New video card needed

[swirly]

My parents bought my brother Wolfenstein The New Order for PC for X-mas, but his computer can't run it. Being the only person with any computer knowledge at all in the family it is going to be on me to figure out the best way to fix this. His computer is a HP Pavilion p7-1074 that they bought through a best buy or some such in 2011. So it's 3, going on 4, years old. My main hope would be to put a video card in it that would enable it to play the game. Seems the cheapest route to me. What card though? Specs say the motherboard has a PCI Express x16 slot. Then I start questioning if the power supply can handle it. So do I need to have them buy one of those too? I don't really even know where to start with figuring this stuff out anymore. Been a long time since I've looked into anything.

Does anyone on here have some thoughts on the best routes for me to go with this? I really have no clue. If i bring up buying a new comp for him he is going to push for a laptop (which even if it will run it will either run it like crap or cost waaaay too much money), they are going to want to buy the new one from Best Buy or somewhere like that (which will run it like crap too since they don't tend to be aimed at gaming), or they will want me to build the whole thing which I'm hoping to avoid getting that involved with.

Thus I'm thinking video card (+ maybe power supply if it is necessary). Is the rest of the computer up to the task? I'm seeing Wolfenstein min specs (not sure that site's specs are trustworthy, but it is what I have so far) as "Core 2 Duo E8200 or AMD Phenom II X2 545" and recommended as "Intel Core i7-930 or AMD Phenom II X6 1090T". His comp specs list "AMD Phenom II X4 960T" which seems like it is probably below recommended, but above min? I'm thinking it is likely good enough for him to get by with. The min video card for the game is "Nvidia GTS 250 OR AMD Radeon HD 6670" and the recommended "Nvidia GeForce GTX 460 or AMD Radeon HD 6850" So... what cards should I be looking at for the best price value to get the job done and what PSU if I need to get one of those too? Any thoughts to help me out here?

[Taem]

That motherboard has PCI ex v1.0, despite some claims to the contrary: Proof, more proof

Here is the concern I'd have with this:

Unfortunately, the increase in power from the slot breaks backward compatibility between PCI Express 2.1 cards and some older motherboards with 1.0/1.0a, but most motherboards with PCI Express 1.1 connectors are provided with a BIOS update by their manufacturers through utilities to support backward compatibility of cards with PCIe 2.1

However, it would seem that mobo has been designed for the increased power and is actually version 1.1, not 1.0, which is why the mobo states it is v2.0 ready... such a misleading statement! The mobo also comes with scant 250w PSU and from what I can tell, only one fan on the side of the case. So, if you upgrade the vid card to something more powerful, you'll definitely need a more powerful PSU, and could use better airflow in the case via additional fans. Depending on which video card you get, I'd recommend a minimum of 350w power supply, but to feel comfortable and be sure the PSU had all the connectors for a new vid card, I'd most likely go with a 550w+ gold standard for that system. In theory, that mobo should be able to handle any PCI ex 2.0 and up vid cards, but the performance will definitely be lackluster in a 1.1 conversion slot as opposed to a 2.0+ slot. I'd say that's the cheapest route to be sure, however on a personal note, I'd not bother upgrading that pos, but rather get start with a new mobo and see what's needed from there. Regarding the vid card itself, the sky's the limit - obviously, the more powerful the card, the better the performance with one caveat; as I said in another thread on here, if you had 2.0 slots and got a 2.1 or 3.0 vid card, you should hardly notice the performance gains versus if you had a 3.0 slot, but the difference would definitely be notable from a 1.1 slot using a 2.0+ vid card as opposed to a 2.0, but that can't be helped. Best of luck!

[swirly]

My takeaway from that is to recommend they buy a new comp instead of upgrading that one. They'll probably go to Costco or some such and buy a prebuilt one off the shelves, but I'll nudge them toward a stronger that is available and it should play the game I'd hope? I'm currently installing the game on my Dad's 1 year old comp he bought from there. If that can run it then it'll A: give my brother something to play on for the time being and B: give a baseline to tell what the performance would be like on a comp from there. I feel like surely there are better options that don't involve assembly available than what they would find in such a chain store though. I'll have to see if I can figure something out and convince them of it.

[Taem]

Results may vary, of course. I'd most likely go with this refurb from Best Buy: HP-700-214 ; total price for that machine is $469, and it has one PCI Ex x16 3.0 slot, not to mention 12gb of ram, a 2tb hd, a 4th gen i5, and a 460w psu. The integrated gfx card is the obvious weak link here and should be upgraded, but the rest of the system is solid for a non-computer enthusiast trying to play the latest PC game. You could then get this solid vid card: EVGA - NVIDIA GeForce GTX 660 SC 2GB GDDR5 PCI Express 3.0 for $199 - I have the 660 and can play almost all current gen games on Ultra gfx resolution, and it requires a 450w psu, so that psu, while a bit low, fits the bill. Total cost for this would be: $668 without tax and should include free shipping from BestBuy. One kick ass machine for that price that can later be upgraded to an i7 according to the specs.

