How is this PC for gamming?

[do_the_dew910]

I am just copying the specs off the bestbuy website because I'm in a hurry


Product Details
Warranty Terms - Parts 1 year limited

Warranty Terms - Labour 1 year limited

Product Height 15"

Product Width 7.2"

Product Weight 24 lbs

Product Length 17"

Processor Brand AMD Athlon 64 X2

Processor Speed 2.0GHz

System Bus 2000MHz

Cache Memory 512KB + 512KB on die Level 2

System Memory (RAM) 1GB

System Memory (RAM) Expandable To 4GB

Type of Memory (RAM) PC3200 DDR SDRAM

Hard Drive Type Serial ATA (7200 rpm)

Hard Drive Size 250GB

Graphics ATI RADEON XPRESS 200

Video Memory Up to 256MB (shared)

Personal Video Recorder (PVR) No

TV Tuner No

MPEG Yes

Audio Built-in; 6-speaker configurable

Modem 56 Kbps*
*Capable of receiving 56 Kbps downloads. However, current regulations limit download speed to 53 Kbps.

Network Card Built-in 10/100Base-T Ethernet networking interface (RJ-45 connector)

Wireless Networking None

DVD-ROM Drive Yes

Maximum DVD-ROM Drive Speed 16x

Recordable DVD Drive Yes, double-layer DVD±RW/CD-RW

Recordable DVD Drive Speeds 2.4x DVD+R DL; 16x4x16 DVD+RW; 8x4x16 DVD-RW; 40x24x40 CD-RW

LightScribe Compatibility Yes

Digital Media Reader or Slots Yes, digital media card reader

Total Expansion Bays External: 1 (3.5"), 2 (5.25"); Internal: 1 (3.5")

Available Expansion Bays External: 1 (3.5")

Total Expansion Slots 3 PCI, 1 PCI-E

Available Expansion Slots 2 PCI, 1 PCI-E

USB 2.0 Ports 7 (3 front, 4 rear)

IEEE 1394 Ports 2 (1 front, 1 rear)

S-Video Outputs None

Serial Ports None

Parallel Ports 1

Game Ports None

Keyboard Description HP multimedia

Other Control Devices (mouse, etc.) HP scroll mouse

Operating System Windows XP Media Center 2005

Software Included Microsoft Works 8.0, Money Standard 2005; Quicken 2005 New User Edition; Adobe Reader 6.0; HP Image Zone Plus; Sonic DigitalMedia Plus; muvee autoProducer; InterVideo WinDVD 5; Apple® iTunes and more




What does 256mb shared mean on a video card??

How is this for gamming?

Where am I going to see the flaws??

 

[CrAzY_GaMeR_07]

Hewlett-Packard Pavilion Desktop with AMD Athlon™ 64 X2 Processor 3800+ (Model: a1250n)

Pros:
Dual Core
Sata Harddrive
1 GB Ram

Cons:
HP brand
Built in Video
ALL STOCK ITEMS
Bad Price for what your getting


Final Line:
If you want a gaming machine, build one or get a custom one made Through a company. I personaly hate HP computers. This computer is more for buisness and work. You can get alot more for you money by going custom!


~Joe

 

[Vybuni]

It looks decent but the video card blows so you definately need a better one. How much will this cost you.

PS delete some of the spaces between parts. Takes up way too much room

 

[do_the_dew910]

^ Sorry I just copied and pasted it.

I want a custom of course but my mother says "no no no!" She dosn't trust anyone

Also she hit me with, "I want it from a retail store we can go into and walk out with a computer right there."

So for little Arkansas like this, that leaves me to Circuit City or BestBuy....

If anyone can find a better deal from those two stores with a price range of $1200 or less, well my mom said $1000 (Hence why I picked that one) but I can talk her into $1200...

Thanks!!



EDIT:: Can you build a computer in one of those stores from scratch or from a base in one of those stores? If so, what items would I be looking for on a $1000-$1200 budget?

 

[beedubaya]

Pretty much anything you are going to get from those stores are going to be crap for gaming. I work at office depot and I sell those heaps as "gaming machines", but they will barely even run today's games. If today's games run, you will have to run them at 640x480 lowest settings.

$1200 could get you a machine that would put a lot of ours at this forum to shame if you would just build it. But if you buy an HP, you will not only be dissapointed, you will have a PC thats totally inadequate for gaming. If you do get that, just don't try to game on it, get a console. Gaming on an HP is not going to happen.

And yes, you could get it done at a mom and pop store for slightly more than building one, but it would be worlds better than an HP. Even the highest end HPs are low-end compared to today's custom systems.

 

[Vybuni]

Convince her to let you build one. You can get a pretty nice rig for 1200. A lot better than buying one. If you must buy one, look at MonarchComputer. Their custom builds have pretty good prices.

 

[do_the_dew910]

Wow...If I put that much dedication into telling my mom how much they sucked..she might let me get a custom built one made....Im going to tell her everything said on here and see what she says.

 

[beedubaya]

Convince her to let you build one. You can get a pretty nice rig for 1200. A lot better than buying one. If you must buy one, look at MonarchComputer. Their custom builds have pretty good prices.

Yeah, do that. I had an HP before my current system. I bought it when I didn't know anything about computers. The sales associate in the store told me how great it would be for gaming. However, I soon learned that it wasn't. I went to buy a graphics card to replace the integrated graphics, and I found that the PSU was only 150W, which is not enough to support a graphics card. So I went to change the power supply, and I found out that the case was built so that only the proprietary 150W power supply would fit in it, so I could not change the PSU. Even further, the 256MB of RAM was proprietary PC2100, with the notch moved over 2 pins so you would have to use HP RAM. So basically, I was screwed, there is no way I was upgrading it. HP is not good news. Only 4 months after I bought my HP, I was already wanting to build my own.

P.S. HP sabatoges its mainstream PCs and their upgrade capability to force you to buy their mondo-expensive gaming-grade system for gaming.

 

[CrAzY_GaMeR_07]

Pretty much anything you are going to get from those stores are going to be crap for gaming. I work at office depot and I sell those heaps as "gaming machines", but they will barely even run today's games. If today's games run, you will have to run them at 640x480 lowest settings.

$1200 could get you a machine that would put a lot of ours at this forum to shame if you would just build it. But if you buy an HP, you will not only be dissapointed, you will have a PC thats totally inadequate for gaming. If you do get that, just don't try to game on it, get a console. Gaming on an HP is not going to happen.

And yes, you could get it done at a mom and pop store for slightly more than building one, but it would be worlds better than an HP. Even the highest end HPs are low-end compared to today's custom systems.

Hes a good mod

 

[do_the_dew910]

Sigh...will this computer be good at anything at all? what about older games? Diablo 2 type games...