need advice on upgrading a hp 6553

[Guest]

I have a person who is poor folks and cannot afford a new
computer and I am updating an older one for them.
It has 98se and I am adding a 80g hardrive because the
one in the computer is bad. Also updating the memory to
256 from 64m. They are wanting it to play games on and
I was told this should be good enough but I am concerned
about the graphics since it is on the motherboard. Can I
and should I upgrade the graphics card and if so what
card to put in this old computer. Here is its specs.

HP Pavilion PC Model 6553 (US) - Product Specifications

Model number
D7492A
Base processor and speed
Intel Celeron 466 Megahertz (MHz) processor
Chipset
Intel 810
Memory
Component Attributes
RAM (standard) 64 megabytes (MB) SDRAM
standard
Maximum 256 MB (2 x 128 MB DIMM)
Speed 100 MHz synchronous
Sockets Two 168-pin DIMMs
Size 16, 32, 64, and 128 MB DIMMs
Pairs Required No
Type Supported SDRAM, 100 MHz,
Intel PC SDRAM unbuffered DIMM
specification,
revision 1.0 compliant

Cache
Level Quantity
Level 1 (Primary) 32 kilobytes (KB) (on
processor)
Upgrade Sockets None
Level 2 128 KB (on processor)

Hard drive
13 gigabytes (GB) (3.5-inch form factor)
CD-ROM drive
Attribute Properties
Speed 40x (maximum)
Access Speed 75 to 85 ms
Transfer Rate 2.0 to 4.8 MB per second

Diskette drive
1.44 MB (3.5-inch form factor)
Fax/data modem
Attribute Properties
Modem Rockwell Riptide combo card
(supports V.90 K56 Flex
protocols)
Data Speed 56 Kbps
Fax Speed Up to 14.4 Kbps
Plug and Play Yes
Hayes Compatible Yes
Data Compression v.42 bis
Error Correction v.42
COM Port (default) 3
IRQ (default) Variable
EIA Fax Commands Class 1

Video
Attribute Properties
Video Graphics PCI Local Bus
Controller Intel 810
Video Memory 11 MB shared system
memory; integrated graphics;
not upgradable
Feature Connector (game/joystick) Yes
Resolutions:
640 x 480
800 x 600
1024 x 768
1280 x 1024 16/256/32 K/64 K/16.7 M
colors
16/256/32 K/64 K colors
16/256/32 K/64 K colors
256 colors

MPEG-1/2
MPEG-1 for full-screen, full-motion digital
video
Sound/audio
Attribute Properties
Compatibility 3-D Stereo, PCI, 16-bit
Sound
Controller AMC97 codec
Location Rockwell RipTide combo card
Noise Cancellation Yes
Line Out Yes
3-D Spatializer Yes
Wavetable Yes
Tone Control No
Microphone With HP Pavilion Multimedia
Display
Speakers HP/Polk Audio stereo speakers
(left and right)

External ports
Port Type Quantity
USB 2
Serial 1
Parallel 1
Game 1

 

[Jim Macklin]

You can add a PCI video card and disable the on-board video
if you have a slot available.

Download the Bel Arc Advisor to get the actual mobo make and
model. www.belarc.com

It will NOT play the modern games, the CPU is too slow and
the video, even a PCI add-in card will be under-powered for
the recently released games.

The cost of updating the old computer to run even a little
bit will be more than the cost of buying a new Dell which
will be much better for games with a 2.0 GHz Celeron or P4
CPU, and decent on-board video or an AGP slot.


| I have a person who is poor folks and cannot afford a new
| computer and I am updating an older one for them.
| It has 98se and I am adding a 80g hardrive because the
| one in the computer is bad. Also updating the memory to
| 256 from 64m. They are wanting it to play games on and
| I was told this should be good enough but I am concerned
| about the graphics since it is on the motherboard. Can I
| and should I upgrade the graphics card and if so what
| card to put in this old computer. Here is its specs.
|
| HP Pavilion PC Model 6553 (US) - Product Specifications
|
| Model number
| D7492A
| Base processor and speed
| Intel Celeron 466 Megahertz (MHz) processor
| Chipset
| Intel 810
| Memory
| Component Attributes
| RAM (standard) 64 megabytes (MB) SDRAM
| standard
| Maximum 256 MB (2 x 128 MB DIMM)
| Speed 100 MHz synchronous
| Sockets Two 168-pin DIMMs
| Size 16, 32, 64, and 128 MB DIMMs
| Pairs Required No
| Type Supported SDRAM, 100 MHz,
| Intel PC SDRAM unbuffered DIMM
| specification,
| revision 1.0 compliant
|
| Cache
| Level Quantity
| Level 1 (Primary) 32 kilobytes (KB) (on
| processor)
| Upgrade Sockets None
| Level 2 128 KB (on processor)
|
| Hard drive
| 13 gigabytes (GB) (3.5-inch form factor)
| CD-ROM drive
| Attribute Properties
| Speed 40x (maximum)
| Access Speed 75 to 85 ms
| Transfer Rate 2.0 to 4.8 MB per second
|
| Diskette drive
| 1.44 MB (3.5-inch form factor)
| Fax/data modem
| Attribute Properties
| Modem Rockwell Riptide combo card
| (supports V.90 K56 Flex
| protocols)
| Data Speed 56 Kbps
| Fax Speed Up to 14.4 Kbps
| Plug and Play Yes
| Hayes Compatible Yes
| Data Compression v.42 bis
| Error Correction v.42
| COM Port (default) 3
| IRQ (default) Variable
| EIA Fax Commands Class 1
|
| Video
| Attribute Properties
| Video Graphics PCI Local Bus
| Controller Intel 810
| Video Memory 11 MB shared system
| memory; integrated graphics;
| not upgradable
| Feature Connector (game/joystick) Yes
| Resolutions:
| 640 x 480
| 800 x 600
| 1024 x 768
| 1280 x 1024 16/256/32 K/64 K/16.7 M
| colors
| 16/256/32 K/64 K colors
| 16/256/32 K/64 K colors
| 256 colors
|
| MPEG-1/2
| MPEG-1 for full-screen, full-motion digital
| video
| Sound/audio
| Attribute Properties
| Compatibility 3-D Stereo, PCI, 16-bit
| Sound
| Controller AMC97 codec
| Location Rockwell RipTide combo card
| Noise Cancellation Yes
| Line Out Yes
| 3-D Spatializer Yes
| Wavetable Yes
| Tone Control No
| Microphone With HP Pavilion Multimedia
| Display
| Speakers HP/Polk Audio stereo speakers
| (left and right)
|
| External ports
| Port Type Quantity
| USB 2
| Serial 1
| Parallel 1
| Game 1
|

 

[Cari \(MS-MVP\)]

You have no AGP slot on the motherboard... only PCI.

The PC has also been downgraded... it originally shipped with WindowsME.

You'll have to look for a PCI graphics card... because they're now outdated,
they do tend to be more expensive than a similar AGP card and will run
slower... but anything is going to be better than the 11mb onboard graphics
you currently have.

Don't forget, you will have to disable the onboard graphics in the BIOS
before installing the new PCI graphics card.

Cari
www.coribright.com