Upgrade for a Compaq

[Crowes]

Hey there.

 

A friend of mine is looking to upgrade his (what seems to be a) prebuilt computer from Compaq/HP so he can make his way more towards gaming. I'm not really too sure what to go for, but due to his CPU-intensive gaming habits, I'd say go for a new processor; yet I'm not too sure if that's the cheapest.

 

Specifications: http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=emr_na-c03513243

 

DXDIAG/WEI: http://imgur.com/5Selub9,4OuW0Of,z3rBbxB,EQ2vdzQ,Wkx7VMK

 

What would you suggest?

[scottyseng]

Hey there.

 

A friend of mine is looking to upgrade his (what seems to be a) prebuilt computer from Compaq/HP so he can make his way more towards gaming. I'm not really too sure what to go for, but due to his CPU-intensive gaming habits, I'd say go for a new processor; yet I'm not too sure if that's the cheapest.

 

Specifications: http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=emr_na-c03513243 

 

DXDIAG/WEI: http://imgur.com/5Selub9,4OuW0Of,z3rBbxB,EQ2vdzQ,Wkx7VMK

 

What would you suggest?

 

First link isn't doing anything for me. Maybe write the specs here in text?

[Aytex]

budget?

 

First link isn't doing anything for me. Maybe write the specs here in text?

 

me neither

[Crowes]

http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=emr_na-c03513243

[Senzelian]

Yup, Harry needs a new CPU

Looks like an LGA 1155 board, so you could technically upgrade to an Ivy Bridge or Sandy Bridge i5/i7.
But it would be good to know which motherboard he exactly uses right now, cause he might need some BIOS updates or so.

But it also depends what exactly he wants to do with that system. Does he need a dedicated graphics card?
What's his budget?

Edit:

Okay, now that I've seen which motherboard they used I know he will most likely need a new motherboard.
Only CPUs with a TDP of up to 35 watts are supported. That means only dual cores, which isn't exactly an upgrade from his current CPU.

I would probably recommend something like an H81 motherboard with an i5-4460 or
maybe even an FX 8350, depending on his budget of course.

Then again I would probably also go for a smal GPU such as a GTX 750Ti. That should get him through most games at his current resolution without spending too much money.
 

[Crowes]

Yup, Harry needs a new CPU

Looks like an LGA 1155 board, so you could technically upgrade to an Ivy Bridge or Sandy Bridge i5/i7.

But it would be good to know which motherboard he exactly uses right now, cause he might need some BIOS updates or so.

But it also depends what exactly he wants to do with that system. Does he need a dedicated graphics card?

What's his budget?

Edit:

Okay, now that I've seen which motherboard they used I know he will most likely need a new motherboard.

Only CPUs with a TDP of up to 35 watts are supported. That means only dual cores, which isn't exactly an upgrade from his current CPU.

I would probably recommend something like an H81 motherboard with an i5-4460 or

maybe even an FX 8350, depending on his budget of course.

Then again I would probably also go for a smal GPU such as a GTX 750Ti. That should get him through most games at his current resolution without spending too much money.

 

 

He tells me his budget is £50, so I was going to say £100 because he may be able to push it up if it's urgent. But since he's probably going to have to replace both, let's just say it's about £200-250 for now, and see what's the lowest we can get for an actual decent quality. 

 

Quad Core CPU of probably i3 quality (I assume most CPUs are quad nowadays..), not-so fancy motherboard. Sound feasible?

[scottyseng]

He tells me his budget is £50, so I was going to say £100 because he may be able to push it up if it's urgent. But since he's probably going to have to replace both, let's just say it's about £200-250 for now, and see what's the lowest we can get for an actual decent quality. 

 

Quad Core CPU of probably i3 quality (I assume most CPUs are quad nowadays..), not-so fancy motherboard. Sound feasible?

 

I would agree, he's going to need to cash out and get a new CPU / motherboard (Wow, 35W only motherboard...didn't know those even existed...)

 

It should be feasible. Maybe get a Haswell i3 or i5?

 

I think i3s are only dual core still.

