Upgrading a Compaq Desktop

[Ferrus]

Ok first of all I know the situation with this PC is never going to be brilliant for playing games, but my younger brother likes to play a bit of Counter Strike Source, and some other gaming fairly low spec games. He is interested in getting a gaming PC for newer games but for now he can't afford it.

What I want to ask is what sort of low-end card could I put in it as a temporary measure? The full specs are at this link: http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/d...roduct=3207951

It has an extra 512MB of RAM installed already. So could someone recommend a card? It seems to have a PCI-E 16x slot, which should leave alot of options. But seeing as the processor isn't really upto scratch I'm guessing some of the newer cards would just be a bottleneck.

Thanks

[Katreat]

First off, take a look in the case and see how big the PSU is. There are quite a few video cards starting at less than $50 which will make a world of differnece for the computer but you need to know the wattage of the PSU.

Kat

[Ferrus]

Ok willdo. The current integrated video is really poor. It even hogs system RAM because it doesn't have its own.

[Ferrus]

It says "max power output 300W" on the side of the PSU. Is that what you need?

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by Ferrus It says "max power output 300W" on the side of the PSU. Is that what you need?

300W leaves very little room for upgrading, you should be able to use a low end card, but if you were to get a better power supply (over 350W, of a good brand), you would be able to get a mid-range video card for a price close to that of a low-end card but with a large increase in performance. What kind of budget do you have?

[Ferrus]

£90 (I'm in the U.K), which is about $176.

[Masaki 7-11]

This should work for that budget (it's a little bit over due to shipping):

Antec EarthWatts 380W PSU
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=CA-085-AN
£29.99

Asus ATI Radeon EAH3650/HTDI/256M HD 3650 256MB GDDR3 TV-Out/Dual DVI/HDMI (PCI-Express) - Retail
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...odid=GX-151-AS
£43.99

Sub Total : £73.98
Shipping : £8.25
VAT is being charged at 17.5% VAT : £14.39
Total : £96.62

[Ferrus]

Ok thank you. Are you sure its absolutely necessary to have this PSU too? He would like to put as little money into this upgrade as possible, as he is saving for a completely new PC. If not, perhaps we could get a really nice PSU and then carry it over to the new build when he has the money. Or just get a really low power consuming card perhaps.

[Masaki 7-11]

Might be a better idea to go for a better power supply to be used in the next build, the video card can also be used for the next build since it offers good performance for lower spec games like CS:S. Most video cards will have trouble running on 300w, and most companies like compaq, dell, ect. use lower quality power supplies. Here is a good power supply for a bit more than the one I first linked: http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showpr...23&subcat=1098

[Katreat]

I am not sure if 300 watts would be enough, but a step down fromt he 3850 would be the HD 2600 XT, which has gotten good reviews for casual gaming. the problem I have is finding a power requirement listed for the lower level cards so even this migh require a PSU upgrade.

Kat

[Ferrus]

So now I really need some evidence of how much power these cards need.

[Masaki 7-11]

Originally Posted by Katreat I am not sure if 300 watts would be enough, but a step down fromt he 3850 would be the HD 2600 XT, which has gotten good reviews for casual gaming. the problem I have is finding a power requirement listed for the lower level cards so even this migh require a PSU upgrade. Kat

I've linked the HD3650, not the HD3850, the HD3650 is the 55nm version of the HD2600XT so it uses up less electricity. Either way, for a midrange card, you need at least 350W, but for most systems 400W and up is better so you have some headroom (power supplies aren't 100% efficient).

http://www.sapphiretech.com/us/produ...gpid=230&grp=3
"300 Watt or greater power supply recommended (450 Watt for dual ATI CrossFireX™)"
This is assuming you are using a low powered computer and that you have a good power supply, I suppose you could try to get the video card now and the PSU later if needed, but it's not normally a good idea to overload the PSU. If possible it would be best if you could buy the graphics card and PSU.

[Ferrus]

I see. Well we'll probably go with the PSU & GPU upgrade path then.

This PC is running 2x 512mb ram, AMD 3500+ 2.2ghz processor, 80gb HD, and one DVD drive.