HP Dv7 7227cl upgrade?

[sturgill53]

Hi
I picked up a HP dv7 7227cl and i would like to upgrade it's processor,video ram.and video card. I'm new to upgrading pc's and cannot find any information about upgrading this certain pc. It has the AMD Quad-Core A10-4600M and 8gb of ram. 512mb of video ram. I want to upgrade this into a gaming pc. I do not really have a budget but i would like it to be a sensible amount. I'm just curious as to what my options are.
Thank you for your time.

 

[NorthernIrish]

I take it the PC doesnt have a GPU then? the amd A10 APU's are decent for gaming but good enough. if you want a gaming pc an intel build will benefit you alot more as MOST games are single threaded and intel beats AMD over single threaded tasks anyday. unless you want to stay amd give me an exact budget if not state your motherboard and ill see what CPU's are supported for it.

 

[Tom Tancredi]

This is a LAPTOP http://www.amazon.com/HP-ENVY-dv7-7227cl-RadeonTM-AudioTM/dp/B00ABE3JFS. Laptops are NOT made for upgrading, as the parts are customized SPECIFIC to the model and maker's design needs. Further as a APU you can't use ANY other CPU, as the entire mobo is designed ONLY for a APU. There is NO WAY to upgrade this, much less to a Gamer's Laptop.

A APU isnt' made for gaming, NorthernIrish, it is made as a 'low cost, low power, low end' solution for the general masses (Grandma able to get on facebook and play Bubble Pop without it crashing). http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/A10-5800K-vs-Core-i3-3220-CPU-Review/1646/19

Last paragraph "lags behind its competitors in general process performance. The Core i3-3220 is faster than the A10-5800K for day-to-day operations" also even in the gaming performance it is noted that while it did great in Starcraft II (a 2010 game made for low end systems) and okay on Far Cry 2 (2008) once you get to games past 2009-2010 (Bf3 was release end of 2011) the performance declines rapidly and FORGET anything just released (2013) as they don't work / unplayable (1-3FPS). Even if you added a GPU to a APU to try making up for it, the APU simply CHOKES the data that the GPU sits twiddling thumbs waiting for something to do.

Simply put APU is a nice tablet answer (the target market for the combination CPU+GPU processor) for low end, low cost, low power uses, but it won't be more then that marketspace.


OP: The simple answer is, this is just to get you online and able to do the basics, nothing more. If you want a gaming PC that is portable and DOESN'T overheat, weigh 12+lbs, fit in that formfactor, etc. you have to pay TWICE the normal price of a gaming desktop PC. Your looking at around $1200-$2000 normally, because it has to meet all those demands. If you have no money to save for that much, then get a Game Console (Xbox 360/PS3 are both under $200).

 

[sturgill53]

I take it the PC doesnt have a GPU then? the amd A10 APU's are decent for gaming but good enough. if you want a gaming pc an intel build will benefit you alot more as MOST games are single threaded and intel beats AMD over single threaded tasks anyday. unless you want to stay amd give me an exact budget if not state your motherboard and ill see what CPU's are supported for it.

Well I don't really have a budget. Just don't want to spend upgrading this computer for what I could buy a new one for. As for the mother board in not entirely sure. I'm new to getting into the PC hardware world. It seems most games do indeed say an i7 is the best for gaming.

 

[sturgill53]

So it sounds like I'm better off just picking up myself a desktop. Which is perfectly fine. I just needed a good answer to justify actually making the purchase. Thank you

 

[NorthernIrish]

Yes a desktop will be better i hate laptops for gaming as the hardware usually isnt that great too what you can get in a desktop for gaming and if you have integrated parts you are screwed go for an intel build if you have the money an intel i5 4670k is more than enough for gaming the i7 would be a waste of money in my opinion and for a graphics card get a nvidia 770. desktops are always the way to go when gaming.

 

[Tom Tancredi]

Having had my i7 for the past 5 years (see my profile for my PC specs) I can attest to the 'value' of a i7 over a i5 if your a hefty beastly sort on the computer. I am, I often multitask alot of things at once and I push my hardware to the edge. For general gaming, if you want FULL ULTRA experience, yes ONLY i7 can deliver and will deliver long term (today purchase and the impact 4 years from now on BF 6 for example). I personally can't "settle" like NorthernIrish may do, especially as a i5 Haswell is only $100 or so less then a i7 Haswell system (no I am not talking PC Pick Parts, please read on).

