Buying a new computer

[buttermytoast36]

i dont no anything about building so id rather just buy a new computer. im gunna use it for some games and my budgets between 500-650$ i play dawn of war 2 alot so i need it to be able to run it. i was looking at the "Compaq - Presario Desktop with AMD Athlonâ„¢ II Dual-Core Processor" from best buy. its 400$ so if i were to buy that computer and i upgraded the graphics card to somthing like nvidia geforce 6600GT or ATI X1600 would i be able to run it? and is it even possible to upgrade that computer with those cards? please help

 

[aliasaid]

Which model is the compaq? Also, even if you could upgrade the video card, you'd also need to upgrade the power supply for it to be able to handle the video card. Not worth the hassle. If you intend on upgrading/gaming, then prebuilts like compaq aren't good. As for graphics cards, the 6600gt and x1600 are last last last last generation.. or something like that.. lol. You could probably get something cheaper and outperform it by a lot, something like a 4650 or 4670 or 9600gt.

 

[buttermytoast36]

any suggestions on a computer within my budget then?

 

[aliasaid]

Here's the thing, to be able to play games at decent frame rates, you'll need one of the following:

Newegg.com - Palit NE5T2400FHD51 GeForce GT 240 512MB 128-bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
Newegg.com - POWERCOLOR AX5570 1GBD3-LH Radeon HD 5570 1GB 128-bit GDDR3 Low Profile Ready Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
Newegg.com - POWERCOLOR PCS AX4670 1GBK3-PH Radeon HD 4670 1GB 128-bit DDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready CrossFireX Support Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards
Newegg.com - PNY VCG96512GXXB GeForce 9600 GT 512MB 256-bit GDDR3 PCI Express 2.0 x16 HDCP Ready SLI Support Video Card - Desktop Graphics / Video Cards

Those cards all require at least 350-400watts. And most prebuilts in your price range only have something like 250watt PSUs.

Newegg.com - COMPAQ Presario CQ5320F(AY030AA#ABA) Athlon II X2 240(2.8GHz) 3GB DDR3 500GB NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit - Desktop PCs

is that the one you were thinking of? It only has a 250watt PSU.

There's also this one thats also good in that price range, but same problem, only 250watt PSU.
Newegg.com - eMachines ET1831-07 Pentium E5400(2.70GHz) 4GB DDR2 750GB NVIDIA GeForce 7050 Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit - Desktop PCs

So for a computer that costs $390 + $75-90 (video card) + $40-50 (PSU), you're well over budget.


If you build yourself, you get something like this:

Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!
Newegg.com - Seagate Barracuda 7200.12 ST3500418AS 500GB 7200 RPM 16MB Cache SATA 3.0Gb/s 3.5" Internal Hard Drive -Bare Drive
Newegg.com - Computer Parts, PC Components, Laptop Computers, Digital Cameras and more!

total: $450, but here's the catch. No operating system. Those other prebuilts had windows 7 included, this doesn't. So if you add one, it'll come out to about the same price altogether, only difference is that you'll be getting much better parts if you build it yourself.

 

[buttermytoast36]

Newegg.com - CyberpowerPC Gamer Ultra 2038 Athlon II X4 630(2.8GHz) 4GB DDR2 500GB NVIDIA GeForce G210 Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - Desktop PCs
what about somthing like that?

 

[orihS ‪‪‪Shiro]

Newegg.com - CyberpowerPC Gamer Ultra 2038 Athlon II X4 630(2.8GHz) 4GB DDR2 500GB NVIDIA GeForce G210 Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - Desktop PCs
what about somthing like that?

That's not terrible.
It SHOULD be able to run Dawn of War II with that G 210.
(Depending on your resolution)
The PSU could handle a GT 240, 4770, 4670, 5670, judging just by the 12v rail amperage ratings.
But I don't know anything about Turbolink's quality.
They could be a **** PSU company, and judging by CyberPowerPC, Ibuypower, etc... I would guess it IS a **** PSU that will fail as soon as it's out of warranty.

 

[buttermytoast36]

HP - Pavilion Desktop with AMD Athlon™ II Quad-Core Processor - p6310y

HP - Pavilion Desktop with AMD Phenom™ II X4 Quad-Core Processor - p6230y

what about one of those? and if i have to upgrade the graphics card thats fine, i can do that. ill have about 600-650 for the computer and then if i have to i can throw another 100$ for a card.
thanks alot for takin the time to help out

 

[orihS ‪‪‪Shiro]

The Phenom II X4 rig is what I would personally go with, if I were buying a pre-built...
You might not even have to spring for a graphics card if you play Dawn of War at a low enough resolution, the 785G can handle it.
Otherwise you'll end up upgrading the graphics card at some point.

 

[aliasaid]

Here's one where you won't need to upgrade anything, Phenom II quad core with a 9800gt:

Newegg.com - CyberpowerPC Gamer Ultra 2024 Phenom II X4 955(3.2GHz) 4GB DDR3 500GB NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - Desktop PCs

$750 (since you were going to put that much into it anyways..)

If your aim is to just run your game smoothly, then you can get something cheaper like one of the following:

Newegg.com - iBUYPOWER Gamer Power 508D3 Athlon II X4 620(2.6GHz) 4GB DDR3 500GB NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit - Desktop PCs $700
Newegg.com - iBUYPOWER Gamer Battle Gear D8 Phenom II X2 550(3.1GHz) 4GB DDR3 500GB NVIDIA GeForce GTS 250 Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit - Desktop PCs $680
Newegg.com - CyberpowerPC Gamer Xtreme 1060 Intel Core i3 530(2.93GHz) 4GB DDR3 500GB NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit - Desktop PCs $670
Newegg.com - CyberpowerPC Gamer Ultra 2039 Athlon II X4 630(2.8GHz) 4GB DDR3 500GB ATI Radeon HD 5670 Windows 7 Home Premium 64-Bit - Desktop PCs $600

Any of those computers will be able to max out your game quite easily without any upgrades. When you go down in price, there's usually a trade-off b/w a weaker gfx card or going dual-core from quad-core.