OT But Please Help. HP Pavilion PCs

CS03, for internet and word processing you don't need alot of power.
For new games you do. Most games being made today don't run well unless you have a minimum 32meg 3D vid card and 256 of RAM.
If you have a bunch of old PC games that you want to play you can buy an inexpensive model (I can't comment on anything from HP or Compaq). If you are looking to buy new games and keep buying and playing, then you will need to spend closer to the $1000 mark.

Here are the system requirements for Age of Mythology (an awesome warcraft type game I highly recommend)

(MY Note: the game does not play well at all on a 16 meg dedicated vid card with 256 of ram on an 800+ PIII Win XP Pro machine.)

The minimum system requirements for Age of Mythology are:
One of the following operating systems:
Microsoft Windows 98
Microsoft Windows Millennium Edition (Me)
Microsoft Windows 2000
Microsoft Windows XP

NOTE: Microsoft Windows 95 and Microsoft Windows NT are not supported.
128 megabytes (MB) of RAM.
Approximately 1.5 gigabytes (GB) of available hard-disk space.
16 MB 3D video card is required; 32 MB video card is recommended.
DirectX 8.0-compatible sound card with speakers or headphones.
Multimedia computer with a Pentium 450 megahertz (MHz)-or-higher processor.
4x CD-ROM.
Microsoft Mouse or other compatible pointing device.
The following hardware is optional:
A 56-kilobits-per-second (kbps) modem for multiplayer games with one to four players.
Broadband or local area network (LAN) for multiplayer games with five or more players.


So what I'm getting at is, save the $ and get a good machine. Make sure you have at least a 1.5gig P4, a 32 meg dedicated video card and a maximum 512 megs of ram.
Find a machine with these specs and start saving. By the time you have the funds in place you'll be able to get a 2.0+gig P4, 64 meg dedicated vid card with 1024 meg of RAM max.

Moore's law says; every 6 months computer technology doubles.

Sorry to drone on with the long post, but, I don't want you to be impatient with your purchase. Take your time and get a good machine.
 
I don't have a lot to say about HP. But I will draw this parallel:

I'm typing this on an OLD 'puter. AMD K-5 166mhz. with a whopping 48mb ram. Running Win95. Running IE5 (Netscape for limited Java stuff). Dial up. It surfs the web, does this forum, CPF, and Shooters all on IE just fine. Does dieseltruckresources on Netscape. Plays Sierra A-100II without a hitch. Plays Pogo Blackjack sometimes. WILL NOT play Yahoo games.

Our work box is a two year old Gateway 1000 with an AMD 1ghz. 512mb ram. Win ME. DSL. Latest IE does everything we need. Plays Yahoo games well. Pogo is a snap.

I very nearly HATE that Gateway. It has never been 100% trouble free. My 'puter was built from parts by a guy in a one man shop. It has never had a problem that wasn't caused by HLP (power) and I'm on a UPS these days!

I'd love to upgrade, but don't REALLY need to.

Last thought. My dial up is RELIABLE. Great ping time but slow through put. The DSL we have (SWBELL) has miserable ping times, but screaming through put. I prefer reliable.
 
Originally posted by mschwoeb
Pavillion

specs:

* HP MX70 17-inch color monitor (15.8 inches viewable)
* AMD Athlon XP 1800+ processor
* 128 Kb primary cache
* 256 Kb secondary-level cache
* 266 MHz frontside bus
* 128 MB DDR SDRAM, expandable to 2 GB
* 2100 MB/sec. memory speed
* 40 GB ultra DMA hard drive
* 32x10x40 CD-Writer
* 56 Kbps V.90 modem (actual speeds may vary)
* Integrated 10/100 Base-T network interface
* Integrated ProSavage DDR KM266 graphics with up to 32 MB shared video memory
* MPEG2 for full-motion digital video
* 3.5-inch floppy disk drive (1.44 MB)
* Internal 3.5-inch expansion bay
* External 5.25-inch expansion bay
* 2 available PCI slots
* AGP expansion slot
* 6 USB 2.0 ports (2 front-mounted)
* Serial port
* Parallel port
* Integrated AC-97 audio
* Polk Audio stereo speakers
* Keyboard
* 2-button, scrolling mouse
* Software includes Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition, WordPerfect 10, Quattro Pro 10, Quicken Financial Center, Norton Anti-Virus 2002, MusicMatch Jukebox, Fun House, Arcsoft PhotoImpression and HP RecordNow
Click to expand...
It's stuff like this that kinda annoys me.
First, why would you want DDR266 matching AMD 1800+? I'd get DDR333 (and I'll bet that the motherboard doesn't support DDR333)
CD-Writer is totally outdated. My uncle manage to pick up a 48x24x48 for $100CDN before tax.
Here's my next gripe. Intergrated video. They're ok for work (not games), but it uses up to 32MB of shared ram. Guess where it takes it off from? The starving 128MB ram! Win2k and above takes at least 100MB on the RAM. 128-32 is less than 100. If it has more RAM then it would become usable. The ProSavage are never known for great graphics.
When you start sticking too much programs into too little ram, you'd find that your harddrive runs like crazy, because it swaps the information off the RAM, into the HD, and then back. You'll find the speed difference between the RAM and the HD is like a Tomahawk cruise missile compared to a snail.
You don't quite need a hardware MPEG2 decoder when you have an AMD 1800+ - the system will handle it quite nicely with software decoders.
How many expansion bays for each? Probably not much. My guess is one 3" internal and 2 max 5" external expansion slot.
And the 2 PCI Slots, stick an extra network card (say you use it as a firewall) and a better sound card and you're out of room.
You would find that if you build an AMD 1800+ with 256MB RAM and a half decent video card that's not onboard (or at least have enough ram to share with), you would find that even though the main part that most people look at is the same, the custom built would blow the HP right out of the water.
And what about the power supply? People neglect things like that. I have a friend whose computer was built by this idiot who runs a shop. He stick a 250W power supply to an Athlon 800MHz. Guess what? the power supply went on strike, her system can't boot into Windows (it reboots when it get into the windows 2000 screen) and she have to spend more money to get a half decent power supply so that it would run.
If you ever go the built from standard parts route, don't even think about the P4. It has a high frequency, but frequency doesn't mean performance.
A P4 1.8GHz will be beaten by a Athlon 1800+ in a very similar setup (basically down to difference between the motherboards), and mind you the Athlon 1800+ doesn't actually run AT 1.8GHz. It runs at 1.5GHz.
 
above is true but he did say this was a bargain PC for UNDER $500.
For that price range , I dont think he can go wrong , especially for his intended application .

Although it is always better to buy the best and upgradeable stuff you can , majority of people never upgrade their existing PC's , they replace them...( and then I buy em cheap ;) )
 
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