I know nothing

[Zoney]

.....with that said, this is what I am playing on.

HP6230Y

Motherboard
H-RS880

Processor
AMD Phenom II x4 810

Memory
8-GB

Video Graphics
Integrated ATI Radeon HD 4200

Harddrive
750 GB

This is what I have.

Do you think this is a good system?

Do you think this will run AH3 ?

If you were upgrading, what would be the first thing you change out?

[Bizman]

AH3 will be much more GPU dependent than AH2.

If the current game runs smoothly with that computer, the processor will likely be powerful enough for AH3 although it's a little on the lower end.

The integrated HD 4200 will be the main issue. You would need a "real" video card with at least 1 GB of dedicated RAM.

Notice that an additional video card requires more power, so you'd probably have to get a new power supply, too.

[Drane]

If you have the money to spare, a new system might make you happier than upgrading.

For this computer you would need to upgrade the video card and power supply.

Here's a link to a Tom's Hardware post from 2012 about doing just this.
http://www.tomshardware.com/forum/350379-31-p6230y-upgrade-graphics-power-supply

You have one PCI-E x16 slot available on the motherboard for a video card. Look at the Tom's Hardware video card best buy for the money article. http://www.tomshardware.com/t/graphics/

Make sure whatever video card you get will fit in the case and clear everything around it. I would recommend a NVidia GTX960 with 4GB memory or better. Something like this. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814487154

Your existing p/s is 300 watts which is not enough when adding a decent video card. You'll want to get a power supply with at least the wattage recommended by the video card vendor.

Your CPU at 2.6 GHz is on the edge of slow for this game but should work.

[The Fugitive]

You can answer the first question yourself,  download and install the alpha and give it a go. Once  you see how it runs you will be able to see where your deficiency may be and go from there.

[guncrasher]

you only need to change the motherboard, ram and gpu.  not sure about your ps.  I would go with an intel instead of amd.


semp

[Getback]

I don't know much but I think you will be well advised to get an SSD for your operating system and put the game on a spin drive.

[Bizman]

I don't know much but I think you will be well advised to get an SSD for your operating system and put the game on a spin drive.

That doesn't improve game performance at all, not a single frame per second.

[alskahawk]

 If money isn't an issue, go with Intel. Intel makes a nice chip, but they are pricey. I7s are from $300-1000+. Motherboards around $200 or over. If you play a lot of other games you need to look at what works best for them too. I have run both AMD and Intel on AH and I would be tough to say one is hundreds of dollars better than the other. To me there just isn't enough difference to justify the cost of Intel over AMD. But.....
 I only use my computer for AH so bear that in mind. Currently I can run a 40 inch Samsung HD TV with Anti Aliasing maxed and get 60 fps. I highly recommend SSD. While it may not improve your FPS much. It improves all the other stuff. Like boot up times. I use 750 watt PSU's in my systems because I do not want to be limited if I add something else like a bigger video card or more hard drives.  As for video card memory. There is a performance gain with a 4 GB ram vs a 2 GB ram if you are running a large TV with 4k or HD. Not much below that. And a 4 gb card will add another 40 to 50 bucks to your bill.  A sound card can give you a couple of frames in a lot of games also.
 
My Current system
                                 
CPU 3.5mhz quad AMD    (looking to upgrade soon to a 4.2mhz quad)           
MB Gigabyte 990FX
Video Card. GTX 660 TI     (looking to upgrade soon to a GTX 760)       
SSD Hard Drive 120GB
16 GB Ram 1600 mhz
Creative Labs sound card
750 W Corsair PSU
Windows 7

[Bino]

Zoney, the HP page about your machine says it has a 300-watt power supply, which will limit the kind of graphics card you can add.

Your CPU should be adequate, but IMHO you will need a video card, and so also a larger power supply. I would look at a 4-GB version of the Nvidia GTX 960 or GTX 970, and also a PSU with at least 600 watts.

YMMV

[cattb]

I would save the hard drive and replace everything else.. sorry just my opinion.
I don't know what used prices are, that's a idea. New motherboard and PS with abit older stuff. Might save some money.?