Computer help, please

I got a new computer a year ago. It's been crashing intermittantly the whole time, and HP finally agreed to replace it. (To be fair to HP, I haven't been complaining about is the whole time, and I'm by and large satisfied with their service.)My problem is that since my computer is more than a year old, many of its components have been superceded by better things. They are updating for no charge where my original specs are no longer available, but I have no idea what's what.This is what I currently have:HP Pavilion p6670t PC
Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit
Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-550 dual-core processor [3.2GHz, 512KB L2 + 4MB shared L3 cache, DMI 2.5GT/s]
FREE UPGRADE! 6GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM [3 DIMMs]
FREE UPGRADE! 750GB 7200 rpm SATA 3Gb/s hard drive from 500GB
No additional office software
No additional security software
1GB DDR3 NVIDIA GeForce 315 [DVI, HDMI, VGA adapter]
LightScribe 16X max. DVD+/-R/RW SuperMulti drive
Integrated Ethernet port, No wireless LAN
15-in-1 memory card reader, 2 USB, audio
No TV Tuner
Integrated sound
HP USB keyboard and optical mouseThis is what they are replacing it with:Operating system Genuine Windows 7 Home Premium [64-bit]
Processor Intel(R) Core(TM) i3-2120 dual-core processor [3.3GHz, 3MB Shared Cache]
Memory 6GB DDR3-1333MHz SDRAM [2 DIMMs]
Hard drive 1TB 7200 rpm SATA hard drive
Office software Microsoft(R) Office Starter: reduced-functionality Word & Excel w/ ads. No PowerPoint or Outlook
Security software No additional security software
Graphics card 1GB DDR3 NVIDIA GeForce GT520 [DVI, HDMI, VGA adapter]
Primary optical drive SuperMulti DVD Burner
Networking Integrated Ethernet port, No wireless LAN
Productivity ports 6-in-1 memory card reader, 2 USB, audio ports
TV & entertainment experience No TV Tuner edit
Sound Card Integrated sound
Keyboard and Mouse HP keyboard and optical mouseCan anyone tell me, is the new one inferior in any respect to the old one, or is it at least as good in every detail?Thanks muchly for the help.

Nothing is less than what you had. Surprised that there is no wireless included though. I'd also ask about whether there was a card reader.

The guts seem to be upgrades. Your CPU, GPU, and HDD are all slightly upgraded with the GPU probably being the biggest upgrade. RAM appears to be identical unless the CAS latency is different (which you probably won't notice anyway). I would just make sure that your memory cards (if you have any) are supported by the 6-in-1. Looks like a fair replacement to me.

Just FYI, if you experience rare but regular crashes, chances are you have a bad sector in one of your RAM chips. Just make sure they at least replace the memory.

Well, they were neither rare nor regular. Sometimes it happened several times an hour, sometimes it would go for days with no problem. I sent it back to them at least twice and they had someone come to the house to check it. I ran countless diagnostics and system resets. So they're just going to give me a whole new computer.{AbE}Oh, and it also happened when I wasn't even using the computer.Edited by subbie, : As noted.

I had similar problems with a Dell I purchased five years ago. I'd spent much effort configuring the machine to my needs (i.e., installing Apache, MySQL, PHP, Perl, Chrome, Firefox, etc.), and Dell insisted that reinstalling Windows would fix the problem, but that would have meant having to again configure the machine, which takes a long time.So I was desperate, and being desperate I eventually found some diagnostics on the hard drive. Running them revealed memory problems. I reported this to Dell, so they sent out a technician. I thought he would just replace the memory, but he said they were familiar with the problem and that it was more likely the memory controller logic in one of the on-board chips soldered to the board, so he replaced the whole motherboard. Problem fixed. Machine ran great the rest of its life.--Percy

The classic tech support merry go round. I was involved in the computer industry form Mid-80's until 2004. Tech supports first priority was always to pawn it off on someone else. When you called the hardware companies they would clam it was a software issue and you should call the software company, when you called the software company they would tell you it was a hardware issue.My personal solution to this was to build my own rigs. I 2005 bought a Dell. Though I have not had major issues with it, I was extremely disappointed when I tried to upgrade it. New video cards(AGP) caused all sorts of conflicts. Even a new audio card caused issues.As I am no longer in need of a box, any gaming I do I do on the Xbox 360, when this finally dies I am just going to get a second laptop and keep that on the desk. After Win 8 comes out I will compare and contrast the different tablets, vendors and operating systems and probably get one of them.Desktops are no longer a needed device in my life.P.S.
I would never, never, ever buy from Dell again.

