New baby help!

[technical.angel]

http://www.bestbuy.com/site/olspage....=1218068107386

What do you think?

I am planning on replacing the vid card.

[Eric the Grey]

*wipes drool from chin*

Nice box. I have no experience with HP desktops good or bad to say one way or another.

Anyway, the only thing I can think of to tell you to do before you commit to this, is to check each and every one of the applications you use, and make certain they are compatible with the 64-bit OS. Some have 64-bit versions available, and some will work as is. Older applications may or may not run at all.

Since you have to have the 64-bit version of Vista to use the 6 gig of RAM, it's kind of necessary to keep that.


Eric the Grey

[SteeleDragon78]

only complaints ive had with hp boxes was how they did their cooling, and the inability to do upgrades on mobos without a tatoo cd. my mother had an hp that the cooler was a duct connected to the exhaust fan on the back. and when i moved the hdd to another tower when hers died i had to make a backup of the important files and transfer them via cd instead of just dropping the drive and running with it. if they have fixed those issues then great, if not make sure its what you really want....

[technical.angel]

well, the first thing I plan to do is drop in my hdd
(1.5 TB) and my vid card. From reading the spec sheet there shouls be room for the hdd.... right?

[SteeleDragon78]

well, the first thing I plan to do is drop in my hdd
(1.5 TB) and my vid card. From reading the spec sheet there shouls be room for the hdd.... right?

that depends on the internal architecture, moms had a swing out holder for the 3.5" drives, and it wouldnt take my 200gb drive due to its size, but the comp was built in 02 so things may have changed. if i were you i would check out hps site concerning upgrade instructions, they would tell you if its gonna fit and how much of a pain it could be.

[Eric the Grey]

well, the first thing I plan to do is drop in my hdd
(1.5 TB) and my vid card. From reading the spec sheet there shouls be room for the hdd.... right?

From the specs, yes:

• Total Expansion Bays
• External: 1 (3.5"), 2 (5.25"); Internal: 2 (3.5")
• #
• Available Expansion Bays
• External: 1 (3.5"), 2 (5.25"); Internal: 1 (3.5")
• #
• Total Expansion Slots
• 3 PCI-E x1, 1 PCI-E x16
• #
• Available Expansion Slots
• 2 PCI-E x1, 1 PCI-E x16

Is your Video card PCI Express? This has one PCI-E x1 and one x16 (x16 is the faster slot) Your card will need to fit in one of these. The x16 cards are the more common of the two video cards but if your old system is old enough, it may have had an AGP slot, which won't work in this one.


Eric the Grey

[technical.angel]

dang!!!!! Now that I think of it, my card is probably AGP. I guess I'm picking up a new card. Oh well, I can pick up one better geared for gaming.

[Mr. Rude]

You should find out how big the power supply is in that tower. Most of those pre-built boxes usually have a rather cheap / low watt PSU.

Especially if you plan to install a decent to high vid card. Those puppies usually want a 450 watt PSU & up.

Also not a big fan of systems that only come with 1 year warranty on hardware.

[lordlundar]

dang!!!!! Now that I think of it, my card is probably AGP. I guess I'm picking up a new card. Oh well, I can pick up one better geared for gaming.

how old is the machine? If it's under about 3 years old, odds are good it's PCI-E.

[Eric the Grey]

You should find out how big the power supply is in that tower. Most of those pre-built boxes usually have a rather cheap / low watt PSU.

Especially if you plan to install a decent to high vid card. Those puppies usually want a 450 watt PSU & up.

Yea, Mr. Rude is right about this. Most pre-built machines only come with enough of a PSU to match the included hardware. Unfortunately, nothing here tells you how big of one it has. ONE reviewer mentions having to add a 450w PSU along with a gaming quality graphics card. Expect to have to do both.



Eric the Grey

[technical.angel]

I got my baby!!!

I had minimal problems getting the terabyte drive in. (SATA HD and burner, but IDE power... WTF?) I just pulled my power adapter out of my other machine and spent a few minutes trying to fully seat it on an end.

The only real problem I have is that my VGA to DVI adapter doesn't seem to want to go on the DVI port. But, I have to shut everything down to install my new battery backup, so I'll drag the case out of the desk and see if a little percussive persuasion will help.

[DGoddessChardonnay]

Congratulations on your new addition!!!!!

Have you come up with a name yet? And is it a boy or a girl PC?