A little over 3 months back my old computer died and I picked up a middle of the line HP Pavilion to replace it from costco.
http://www.costco.com/images/content/misc/PDF/11203303_a6357cb.pdf
At the time I was desperate for a quick fix and assumed at $1000 the pc would at least be able to handle games. I did not give this much thought as I was more concerned using it for work and word processing at the time.
Anyways, after uploading some of my old games I saw that the graphics were WORSE than what they had been on my 5 year old desktop (which ran a ti-4200)
Sadly, three months have passed since I bought the new comp and I can no longer return it to costco.
Im am not very tech-savvy but after researching realized I would probably be up to installing a new graphics card. I then realized my power supply (250w) would not be able to handle a new card (I was comparing 8600 gt or gts and a low end 8800gt). I am on somewhat of a budget here.
As far as I know the power supply is the only thing stopping from one of these cards running on my machine and giving it respectable gaming ability.
I have never opened up a computer before (other than to check what my pitifully weak power supply was) and am wondering it i would be up to the task of purchasing/installing both a new power supply and graphics card and ensuring everything would be compatible. AND I may be completely missing some other important aspect of upgrading. I am only trying to spend $150-$180 on both a new card and supply, however I did find some cards I would be happy with in the low-mid $100 range.
Any insight would help a lot.
http://www.costco.com/images/content/misc/PDF/11203303_a6357cb.pdf
At the time I was desperate for a quick fix and assumed at $1000 the pc would at least be able to handle games. I did not give this much thought as I was more concerned using it for work and word processing at the time.
Anyways, after uploading some of my old games I saw that the graphics were WORSE than what they had been on my 5 year old desktop (which ran a ti-4200)
Sadly, three months have passed since I bought the new comp and I can no longer return it to costco.
Im am not very tech-savvy but after researching realized I would probably be up to installing a new graphics card. I then realized my power supply (250w) would not be able to handle a new card (I was comparing 8600 gt or gts and a low end 8800gt). I am on somewhat of a budget here.
As far as I know the power supply is the only thing stopping from one of these cards running on my machine and giving it respectable gaming ability.
I have never opened up a computer before (other than to check what my pitifully weak power supply was) and am wondering it i would be up to the task of purchasing/installing both a new power supply and graphics card and ensuring everything would be compatible. AND I may be completely missing some other important aspect of upgrading. I am only trying to spend $150-$180 on both a new card and supply, however I did find some cards I would be happy with in the low-mid $100 range.
Any insight would help a lot.