For example if you buy this:
http://slickdeals.net/f/6666266-dell-inspiron-660-desktop-computer-i5-3330-8gb-ddr-3-1tb-hdd-wifi-hdmi-usb-3-window-8-349-99-tax-staples-ymmv
you have this to choose from for only $250 more:
http://slickdeals.net/f/6657778-lenovo-h530-desktop-pc-core-i7-4770-3-4ghz-haswell-8gb-ddr3-1tb-hdd-wifi-n-dvdrw-usb-3-hdmi-win-8-599-90-free-shipping-staples

Both still add PSU (600w $90) and GPU (Nvidia 7xx or AMD Rx for $149-$499) and you get a kick ass system, but the difference will be longer term. Will the $250 saved for a i5-3xxx (older platform) over i7-4xxx (newest platform) really benefit you long term, history shows it makes a BIG difference in performance and no you basically shorted yourself.

 

[sturgill53]

Like you're saying Tom it's more logical for me to spend the extra $250 and get a good desktop I can use for a few years rather than get one that will be good for a year or so. Thank you guys for all your help.

 

[BrotherVan]

This is a LAPTOP http://www.amazon.com/HP-ENVY-dv7-7227cl-RadeonTM-AudioTM/dp/B00ABE3JFS. Laptops are NOT made for upgrading, as the parts are customized SPECIFIC to the model and maker's design needs. Further as a APU you can't use ANY other CPU, as the entire mobo is designed ONLY for a APU. There is NO WAY to upgrade this, much less to a Gamer's Laptop.

A APU isnt' made for gaming, NorthernIrish, it is made as a 'low cost, low power, low end' solution for the general masses (Grandma able to get on facebook and play Bubble Pop without it crashing). http://www.hardwaresecrets.com/article/A10-5800K-vs-Core-i3-3220-CPU-Review/1646/19

Last paragraph "lags behind its competitors in general process performance. The Core i3-3220 is faster than the A10-5800K for day-to-day operations" also even in the gaming performance it is noted that while it did great in Starcraft II (a 2010 game made for low end systems) and okay on Far Cry 2 (2008) once you get to games past 2009-2010 (Bf3 was release end of 2011) the performance declines rapidly and FORGET anything just released (2013) as they don't work / unplayable (1-3FPS). Even if you added a GPU to a APU to try making up for it, the APU simply CHOKES the data that the GPU sits twiddling thumbs waiting for something to do.

Simply put APU is a nice tablet answer (the target market for the combination CPU+GPU processor) for low end, low cost, low power uses, but it won't be more then that marketspace.


OP: The simple answer is, this is just to get you online and able to do the basics, nothing more. If you want a gaming PC that is portable and DOESN'T overheat, weigh 12+lbs, fit in that formfactor, etc. you have to pay TWICE the normal price of a gaming desktop PC. Your looking at around $1200-$2000 normally, because it has to meet all those demands. If you have no money to save for that much, then get a Game Console (Xbox 360/PS3 are both under $200).

The AMD Quad-Core A10-4600M (notice the "M") is not the same apu as the desktop A10-5800K. You are right The 5800K without a video card won't play much. It's graphics are not as good as the intel 4000's "on chip" graphics. Don't know why AMD did this but the latest mobile A10 MOBILE APUs run graphics much better. (I guess K means crap but spelled wrong) I have the same laptop as sturgill53 and I am running Portal 2 and Guild Wars 2 just fine. I thought I'd be lucky to get 15fps on these programs but I am getting around 59fps at full graphics mode. It is weird but I see it work.
There are some upgrade options for this laptop. Without messing with the motherboard you can up the RAM and switch out the drive for SSD or Hybrid drive to improve performance. If the CPU/APU is removable, the newer A10-5750M has a better graphics core. Also keep your system clean and run game booster to shutdown background programs. Like the man said the AMD CPUs aren't good at multitasking.

 

[BrotherVan]

I have also upgraded laptops in the past. Of course you know that the memory is easily upgraded on most modern laptops. Before you go any further, remember, HP will consider anything, other than memory upgrades, a hack and void your warranty. The CPU can be upgraded as well. As long as you stay with the same socket type and make sure the chipset and BIOS support it. If you have a discrete video card on your laptop ( the HP-ENVY-dv7-7227cl has no video card), Then you can try to put in a better card as long as the new card fits the expansion slot and in the bay. Before you go nuts with a better video card I'd check to see if someone else has done what you are about to do. Don't be the guinea pig.