update for hp M8226x

[acerinpa]

OK - have new build/pc and now want to upgate the old pc as I have more than one gamer in the house.

The older pc = HP M8226x . I would like to upgade this thing as it is dying, Vista is all "gunked up" and I need to do clean Os re-install- but have no vista disk- did not come with the computer when purchased- as I cannot find my initial back up.

I added a 8600gt card a year ago - help to determine if a better card such as a 4680 is worth it or not.

Have new PSU = Newegg.com - Suggested Products 550watt. I picked it up on a Combo deal for about $49 when I bought the new 5770 card fro the new PC . I hope I can just change out the old PSU for this easily enough.

Link to the HP m8226x specs = Product Specifications HP Pavilion Media Center m8226x Desktop PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

I really never liked VISTA so: is it worth upgrading the RAM to 6-8 GB to then use the win7 OS with XP for 32 bit programs? Or should I just clean up Vista as make do?

Any other ideas? This pc will now be the daily internet, email, photo/video storage daily workhorse of the family- the new phenomII with the 5770 card will be the gaming computer. I also purchased an 500 Gb external drive for storage,etc.


Thanks for any help.

 

[joelm3103]

Well if it's not for any specific purpose as gaming and just a regular computer, you may save money and just stick with Vista. Unless you want to upgrade, but it's not really necessary since all the PC is being used for is basic internet purposes and storage, no high end gaming or editing. That's just my opinion though.

 

[acerinpa]

Sorry- I did not mean to say that there would be no gaming- I have more than one gamer in the house- so now we will be able to have 2 people gaming at once = less fighting on whose turn it is. So, yes gaming will be done on the HP, as well as daily grinding of emails, etc. - I try to have the newest gaming PC for gaming only. With 12 and 14 year old boys- you never have enough gaming consoles, or computers. Especially if I want to have any fun playing. We sill still play battlefield 2142, just ordered Mass effect2, etc. So. this upgrade will be to get the best gaming out of this old Hp as possible- yet it must be stable enough to handle the daily grind. So no Raid 0, etc.

 

[joelm3103]

Oh well if the question is between the Windows 7 and Vista, I'll go with 7. IMO I think it's cleaner and faster OS.

 

[acerinpa]

OK - win7 with Xp installed for 32 bit games. How about adding more/better RAM - or will that not make much difference. Maybe a new graphics card that will be the best card for this processor/mobo and the new PSU. Please confirm that the new PSU will work in this machine.

 

[joelm3103]

OK - win7 with Xp installed for 32 bit games. How about adding more/better RAM - or will that not make much difference. Maybe a new graphics card that will be the best card for this processor/mobo and the new PSU. Please confirm that the new PSU will work in this machine.

Can't really say for the PSU as the link you shared is down as it says "We apologize for the inconvenience, but the item you are looking for has been deactivated.".

I think Windows 7 has an option to run 32-bit applications already so no need for Windows XP to be installed. Also adding more/better RAM may not make much more of a difference. Better to upgrade and finish, than to have to upgrade again later on.

Lastly the GFX card you bought, 8600gt card , might not be able to push recent games such as Mass Effect 2 at max graphics but it should pass at medium - low.

Edit: In red/bold above ^.

 

[acerinpa]

The PSU link works for me - maybe they fixed it. But it is item #N82E16817341022 = OCZ fatality series 550 watt. I know there are faster/better RAM memory - I would guess the original RAM is not really good Ram- will it make any difference to change it out for better , higher quality RAM?

 

[joelm3103]

PSU should work fine I think and you could get better/faster RAM then if your going to run the Windows 7 OS. I think minimum for Windows 7 is 4GB, so upgrading to 6GB may help you in gaming.

Strong gaming I would recommend a 650w-750w though, just saying.

 

[acerinpa]

ya- The new setup has a 750 watt PSU. For 49 bucks I figured the 550 watt new OCZ PSU would be a big step up from the original stock HP 300 watt PSU. Have looked into new RAM- the crucial website determines that I can use 240 pin DDR2 PC 8500, which I think is a lot faster than the stock 3 gb RAM. SO , I will look into buying 6 GB of that with the new WIN7 OS. Still trying to figure out if the original MOBO, Processor, etc. can utilize a new video card ( maybe an ATI 4680 or a nvidia 240) with the new PSU, or not.

 

[acerinpa]

well - got the new PSU in - great fit, hook ed up the 8600gt card "properly" And cleaned up the system a bit. BUT, Vista still running very slow. Tried to load Halo2 and it said I do not have enough speed= 1 ghz, but I am running a dual 3.0 ghz processor. Anybody have any ideas. Thinking about reloading XP - heck with the vista. Internet works great- using Firefox.