Can I upgrade my generic HP desktop to a decent gaming PC?

[Sean42]

I have an HP Pavilion p6510f Desktop PC and I have not done anything to it. http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/document?docname=c02153181&cc=us&dlc=en&lc=en#N107 ...... Here are the specs I was wondering if there is anthing I can do to upgrade this PC to something much better that I can run DayZ and Battlefield on. It has to be under $500 and I dont want to go buy a whole new PC when I can just upgrade the one I have... Is this possible?

 

[Dunlop0078]

No probably not you would need to replace most of the computer, you would need a new power supply for a gpu at the very least then you would be stuck with the somewhat weak cpu thats in there a featureless motherboard, only 4gb of ram and a case with barely any airflow i would not recommend it.

 

[CTurbo]

For well under $500, you could replace your psu, add 4 more GB of RAM, and a decent video card. You'd probably need to add a case fan or two. Cooling is less than impressive in those HP cases.

 

[bmacsys]

For well under $500, you could replace your psu, add 4 more GB of RAM, and a decent video card. You'd probably need to add a case fan or two. Cooling is less than impressive in those HP cases.

A total waste of money. Better off flushing money down the toilet. Nobody upgrades crappy oem computers save ram. The boards are crap. They have zilch for options in the bios. The cases have zero airflow. That $500 would be a good portion of a real gaming build.

 

[CTurbo]

Yeah I never said it was the best option, but's definitely doable.

 

[jaguarskx]

It is best to just build a new PC because the CPU that is in your HP PC is pretty weak compared to more modern CPUs. Because of that it can bottleneck a modern GPU; the more powerful the GPU the greater the bottleneck. The following list of parts that works out to $462 + $5 for shipping. That excludes $40 worth of rebates. It also excludes a case so if your HP case really does have bad ventilation, then you will have some money left over in your budget to buy a case.

This is more or less a basic build that should allow you to play games at 1920x1080 using medium graphic settings with decent performance for graphically intensive games and for games that are not graphically intensive you should be able to play them on high settings.

AMD FX-6300
ASUS M5A78L-M LX PLUS
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB)
EVGA 100-W1-500-KR 500W
SAPPHIRE 100366-2L Radeon R7 260X 2GB
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-bit - OEM

 

[Sean42]

I was also looking at this pc to buy would it be good enough to run dayz? I would be playing that the most. http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0089KDCIU/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1419087295&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SY200_QL40 or this pc http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00J9D4MVW/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?qid=1419087295&sr=8-2&pi=AC_SY200_QL40

 

[Sean42]

If I do build one it would have to be between $500 to $700 is my max what would be the best route?

 

[jaguarskx]

The two PCs you linked are basically the same except one is on sale for under $600 while the other is $700. Stay away from both of them. They are crap. The FX-4300 is not that good of a CPU and the nVidia GT 610 is pathetically weak.

The parts I listed will give you much better performance at a lower price, but you need to put the PC together. You can either install them in the HP case, or select a case that accepts a ATX size power supply. Do not buy a case that has a power supply, those power supplies are almost always crap unless you are buying something that is relatively expensive (over $100) and the case is made by a reputable brand.

 

[Sean42]

The two PCs you linked are basically the same except one is on sale for under $600 while the other is $700. Stay away from both of them. They are crap. The FX-4300 is not that good of a CPU and the nVidia GT 610 is pathetically weak.

The parts I listed will give you much better performance at a lower price, but you need to put the PC together. You can either install them in the HP case, or select a case that accepts a ATX size power supply. Do not buy a case that has a power supply, those power supplies are almost always crap unless you are buying something that is relatively expensive (over $100) and the case is made by a reputable brand.

What would be a good case for it

 

[Sean42]

It is best to just build a new PC because the CPU that is in your HP PC is pretty weak compared to more modern CPUs. Because of that it can bottleneck a modern GPU; the more powerful the GPU the greater the bottleneck. The following list of parts that works out to $462 + $5 for shipping. That excludes $40 worth of rebates. It also excludes a case so if your HP case really does have bad ventilation, then you will have some money left over in your budget to buy a case.

