Hardware & Technical yet another PC spec question

8bit_wireframe

8
Hi,

I'm new here & I'm very close to taking the plunge. But I know little about PCs (I'm a Mac guy to be honest) and I have been eyeing up a number of gaming PC options... before I remembered having a 2010 HP-pavilion desktop running windows 7 under the spare bed gathering dust.

I was wondering if the more experienced PC gamers on here could review the spec & tell me what I need to upgrade? Or should I just sell it & invest in something more up to date? I'd quite like a system that will handle Elite at a healthy framerate :cool:

Here is the current spec as it stands (I haven't fettled with it yet):



[h=3]Product number[/h]WX149EA

[h=3]Introduction date[/h]02-Jun-2010

[h=3]Country/region sold in:[/h]
  • United Kingdom




[h=2]Hardware[/h][h=3]Base processor[/h]Core i7-860 (Lynnfield) 2.8 GHz

  • DMI 2.5 GT/s

  • Socket LGA1156


[h=3]Chipset[/h]Intel H57 Express

[h=3]Motherboard[/h]
  • Manufacturer: MSI

  • Motherboard Name: MS-7613

  • HP/Compaq motherboard name: Iona-GL8E


[h=3]Power supply[/h]
  • 460W


[h=3]Memory[/h]
ComponentAttributes
Memory Installed8 GB (4 x 2 GB)
Maximum allowed16 GB (4 x 4 GB) (64-bit OS)

4 GB* (4 x 1 GB) (32-bit OS)

*Actual available memory may be less
Speed supportedPC3-10600 MB/sec
Type240 pin, DDR3


[h=3]Hard drive[/h]
  • 1.5 TB SATA 3G (3.0 Gb/sec)

  • 5400 rpm



  • [h=3]Expansion slots[/h]
    Slot typeQuantity
    PCI Express x16One (None available)
    PCI Express x1Three (Two available)
    PCI Express x1 minicard socketOne (None available)
Click to expand...

Thanks in advance :D
 

adoredtv

adoredtv
You can also likely fit an R9 270 in that, which is a bit faster than the 750 Ti at the same price. The 750 Ti is probably a safer option though.
 

8bit_wireframe

8
adoredtv said:
You can also likely fit an R9 270 in that, which is a bit faster than the 750 Ti at the same price. The 750 Ti is probably a safer option though.
Click to expand...

My local PC world (sorry!) has an R9 270 in stock. When you say 'safer option', are you referring to the power requirements of that card?

:D
 

adoredtv

adoredtv
Your PSU has a 6-pin PCIe so it should be capable of running that card. I was mostly wondering whether or not it would fit into your case. You need to measure the clearance from the back of your pc to your hard drive enclosure. It should be ok but better safe than sorry (the 750Ti will definitely fit in there and will definitely have no issues with the power supply).

I would definitely not buy a graphics card or anything else from PC World, however :p
 

8bit_wireframe

8
adoredtv said:
Your PSU has a 6-pin PCIe so it should be capable of running that card. I was mostly wondering whether or not it would fit into your case. You need to measure the clearance from the back of your pc to your hard drive enclosure. It should be ok but better safe than sorry (the 750Ti will definitely fit in there and will definitely have no issues with the power supply).

I would definitely not buy a graphics card or anything else from PC World, however :p
Click to expand...

They have both in stock, I'll do the sensible thing and check once I get home from work. Is there much of a difference in performance between the two?

Yeah, I hate buying from PC world too. But I have a business account with them & it's all nicely invoiced etc etc :D
 

adoredtv

adoredtv
The 270 is about 20-30% faster, nearer 20% in Elite according to the benchmarks, extrapolated from the 270X score.

elite-dangerous-bench1.jpg
 

xetura

xetura
adoredtv said:
You do not need a 750W PSU for any single-card system.
Click to expand...

That is correct. A 750w power supply is way, way overkill. Google 'power supply calculator' and the 'xtreme' one should be the first result. Enter all your computer info there, along with the new video card. My bet is it won't even draw 460w(which is what your computer has).
 

8bit_wireframe

8
adoredtv said:
Your PSU has a 6-pin PCIe so it should be capable of running that card. I was mostly wondering whether or not it would fit into your case. You need to measure the clearance from the back of your pc to your hard drive enclosure. It should be ok but better safe than sorry (the 750Ti will definitely fit in there and will definitely have no issues with the power supply).

I would definitely not buy a graphics card or anything else from PC World, however :p
Click to expand...

In the end I opted for an R9270 card. There were so many options it's ridiculous - seemingly way more than 4 or 5 years ago. I also bought a 128ssd; one of my anti-PC bugbears is the boot up time.

It should please you to know that I bought from Dabs - I visited my local PC world and they had nothing on the shelf; no one bothered to approach me and ask if I needed help, and it was generally a fairly bad experience.

Hopefully all the bits should arrive tomorrow & I'll have time on Sunday to install & get up and running (I'm hoping it won't take all day....).
 

8bit_wireframe

8
And it flies. Incredible graphics, silky smooth frame rates - even on the canister training mission in the asteroid field, on 'ultra'.

Installation of the card was a bit of a faff, and I was pretty disappointed by just how poorly assembled the card itself was; the fans work but one of them chafes against the plug in the actual housing, making a terrible racket.

It took me several attempts to install ED too; I had lots of 'unable to create object' errors which caused the launcher to crash - eventually I realized I could continue the full install with the errors displayed without any ill effects.

Once I got playing I was blown away - even with just a keyboard and mouse. I can see myself splashing out on an X55 this week....
 

8bit_wireframe

8
adoredtv said:
Did you manage to fix the fan? If not I'd RMA that and get a new one, that's a clear fault.
Click to expand...

I managed to press the plug down with a screwdriver & that cured the problem for a while - but only after I'd spent 15 minutes trying to work out what was causing the noise in the first place. I'll see how it goes during an extended session at the weekend. Returning the card is a bit of a faff.
 
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