Thoughts on these computer specs

[mthrockmor]

I'm close to buying one. This was offered on sale for Christmas. Thoughts?

-EVGA GeForce GT 730 2GB GDDR5 64bit DVI/HDMI/VGA Low Profile - $94.49
-Graphics Card 02G-P3-3733-KR - $0
-3.5" 1TB SATA HDD - WD10EZEX - $71.99
-Crucial 8GB (2x4GB) DDR3 (PC3-12800 - Desktop RAM - $62.99
-HP Elitebook 8100 i5/3.16GHz/4GB/250GB/DVDRW/7Hm - $233.99
-Avira Antivirus Pro - 3 Devices - 1yr - $25.00
-Windows 7

Total Price with taxes and Christmas price = $521.43

The heavy lifting for this would be to play AH3. Thoughts?

Boo

[Skuzzy]

The GT 730 is a very low end video card.  It is only about 12% faster than the slowest (NVidia 9600 GT) baseline video card we are targeting for AH3.

HiTech's GTX 660 is about 4.5 times faster than that 730.

In other words, it might work okay in AH3, if you turn down/off every graphic feature available and reduce the texture size to 512.

The CPU is fine.  Reasonable amount of RAM.

The problem begins when you want to upgrade the video card.  The computer only has a 240W power supply.  It would also have to be replaced.

[mthrockmor]

So, upgrade the power supply...what should I ask for?

And then the big change is to something heavier on the video card. The GTX 660 is roughly $299 on Amazon. Does that seem a reasonable price?

Thanks!!

boo

[Skuzzy]

The 660 is an older card.  Pretty sure it is not in production any longer.

If you are in that price range, an GTX 960 would be a better buy.  It is about 23% faster than the 660 and only a bit more money.  It should run AH3 okay with most things enabled.

960 also uses less power than the 660, but you still will need, at least, a 550W power supply.

[100Coogn]

So, upgrade the power supply...what should I ask for?

And then the big change is to something heavier on the video card. The GTX 660 is roughly $299 on Amazon. Does that seem a reasonable price?

Thanks!!

boo

For another $50 you could get a GTX 970.  It will smoke the 660.
NewEgg GTX 970

[The Fugitive]

So, upgrade the power supply...what should I ask for?

And then the big change is to something heavier on the video card. The GTX 660 is roughly $299 on Amazon. Does that seem a reasonable price?

Thanks!!

boo

$500 for your base, $300 for a new card, $200 for a powersupply =$1100

....or....

This for $900

https://www.digitalstorm.com/configurator.asp?id=1290238

This for $1100

https://www.digitalstorm.com/configurator.asp?id=1290228

They build it, they have tech support, they test it before you get it. Top notch group.

[BaldEagl]

I got my Superclocked 970 on sale for $271.

[Skuzzy]

A 970 would be a great card.  Best bang-for-the-buck HD 1080 video card on the market.

[Gman]

Hey Boo - for the last year or so you've posted a fair number of questions about budget systems and if they'll do the trick.  IMO if you're serious about the new version of the game, your best option is to just build or have built a budget custom system.  It can be done for less $ and get you FAR better parts.  A 970 or especially a 960 GPU equipped system could be built for under 800$, probably even shave a hundred and a bit off that depending on other parts. 

This is just a quickly thrown together option, and if you grab Win10 for free (I think it's still available), you would be under 800$ easily here, with a decent 750 PSU which would allow you to upgrade to better video cards in the future.  If you stuck in a small 128gb SSD for a boot drive, for right around 800$ you'ld have a far better system than the 500$ BestBuy type systems you've been checking out, for not a whole lot more $.

This build would be right around 775$

https://pcpartpicker.com/user/Gman109/saved/#view=hLZYcf

CPU    
   
Intel Core i5-6600 3.3GHz Quad-Core Processor
   $219.99    Buy
CPU Cooler    
   
Cooler Master Hyper 212 EVO 82.9 CFM Sleeve Bearing CPU Cooler
   $24.98    Buy
Motherboard    
   
MSI H170 Gaming M3 ATX LGA1151 Motherboard
   $99.99    Buy
Memory    
   
G.Skill Ripjaws V Series 8GB (2 x 4GB) DDR4-2400 Memory
   $44.99    Buy
Storage    
   
Seagate Barracuda 1TB 3.5" 7200RPM Internal Hard Drive
   $45.88    Buy
Video Card    
   
MSI GeForce GTX 960 2GB Video Card
   $179.99    Buy
Case    
   
Corsair Graphite Series 230T Black ATX Mid Tower Case
   $54.99    Buy
Power Supply    
   
EVGA 750W 80+ Gold Certified Fully-Modular ATX Power Supply
   $89.99    Buy
Optical Drive    
   
Lite-On iHAS124-14 DVD/CD Writer
   $14.88    B

[alskahawk]

 Here is a video to check out on HP computers. https://youtu.be/akVnl4HIHPY

[Bizman]

Almost everything has been already said, but there's one very important thing to consider: HP Elitebook 8100 seems to be available both as Small Form Factor and a Convertible Minitower. In the former the PSU is dedicatedly designed to fit and the video card has to be a narrow model which means you won't be able to get any serious card in. In the Minitower the PSU might have slightly different measurements than the standard ones. Another thing to check is how long a video card you can fit into the case.