Which of the newly released (Fall 2008) video card(s) make Elite m9452p a quality gaming rig?

[Acquaman148635]

I am strongly considering buying the HP Pavilion Elite m9452p because it does NOT have a video card.

I believe that I will be saving money by buying a PC that does not have the additional cost of a low budget video card at a premium price. I will be able to install the video card that suits my needs and not be bothered trying to sell the factory installed card to recoup it's cost.

The m9452p has the following specs: Intel core 2 Quad (Q8200) 2.33 GHz (95W) 1333MHz FSB, 3

50W power supply,

Vista 64-bit,

8 GB DDR2 SDRAM PC2-6400 MB\sec,

750 GB HD at 7200 rpm 3 GB\sec,

typical optical drives,

TV Tuner,

motherboard Asus IPIBL-LB (HP named it Benicia- GL8E), FSB 1333MHz, Intel G33 chipset,

PCI-E x16 for the GPU,

7.1 channel high- def audio,

wireless LAN,

memory card reader,

and an IR receiver for TV remote.

I am willing to spend around $250.00, but I do not want to buy a card that I will never realize

the full potential of, because of a bottleneck at the main processor.

Any guidance would be greatly appreciated.

THANK YOU!

[Bill_Hicks]

bump

incase there are more gamer savvy than me to help

[de]

Acquaman, You are smart if you avoid high-end PCs with low-end GPU cards. There is one problem however, the PSU in the m9452p is 350 watts (which is normal). A quality gaming computer will require much more power. With a budget of $250 I would recommend the EVGA 260 GTX but it requires a 500 watt PSU. If you insist on staying with the origial PSU then realize you will most likely end up with a GPU that is below the quality of the rest of your PC. I checked a number of other GPUs and even the slightly older low to mid range ones require more than 350 watts. http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814130370 Not to make things complicated but a lot depends on how much of a gamer you are or will became. I bought my first PC on December 26 last year. My wife wanted a computer so she bought me the PC version of Call of Duty 4. Not to give my age but I'm an Atari 2600 and Sega Genesis gamer from back in the days and hadn't really played since. I bought the HP a6228x. Not the cheapest but surely not high-end. I have done a number of upgrades: 500 watts PSU, EVGA 9600 GT GPU, 2 additional GB RAM, Auzentech Prelude sound card, Netgear wireless adapter, and a Antec case fan to keep things cool. I want to replace the motherboard and the processor but that would require a new case. What I'm getting at is that PC gaming became a little addictive to me. Not actually playing the games alot (I have a wife and three small kids) but getting the best possible performance within my budget. If you can swing it get the 260 GTX and a decent PSU that can handle it. Check Newegg out its by far the best site out there hands down in price and everything else.

[Acquaman148635]

De,

Thank you so much for all of your good advice. I will make sure to check out Newegg. Like you, I may not play much, but my son sure does. When I do sit down for a little video game stress release though, I want to see pretty graphics and a decent frame rate for my money. Since I posted my question, I have been doing some serious research into PC hardware and have been flirting with the idea of putting together my own PC. Buying the components is a really slippery slope though. It's always the case that just a few more dollars can get you one step higher....and a little more, and a little higher...and so on. So for a little more that the HP Pavilion Elite m9452 (which is up now to $949.00), I can build something much better - for around $1200.00 (slippery slope)! I'm on the verge of taking the plunge but, times being what they are, I'm starting to look at Xbox and Playstation3 as a cheaper alternative. My back is up against the wall though. My son has Fallout 3 under the tree and he is going to need something to play it on very soon. Like me, he insists that a keyboard and mouse are the only weapons he wants to use. I'm still looking into some third party converters that claim to allow a keyboard and mouse to be used on the consoles, but it does not seem to be well documented as a truly functional work around. I can't believe that Microsoft and Sony are willing to loose the business instead of making their consoles mouse and keyboard friendly - it honestly blows me away. Thanks again. Have a happy and safe holiday. -Acqua