[Senzelian]

He tells me his budget is £50, so I was going to say £100 because he may be able to push it up if it's urgent. But since he's probably going to have to replace both, let's just say it's about £200-250 for now, and see what's the lowest we can get for an actual decent quality. 

 

Quad Core CPU of probably i3 quality (I assume most CPUs are quad nowadays..), not-so fancy motherboard. Sound feasible?

The i3 is a dual core, but hyper-threaded.

So yeah, an i5-4460 / 4440 with an H81 motherboard should work quite well here.

He can reuse the RAM.

But then there is still the problem of the integrated graphics of that i5. It's not exactly the most powerful.

Which games does he exactly play?

Otherwise I would simply recommend a G3258 and a 750Ti on a H81 motherboard. With that he gets at least a dedicated GPU that lets him play most games and a decent little CPU, that is definitly better than his current one.

[Crowes]

The i3 is a dual core, but hyper-threaded.

So yeah, an i5-4460 / 4440 with an H81 motherboard should work quite well here.

He can reuse the RAM.

But then there is still the problem of the integrated graphics of that i5. It's not exactly the most powerful.

Which games does he exactly play?

Otherwise I would simply recommend a G3258 and a 750Ti on a H81 motherboard. With that he gets at least a dedicated GPU that lets him play most games and a decent little CPU, that is definitly better than his current one.

 

As said above, he plays CPU-intensive games. I used the generalisation because I wasn't going to assume everyone knew what each game behaved like. If you want specifics, mostly the multiplayer mod for Just Cause 2, which is incredibly CPU-intensive, but a GPU helps. I used to have a Dual Core A6 and my current R7 260X, and it chugged like hell, which vastly improved when I moved to my to my A10; which is why I'm a precarious about mentioning yet another dual core.. I don't think it will help, even if the 750TI was shoved on top.

 

If we compiled the i5 4460, 750TI, and the H81 motherboard, it'll set him back over budget.

 

 

I5 4460 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-3-20GHz-Graphics-Technology-Socket/dp/B00K5J2306/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1439327066&sr=8-1&keywords=i54460 - £142.13~

750TI - http://www.amazon.co.uk/EVGA-GeForce-Superclocked-Graphics-DisplayPort/dp/B00IGQ4Z3S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1439327072&sr=8-1&keywords=750TI - £102.98~

H81 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gigabyte-GA-H81M-H-Motherboard-Micro-Socket/dp/B00IS69CFW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1439326977&sr=8-1&keywords=H81+motherboard - £34.98

 

Total: £280.09

 

 

 

Is there no corners we can cut?

[Senzelian]

As said above, he plays CPU-intensive games. I used the generalisation because I wasn't going to assume everyone knew what each game behaved like. If you want specifics, mostly the multiplayer mod for Just Cause 2, which is incredibly CPU-intensive, but a GPU helps. I used to have a Dual Core A6 and my current R7 260X, and it chugged like hell, which vastly improved when I moved to my to my A10; which is why I'm a precarious about mentioning yet another dual core.. I don't think it will help, even if the 750TI was shoved on top.

 

If we compiled the i5 4460, 750TI, and the H81 motherboard, it'll set him back over budget.

 

 

I5 4460 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Intel-3-20GHz-Graphics-Technology-Socket/dp/B00K5J2306/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1439327066&sr=8-1&keywords=i54460 - £142.13~

750TI - http://www.amazon.co.uk/EVGA-GeForce-Superclocked-Graphics-DisplayPort/dp/B00IGQ4Z3S/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1439327072&sr=8-1&keywords=750TI - £102.98~

H81 - http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gigabyte-GA-H81M-H-Motherboard-Micro-Socket/dp/B00IS69CFW/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1439326977&sr=8-1&keywords=H81+motherboard - £34.98

 

Total: £280.09

 

 

 

Is there no corners we can cut?

Another option would be an FX 8350/8320.

I cannot exactly tell how well it would perform.

There you get at least your 4 cores at a low price, but the motherboard will cost more, because afaik there are certain limitation when it comes to chipset compatibility on micro-ATX boards and the FX 8xxx CPUs.