HP Pavilion Slimline s3120n: Help with upgrading graphics card.

This is the best PCI-E x16 low profile card found on newegg.com

VisionTek 900118 Radeon X1650PRO 256MB 128-bit GDDR2 PCI Express x16 HDCP Ready Low Profile Video Card - Retail

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6814129076

And this is not a good card for gaming to be honest. My advice would be to return this computer and purchase one with a case big enough to fit a decent graphics card.

What if I get a new case and a new power supply?

You would also need a new MB. That one is custom.

Got a friend who stupidly purchased one of these tiny computers. For a birthday present I gave him a real computer with a case big enough to fit a real graphics card in trade for his. I was thinking I'd be able to re-case the guts of the little HP but that custom MB is killing me. The Power Supply connector is smaller than a standard ATX connector. It looks like I'm going to need a MB or at least an adapter cable. Can't find an adapter however.

If anybody knows how to adapt this lil HP to a real PS please provide that info here or PM me...

TIA

How exactly do these works and would they improve gaming performance?

Well by itself the linked PS would do nothing. You might want one if you can figure out how to shoehorn a good graphics card into your HP. Most current mid or high end graphics cards need more power than they can draw from the PCIx16 slot. They need extra power from somewhere. The normal way to supply this power would be to hook em up to a PCIe Power Supply via a 6 pin connector (see pic below). Most all power supplies have such a connector these days. If your PS has the power but lacks the 6 pin connection you can get an adapter like this one: http://www.directron.com/6pinpcie.html

If your PS does not have enough power to run a high end graphics card you can add a second PS like the one this one:

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Prod [...] 6817153037

So yes if you got a new graphics card and powered it with the linked PS your gaming would improve (perhaps a lot, depending on which graphics card you get).

Slap an 8800GT in that HP and you will be smiling for sure! Of course it doesn't fit so you would also need a new case as well ..... and the new case would be designed for a normal square PS not that long skinny thing the HP has. It is kinda more trouble than it is worth but I might do it anyways.

Note that you only need the second PS if you also get a new graphics card and a new case.

They are saying you need a smaller graphics card because of your small case not your MB.

They are saying you need a new MB because the HP MB uses that non-standard power supply and non-standard mother board power supply connection.

If you wanted to buy a new case including a new PS (with more power and including the 6 pin PCIe connector for a better video card) then you would also need a new MB because the HP MB will not work with a regular ATX PS.

If you got that supplemental PS instead, you would not need a new MB. In this case you would keep your old MB and your old PS. The MB would get power from the HP PS and the new video card would get extra power from the new supplemental PS.

All the options are a little confusing. Perhaps the easiest thing to do would be to leave the HP as is and sell it to a girl or someone who does not need upgraded video and get a new system with standard parts and a larger case with the room and power for a better video card.

I still have not decided what to do with my adopted slimline HP. It is a fine system and that PCIx16 slot is just begging for a good GPU. Maybe I'll give it to my mom or sister......

Or keep it and make a franken-puter......

Yeah I know, but the way I got this computer was extremely cheap, so it was either I get this right away, or wait 6 months before I could afford a better computer. And I'm not about to just leave this alone and save up for a new computer, it'd be a lot cheaper to just get a new motherboard, new power supply, and a new graphics card and then just take out my processor and my ram from this computer.

When I noticed that it didn't come with a disk, I bought one. So I've got that covered.

ATXPowerSupplies FSP270-60LE-SL

http://www.atxpowersupplies.com/27 [...] 0LE-SL.php

with a

Galaxy GeForce 9600 GT LP Low Power, Low Profile

worked in an hp slimline s3507c.

Had to almost completely take the machine apart to get the new power supply in place, but everything came together in the end.

Only negative is the graphics card fan nosie when playing games. Otherwise, it makes a very nice little package. System is still quite when web surfing, or doing "real work" on the system.


Power supply was $100, graphics card was $100.

Hey

Sorry to dig up this thread, i'm interested to know if the card above worked without the need to purchase the power supply. I looked at the LP card and it seem specifically designed for Slimline machines without the need for an up PSU (doesn't even have the power connector)