Upgrade HP xw4400 for gaming?

U2spy · May 8, 2014

I've been looking at upgrading my Hp workstation so that it could be used for gaming. Not for serious gaming but would like to run Battle Stations Pacific. I've been looking at a Corsair cx500 psu, but the fan and power input are on adjacent sides as opposed to the stock one has both on the same side.

I've also been looking at Sapphire Radeon R7 260X 2GB GDDR5 HDMI/DVI-I/DP OC Version PCI-Express Graphics Card 11222-06-20G.

Does this make sense? Or will I be found wanting a new computer?

Thank you!

mjmacka · May 8, 2014

I think you are perfectly find performing the two upgrades you have listed. If you find the computer wanting, you can always move the GPU and power supply to a new computer. I would hang onto the power supply too in case you decide to upgrade.

I did not check GPU compatibility with your motherboard.

I also noticed that most of the PC builds I saw have a 460W power supply. That might be sufficient for the GPU.

Can you post the HP serial number so I can look up your system?

Dark Lord of Tech · May 8, 2014

The MOTHERBOARD and PSU are Proprietary, which means they are specific to that motherboard.

You can't upgrade the power supply , because a standard ATX supply doesn't have the proper connections to run the Hp board.

Proprietary MOTHERBOARD and PSU combo's are a dead end not upgradeable.

mjmacka · May 8, 2014

I looked into the power supply. Here is what you have to work with on a similar PC. I don't know if you have a Pentium D or Core or Core 2. The D uses more power.
Page 6/7 has information about the power supply: http://h50146.www5.hp.com/lib/doc/manual/workstation/xw4400/c00768537.pdf
I couldn't find an exact explanation of what makes the power supply different. It looks like a 4 pin and 24 pin on the board. I didn't check the dimensions against a standard ATX power supply. If it's smaller, the standard ATX won't fit. If it's bigger it will fit, but air-flow will be impacted... which can be fixed with tape. You might be able to measure.
If you decide to purchase a new power supply, look at the dimensions, pins, and how its mounted into the case before making a purchase. Or take one from a friends or go to your nearest PC store and ask them.

I have seen "custom" power supplies that have different holes for screws or a non-standard mounting mechanism in Dell's and HP's of this age.

During load, the PC uses 224 W. That means you have about 230 W for the GPU if you have a Pentium D CPU. A Core 2 uses less power so your GPU has more to work with.

U2spy · May 9, 2014

Thank you for responding. I'll take it you know what you're talking about. It seemed as thought there were the appropriate connections but I had a bad feeling about this HP that is obviously set up for office workflow. I'll post a thread soon asking if anyone knows of an inexpensive pc that is highly up-gradable for gaming. We are not super high end gamers and don't have thousands let alone, hundreds of dollars to spend on a gaming rig. It would be nice for my son to be able to play Battle Stations Pacific at a convincing speed and resolution. I don't mind getting creative in getting components to fit, but I draw the line at getting out the soldering gun.
Thanks again!

U2spy · May 9, 2014

mjmacka :

I looked into the power supply. Here is what you have to work with on a similar PC. I don't know if you have a Pentium D or Core or Core 2. The D uses more power.
Page 6/7 has information about the power supply: http://h50146.www5.hp.com/lib/doc/manual/workstation/xw4400/c00768537.pdf
I couldn't find an exact explanation of what makes the power supply different. It looks like a 4 pin and 24 pin on the board. I didn't check the dimensions against a standard ATX power supply. If it's smaller, the standard ATX won't fit. If it's bigger it will fit, but air-flow will be impacted... which can be fixed with tape. You might be able to measure.
If you decide to purchase a new power supply, look at the dimensions, pins, and how its mounted into the case before making a purchase. Or take one from a friends or go to your nearest PC store and ask them.

I have seen "custom" power supplies that have different holes for screws or a non-standard mounting mechanism in Dell's and HP's of this age.

During load, the PC uses 224 W. That means you have about 230 W for the GPU if you have a Pentium D CPU. A Core 2 uses less power so your GPU has more to work with.

Thank you for your responses. I think I'm going to put this to rest and look at getting another, hopefully inexpensive, gaming pc.
Thanks again!

mjmacka · May 9, 2014

U2spy :

I would look at a bare-bones AMD or Intel system. Tigerdirect has good builds for $350+.
Here is a link to the $200-$500 build price range: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?Recs=30&Nav=|c:31|lp:200:hp:499.99|&Sort=4

Generally, I prefer to go with a kit that doesn't include a GPU and get my own. Most of the barebones systems have a +500W power supply and the board can accommodate a GPU. You are more in the AMD price range, but there are a few builds with i5's too. Remember that you need to supply your on OS.

I would consider something like this: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8793773&CatId=31
Also a SSD $70~$140, RAM $40-$80 (4 or 8 GB), and a GPU.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8595228&CatId=31
A much better CPU and includes RAM. You still need a HDD and a GPU, but its a decent package. I would consider something else if you want to overclock.

U2spy · May 9, 2014

mjmacka :

U2spy :

I would look at a bare-bones AMD or Intel system. Tigerdirect has good builds for $350+.
Here is a link to the $200-$500 build price range: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/category/category_slc.asp?Recs=30&Nav=|c:31|lp:200:hp:499.99|&Sort=4

Generally, I prefer to go with a kit that doesn't include a GPU and get my own. Most of the barebones systems have a +500W power supply and the board can accommodate a GPU. You are more in the AMD price range, but there are a few builds with i5's too. Remember that you need to supply your on OS.

I would consider something like this: http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8793773&CatId=31
Also a SSD $70~$140, RAM $40-$80 (4 or 8 GB), and a GPU.

http://www.tigerdirect.com/applications/SearchTools/item-details.asp?EdpNo=8595228&CatId=31
A much better CPU and includes RAM. You still need a HDD and a GPU, but its a decent package. I would consider something else if you want to overclock.

Ah, yes! I can see I will be spending some time at Tigerdirect. Thank you!

Snicker0076 · Aug 3, 2014

I bought a XW 4400 second hand. It came with a Intell core 2 2.4Ghz cpu and standard 512mb graphics card.
Installed two standard 7200rpm hard drives, Win 7 64 bit. Upgraded the bios and drivers via The HP support site.
Then I upgraded the CPU to an Intel Core 2 Extreme QX6700 2.66Ghz (quad core means no GPU bottleneck). Upgraded the ram from 2 to 4GB DDR2 @ 333Mhz.
Next was to pick up a XFS Ghost ATI Radeon HD 7700 GPU (bargain beast).
All reasonably inexpensive.
The result is a computer that runs DayZ at near top graphics resolution at about 25-50 frames per second. Runs cool, quiet and fast.
Will keep me happy for a while anyway.
Hope this helps.

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