Opinions on this PC for gaming.

AdvOfJet

AdvOfJet

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Hey guys, just wanted to get some feedback on this machine since I have been mostly a console gamer for most of my life. There is no way I am ever going to build my own machine which I understand is the best way, so I am left with the option of purchasing one.

Here is the machine I am looking at.

http://www.shopping.hp.com/product/rts_desktop/rts_desktop/1/storefronts/NC692AA%2523ABA

Now, leaving out the video card information ( I would buy another card almost immediately ), how well is this system set-up for gaming now and in the near future? Is there any glaring flaw that I should have noticed in the set-up?

Like I said, I mostly use my PCs in the past for business purposes, not gaming purposes. I know this would handle all my multiple business apps simutaneously, but have no idea how well it would handle gaming.

Any feedback would be most appreciated.


Edit: For information purposes, one of the games I would like to play is Witcher .. so that could be a frame of reference as to what I am looking for.
 
that's actually not too bad. if i was forced to buy a gaming PC that i didn't build myself, HP would probably be towards the top. The video card is crap (9500GS? rofl.) but that irrelevant as you said you would replace that.

Everything else seems to be ok. I would be cautious as to what kind of motherboard and hard drive you'd be getting. Most likely they are crappy 3rd party brands that aren't worthy to lick the boots of real motherboard (Asus) and hard drive (western digital, seagate) companies. So look into that. 8GB seems a little overkill at the moment, but i suppose it's best to prepare for games/programs a year or two down the road. The CPU seems decent enough, i have a Q6600 and it works pretty well for me.

Overall it seems like a decent buy.
 
Thanks guys I appreciate the feedback. I would love to build one myself but I dont have the time or the patience to do so. One question, can games now actually take advantage of a quad core processor? To show how long its been since I looked into this stuff, when dual core processors first came out, I know there were articles stating that games couldnt make use of both processors and you were essential only getting the performance of one of the processors when playing a game.
 
A few games can. I personally think its a waste of money getting a quad core right now, but I'm also the kind of person who is happy to upgrade their system whenever it strikes my fancy. I don't put together a box and say, "Oh good , that should last me a few years."
 
Yes, unless you're doing video rendering a quad core CPU is not necessary at this point. Most games, if they support multithreading to begin with, only take advantage of 2 cores. You could probably buy a $500 dual core machine from Dell and a $200 video card and you'd have a better gaming machine.

8GB of RAM also isn't necessary for gaming. I recommend 2GB.
 
[quote name='Sokkratez']Yes, unless you're doing video rendering a quad core CPU is not necessary at this point. Most games, if they support multithreading to begin with, only take advantage of 2 cores. You could probably buy a $500 dual core machine from Dell and a $200 video card and you'd have a better gaming machine.

8GB of RAM also isn't necessary for gaming. I recommend 2GB.[/QUOTE]

yeah the 8GB ram is more for my other applications I will be running. I assume that it wouldn't hurt the gaming performance having more ram, as I assume that it wouldn't hurt having a quad vs a dual core machine. Maybe it wont take advantage of it, but it shouldn't be a hinderance right?
 
for about the same price on cyberpowerpc with rushed shipping i was about to build a much better pc for gaming and everyhting else


  • *BASE_PRICE: [+779]
  • CAS: Raidmax Sagitta II Mid-Tower 420W Gaming Case w/ Side-Panel Window [-11] (Black Color)
  • CASUPGRADE: NONE
  • CS_FAN: Extra Case Cooling Fan [+3] (1 x Fan)
  • CPU: (Sckt775)Intel® Core™ 2 Duo E8400 CPU @ 3.0GHz 1333FSB 6MB L2 Cache 64-bit [-20]
  • CD: (Special Price) LG 20X DVD±R/±RW + CD-R/RW DRIVE DUAL LAYER (BLACK COLOR)
  • CD2: NONE [-15]
  • CABLE: None
  • FLASHMEDIA: None
  • FAN: XtremeGear Ultra Heatpipe Cool Copper Heatsink CPU Cooling Fan (Extreme Silent at 20dBA & Overclock Proof) [-36]
  • FREEBIE_RM: None
  • FLOPPY: NONE
  • FREEBIE_OS: FREE! (Halo 2) Game
  • HDD: Single Hard Drive (500GB SATA-II 3.0Gb/s 16MB Cache 7200RPM HDD)
  • HDD2: NONE
  • IEEE_CARD: NONE
  • KEYBOARD: NONE [-5]
  • MOUSE: NONE [-4]
  • MODEM: NONE
  • MONITOR: NONE
  • MONITOR2: NONE
  • MOTHERBOARD: Asus P5Q Pro Intel P45 CrossFire Chipset LGA775 FSB1600 DDR2/800 Mainboard w/GbLAN,USB2.0,IEEE1394,&7.1Audio [+20]
  • MEMORY: 4GB (2GBx2) PC6400 DDR2/800 Dual Channel Memory (Corsair or Major Brand)
  • NETWORK: ONBOARD 10/100 NETWORK CARD
  • OS: Microsoft® Windows Vista™ Home Premium w/ Service Pack 1 (64-bit Edition)
  • PRO_WIRING: None
  • PRINTER: None
  • PRINTER_CABLE: None
  • POWERSUPPLY: 750 Watts Power Supplies [+30] (Ultra Lifetime Series Pro)
  • RUSH: RUSH!!! READY TO SHIP IN 3 BUSINESS DAYS [+69]
  • SERVICE: STANDARD WARRANTY: 3-YEAR LIMITED WARRANTY PLUS LIFE-TIME TECHNICAL SUPPORT
  • SOUND: HIGH DEFINITION ON-BOARD 7.1 AUDIO
  • SPEAKERS: NONE [-5]
  • TEMP: NONE
  • TVRC: None
  • USB: Built-in USB 2.0 Ports
  • USBHD: NONE
  • VIDEO: ATI Radeon HD 4850 PCI-E 16X 512MB Video Card [+100] (Major Brand Powered by ATI)
  • VIDEO2: NONE [-53]
  • VIDEO3: NONE
  • VIDEOCAMERA: NONE
  • WNC: NONE [-14]
  • _PRICE: (+838)
  • _view_: detail
893 with rushed 3 day build and ups 3 day shipping

if you dont mind waiting like 3-4 weeks then you could save yourself 100 bucks

i have the same mobo/cpu/power supply and they are great. I built my own pc which is what i would really recommend but if you dont want to i guess this is another option.

