Is This Desktop Customizable?

[Smolderin]

I have good reason to believe that come Christmas day, I will be receiving a Gateway FX6860-UR20P Desktop PC

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=602037

Now please no criticism or elitism here, I know there are substantially better rigs out there but you must understand that this is a huge upgrade for me. The only computers I have ever had were laptops and the strongest computer I have had yet is a Macbook Pro with 8Gb of Ram, a Terrabyte of memory, and i5 processsor, and an Intel HD 4000 graphics card. What has always iffed me about laptops is that you can hardly customize the hardware, but desktops I here are a very different story...

This rig in my opinion, the one that I will be getting is quite decent, and will be able to run most games. However a few things stuck out at me such as the graphics card and such that could be improved upon, and I want to know if this desktop can be customized with better hardware. I am asking here cause while I consider myself quite adept at computers, I have yet to work with hardware and I lack the knowledge to know what I am doing.

So to all of you computer techs out there, can this desktop I am getting be upgraded?

(yes, I will be using it for games and such)

 

[ohnoitsabear]

I see no reason to see why it couldn't be upgraded. The case doesn't look too cramped, and it looks like your power supply should be able to power most things you would want to put in it (always check for yourself, though), and you should have any slots you need for most upgrades. Really, you should be able to put just about any newer graphics card in there without any trouble.

 

[Smolderin]

I see no reason to see why it couldn't be upgraded. The case doesn't look too cramped, and it looks like your power supply should be able to power most things you would want to put in it (always check for yourself, though), and you should have any slots you need for most upgrades. Really, you should be able to put just about any newer graphics card in there without any trouble.

Really? That is comforting to know! I don't want to end up having to be a new rig every 6 or so months just because it's out of date and games have gotten to advance and stuff like that. As long as I can keep upgrading the parts and I am not forced to buy a new system, then I would be a happy camper.

 

[ohnoitsabear]

I see no reason to see why it couldn't be upgraded. The case doesn't look too cramped, and it looks like your power supply should be able to power most things you would want to put in it (always check for yourself, though), and you should have any slots you need for most upgrades. Really, you should be able to put just about any newer graphics card in there without any trouble.

Really? That is comforting to know! I don't want to end up having to be a new rig every 6 or so months just because it's out of date and games have gotten to advance and stuff like that. As long as I can keep upgrading the parts and I am not forced to buy a new system, then I would be a happy camper.

Just so we're clear, you might have to upgrade the power supply sometime in the future, it really depends on how much power all of your components use (which, frankly, I'm not sure on, and I'm too lazy to look up). However, most graphics cards these days are pretty good about power consumption, and the only other big power drain is the motherboard, which you really shouldn't need to upgrade unless there's something wrong with it, which shouldn't be the case.

Also, there's this big misconception that you need to be constantly upgrading/replacing your computer to keep it up to date, which really isn't the case. I have a computer from a few years back (that wasn't all that great to begin with) that still runs most everything on max or near max settings. Really, if you're willing to play at lower framerates and at lower settings, it's entirely possible to go five years with only minor upgrades, if any at all. Now, don't get me wrong, being able to upgrade a computer is a great thing, and you'll often see significant improvements from doing so, but it's something that you should rarely have to do.

 

[ShinyCharizard]

I see no reason to see why it couldn't be upgraded. The case doesn't look too cramped, and it looks like your power supply should be able to power most things you would want to put in it (always check for yourself, though), and you should have any slots you need for most upgrades. Really, you should be able to put just about any newer graphics card in there without any trouble.

Really? That is comforting to know! I don't want to end up having to be a new rig every 6 or so months just because it's out of date and games have gotten to advance and stuff like that. As long as I can keep upgrading the parts and I am not forced to buy a new system, then I would be a happy camper.

If you put a good graphics card in (like a GTX 660 or 670) then you wont need to upgrade for a few years at the very least.

 

[Smolderin]

I see no reason to see why it couldn't be upgraded. The case doesn't look too cramped, and it looks like your power supply should be able to power most things you would want to put in it (always check for yourself, though), and you should have any slots you need for most upgrades. Really, you should be able to put just about any newer graphics card in there without any trouble.

Really? That is comforting to know! I don't want to end up having to be a new rig every 6 or so months just because it's out of date and games have gotten to advance and stuff like that. As long as I can keep upgrading the parts and I am not forced to buy a new system, then I would be a happy camper.

If you put a good graphics card in (like a GTX 660 or 670) then you wont need to upgrade for a few years at the very least.

Question...how do I know what is a good graphics card or not compared to what is out there? Is there a website that explains that stuff really clearly or....

