question re: HP Pavillion upgradability

J

Jamin43

banned
AS I'm learning about hardware / PC building - I decided to see what upgradability my sister's computer has today and in the future. It's a pretty new entry level PC and I looked up the PC info on HP's site.

It's a model no a6619f
* PSU 250 W ( that surprised me it was so low after spending some time on this site - I just bought a 640W Corsair for future mid level PC build )
* CPU Intel E2200 2.2 ghz Dual Core processor - socket 775 http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16819116063
* MOBO -
HP Motherboard IPIBL-LB -- LINK!!!

--- Manufacturer: Asus
--- Motherboard Name: IPIBL-LB
--- HP/Compaq motherboard name: Benicia-GL8E
--- Video Card - integrated
* HDD - 500 GB - 7200 rpm
* Audio -
--- Integrated High Definition audio
--- Realtek ALC 888S chipset
--- Supports up to 8 audio channels
* Expansion Slots
--- PCI x 1 - ( 1 available )
--- PCI Express x 16 - ( 1 available )
--- PCI Express x 1 - ( 2 available )
* Drives 2 DVD Drives - and a card reader
* RAM - 4 GB DDR2 x 800

Looking forward - what are some ( affordable reasonable price to performance ) Upgrades that would give a noticable upgrade to either enhance the performance of the PC today - or add a few more years to it's life as current technology becomes cheaper. I don't anticipate any upgrades in teh short term - but I'd like to keep an eye out as prices come down - to breathe a little more longevity into her PC - like quad core - faster processor - or whatever would offer a noticable increase to performance / life of machine.

1) a 250 W PSU seems kindof low after spending some time on this site. Would an upgrade to say a OCZ 500 W PSU give any noticable performance increase

2) Can I add any 775 socket CPU to this board - or am I limited in some way that I'm unaware of. i.e. can I put a Quad core in there in a year or 2 if desired.

3) The only functional disappointment I noticed when tinkering with her PC over the weekend - was I put a DVD video into the PC to see how it played - and there was a mild degree of lag at times.

Thanks
 
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To my knowledge Original Equipment Manufacturers (like Hewlett Packard) give quite limited options on processor upgrades. I wouldn't even bother to try upgrading the processor. What you should look at upgrading in this system is the video card and the power supply. You may also find that you will have to jury rig a computer case to get the right power supply in (depends on the case).

I would give you more advice but I presently have no time to do so.
 
Looks like I found processors after reading your post

MOBO from HP Website


Links Below to compatable CPU's

* Intel Core 2 Quad (Yorkfield core) Q9xxx

* Intel Core 2 Duo (Wolfsdale core) E8xxx

* Intel Core 2 Quad (Kentsfield core) up to Q6600

* Can't find the 2 Conroe cores - but they look like low end not worth upgrading.

As the technology prices of quad core come down - would any of the above be worth upgrading - or will the MOBO - be limiting to where it's not worth upgrading just the processor.

Thanks
 
Based on my experience, I'd say you can easily upgrade anything but the MOBO or processor.

I have an HP Pavilion from 2003 that I've upgraded to its current Frankenstein-esque self. I originally just wanted to play some more graphic-intensive games so I updated the video card (which required a new power supply) as well as some additional RAM. By the way, 2048mb's comment regarding coming up with a creative solution for an upgraded power supply is completely true. The new one I bought could only fit in the stock HP case if I took out the lower optical drive...so I did! I only needed one at the time and later upgraded to a newer, larger case so I could fit everything. I upgraded my video card and RAM once more a few years ago and have since decided it's time for a new pc all together. The old technology is now limiting my upgrades (AGP instead of PCI x16, slower processor, etc).
 
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