# [SOLVED] Need some professional advice for gaming-son



## 450xdad (Apr 1, 2009)

Looking to make some changes for my son. Spends much of his time gaming, and is trying to convince me he needs a new PC for Christmas, because the one he has now, apparently is not meeting his gaming demands...

*Current PC:*
HP Pavillion P2303W
4GB RAM
2.7 Ghz
AMD Athlon II Dual core
500GB HDD
added: video card GeForce GTS450
added: power supply corsair 600w
HP Pavilion p6203w Desktop PC Product Specifications HP Pavilion p6203w Desktop PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)


*I'm thinking of this* price: $300 (tower only)
*Acer AM3410 Athlon II X4 Quad Core 3.1GHz 4GB 1TB HDMI WiFi Win 7 Desktop PC*
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium - 64-bit version
AMD Athlon II x4 Quad-Core Processor 645 (3.1GHz, 3MB total cache)
4GB DDR3 1333 SDRAM
1TB hard drive (Variable Speed)
ATI Radeon HD 4250 graphics - AMD 880G chipset
16X DVD±RW DL
5.1 Channel High-definition audio support
802.11b/g/n - gigabit LAN
HDMI - (10) USB 2.0
3.5" and 5.25" expansion bays
Multi-in-1 media card reader
USB keyboard and optical mouse
Power Supply - 300W
PCI Slots (Total): 1
PCI Slots (Available): 1
PCI Express X1 Slots (Total): 2
PCI Express X1 Slots (Available): 1
PCI Express X16 Slots (Total): 1
PCI Express X16 Slots (Available): 1

*Questions:*

#1. Would I be able to remove the power supply & video card from our current HP and install it into this new Acer AM3410? Compatibility issue? (The plan is to swap the power supply out and sell the old HP tower only). Use the current monitor with the new choice.

#2. Would it be smarter spend a little more and get a complete system? something like these? 
HP system: HP Pavilion p7-1107c Desktop PC Product Specifications HP Pavilion p7-1107c Desktop PC - HP Customer Care (United States - English)

Acer System: AM3470-UC30P | Product Model


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

*Re: Need some professional advice for gaming-son*

Have you considered building? You would avoid the lower quality components used in OEM PC's and gain updatability.
We have a suggested build list to use a guide: http://www.techsupportforum.com/for...evised-2011-and-updated-regularly-448272.html


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## Plaztikman (Sep 25, 2011)

*Re: Need some professional advice for gaming-son*

Looking at his current machine, I would suggest upgrading that one than buying a new one, few new bits and bobs can get it running much better... New graphics card...

What games does be play? Are they the latest that need the best of the best?

Maybe you could replace your current mobo and install an i3 chip (intel) I prefer intel over amd all the way for gaming?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

*Re: Need some professional advice for gaming-son*



Plaztikman said:


> Looking at his current machine, I would suggest upgrading that one than buying a new one, few new bits and bobs can get it running much better... New graphics card...
> 
> What games does be play? Are they the latest that need the best of the best?
> 
> Maybe you could replace your current mobo and install an i3 chip (intel) I prefer intel over amd all the way for gaming?


A GTS 450 & a PSU have already been purchased.
New Mobo + RAM-CPU-case equals a new PC.


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## 450xdad (Apr 1, 2009)

*Re: Need some professional advice for gaming-son*

Thanks for the replies.

Would simply adding another 2GMB of RAM (if possible) and maybe upgrading the video card be of help you think? I'm really trying to stay at the $300-$400 pricepoint. I've always seen vast improvements when I've added RAM, but then again I've never been into gaming. 

"Dad, I've got to have a quad core!!"....REALLY? 

There's a couple games, but I'm not sure of the new game he's playing other than, it just came out, it's a war game he plays online, and quad core is recommended for gameplay. The graphics are insane...gives me motion sickness when I watch him play it.


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## 450xdad (Apr 1, 2009)

*Re: Need some professional advice for gaming-son*



Tyree said:


> A GTS 450 & a PSU have already been purchased.
> New Mobo + RAM-CPU-case equals a new PC.


