Well I finally got around to spending the $100 in best buy certificates that I had. Was going to pick up a new laptop cord but I saw this and thought why not. Yes I am an impulse shopper...

Saw it for $500. But I picked up the floor model so that's 5% off. And he didn't have a box and I jokingly asked if I could have another 5% off because of that and he said why not...So I got 10% off and $100 off with my giftcards so I paid only $350 (Plus a fucking government recycling fee - $10. Really pissed me off). It's 399 American at Amazon so not a bad deal imo.

So here it is.

Compaq Presario SR5610F

Processor

AMD Athlon 64 X2 4800+ / 2.5 GHz

3 GB of RAM (I have another stick from my old comp can I throw it in? Has the slot iirc)

320GB Hard Drive

NVIDIA GeForce 6150 SE graphics card...128MB (decent?)

And Vista Home Premium Edition.

Came with a keyboard / mouse as well.

So - thoughts?

Also -

What should I do immediately before I dick around with shit? I'd assume pick up SP 1 but is there anything else I can do to improve performance?

Looking at reviews I see This Is supposedly a better deal? I don't see how.

 

Reformat, install XP instead of Vista.

 

Good computer, more or less. Toss in a nVidia 9800 and it'll be a decent rig. As for OS, go with Vista Ultimate. Nice buy.

 

Wow. It came with a keyboard and mouse. I'm so impressed.

Issue #1: 6150LE Graphics
It's integrated with the motherboard iirc, which isn't bad if you don't play a lot of games. Upgrade to something like this if you do (or Virail's 9800).

Issue #2: Vista
It's good for DirectX 10. Don't need that, downgrade to XP. Sure it looks pretty, but Aero can eat up system resources like Oz with the munchies.

Ignore Zombie because he's a Linux fag. Ignore Virail because he wants MORE Vista.

 

I'm looking at pictures of a cervix.

I nawt fag.

 

What do you plan to do with the computer? Gaming, word processing...?

That Acer is a piece of shit, at least the one a guy brought into work the other day. The worst two hours I have spent trying to work on a computer in my life. The only reason they are giving the Acer higher reviews is because it comes with the media reader and an extra stick of RAM

 

Eww, Athlon. Eww, Vista, Eww, Compaq. And no, those graphics aren't good, they're almost 5 generations old. That model is usually listed as the bare minimum requirement to play any <1year game.

 

Lol, I actually asked if I could get XP but it costed $70 so I said fuck that.

I'm going to upgrade the graphics card in a couple months most likely. Thing is way the fuck better than my old piece of shit that's for sure.

But I'm confused...Graphics card = Video card? Or what?

 

Yes.

Graphics card, video card... whatever. Toh-may-to, to-mah-to.

 

Graphics card is the same thing as a video card. Your default graphics is built on the motherboard (integrated) and it's not going to be as powerful as a dedicated graphics card (a seperate card that you plug in).

Your RAM's okay, but I wouldn't go throwing the old one in unless you're sure it's the right type. It's probably DDR2 RAM, and depending on how old your other PC was, that RAM could be just plain DDR.

Home Premium isn't that bad. I have it on my laptop and it doesn't take a lot to get used to it. If you really want to make it run a little better, take of the Aero effect. Granted, it'll look like an old copy of Windows 2000 or Server 2003, but functionality over appearance, no? Still, if you have an old copy of XP lying around then whop it in and see how it goes. Just be careful, I'm pretty sure installing another OS can void the warranty in some cases.

So yeah. Get a new graphics/video card. First though, before you listen to anybody here, find out how powerful your Power Supply is. There might be a sticker on the back of it near the plug, or you might need to open the case up and have a look on the sides. I doubt it's going to be powerful, and if it's 400W then you can't get that 9800GT.

Post the Wattage and we'll give you our 'expert' recommendations.

Oh, and don't install Linux unless you know how to use it. I know a bit about PC's but stuffed if I could figure out Linux atm.

 

Currently downloading XP with SP3...

 

Be careful with XP3, I upgraded my computer when it first came out and I have a Athlon processor and it would not recognise it. Check the Microsoft website to see if they have fixed the problem.

 

The video card is a horrible piece of shit, get ANYTHING above 100 almost and it's worth it. If someone hasn't snapped up the graphics card someone was offering for like a 90% discount, go get that.

The problem with "bundled" OEM shit like that is, in the past anyway, talking 5 years ago+, they tended to make certain things to where you could barely upgrade shit, special little connectors, etc. I don't know if they still do that, as I got tired of the crap quick, but check review sites. I've seen Gateway PCs without AGP slots, and 1 PCI slot for a modem card, I've seen CPU heatsinks literally built into the mobo, etc. Dunno how bad it still is, last Dell I had got rid of all the normal power supply connections and had their own PSU brand with special wiring that was impossible to buy other then calling them.

The CPU is shit, but usable, it's not crippling. And stop with the fucking Linux crap guys, he's getting confused between graphics and video card terminology, the boy's not ready to mess with Linux.

If you got the floor model, you probably don't have recovery disks, or a full install OS disk. Bad move. Download the drivers for the motherboard and networking drivers ASAP and get them backed to a CD somewhere ASAP<< If you did get the disks, check for critical BIOS updates before you do much with it.

I also will be suprised if your power supply has enough power to do anything more then barely turn your PC on.

 

I hard linux is more a way of life then a operating system lol...

What's this power supply shit? Can barely do more then start? wat. Will google.

EDIT: I ran a script this guy made to check and I can run SP3 with my processor.

Google failed me how do I check my power supply?

EDIT: Saw shezza's post...any way I can do it w/o opening the box?

 

Was sarcasm. OEM bulk PC makers tend to ship the PC with a power supply that either is ultra cheap and can't handle adding anything else to the PC, or it's a POS that gets super hot and is under powered for the job in the first place.

 

You probably need to buy a new powersupply as companies such as compaq tend to give you the least that you need to run the system. Next is your graphics card, then a new heatsink for your cpu, and maybe a heatsink for your gfx card. those will enable you to overclock.

Other than that, you might need to upgrade your o/s and hdd in a bit. But the PSU and the gfx card are probably what you want to upgrade the soonest.