

[Inspired]

Sorry price is $609.53 thanks for reading :]

 

[Eidorian]

That's a bit pricey for a 7850 system. Then again I build my desktops.

 

[Inspired]

That's a bit pricey for a 7850 system. Then again I build my desktops.

yeah shipping and tax is like $80, so without shipping it's only $530, trying to looking around for coupons to lower the cost e.e

 

[Rodimus Prime]

well for question 1. the answer is yes big time considering my the PC I build 5 years ago handles the windows 7 beta just fine. Give you an idea 5 years ago my PC tower cost maybe 800-100 to build.

It has 1 gig of ram and a x800 graphic card (graphic card was 2-3 years ago from my room mates spare part bin). It CPU is only an Athon64 3000+ socket 754

 

[Inspired]

well for question 1. the answer is yes big time considering my the PC I build 5 years ago handles the windows 7 beta just fine. Give you an idea 5 years ago my PC tower cost maybe 800-100 to build.

It has 1 gig of ram and a x800 graphic card (graphic card was 2-3 years ago from my room mates spare part bin). It CPU is only an Athon64 3000+ socket 754

wow! really? that's good news for me then, i feel good about the PC then! Thanks for contributing! ^_^

 

[Eidorian]

My current budget build without the operating system.

 

[Inspired]

My current budget build without the operating system.

that looks awesome, unfortunately I'm not that talented to build my own PC or to even copy your PC, I'm afraid I might break something or get shocked to death . You're so lucky you know how to build a PC ><

 

[ikermalli]

1) Can this PC upgrade to Windows 7 when it is released?

2) Can this PC be used for gaming?

3) Is the price reasonable? too expensive?

4) If there was no MAC would this be an ideal computer for you?

5) Can this machine play Sims 3?

6) Does this machine have the potential to upgrade to 8GB RAM?

1) Yes, easily and it should run very smoothly

2) If you want to use it for things like Sims 3, yes, if you want to play Call of Duty, Crysis, etc. Then you could play at low to medium settings but if you are serious about gaming get a better card such as a nVidia 9800 or higher

3) Yeah, it's not bad, but if you know how to build your own computer I suggest doing that as you can get a better PC for a better price

4)No, my ideal computer would have better specs (I'm a big hardware geek)

5) Yeah, at high settings too

6) You can check, search specs for your motherboard and see how much RAM it can handle.

 

[xboxer75010]

Check this out its on the front page at slickdeals, seams like a good deal to me at $610:

http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=1406607

Specs:
* Intel Core 2 Quad processor Q8300 (2.5GHz, 4MB L2, 1333MHz FSB)
* 6GB DDR2-800MHz dual channel SDRAM (4 DIMMs)
* 640GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive
* 512MB ATI Radeon HD 4650 (DVI, VGA, HDMI) w/ Free Spore game
* LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive
* Integrated 10/100/1000 (Gigabit) Ethernet, No wireless LAN
* 15-in-1 memory card reader, 2 USB, 1394, audio, video (for TV Tuner)
* TV tuner, dual format ATSC-NTSC with PVR, remote
* Integrated 7.1 channel sound with front audio ports
* No Monitor
* HP keyboard and HP optical mouse
* Microsoft Works 9.0
* Norton Internet Security 2009 - 15 month
* Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium with Service Pack 1 (64-bit)

 

[Eidorian]

That's a much better deal.

 

[steve2112]

The HP deal is already dead. I just tried to buy one, and it told me the coupon is invalid. Dell has a similar deal today only on their Studio desktop, and it comes with a 20" monitor. I wish they had a deal without the monitor, since I already have a 2209wa monitor, but this is a good deal. I think I'm going to get one.

http://configure.us.dell.com/dellstore/config.aspx?c=us&l=en&s=dhs&cs=19&oc=DDDOMB4

If that doesn't work, try this link. Look on the left hand side under "day 3" and Studio Desktop.

http://www.dell.com/content/topics/segtopic.aspx/days_of_deals?c=us&cs=19&l=en&s=dhs

 

[OscarTheGrouch]

Check out your local Costco, they usually have some pretty good deals, or look online.

 

[Inspired]

Check this out its on the front page at slickdeals, seams like a good deal to me at $610:

http://forums.slickdeals.net/showthread.php?t=1406607

This is a sweet deal, unfortunately the coupon is dead... =\



@steve2112 I'm not much of a Dell user, cause I heard they have their own custom stuff, so when you need an upgrade you have to go through them, and I dont like to be forced to buy stuff from one particular company. But thanks though ^_^

 

[notjustjay]

that looks awesome, unfortunately I'm not that talented to build my own PC or to even copy your PC, I'm afraid I might break something or get shocked to death . You're so lucky you know how to build a PC ><

It's really not difficult, and it's fun! Don't be afraid to give it a try.

You can't get shocked unless you open up the power supply box (and there's absolutely no reason or need to do that). PCs are powered by 5-12 volts, which is less than a typical cordless drill. While it's possible to damage components, short them out, etc., it shouldn't happen unless you're being truly careless.