I didn't even consider that!!...

so really I would be looking at ....MoBo + CPU 

Everything else can transfer over? right? (CD/DVD, HDD, VideoCard, sound card)

Would the RAM I have in the HP be compatible over to say the Gigabyte Mobo? 

I didn't see any mention of a sound card...? will OEM HP sound card transfer over?


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

*Re: Need some professional advice for gaming-son*

you can get plenty of motherboards these days which will have onboard 7.1 surround sound which would surpass the soundcard of a HP

You can swap the dvd drive over no problem. As with the hard drive if the hard drive came with windows pre-installed i.e OEM then legally you would have to wipe the hard drive and purchase a either retail version of windows (which would cost more) or you could buy another OEM version of windows when purchasing the new motherboard (which would be cheaper) then do a repair install so you shouldn't loose any data (the other way you would).

The ram probably would work but then again I would just buy new.

As for your son saying he needs a quad core, at the moment no 6 months down the line yes he will. So the question you should ask yourself is do you buy now whilst there are some deals on because its christmas or do you wait when the demand is peaking and retailers put the prices up so they make more money.


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## 450xdad (Apr 1, 2009)

*Re: Need some professional advice for gaming-son*



greenbrucelee said:


> As for your son saying he needs a quad core, at the moment no 6 months down the line yes he will. So the question you should ask yourself is do you buy now whilst there are some deals on because its christmas or do you wait when the demand is peaking and retailers put the prices up so they make more money.


I tried looking up those hardware recommendations on the thread you referenced, but I think they have been discontinued and no longer available. They ALL look the same to me when I look at them...

Considering the same price point for each, what would be a good pairing for MoBo ($90)and CPU($90)?

Thanks for the help...I really appreciate it.


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## Basementgeek (Feb 7, 2005)

*Re: Need some professional advice for gaming-son*

I think I would handle the parenting issue totally different, if HE wants to play games, he needs to spend what every money HE has.

Next question..............

BG


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

*Re: Need some professional advice for gaming-son*

If you change the Mobo you will most likely need to replace the case because OEM I/O plates are rarely removable and the OS is tied to the Mobo so you will need a retail version of the OS.
If you upgrade the GPU you're going to need a better quality higher powered PSU.


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## 450xdad (Apr 1, 2009)

*Re: Need some professional advice for gaming-son*



Basementgeek said:


> I think I would handle the parenting issue totally different, if HE wants to play games, he needs to spend what every money HE has.
> 
> Next question..............
> 
> BG


Ahhhh Nice! That would be a big fat $0 :beerchug:

Unfortunatley for me, he has a birthday 7 days from Christmas (1/1) so I get a double whammy. Add to that, my anniversary on 12/28, and you can see I get hammered this time of year


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

*Re: Need some professional advice for gaming-son*

Nothing wrong with assisting your children, if they make an attempt to help themselves, no matter what the age. I have a Son 40 and a Daughter 42 and I have no issues helping them financially.


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## 450xdad (Apr 1, 2009)

*Re: Need some professional advice for gaming-son*

hows this for a build list?


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

*Re: Need some professional advice for gaming-son*

cant see what psu or graphics card you have chosen but the case,mobo,cpu,ram and os look fine


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

*Re: Need some professional advice for gaming-son*

That will work.
@ greenbrucelee - A GeForce GTS450 & corsair 600w PSU were previously purchased.


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## 450xdad (Apr 1, 2009)

*Re: Need some professional advice for gaming-son*

Thanks guys! I appreciate it. I will report back next week!


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

*Re: Need some professional advice for gaming-son*



Tyree said:


> That will work.
> @ greenbrucelee - A GeForce GTS450 & corsair 600w PSU were previously purchased.


ok cool.


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## 450xdad (Apr 1, 2009)

*Re: Need some professional advice for gaming-son*

OK....got the parts today and spent the better part of the last 6 hours getting it up and running. I got all the parts I listed above, and everything installed pretty straight forward. 