This is more or less a basic build that should allow you to play games at 1920x1080 using medium graphic settings with decent performance for graphically intensive games and for games that are not graphically intensive you should be able to play them on high settings.

AMD FX-6300
ASUS M5A78L-M LX PLUS
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB)
EVGA 100-W1-500-KR 500W
SAPPHIRE 100366-2L Radeon R7 260X 2GB
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-bit - OEM

Im looking for something just a little bit more beefy like to $650 maybe or cheaper

 

[bmacsys]

It is best to just build a new PC because the CPU that is in your HP PC is pretty weak compared to more modern CPUs. Because of that it can bottleneck a modern GPU; the more powerful the GPU the greater the bottleneck. The following list of parts that works out to $462 + $5 for shipping. That excludes $40 worth of rebates. It also excludes a case so if your HP case really does have bad ventilation, then you will have some money left over in your budget to buy a case.

This is more or less a basic build that should allow you to play games at 1920x1080 using medium graphic settings with decent performance for graphically intensive games and for games that are not graphically intensive you should be able to play them on high settings.

AMD FX-6300
ASUS M5A78L-M LX PLUS
CORSAIR Vengeance 8GB (2 x 4GB)
EVGA 100-W1-500-KR 500W
SAPPHIRE 100366-2L Radeon R7 260X 2GB
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-bit - OEM

Im looking for something just a little bit more beefy like to $650 maybe or cheaper

That board is lots of times GIVEN away in bundles. Why? because it is crap. Get a better board like a GA-990FXA-UD3 R4. FX cpu's and anything less than a full ATX board with 8+2 phase power is a recipe for failure.

 

[jaguarskx]

That board is lots of times GIVEN away in bundles. Why? because it is crap. Get a better board like a GA-990FXA-UD3 R4. FX cpu's and anything less than a full ATX board with 8+2 phase power is a recipe for failure.

It's a "crap" motherboard because it does not allow for much overclocking. However, it is perfectly fine for a very little or no overclocking and it fits into the OP's original budget of $500 and leaving enough money left over to buy a case. The GA-990FXA-UD3 R4 is a full size ATX motherboard and generally sells for around $110 - $130. It would not fit into the HP case which means he would be forced to buy another computer PC and go beyond his original $500 budget.

 

[jaguarskx]

Im looking for something just a little bit more beefy like to $650 maybe or cheaper

The following is a more beefy build. Also because your hard drive is pretty old I recommend that you replace it rather re-use it and I have included a new hard drive in the list of parts. This naturally increases the total cost, but I try to keep it a low as possible. A PC case is a personal choice; some like flashy (and usually expensive) while other like it plain (and probably cheap). I have selected an inexpensive plain looking case.

Total cost of all parts is $724 before rebates + $8 shipping. There is a total of $55 worth of mail-in rebates so that brings down the cost of the parts to $669. Note that the motherboard is capable of overclocking an Intel CPU. However, the CPU I have selected cannot be overclocked to keep the price down. The i5-4690K is an overclockable CPU, but it will add $50 to the cost of the PC and you will also need to buy another CPU cooler which generally adds at least another $25 because the stock CPU cooler is not meant for overclocking.


Intel Core i5-4440 Haswell Quad-Core 3.1GHz (3.3GHz Turbo)
ASRock Z87 PRO3 LGA 1150 Intel Z87
GIGABYTE GV-R927XOC-2GD Radeon R9 270X 2GB
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
EVGA 100-W1-500-KR 500W PSU
Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB HDD
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-bit - OEM
Antec NEW SOLUTION SERIES VSK-4000 Black SGCC steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

 

[jaguarskx]

The above build will provide you with better performance than the original one I put together for under $500. That is not only because of the more powerful GPU, but also because Intel CPU provides better performance in games that are more dependent on the CPU. Below are two examples. Far Cry 4 is an example of a game that is dependent on the CPU so you will see that Intel CPUs offers higher performance with the GeForce GTX 980. However, Alien: Isolation is an example of a game that is not very dependent on the CPU so performance is pretty close with the Radeon R9 290x unless the CPU is really weak.

http://www.techspot.com/review/917-far-cry-4-benchmarks/page5.html

http://www.techspot.com/review/903-alien-isolation-benchmarks/page5.html

 

[Sean42]

Im looking for something just a little bit more beefy like to $650 maybe or cheaper

The following is a more beefy build. Also because your hard drive is pretty old I recommend that you replace it rather re-use it and I have included a new hard drive in the list of parts. This naturally increases the total cost, but I try to keep it a low as possible. A PC case is a personal choice; some like flashy (and usually expensive) while other like it plain (and probably cheap). I have selected an inexpensive plain looking case.

