Any way I can upgrade this?

sealionnn

sealionnn

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I'm trying to play games like TF2, BFBC2, Bioshock 2, Fallout 3, etc. I doubt I could upgrade the processor without switching out the motherboard, which would probably be kind of pointless for this setup, right? The only things I've upgraded are the PSU (400w Corsair Plus rated, done a few months ago) and my video card (2 years ago). If I could just upgrade a few things with this build, I'd be happy, but I doubt that is possible. If I can't, I'll probably just hold off on building a new PC until I really feel like I need it. I'm still trying to decide whether I wanna finish college with a degree in film production or web design. If I go the film route, it'll be a Mac for sure, or possibly a Hackintosh hahah. Otherwise, I'd just build a pimped out PC. ;) By the way, it currently plays CS:S on max settings fine, Alien Swarm on Medium settings but max res. for my monitor (1680x1050). I assume it would run TF2 fine, right? If I could play TF2 nicely, I'd probably just be happy with keeping my PC the same for now. I bought it on amazon for half the price of steam, so I'm just waiting for it to arrive before I can tell. :p

So, is there anything worth upgrading or should I hold out? Specs below.

specs.gif
 
Team Fortress 2 isn't very graphics heavy and I'm fairly confident that it'll run on max settings easily. Other ones like Bioshock 2, Fallout 3, and Bad Company 2 are a little more intensive and may not run at maximum settings. I'd say it falls more on your video card than your processor. If your computer has decent ventilation, you can try overclocking your processor a little. However I have a dual core (intel though) and it's core clocks are 3.0GHz which runs everything fine, including Starcraft 2.
 
You'd probably get a decent gaming boost upgrading the graphics card. The 8600 is pretty low end by today's standards. Then your CPU will likely be your limiting factor, and you may as well just build a new one, as you'd have to get a new MB, RAM, etc.
 
Agreed, the Video card is probably your best bet to play those games, but I hear Bad Company 2 is pretty intense resource hog (friend had trouble playing when he could play most of the other games fine). You should be fine for TF2 as stated above, but its probably best to upgrade to a better card (friend got a Nvicia 200 for 100 bucks) and he was able to run most things ok. Otherwise save and just splurge on upgrading everything.
 
I don't suppose there is a program you can tell me to download, and what settings to put in to it for overclocking? I've never done it before, and it seems like there is a lot of information to take in before doing it.
 
Overclocking requires going into your Bios and messing with voltages and clocks. Not something I'd really recommend to someone not very familiar with PC's.
 
you could upgrade your video card for under $150 easy and should see a good boost in performance. why do you have 3gb of ram? what type of motherboard do you have? depending on the board it might not be an issue, but an upgrade to 4gb could have some increased performance depending on how many slots you have.
 
[quote name='SEH']Overclocking requires going into your Bios and messing with voltages and clocks. Not something I'd really recommend to someone not very familiar with PC's.[/QUOTE]

On most motherboards these days you don't need to do that with processors as it's often build in. RAM on the other hand requires more knowledge. I don't know how it's done with HP, so it may not be possible without decent configuration knowledge.


[quote name='62t']you are not going to be overclocking a HP since you dont have the access you will need[/QUOTE]

Well, there are ways around it, but I'd definitely not recommend it for someone who doesn't have much knowledge of advanced computer configurations.
 
Upgrading the video card would be your best/cheapest/biggest improvement. That said, since you are running a stock HP case, be sure the card you buy will fit in the case(length). A bunch of systems that spec to support newer cards don't have the room to cram them in.
 
[quote name='RAMSTORIA']you could upgrade your video card for under $150 easy and should see a good boost in performance. why do you have 3gb of ram? what type of motherboard do you have? depending on the board it might not be an issue, but an upgrade to 4gb could have some increased performance depending on how many slots you have.[/QUOTE]

It's whatever the stock motherboard is in this model of HP. I have 3gb of ram because that is what came with it ahah, and I believe it has 3 sockets @ 1 GB each. Honestly, in my case, I don't think it'd be worth upgrading to 4 GB from 3 GB. I'll probably just hold off and see how TF2 runs for me and then make my judgment.
 
[quote name='sealionnn']It's whatever the stock motherboard is in this model of HP. I have 3gb of ram because that is what came with it ahah, and I believe it has 3 sockets @ 1 GB each. Honestly, in my case, I don't think it'd be worth upgrading to 4 GB from 3 GB. I'll probably just hold off and see how TF2 runs for me and then make my judgment.[/QUOTE]

yeah if its what came with the computer i wouldnt worry about it. but ive run into people that will mix and match ram not realizing that it detrimental.

a new video card will be more than sufficient to run tf2 and like i said, there are plenty on newegg you can get for under $150.
 
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