i built my monster for a about 998 shipped from newegg/triger direct but mine has vista ultimate+8gb ram+ati 4870x2
 
[quote name='crystalklear64']I personally think its a waste of money getting a quad core right now...[/quote]GTA IV says hi.

Otherwise I agree that you may be better off with a dual core as long as you know you won't be encoding videos, or doing any intensive CPU work like that.
 
[quote name='help1']You can't just replace the video card willi nillie, you need to replace the CPU as well.[/QUOTE]

Ok, forgive my idiocracy, but what does this mean. I have changed out Video Cards in the past on some of my old PCs and as long as the PSU is high enough to support the card and the slot was right that you would be able to use it ?
 
[quote name='AdvOfJet']Ok, forgive my idiocracy, but what does this mean. I have changed out Video Cards in the past on some of my old PCs and as long as the PSU is high enough to support the card and the slot was right that you would be able to use it ?[/quote]


Sorry, I meant PSU. The problem I am addressing here is that it doesn't seem like the OP is going to be replacing the graphics card himself, rather he will hire a store to do it for him. The problem is that stores will not install the card unless you also upgrade the PSU, because on prebuilt PC's the PSU isn't strong enough to handle these higher end graphics cards, since they were not designed for upgrades.
 
That looks to be almost the exact same hp model I have. I got it for $600 refurb, + $50 for a 3yr warranty. First game I got was far cry 2. Runs perfectly with fairly high settings.
 
Yeah I would just be worried about the powersupply in this HP. Like help1 said, if you are going to buy a new video card then you will most likely have to buy a new power supply too.
 
i bought a gateway gt5628 with the q6600 and 3gigs of ram (ddr2) and replaced the godawful 8500gt it came with with a 3870, and i run most games very well.

The psu it came with was a 400w, and the graphics card recommends a 450, but i'll risk it. Been going strong for over a year (with 2 22" displays as well), and no problems.

And why would anyone pay a store to replace a video card. its soooo easy.

Just unistall the old one, physical install the new one, and load new drivers.
done.
 
I would not skimp out on the PSU. If something happens to it, your whole PC is fu*ked. Also your monitors don't draw power from your PSU since they are independently powered.
 
[quote name='help1']Sorry, I meant PSU. The problem I am addressing here is that it doesn't seem like the OP is going to be replacing the graphics card himself, rather he will hire a store to do it for him. The problem is that stores will not install the card unless you also upgrade the PSU, because on prebuilt PC's the PSU isn't strong enough to handle these higher end graphics cards, since they were not designed for upgrades.[/quote]

Actually I am the OP :p ... and replacing the PSU and the Video Card is something that I am going to be doing myself. It might take me all of 10 minutes to do so. I already have a PCIe ready 750W sitting here unused so it would be nothing to throw it in there with the Video Card. I feel comfortable doing that much as I have done it in the past.

here's a comparison question, what I am running right now is as follows ...

Intel Core 2 CPU 6300 1.86GHz
.98 GB Ram
Radeon X1950 PCIe Card


Would I see a noticable difference in the machines ?
 
The OS its giving him is Vista64, which does great with lots of ram.

The e8XXX series is very nice with its fsb speeds and sizable cache, not that they'd give you much improvement on their own, but theres a bunch of little things that add up. Plus your clock speeds are gonna be 2.66 at stock, which means if it does even close as well as my 7300 (which it should) you'll get 3ghz without messing with too much in the bios and around 3.5-3.6 if you bring the voltage up.

8gb of random ram, no problem, just make sure if you overclock to set the ratio out of synch with the memory first because it probably won't overclock well.

You get a nice card like a 9800gt or a 4850 or whatever was in your price range coupled with that beefy PSU, you'll be fine.
 
Honestly I think 8 gigs of RAM is overkill even with Vista x64. If you get the choice, I would go with 4-6 gigs. 64 bit Vista does not use more RAM than the 32 bit versions of Vista, it just allows you to use over 3 gigs, which is limited by any 32 bit OS. Also I just noticed that the PC in your link is now out of stock.
 
I think Vista in general will use a percentage of your total ram for its feature list. So, if you have Vista and you're maxed at 3.2 or whatever it is, and then you have Vista64 with 8gb, its gonna use more ram than Vista.

So, if you provide it more, it will use more, it is a feature of the OS, for what use is having all that ram if your OS just lets it sit there not being used?
 
crystalklear - I think you've got it wrong. Vista doesn't use more resources if you add more RAM. The amount of RAM seen by your computer is limited by the OS (and CPU). 32 bit Vista can see and use 3 gigs max and 64 bit Vista limits at 128 gigs I think. The amount of resources used in both 32 or 64 bit Vista is the same regardless of how much RAM you have. And it's not a feature of Vista, any 32 bit OS is limited by 3 gigs.
 
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