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General discussion

eMachines T6410&ATI Radeon xpress 200:Graphics Upgradable?

Aug 2, 2005 4:23AM PDT

I'm thinking about getting the eMachines T6410. Circuit City has a great bundle deal: computer, monitor and printer for $459.97 after rebates.
Link:http://www.circuitcity.com/rpsm/oid/125832/bundleId/1497/rpem/ccd/bundleDetail.do

My question: How easy is it upgrade the graphics on this? ATI Radeon xpress 200 is integrated graphics, correct? Back when I was more up to speed on computer hardware, I heard that adding a new graphics card to systems with integrated graphics can cause problems. Is this still true?

Any advice is appreciated.

Discussion is locked

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advice for you
Aug 2, 2005 6:35AM PDT

there shouldn't be any problem.

uninstall your graphics driver(s) and insert the graphics card. be sure to disable on board graphics which is done in the bios under per something, i cannot spell well Wink and disable it. some mobos have auto, mine does, but i still disabled it.

watch your power supply!

i recomomend you upgrading your power supply before getting a new graphics card. emachines are standard atx psu so it shouldn't be a problem.

konny

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re: advice for you
Aug 2, 2005 7:32AM PDT

Thanks. I'll take note of the power supply.

I just went to Circuit City and they had this Compaq computer: http://www.circuitcity.com/ssm/Compaq-Presario-Desktop-PC-SR1550NX-/sem/rpsm/oid/125534/rpem/ccd/productDetail.do

It was roughly the same price as the eMachine, but it several things that were better on the Compaq:
AMD Athlon 64 3400+ instead of 3200+
40GB more HD space
DVD and CD-ROM (eMachine only has combo).
The in store bundle (not on website) came with a LCD 17" instead of the CRT that came with the eMachine.
And it has better media card readers.

I've noticed a lot people saying eMachine is the way to go for a solid value computer. But, is there anything wrong with going with Compaq?

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No PCI-E
Aug 2, 2005 7:59AM PDT

That Compaq does not have PCI Express, which is the lastest for graphics cards. Fortunately you can still find graphics cards for AGP 8X. PC Mag has a review of that particular system. IMO, the best budget computer deal out there is the eMachines T6522. It has contains hardware found in computers $500-$1000 more, Socket 939 MOBO, 1gb of RAM, AMD Athlon 64 3500+, TV tuner, and Windows Media Center.

In regards to the power supply issue. If you are buying a higher end card (6600GT-and up), a more powerful psu would be required. However, you can get buy on the lower end cards using a 300watt PSU.

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re: PCI-E
Aug 2, 2005 8:28AM PDT

I don't think PCI-E is as important to me as an LCD monitor and the other features. I can live with an AGP card.

I like the eMachines T5622, but it's a bit more than I want to spend and there aren't any good package deals for it.

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Piece of pie...
Aug 2, 2005 7:44AM PDT

With the T6410 you are fortunate to have PCI-Express x16 slot available for the lastest graphics card. Yes, Radeon Xpress 200 is integrated graphics which shares 128MB of memory. So really, your RAM is really 384MB. When you buy a dedicated graphics card, you will free up the 512MB of RAM, making your system perform better. There is nothing wrong with adding a gpu to a computer with integrated graphics. It's really easy. Just pop the case and put the card into a PCI slot. Windows should recognize the new hardware and then your all set. I would then check for the lastest drivers if your installing an older card model. Have fun.

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i didn't have any problems
Aug 3, 2005 12:17PM PDT

i just bought hp a1130n that has ati radeon xpress 200 integrated video for my brother and we immediately dropped in a ati radeon x800xl pci-x. it appears that the motherboard automatically recognizes that there's a new video card in the pci-x slot and it therefore deactiviates the motherboard's integrated video. everything works fine.

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(NT) (NT) u should upgrade the psu with an x800xl
Aug 3, 2005 1:15PM PDT
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it works fine on the stock power supply
Aug 3, 2005 1:48PM PDT

in addition to the video card, i ripped out the dvd-rom and added 2 more hard drives, a 80gb and a 160gb. i had a spare 450watt psu, but due to the design of the psu and the shape of the case opening i couldn't properly mount it. i gave my brother the option of gutting the computer and moving all the parts to a larger case but we elected to try it out with the stock 300 watt psu and everything seems to work fine.

