HP upgrade options

[keakar]

ok, its been a while since i checked into all this but i have a friend looking to upgrade her computer to a nice grafics card but its a HP Pavilion p6716f Desktop PC and the last i was aware Dell and HP were all proprietary crap that cant be or isnt worth upgrading anything other then memory.

things i am assuming are not going to be compatable with generic components are the N-Alvorix-RS880-uATX (Alvorix) motherboard with onboard Radion 4200 video grafics and i know the puny 250 watt power supply isnt reusable because of its size but im not sure if a generic PSU will mount in the case and plug into the motherboard properly and along those lines im not sure if the HP case can be reused with a generic motherboard or not. (i know dell has a different mounting hole pattern)


could she just add a generic power supply and a video card to her HP computer and if so what choices would be best for this?


if my assumptions are correct and she cant just add a generic power supply and a video card to her computer then i need some system building advice for what i think is still reusable to start as a bases for building a new rig which is as follows:

AMD Athlon II x4 640 (Socket: AM3) (Bus speed: 4000 MHz) HT3 95W

6 gb ram DDR3-1333 PC3-10600 (3x2gb)

hdd 1TB sata 3.0Gb/sec 7200 rpm

Litescribe sata dvd burner 16x

so a PSU, motherboard, and video card is going to be needed

she hasnt given me a budget but she doesnt have much money to spend so im unsure exactly what that means so maybe $200 with a $300 max. if you could suggest a budget solution and also a decent quality upgrade if she can spend a little more.

she is an avid gamer even with this "basic" computer so she wanted to add a video card to make it game better so a nice quality video card for gaming that isnt too pricey is what she needs.

all that said, if you see what she has isnt that great then say so, i want to give her good advice and not just tell her the best way to spend money so if she is better selling her rig as is and starting over from scratch then thats what i'll tell her.

she isnt computer savy and wont be overclocking or using any fancy coolers, whatever you recommend needs to be used straight out of the box as is. also she is out of state so i wont be there to "customize" anything for her so she will be doing this herself as a novice.

[95Viper]

Well, the board is uATX ( N-Alvorix-RS880-uATX (Alvorix)), but it should take any video card that will fit in the case and the MB mounting holes seem to be standard for a uATX board (PDF from FormFactors.org for microATX Motherboard Interface Specification).
And, the board has one PCI Express x16 Gen 2 slot.

PSU seems to be a Bestec ATX-250-12V, by looking at the replacement part: HP Parts Store-250-watt (max) power supply (Zinfandel), Bestec ATX-250-12V) - 100-120VAC and 200-240VAC input (switch selectable), 50/60Hz
RoHS: Modified

So, you would be led to believe any ATX supply should fit.
Measure the dimensions (per HP - PSU Dimensions: 150mm x 140mm x 86mm (5.9 x 5.5 x 3.4 inches) of the existing supply + any extra surrounding space available and get one of the approximate dimensions with your power requirements.

HP Pavilion p6716f Desktop PC Product Specifications
HP and Compaq Desktop PCs - Motherboard Specifications, N-Alvorix-RS880-uATX (Alvorix)

I have not upgraded a HP in a year or two; but, the last one I did took a regular PSU, video card, memory, and CPU upgrade... off the rack from Newegg. You just gotta watch the space available.
The last Dell and Gateway computers I upgraded where a little more difficult, as the Gateway was a BTX design and the Dell had some proprietary designed stuff.

[keakar]

great so all she will need is a new PSU and video card then

what would you suggest as a good PSU and video card for upgrading this computer for gaming?

[95Viper]

You could start a want to buy thread in the B/S/T section.
I am sure some of the people on the forum here would help and you would probably get some good deals.

Also, what games does she play?

[keakar]

not really sure but i know she likes the sims and sub simulator games like silent hunter 4 which needs better grafics and a decent system to run it so a moderate to decent quality gaming is what she would like to get to.

what she has now has really slow fps rates