Need recommendation on cpu and gpu.

dorky82

Limp Gawd
Joined
May 11, 2009
Messages
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Currently have M17X R3 with i7 2720qm 6970m with ssd.
I bought gaming laptop due to being in the military with constant moving.
Now I'm out and settled in.

Currently playing diablo3, starcraft2, and LoL.
Bought cheap hp desktop on craigslist yesterday. Desktop below with hp 23inch led monitor for $200(i think i got hell of deal).
My laptop is overkill for what I do so I decided to sell it and upgrade desktop's cpu and gpu.

Currently have hp desktop with
amd II x2 511 3.4ghz
5gb mem
onboard 4200 graphics.

Already ordered cheap 550w from newegg.
Need recommendation on cpu and gpu for what I do(mild gaming, watching vid, surfing web)

x4 phenom II? or x6?
4770? gtx 460? 5770?

Play my games on 1080p res.
 
Which 550W PSU?
How much are you willing to spend on total on the CPU and GPU?
 
Please answer my questions with specifics please.
 
Also,

name brand desktops don't always support upgrading to whatever CPU you want. They often have freaky bioses that limit you to the CPU's that came with the machine stock..

Do you know if the socket is AM2+ or AM3? That might limit your choices as well.

Honestly, I'm pretty sure you would have been better off building one from scratch, than doing that.

It's also getting increasingly difficult to find a full ranage of Phenom II CPU's without scraping the used market for CPU's you don't know if they have been treated well or not, and people selling Phenom II's used tend to ask WAAY too much for them.
 
Not sure if HP still does it but they used to lock their computers down so that you had to buy memory upgrades directly from them or it wouldn't work (at least not easily). Never tried to replace anything else in my HP computer back in the day but would be surprised if they didn't have other components locked down as well. Probably better luck getting a GPU in there than a CPU. I'd google your model number to see what other people have tried.

If you are comfortable putting an entire desktop together from scratch (not too difficult), I'd put the pc back on craigslist and look at budget gaming desktop builds. My build in my sig only cost about $1000 but it would be easy to slice that price down quite a bit with lower level parts that would still make a decent gaming rig. Google $500 gaming rig and you'll get some interesting options that should provide the power you want.

As for the PSU, hopefully it had good reviews because cheaping out on the PSU is usually a bad idea unless it's just a killer deal on a good one. Bad PSUs can cause a lot of issues.

The 2 things you don't want to cheap out on are PSU (needs to provide steady power to all those components) and CPU (lot easier to upgrade GPU, memory, etc down the road than it is to upgrade CPU).
 
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P6733W

bought this cheap PSU

HP website listed it will accept AM3 including x6.
Has 5GB 2x2x1x0. Plan to get 8 more gb in there.
I didnt keep up with price or performance after getting laptop. I was shocked at price of memory and SSD.

I don't plan to spend too much. I'm planning to build new desktop when I find new game I like and this desktop will goto my dad.
 
See if you can cancel that order. That PSU is so shitty, it's actually worse the PSU included in your HP. That PSU won't be able to provide a 1/3rd of its rated power under ideal conditions.
 
Return the Logisys power supply, Logisys are badly built, this one is an old design too. 38A on the 5V.
Today, anything in the last 6 years at least, mostly use 12V power. This one claims 25A on 12V, which makes this a 300watt max power supply (and logisys both lies about ratings and omits protective circuitry.

You should be able to find an HD7750 for $105-110, this is the fastest video card that will run without a power plug (ie, off of the motherboard slot).
Strickly speaking the HD7770 is a better buy, but it takes a power plug. And it is close enough in price to the 6850 to justify the 6850 purchase. (prices vary a lot, shop)

HD6850 is the base entry for a serious gaming card, or was. About $150.

Power supplies, Corsair CX430 or 500, Antec VP450, or Antec Neo ECO series (400, 520,620) are good inexpensive psus. These are usually available from newegg on sale with rebates.

Look at refurbished CPUs from newegg. May be all gone.
The Phenom II 960T would be my choice, 95 watt, excellent performer.
Any of the popular Phenom IIs should do you very well
5GB RAM is fine for gaming. Check to see if your operating system is 32 or 64 bit before adding more.
 
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Its too late to cancel. I'll play with it and return if it doesnt workout.
Found 6870 for $100 on craigslist. Going to pick up tonight. Now need to find better cpu and deal on memory.
 
Just return it right away. It's not a good idea to use a shitty PSU like that in any kind of PC, especially that'll be using the HD 6870. Return that Logisys and go with this PSU:
$50 - Antec NEO ECO 400C 400W PSU
 
Just return it right away. It's not a good idea to use a shitty PSU like that in any kind of PC, especially that'll be using the HD 6870. Return that Logisys and go with this PSU:
$50 - Antec NEO ECO 400C 400W PSU

Agreed. You don't want to fry your components. It's best not to use it at all.
 
Just return it right away. It's not a good idea to use a shitty PSU like that in any kind of PC, especially that'll be using the HD 6870. Return that Logisys and go with this PSU:
$50 - Antec NEO ECO 400C 400W PSU

This.

In fact, even if you can't return it and get your money back. You'd be better off losing that $20 you spent on that PSU than replacing parts that could potentially get damaged from the PSU.
 
thanks. It will be return to newegg as soon as I get it.
Ordered that psu. Thanks!
 
Seriously, good move. Logisys is always a gamble at poor odds. Plus if a component dies you can't tell if the Logisys killed it or not.
 
Picked up 6870 local but no way to test until psu gets here.

Just got logisys 550w power supply. No 6 pin connector.
Newegg charges $3 restocking fee + $ to ship back. So I'll only get $10 back if I return.
Going to keep it for back up.
 
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