I'm running into difficulty with it rebooting. Every time it does it's thing to reboot,...it wont. It will start to, then a red light on the mobo will light up (solid) that's labeled DRAM LED. When I press the MemOK button, the light turns to a flash and nothing happens. If I turn off the PSU and unplug, then let it sit for 5-10 minutes, it will start up with no problem.

I'm wondering if I chose incompatible memory for this mobo. Can anyone shed some light?


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

*Re: Need some professional advice for gaming-son*

The parts you linked to in Post #13 should have no compatibility issues.
Clear the CMOS and then try using one stick of RAM at a time.


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## greenbrucelee (Apr 24, 2007)

*Re: Need some professional advice for gaming-son*

the specific model number of the gskill ram is not on the asus qvl list for that board however I dont see why it shouldn't work.

do you have the ram in matching coloured slots and is it seated properly?

have you check the psu is connected correctly?


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

*Re: Need some professional advice for gaming-son*

Manually set the ram speed to 1333(667mhz) and see if the reboot issue goes away.


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## 450xdad (Apr 1, 2009)

*Re: Need some professional advice for gaming-son*

I have not tried clearing the CMOS yet, but I have reseated power plugs, memory cards, video card....and I tried running with one stick in which it acted the same...and I even tried both separately to rule out a bad stick.

I've double checked to ensure I had the matching colored slots...everything checks out. Fans spinning, and I even get the single POST beep as I should. It's at that point that the light turns red and everything goes to pot. However, the green mobo status light stays lit green, so I assume this means it;s getting power as it should.

I also made another observation. When I encounter this issue and it tried to boot and doesn't, the monitor goes to sleep, like it's not getting a signal.

Some things that I've read say to press the "MEMok" button, it will flash, which tells you it's trying to find a correct configuration. They say leave it alone, and it should stop flasing at a point and boot as normal.....this one just flashes to eternity.

Once running (after waiting 10 minutes and uplugging PSU), it runs like a beast and completely fine. He hasn't tried any games yet...but overall speed and response is necksnapping.....It's just at that &%$# re-boot procedure.....STRANGE


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## 450xdad (Apr 1, 2009)

*Re: Need some professional advice for gaming-son*



wrench97 said:


> Manually set the ram speed to 1333(667mhz) and see if the reboot issue goes away.


We will check that...THANKS!


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## 450xdad (Apr 1, 2009)

*Re: Need some professional advice for gaming-son*

We just tried resetting the speed to 1333(667mhz). Same thing....^%%$$#@!!!!!

Question. I scavanged the HDD from the 2 year old HP. When I look at the specs on the HP site, I see SATA drive, but no mention of IDE or ACHI. The bios is set to ACHI. I beleive this mobo is equipped ACHI. I'm not knowledgeable to know the difference between the two, and have no idea how to tell the type of our HP HDD, or if this would be a facor or not. 

By the way...during our initial startup, we were prompted to reinstall windows, which I did using my new Win7 OEM that I purchased- and everything seems to go perfect, (until the reboot procedure). During installed I saw three partitions....the NEW install, the old HP Win7 install, and HP factory image. Everything installed and all drivers are updated.


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## Wrench97 (May 10, 2008)

*Re: Need some professional advice for gaming-son*

Sticking with the reboot issue, shut down disconnect any optical drives(CD/DVD) and test.


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## 450xdad (Apr 1, 2009)

*Re: Need some professional advice for gaming-son*



wrench97 said:


> Sticking with the reboot issue, shut down disconnect any optical drives(CD/DVD) and test.


well gents/ladies....we have ignition!:thumb::thumb:

We did some digging and found there was an updated BIOS dated 12/7/2011. We downloaded, flashed...and whalla. We immediately both high-fived each other the first time it rebooted on it's own without hanging up. Never thought a simple re-boot would make me so happy.

I can't thank you guys enough for helping me through this. Definitely, a learning experience. I'm ready to do another one...(not really). I've got a couple plugs & connections to figure out...for a card reader and the front mounted USB port....but I will do that in another post

Thanks again. You all are life savers!


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## Tyree (May 10, 2009)

We're glad to have it up and running.


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