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HP/Compaq Presario SR1630NX with AMD Athlon 64 3500+

Tuesday, October 25th, 2005 | Desktop Computer Reviews, Reviews

A name branded computer at a more than reasonable price, this mid range model from HP/Compaq hits the mark in terms of blend of parts and performance.

This compute is intended to be more than is needed for the average user, aimed at a slightly more performance oriented individual.

The basic breakdown of components are…

• AMD Athlon 64 3500+
• 512MB DDR memory
• DVD burner
• 200GB hard drive
• Name brand security

The AMD Athlon chip is well suited for the heavy use environment. I provides enough power to do anything on the computer with ease. It can handle a bit of gameplay too, if you add a graphics card to the package. The socket 939 interface will allow easy upgrades in the future as it is still quite commonly used.

The computer comes bundles with Microsoft Windows XP SP1, which means upon arrival, you will need to update it to SP2. Which is a little bit of a hassle.

Graphics are handled by an ATI Radeon XPRESS 200. This provides enough performance for office related tasks, but that’s about it. Thankfully there is an open PCIe slot, which will allow you to put in a cool graphics card with no trouble at all. There are also 2 extra PCI slots.

Memory is pretty standard 512MB, with 2 extra slots available if you need more. I would recommend the extra if you intend multi-tasking many programs at the same time or playing games.

The 200GB hard drive provides more than enough space for anything. Even if you save DVD videos to the hard drive you should not have to worry.

Other extras include the DVD writer, which is a plus, so you can save all that extra information off your computer and perform easy backups.

It also has LAN, Modem, integrated audio and some extra software, namely Adobe Acrobat Reader, Microsoft Money Standard 2005 and Microsoft Works 8.0.

Pros

• Name brand PC
• High class processor
• upgradable

Cons

• Old version Windows