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(NT) (NT) sooner or later the psu wont be able to handle the load
Aug 3, 2005 1:54PM PDT
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we'll see about that
Aug 3, 2005 2:19PM PDT

i know what the manual recommends, but the machine is on almost constantly and it doesn't have any problems. so if there aren't any problems(voltages appear to be fine) then the psu is handling it. if the psu dies tomorrow then i'll spend the time to replace it, otherwise i won't bother.

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agreed with nerdyboy
Aug 4, 2005 1:10AM PDT

you should upgrade your power supply. during gaming or intense graphical work, your power supply will be taxed and often cause crashes or lock-ups.

of course its your pc and your money, but we are just giving you our advice.

konny

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it's not like i'm trying to be cheap
Aug 4, 2005 2:48AM PDT

after blowing a grand on this setup certainly a bigger psu would be a trivial expense, especially if i already had one laying around. i haven't had any problems gaming, downloading, video playback, burning, etc.
sure my brother likes the idea of the bigger power supply since that's the reason we got it in the first place, but we had to weigh the cons of transplanting all the internals to another case(it would be difficult to make those front panel ports seamlessly in a new case, my brother already broke one motherbaord during a swap), versus just testing our curiosity to see if the stock brand-new Bestec 300 Watt psu in the hp would handle it. just wait till the hot part of summer

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Planning the same on my A1130N
Aug 7, 2005 11:41PM PDT

Going to get a 6600 GT. I got the F1905 monitor with mine. I am very impressed with the whole set-up.
I have read numerous threads about vid card upgrades and power supplies. Have yet to read that the PS went bad after upgrading the vid card.
I really depends on how much stuff is running of the PS. Keep us informed and I will do the same.
Which brand card, how much and where from?

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ati radeon x800xl 256mb gddr3 pcix
Aug 8, 2005 4:34AM PDT

299 at best buy at the time but a day later compusa has it on sale for 259 so i got the difference back. no problems so far with the stock power supply, i'm sure my brother will tell me if anything goes wrong

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hp a1130n
Aug 4, 2005 2:44AM PDT

You know what. After doing some looking around, I'm leaning towards the hp a1130n myself. It has twice the RAM and better features than the eMachines for only 200 dollars more. It has the PCI-x slot which is nice.

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one more to look at
Aug 4, 2005 3:14AM PDT

it took me a while to decide between the hp a1130n and the emachines t6522, circuit city has both. the t6522 has the tv tuner car for 20 bux more, and the motherboards appear to be similar. but my brother already had a tuner card and the hp's hard drive is slightly bigger and perhaps slightly faster and quieter as well. i think the hp's shutters are irritating, but they can be removed, but i prefer hp burners to whatever emachines uses. hp already has bios upgrades for the burner and motherboard, emachines hasn't posted anything yet. i used to build my own stuff, but emachines is so cheap i've switched to them and if anything breaks i just buy the part and i still come out way ahead. the main thing i'm giving up is overclocking ability, but for me the benefit(more speed) isn't worth the risk(reduced cpu life, stability/timing/heat issues, needing to buy premium cooling/memory/motherboard, experimenting to find the best settings). most of the games i play are video card limited but i don't use ultra high resolutions, the only time i work the cpu hard is when i render and i don't do that very often

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Debating HP A1130N too
Aug 4, 2005 6:01AM PDT

Looking at overall deals, I can get 24 months interest free at CC. Plan to get HP F1905 monitor too.
Any comments on the monitor?
A little over $1,000 plus tax.......

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monitor seems ok to me
Aug 4, 2005 6:35AM PDT

my brother already has a samsung 21 and a 19, i'm not sure who's the best right now, maybe my eyes are going bad. if nothing else try to check out the monitor in the showroom for visual quality before you commit to buy

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samsung have good lcd
Aug 4, 2005 11:39AM PDT

wouldnt recommend the hp ones. get samsung as they have low response times and rarely have dead pixels. cant say the same for hp though.

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picked up HP A1130N and F1905 today
Aug 5, 2005 5:28AM PDT

order on-line at CC. Got 24 month interest free on this combo. Will add PCI-express 6600GT video card.
My wife will not see much of me all weekend......

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Got A1130N, Monitor MX705, & Printer 3845
Aug 9, 2005 6:38AM PDT

I got the A1130N computer package deal at CC. Ended up being cheaper than buying just the computer (after rebates). I also got the 24 month 0 interest deal.

I have to wait until tomorrow at the earliest to pick up though, because they had to special order it.

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i usually buy the bundle but
Aug 9, 2005 10:34AM PDT

this time i didn't have anyone to give a monitor to so all i got was the computer