Is the HP Pavilion Slimline worth upgrading into a mid-tier gaming PC?

[ImaginZion]

I recently recieved the HP Pavilion Slimline s5206 as a hand-me-down from a family member and I've always wanted to move away from console gaming so I would like to know whether going through the process of buying a new graphics card, power supply, more RAM and possibly a new processor to make a gaming pc  is worth it in such an old model. Will the motherboard be able to handle it or would it be better to buy a new pc all together?

[kenkat]

Hey there,

Good question. I think the answer depends on what games you are planning to play and how nice you want those games to look. Here is a link to the specifications for the Slimline s5206:

http://h20564.www2.hp.com/hpsc/doc/public/display?docId=c01857670

Most games should have minimum and recommended requirements listed on Steam or the game's website.

If the base specs look good for the Slimline or all you need to upgrade is the video card, for example. I say stick with the slimline and upgrade. If you need to upgrade everything, then you are probably better off getting something new.

For more reference:

You should be able to play a lot of games that came out at least two/three years ago.

XCom2 will require you to upgrade your video card and processor.

Overwatch will require you to upgrade your processor. 

If you do go down the route of new PC, I highly recommend the HP Omen Gaming Laptops. Yes, I work for HP but I also personally own one and I'm loving it.

Hope this helps!

[DeejayV · Accepted solution]

This model was released around 2009 if we are both referring to the same model.

If you tried to replace all the said parts except the motherboard, it would be difficult to find those components and let alone active warranty to support it.

Most likely, you'd still find them from Amazon or Ebay though.

The processors of today's generation though has gone down in terms of prices and power consumption.

I would highly suggest to just sell that desktop as it is if its still working, and use the money to get you started with a modest desktop that you can build and upgrade one at a time.

Today's 7th generation Intel CPU's low end G series model would even match a 5-year+ old i5 model. THat's something you may want to consider.

[ImaginZion]

If I did upgrade the graphics card and RAM, would the motherboard be able to handle it?

[DeejayV]

Yes, as long as you ensure that your power supply spec matches the requirement of the video card.

The CPU will be a huge bottleneck though in terms of maximiing the performance from your video card.

[ImaginZion]

Will it be worth changing the processor to an i5? Along with everything else