Building a PC is a great way to learn how they work, learn how to troubleshoot things, upgrade things, etc., and it lets you pick and choose the best components you want and saves the cost of labour. The downside is there is no "system" warranty (only if individual parts are broken) and you can't take advantage of volume or "bundle" discounts offered by larger PC shops.

 

[steve2112]

This is a sweet deal, unfortunately the coupon is dead... =\



@steve2112 I'm not much of a Dell user, cause I heard they have their own custom stuff, so when you need an upgrade you have to go through them, and I dont like to be forced to buy stuff from one particular company. But thanks though ^_^

Actually, they aren't nearly as bad as they used to be. Back in the bad old days, both Compaq and Dell were bad about using custom made stuff, but after complaints, they have moved more toward standard parts. This is only on the full size towers, though. Once you get into the slimline and desktop models, you will see lots of custom components.

I used to be big on building my own systems to my exact specs, but I really don't do that anymore. I got tired of keeping up with the specs on the latest equipment, and got tired of trying to make everything play nice with each other. I like to just pay for a system, pull it out of the box, and have it work. Hmmm, wonder why I became a Mac fan?

 

[Inspired]

Actually, they aren't nearly as bad as they used to be. Back in the bad old days, both Compaq and Dell were bad about using custom made stuff, but after complaints, they have moved more toward standard parts. This is only on the full size towers, though. Once you get into the slimline and desktop models, you will see lots of custom components.

I used to be big on building my own systems to my exact specs, but I really don't do that anymore. I got tired of keeping up with the specs on the latest equipment, and got tired of trying to make everything play nice with each other. I like to just pay for a system, pull it out of the box, and have it work. Hmmm, wonder why I became a Mac fan?

cause Macs are cool!!!!

 

[Rodimus Prime]

It's really not difficult, and it's fun! Don't be afraid to give it a try.

You can't get shocked unless you open up the power supply box (and there's absolutely no reason or need to do that). PCs are powered by 5-12 volts, which is less than a typical cordless drill. While it's possible to damage components, short them out, etc., it shouldn't happen unless you're being truly careless.

Building a PC is a great way to learn how they work, learn how to troubleshoot things, upgrade things, etc., and it lets you pick and choose the best components you want and saves the cost of labour. The downside is there is no "system" warranty (only if individual parts are broken) and you can't take advantage of volume or "bundle" discounts offered by larger PC shops.

I will add to this. It really is easy. I was pretty scared before I built mine. I end up ordering all the parts and software to get exactly what I wanted. I had a friend who built his computer help me but for the most part I did it myself.

Everything is very straight forward to put together it is hard to screw it up. It took me about 1-2 hours to put all the hardware together. Software took me the rest of the day but when I reformat it will be a week or 2 before everything is back to 100% because I install the basic stuff then all my other software is install on an as needed bases so it might take me a little time to get to that point. But even then it is pretty easy.

Since I first built it and had it up and running the mobo failed on me in week 2 so i I had to remove everything and I took the chance to move it to a new case. So I basically rebuilt it completely. I have built 2 other computer since then for friends and work on a 4th. On my own computer I have taken it apart a few times.

Building your own computer really does cause you to learn a lot about them and get pretty good at trouble shooting. It also removes a lot of fears on computers.

As for a cost comparison my computer cost me $1000ish to build include the software. To get a mac at the time that gave me everything I wanted that I got out of my PC it would of cost me I think well over $3000. Yes the mac was more powerful but I was paying a huge premuim to have access to some extra things that I made a point to include in my PC. A dell was about $2000ish at the same time. But the dell was both a mixture of having to pay more to get high enough hardware and at the time I had a pay a huge premuim to get an intel chip that match the power of my AMD chip. AMD was kicking intel's ass during that time.

 

[No1451]

I also agree with building a PC being easy, and trust me it is very much worth it, HP and Dell usually use very low grade components and abysmal cooling, a well put together custom can last a very very long time.

 

[Inspired]

@Rodimus Prime - I really wish I had a friend who knows a lot about building computers, but unfortunately they all buy the pre-made ones.


@No1451 - I hope this PC I'm about to purchase is not low graded components ><

 

[Rodimus Prime]

@Rodimus Prime - I really wish I had a friend who knows a lot about building computers, but unfortunately they all buy the pre-made ones.


@No1451 - I hope this PC I'm about to purchase is not low graded components ><

Still not hard to do it. It took away some of my fear but in hind sight was unneeded. I could of easily done it myself. Everything is very straight forward and the directions petty easy to follow. After you do it once you never will look at them again. I have done quite a bit of adding/removing parts to my computer of the 5 years I have had it. It not that I study up on it but just building one gave me a lot of understanding how simple it really is. It will remove a lot of fear of computers hardware to you because it is no longer an unknown

 

[xboxer75010]

@Rodimus Prime - I really wish I had a friend who knows a lot about building computers, but unfortunately they all buy the pre-made ones.


@No1451 - I hope this PC I'm about to purchase is not low graded components ><

Maybe post whereabouts the country you are at, there might be a helpful forum member that might give you a hand if they are nearby.