HP Pavilion M8530F Desktop PC (2.2 GHz AMD Phenom X4 9550 Quad Core Processor, 5 GB RAM, 750 GB Hard Drive, DVD Drive, Vista Premium)
From Hewlett Packard
Product Details
- Amazon Sales Rank: #499 in Personal Computers
- Brand: Hewlett-Packard
- Model: M8530F
- Dimensions: 15.16" h x 10.75" w x 7.60" l, 33.05 pounds
- CPU: AMD Athlon 64 X2 2.2 GHz
- Memory: 5000MB DDR2 SDRAM
- Hard Disk: 750GB
- Processors: 4
Features
- Desktop PC with 2.2 GHz AMD Phenom X4 9550 quad-core processor, 2MB L2+2MB shared L3 cache
- 5120MB PC2-6400 DDR2 SDRAM memory (1x2048MB 3x1024MB expandable to 8GB), 750GB 7200RPM SATA hard drive
- NVIDIA GeForce 9300GE with hybrid SLI technology with 256MB dedicated video memory
- SuperMulti DVD Burner with LightScribe Technology
- Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium 64-bit, dims in inches: 7.60 (W) x 15.16 (L/D) x 16.54 (H) approx., 32 lbs. approx.
Customer Reviews
That's a lot of computer for the price
I just finished getting everything tweaked the way I want it and I am mightily impressed with this machine.
First the cons:
1) Video card is a little weak. Not recommended for hardcore gamers. However, see below for the video card pro.
2) No wireless networking. A minor nitpick since I do not place my computer near my router. Easily solved by picking up an adapter.
3) No install discs. The hard drive has a recovery partition in case you need to recover, however, I would much prefer physical copies of the OS. So far this is the prime con.
4) This is more serious nitpick. The media reader does not fully accept SD cards (they only go in about half way and hang out). My other readers accept the card fully and have an eject function. I am not very comfortable having a very flimsy disk protruding where it could possibly get easily damaged.
Now for the pros:
1) Vista 64-bit is incredibly fast when you have this much machine. 64-bit Internet Explorer is noticeably outperforming both Firefox and Chrome.
2) This machine is whisper quiet. Even running the video card as hot as I could this machine puts out less decibels than my ps3 (which is very quiet).
3) The video card is respectable. It has native HDMI support (although I had to connect via DVI-RGB and tell the computer to output to HDMI before getting signal). The card is incredibly quiet (my guess is heatsinks rather than fans). While I wouldn't recommend the card for Crysis, I have been able to consistently get 20 frames per second out of World of Warcraft running 1980x1050dpi (and high quality) on a 42" screen. Running a somewhat lower resolution and slightly downtweaking the quality I pull 30 (bright areas) to 60 (dark areas) frames per second constantly. Lowest I dropped to tonight was 29fps and that was with a LOT of screen clutter plus multiple programs running in the background.
The pros outweigh the cons. I highly recommend this machine. Even for hardcore gamers you are not likely to find that much processor/ram for the price and it is relatively easy to replace the video card (with a 9800gtx+) and increase the power supply. For casual users you just can't beat the bang-for-your-buck value.
twice burned
I had a similar problem at first. The first machine I bought was dead after the second boot. (Power supply comes on, optical drives spin up, two ticks off of the hard drive light, and ..... nothing. No BIOS message, no HP recovery selection screen, and WILL NOT recognize a recovery disc when installed.) Now on the second machine, after three months, after I've migrated all my pictures, music, movies, and programs .... it's done it again! Apple, I'm comin' to see you.
It takes 2 to make a thing go right
It took two of them before I got one that worked. The first one was online for about 3 days before the motherboard-integrated LAN connection just died for no apparent reason. I had it replaced, and the second one worked like a charm (so far). With such sensitive electronics these days, I guess a dud now and then is just going to be the norm.
Anyway, this is a lot of computer for the price ($750 when I bought it). Quad core, 3/4 terrabyte hard drive, nVidia 9-series video, and every jack imaginable. I couldn't find any similarly-equipped HP computer within several hundred dollars of this price anywhere. With extra PCI slots, many USB ports, and spots for an additional hard drive and optical drive, I should be able to keep this PC up-to-date for many years.
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