Total cost of all parts is $724 before rebates + $8 shipping. There is a total of $55 worth of mail-in rebates so that brings down the cost of the parts to $669. Note that the motherboard is capable of overclocking an Intel CPU. However, the CPU I have selected cannot be overclocked to keep the price down. The i5-4690K is an overclockable CPU, but it will add $50 to the cost of the PC and you will also need to buy another CPU cooler which generally adds at least another $25 because the stock CPU cooler is not meant for overclocking.


Intel Core i5-4440 Haswell Quad-Core 3.1GHz (3.3GHz Turbo)
ASRock Z87 PRO3 LGA 1150 Intel Z87
GIGABYTE GV-R927XOC-2GD Radeon R9 270X 2GB
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
EVGA 100-W1-500-KR 500W PSU
Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB HDD
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-bit - OEM
Antec NEW SOLUTION SERIES VSK-4000 Black SGCC steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Will this PC run dayz at like 60 fps? and is there anyway you can get this build below $675 but still just as good? Sorry if im being a pain I know a little about computers but I dont know what parts are compatible

 

[jaguarskx]

I do not play the game. Based on the following thread it is possible, but it depends on the graphics settings. Just be aware that DayZ is probably a CPU bound games and the people who posted in the thread have Intel "K model" CPU which can be overclocked. It seems though that 25 FPS is about the best you can hope for in cities though.

http://steamcommunity.com/app/221100/discussions/0/540742667475993246/


To cut costs you can use the following micro-ATX mobo which is $30 cheaper than the other mobo I recommended.

GIGABYTE GA-H81M-DS2V

That means you can re-use the HP case if you want. But if it has poor circulation, then it may cause overheating. You can also re-use your old hard drive instead of buying a new one.

 

[Dunlop0078]

Im looking for something just a little bit more beefy like to $650 maybe or cheaper

The following is a more beefy build. Also because your hard drive is pretty old I recommend that you replace it rather re-use it and I have included a new hard drive in the list of parts. This naturally increases the total cost, but I try to keep it a low as possible. A PC case is a personal choice; some like flashy (and usually expensive) while other like it plain (and probably cheap). I have selected an inexpensive plain looking case.

Total cost of all parts is $724 before rebates + $8 shipping. There is a total of $55 worth of mail-in rebates so that brings down the cost of the parts to $669. Note that the motherboard is capable of overclocking an Intel CPU. However, the CPU I have selected cannot be overclocked to keep the price down. The i5-4690K is an overclockable CPU, but it will add $50 to the cost of the PC and you will also need to buy another CPU cooler which generally adds at least another $25 because the stock CPU cooler is not meant for overclocking.


Intel Core i5-4440 Haswell Quad-Core 3.1GHz (3.3GHz Turbo)
ASRock Z87 PRO3 LGA 1150 Intel Z87
GIGABYTE GV-R927XOC-2GD Radeon R9 270X 2GB
G.SKILL Ripjaws X Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1600
EVGA 100-W1-500-KR 500W PSU
Seagate Barracuda ST1000DM003 1TB HDD
Microsoft Windows 8.1 64-bit - OEM
Antec NEW SOLUTION SERIES VSK-4000 Black SGCC steel ATX Mid Tower Computer Case

Will this PC run dayz at like 60 fps? and is there anyway you can get this build below $675 but still just as good? Sorry if im being a pain I know a little about computers but I dont know what parts are compatible

I doubt it day z runs like a piece of garbage and frame rates are all over the place, outside of cites and towns you may get 60 fps but inside cities the frame rate tanks for most people no matter the system. With my pc i get about 60fps or less outside cities, inside of cites i get 30fps if im lucky its drops to 20 sometimes.