OK, I'm taking a stab at Evolution Fairytails.I've saved some topic pages, either for offline reading (I don't have internet at home) or to archive pages that have my messages (which would disappear if any admin there finds them objectionable).When I save with IE everything is fine (even when viewed back with Firefox). But when I save with Firefox, I get this large black area over most of the page, with a small area of visible text that can be scrolled. Why is Firefox doing this and how do I fix it?I'm saving as regular HTML pages - The page plus a folder of support files. IE also has the option of saving it as an all in one file archive form (.mht), but that seems only viewable in IE.Moose

Just looked at my Firefox.When I go to save a page I use File->Save Page asFrom there the default selection for "Save as type:" is "Web Page, HTML only". I don't know if that is the actual default or because I tend to do that.If it is the default for you, you may want to change that to "Web Page, complete" which should save the stylesheet, images, etc.

How many software engineers does it take to change a light bulb??None, that's hardware.

Rebooting one of these computer threads because I'm saving my pennies for a new desktop, and a lot of you guys have some strong opinions. I love strong opinions!So, I've set a $1000 hardware budget. I don't game as much these days, and I've never been into Crysis or anything like that; I'm mostly after high framerate performance in Diablo III at moderate-high settings. And I want to beat whatever Alienware desktop is at that price point. (I don't anticipate that will be hard.)I have a small amount of brand loyalty to Intel and nVidia. Also I'd like to stay in micro-ATX or mini-ITX form factors, if possible; I'd like a small footprint. My wife's in the Army now, we'll probably move a lot, and I'm tired of lugging ATX cases around. Don't worry about the case; assume that it's already spoken for $100 of the budget. I'm not opposed to overclocking, and watercooling might be a future upgrade.So, help me play with nine hundred of my dollars, hotrodders!

Good luck!Last year I set a $1000 budget for a new gaming PC and ended up spending $1500.I went with the Intel Core i7-2600K - which is still just under $300. Its pretty damn awesome and I don't even have it overclocked.For the video card I went with the Nvidia GTX 570. That's still going for just under $300 as well.I don't remember exactly how much ram I have off the top of my head. I run Battlefield 3 on ultra setting and it runs fantastic. For your needs, I don't think you need as much as I got so you can save some spending there. Heh, I put that $1500 worth of hardware into a $30 case... Have you seen those websites where you can virtually "build" a computer and it will kick out a price for you? I don't remember the name.

A good place to start for any build is Tom's Hardware "Best for the money" lists for the current month:CPU: Best CPU for Gaming in 2022 - Top Gaming CPUs for the Money | Tom's HardwareGPU: Best Graphics Cards 2022 - Top Gaming GPUs for the Money | Tom's HardwareDefinitely go with a SATA III motherboard and at least 8 gigs of ram. I would also strongly suggest taking a look at ~100 gig SSD for your OS and a few of the programs you use most. The prices have become reasonable and the increase in performance is very noticeable. You should be able to pick up a decent 100 gig for less than $100. You will probably need to purchase an OS so that will be another $100 for the OEM Win7 or $180 if you want to make upgrades to your mobo in the future.

Here's Anandtech's just published guide to mid-range systems. I don't think that any of the systems exactly match your requirements - I think you'll want a graphics card but maybe not as meaty as the gaming rigs suggested (Intel integrated graphics are getting better, but I doubt that they're even close to your requirements). It should give you ideas of what to look for, though.

Thanks for all the great resources, guys.With your help, Hooah's thoughts from another thread (actually the one I was originally looking for when I started this), and the resources you guys pointed me to, I've largely settled on a build:ASRock Z77E-ITX Motherboard (LGA1155, mini-ITX)
Core i5-3570K (Ivy Bridge)
8g RAM (2x4g) (haven't decided what brand yet, figure I'll just go with ASRock's recommendation for the mobo)
GeForce GTX 660 (probably the EVGA model, those have been rock-solid in my experience)
A SATA III SSD, somewhere in the 100gb range
500 gb HD I have laying around
Antec Neo Eco 520 power supplyPotentially subject to change since I'm not even buying for a while. All in all, should be a fun little machine with lots of headroom for overclocking when I get watercooling in.