Upgrade time

[mattb1]

Hi all,

Ok so I'm very very new to computer tinkering but thought I would give it a go.

I currently have a HP Pavillion P6000 series (2011 model i think)

Essentially this has now slowed to being unusable. So instead of factory rest I am thinking of taking ut and replacing the hard drive and also upgrading.

So my first questions is: What bit can / should i keep of the Pavillion? or should I just start from scratch.

Secondly if most of the pavilion is still ok to use, are there any bits to change which would improve performance.

Unfortunately can't find a parts list for the pavilion, is it possible to tell by just physically looking at the components?

Overall I'm looking for a gaming pc primarily that I can play strategy games on (Civilization, WoW, Company of Heroes etc.)

Thanks for your advice and patience,

Matt

 

[Smffy]

Post some pics of the insides and list the actual specs... Its tough to say what is possible without.

I'm just guessing but I would imagine its cheaper/easier just to build something new as much of it will not be compatible/difficult with the various modern parts (some of these are pre-2010 I think). It is possible to build quite cheaply but are you confident to build from scratch?

 

[mattb1]

I think i would be more confident building from scratch tun trying to amalgamate an old machine and new parts.

I have been trying to find a list of the specs but finding it difficult to find, perhaps I'm just better starting over.

 

[Smffy]

Processor: AMD Athlon II Quad-Core 2.9GHz 
Frontside bus speed: 4000MHz 
Memory: 6GB PC3-10600 MB/sec DDR3 SDRAM (16GB maximum) 
Memory Slots: 4 Total (1 Available) 
Video graphics: Integrated ATI Radeon HD 4200 graphics – up to 256MB dedicated memory 
Hard drive: 750GB SATA 3.0GB/sec 7200RPM 
Optical drive: DVD±RW/DVD-RAM/DVD±R Double Layer 
Operating system: Microsoft Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit 
Wireless connectivity: 802.11 b/g/n PCI-E Mini card 
Supported security protocols: WPA, WEP 
Audio Chipset: Realtek ALC 888S chipset High Definition Audio 
Audio Channels: Supports up to 8 audio channels 
Supported memory card: Compact Flash I, Compact Flash II, IBM Microdrive (MD), Memory Stick (MS), Memory Stick Duo (Duo), Memory Stick Pro (PRO), Memory Stick Pro Duo (Pro Duo), MultiMediaCard (MMC), MultiMediaCard Mobile (MMC mobile), MultiMediaCard Plus (MMC plus), Reduced size MultiMediaCard (RS-MMC), Secure Digital (SD), Secure Digital miniSD (mini), Smart Media, xD Picture Card (xD) 
Front I/O Ports: (2) USB 2.0, (1) Microphone, (1) Headphone 
Back I/O Ports: (2) USB 1.1 ports for mouse and keyboard, (1) S/PDIF optical audio port, (1) Video Graphics Adapter (VGA) port, (1) 1394a FireWire port, (1) RJ45 Network (LAN), (1) Audio – Center Speaker/Subwoofer out, (1) Audio – Rear Speaker out, (1) Audio – Line in, (1) Audio – Front speaker/Line out, (1) Audio – Microphone in, (1) Audio – Side speaker out, (4) USB 2.0 ports, (1) DVI-D port, (1) Antenna 
Expansion slots: (1) PCI x16 slot for graphics card (available), (3) PCI x1 slots (available), (1) PCI Express x1 mini card slot (occupied) 
Keyboard and Mouse Interface: USB

But again, your individual specifications might vary considerably. In a sense to upgrade much of it and make a reasonable performance increase is likely to involve a new board and CPU, which you might as well transplant in to a new case given you can get a comparable one for <£30. The main cost point for gaming is likely to be the GPU, which is a really choke point on the above specs given is tiny 256mb dedicated memory.