 

[ShinyCharizard]

I see no reason to see why it couldn't be upgraded. The case doesn't look too cramped, and it looks like your power supply should be able to power most things you would want to put in it (always check for yourself, though), and you should have any slots you need for most upgrades. Really, you should be able to put just about any newer graphics card in there without any trouble.

Really? That is comforting to know! I don't want to end up having to be a new rig every 6 or so months just because it's out of date and games have gotten to advance and stuff like that. As long as I can keep upgrading the parts and I am not forced to buy a new system, then I would be a happy camper.

If you put a good graphics card in (like a GTX 660 or 670) then you wont need to upgrade for a few years at the very least.

Question...how do I know what is a good graphics card or not compared to what is out there? Is there a website that explains that stuff really clearly or....

I find that looking at benchmark reviews are the best way to find a good GPU. They basically run a bunch of different games using every modern GPU to see which one has the best performance. From there you just pick the one that has the best performance for your budget

 

[Hazy992]

Yeah that should be able to be upgraded no problem.

Get a GTX 660 or 7870 and maybe a new PSU and you'll have a great rig that'll last you years

 

[thesilentman]

I see no reason to see why it couldn't be upgraded. The case doesn't look too cramped, and it looks like your power supply should be able to power most things you would want to put in it (always check for yourself, though), and you should have any slots you need for most upgrades. Really, you should be able to put just about any newer graphics card in there without any trouble.

Really? That is comforting to know! I don't want to end up having to be a new rig every 6 or so months just because it's out of date and games have gotten to advance and stuff like that. As long as I can keep upgrading the parts and I am not forced to buy a new system, then I would be a happy camper.

If you put a good graphics card in (like a GTX 660 or 670) then you wont need to upgrade for a few years at the very least.

Question...how do I know what is a good graphics card or not compared to what is out there? Is there a website that explains that stuff really clearly or....

You want Passmark.com. That site is a godsend to find good processors and graphics cards like crazy. As for GPUs, I'd say take Hazy's recommendation. They're good cards and should last you a couple of years at this point.

 

[Smolderin]

I see no reason to see why it couldn't be upgraded. The case doesn't look too cramped, and it looks like your power supply should be able to power most things you would want to put in it (always check for yourself, though), and you should have any slots you need for most upgrades. Really, you should be able to put just about any newer graphics card in there without any trouble.

Really? That is comforting to know! I don't want to end up having to be a new rig every 6 or so months just because it's out of date and games have gotten to advance and stuff like that. As long as I can keep upgrading the parts and I am not forced to buy a new system, then I would be a happy camper.

If you put a good graphics card in (like a GTX 660 or 670) then you wont need to upgrade for a few years at the very least.

Question...how do I know what is a good graphics card or not compared to what is out there? Is there a website that explains that stuff really clearly or....

You want Passmark.com. That site is a godsend to find good processors and graphics cards like crazy. As for GPUs, I'd say take Hazy's recommendation. They're good cards and should last you a couple of years at this point.

If you don't mind...whats the difference between GPU's and Graphic Cards? Cause im looking it up and I kinda still don't get it. I always thought GPU's and Graphic Cards were the same thing?

 

[ShinyCharizard]

I see no reason to see why it couldn't be upgraded. The case doesn't look too cramped, and it looks like your power supply should be able to power most things you would want to put in it (always check for yourself, though), and you should have any slots you need for most upgrades. Really, you should be able to put just about any newer graphics card in there without any trouble.

Really? That is comforting to know! I don't want to end up having to be a new rig every 6 or so months just because it's out of date and games have gotten to advance and stuff like that. As long as I can keep upgrading the parts and I am not forced to buy a new system, then I would be a happy camper.

If you put a good graphics card in (like a GTX 660 or 670) then you wont need to upgrade for a few years at the very least.

Question...how do I know what is a good graphics card or not compared to what is out there? Is there a website that explains that stuff really clearly or....

You want Passmark.com. That site is a godsend to find good processors and graphics cards like crazy. As for GPUs, I'd say take Hazy's recommendation. They're good cards and should last you a couple of years at this point.

If you don't mind...whats the difference between GPU's and Graphic Cards? Cause im looking it up and I kinda still don't get it. I always thought GPU's and Graphic Cards were the same thing?

Yeah its the same thing. GPU is just an acronym that basically means graphics card

 

[thesilentman]

snip quote

If you don't mind...whats the difference between GPU's and Graphic Cards? Cause im looking it up and I kinda still don't get it. I always thought GPU's and Graphic Cards were the same thing?

They're the same thing. Graphics cards are basically a whole hardware component that processes graphics, as you might have gathered. It's a whole processor that's for graphics, which happens to be the most intensive on the processor. So hence, separate processor for graphics.

 

[Smolderin]

Thank you all for answering my questions. Your answers are much appreciated and I leave more knowledgeable than before, if only but a little.

xD