EDIT: I just checked Costco website; if you don't mind spending a little money, this computer blows that one I listed out of the water x2: HP ENVY Phoenix 810qe . An amazing machine for that price. I didn't check the mobo specs, but based on what it already has in it, it's got to be top-notch current gen.

[DeeBye]

My takeaway from that is to recommend they buy a new comp instead of upgrading that one.

Here's the skinny on it, and is something I ran across while trying to retrofit a dedicated videocard into a machine with integrated graphics - you will need to upgrade the PSU, and add additional fans. The 250w PSU will not power any kind of decent gaming videocard, and any kind of decent gaming videocard will generate a whole lot of heat inside the case which will need to be vented somewhere.

You will be looking at about $100 minimum for a videocard, another $50 or so for a power supply, and $20 for cooling fans - plus the labour to install all of it.

[LavCat]

Get a video card that vents directly to outside the case.

[swirly]

On hearing that I'm encouraging my parents to look into a new comp instead of parts for his existing one, my brother went and found this one http://www.microcenter.com/product/43383...p_Computer. Seems decent to me except for the 4G RAM so figure pay the $40 for another 4G. No clue if microcenter will install it for us while there, but I doubt it. Not hard to install RAM though so I can manage that. Anybody see any glaring issues with that comp? Mom is a little worried about going through Microcenter cause she has never dealt with them before and worried about returns/etc if there are issues as well as about the comp being a non-brand (she likes to buy HP). I keep telling her both are fine. Anybody have any experience with Microcenter or "IBuyPower"?

[LennyLen]

That PC should be suitable for playing most older games on high settings and newer games on medium settings, but it's pretty low-spec for a gaming rig. I looked up IBuyPower, and they have far more negative reviews than positive reviews.

Do note that being a brand PC doesn't necessarily make things better. Some of the worst computers I've had to work with were made by HP.

[kandrathe]

The question is, "Will they really take it to the "Geek Squad" or whomever -- or will they continue to call you anyway?"

If it's the later, then I would tell them that since you're going to be their repair guy you'd also want to design a reliable and flexible system.

If so, then I guess I would start at a site like;

Entry Level; http://pcpartpicker.com/guide/gcTwrH/ent...ming-build

Ultimate; http://pcpartpicker.com/guide/pYgXsY/glo...ming-build

Then scale up or down to your budget. The high end machines build cost is ~44% on 2x SLI video cards.

I'd second LennyLen's take on HP. I've spent way too much time troubleshooting issues with friends and family HP or Dell machines. And, since they're proprietary, they have more limited upgrade and replacement paths. Now that I've invested in some standard solid steel ATX cases, with decent power supplies; to replace the CPU/Mobo/Ram or Video, or peripherals is a matter of shopping for the BEST components I can afford when I need to replace a bit of it. And, only the bits I need to replace.

But, like with my youngest son's machine "Jörmungandr" (which was a low-end $500 iBuyPower machine that sort of sucked but, was OK for a 7 year old); I just spent $250 on an video upgrade (Video, PS, Monitor), which is has better video than the $1200 machine "Ragnarök" I built for myself 3 years ago. The next upgrade for him will be the peripherals, SSD+HD(s) and then in a year, or so I might start thinking about Mobo-CPU-Ram for him again.

My eldest son is using an HP Pavilion 23-h070 Touch All-in-One he inherited from his grandmother, but I also gifted him my old ATX machne we call "Den Mörka Ängeln". We plan to make it into something useful together this summer.

[DeeBye]

Entry Level; http://pcpartpicker.com/guide/gcTwrH/ent...ming-build

Ultimate; http://pcpartpicker.com/guide/pYgXsY/glo...ming-build

Whoa! Does anyone know how to configure PCPartPicker to do that "Parametric <part name> From Filter:" thing for components? That would be super handy for me.

[LennyLen]

Entry Level; http://pcpartpicker.com/guide/gcTwrH/ent...ming-build

Ultimate; http://pcpartpicker.com/guide/pYgXsY/glo...ming-build

Whoa! Does anyone know how to configure PCPartPicker to do that "Parametric <part name> From Filter:" thing for components? That would be super handy for me.

Just choose the component you want, then down the right hand side of the screen, enter the filter parameters. Do this for all components, then click the "Add from filter" button in the Parametric box near the top right.

[Hammerskjold]

The question is, "Will they really take it to the "Geek Squad" or whomever -- or will they continue to call you anyway?"

If it's the later, then I would tell them that since you're going to be their repair guy you'd also want to design a reliable and flexible system.

If so, then I guess I would start at a site like;

Entry Level; http://pcpartpicker.com/guide/gcTwrH/ent...ming-build

Ultimate; http://pcpartpicker.com/guide/pYgXsY/glo...ming-build

Then scale up or down to your budget. The high end machines build cost is ~44% on 2x SLI video cards.

This +1. 500-600$ can get you a decent entry level gaming PC, however IMO not from Costco or Bestbuy, especially if we're talking about an unmodified, out of the box pre built machine from them.

Otherwise from the requirements you listed, Swirly. I'd recommend going with a good local pc builder store, or something like NCIX if they're in your area.