Tech / Special Interest → PC Hardware Discussion/Reviews > Worth Upgrading? Or recycle?

Worth Upgrading? Or recycle?

I have an older HP m7760n with various upgrades, but it's getting awfully CPU/Ram/OS limited. I upgraded the PSU to 600Watt to run a better Video Card (now an nVidia 650), but it's otherwise the same. Has a micro-ATX motherboard. Think I could extend the life with a new micro-ATX board/CPU? Or better off at this point to just get a new PC? It runs Vista 32 bit still. Which frankly, I never understood why everyone hated it. Never had issues with Vista. Maybe I am just lucky.

Edit CPU is Core 2 Duo 6400
--
“Any claim that the root of a problem is simple should be treated the same as a claim that the root of a problem is Bigfoot. Simplicity and Bigfoot are found in the real world with about the same frequency.” – David Wong

You would need a new motherboard, cpu and ram (since your present ram is ddr2). I'm also assuming your copy of vista came with the machine, in which case it is an oem copy and the license can not be transferred to a new motherboard/cpu, as that is defined as a new machine. So you are in it for the price of a new Operating system as well. You don't say what specific brand and model of power supply it has so I can't determine whether it is decent quality or not.

First thing we should do is try to determine exactly what performance problem you are trying to address to figure out what components will need to be upgraded.

What kind of budget do you have to work with?
You are doing this in canada correct?

Also tell us what brand and model power supply you have.

I'm with asdfdfdfdf, the only thing likely salvegable on that system is the case, PSU, and maybe any drives or the video card. In other words, not much. The nvidia 650 isn't bad but it isn't great either. It should swap over no problem though and is the only thing I would really suggest saving.

Personally I wouldn't reuse the case but that's just my preference. Actually my suggestion would be to leave this computer alone and repurpose it to a kids computer or something else. If you want to upgrade it, you're already in it for nearly a full computer so why not just build one from the ground up and maintain a spare or second computer at the same time?

To really make a recommendation on parts we need to know what your intended use of the computer is. You say it's getting CPU/RAM/OS limited. Are you running out of RAM easily? Are you maxing out the CPU regularly? If yes to either of these, what program(s) are you running that's causing it? And last but most certainly not least, what budget do you have for this?

As for Vista, I'm with you. I used it for a couple of years and never had any problems with it. I liked it better than XP generally, though I still have some XP machines. I upgraded to Windows 7 as soon as it came out though and never looked back.

The problem is DDR2 has been phased out for a while now and even DDR3 is about to be phased out. It's not worth sinking any money into a DDR2 board unless you can do it for CHEAP and even then you'd probably still be better off going for a newer system anyway.

The older Core 2 CPUs were good but they are severely outclassed now by nearly everything else. The GPU is probably overkill for Lotr Online like you said but I think you are getting CPU limited. What kind of framerate are you getting, and what do you want to aim for in a new build?

That actually doesn't look that bad depending on the CPU that comes in it. I'd certainly agree on replacing the GPU in it either way. Upping your resolution is going to mean needing more horsepower at the same settings so the 60 FPS you are getting now will almost certainly go way down at 1080p.

Are you looking to buy name brand or do you want to build your own? For lower end systems with an OS, it's usually hard if not impossible to beat Dell/HP/etc. on pricing but once you get into the mid to high end it's usually worth looking at building your own. If you're up to it anyway. But we'd really need a budget to go much further.

I used to be into building my own. In fact, I had a custom system not too long ago that got flood destroyed (hence my using this older one). However, some of the systems showing up on a local auction site that are off-lease are just priced far lower than I could build it. The one I listed with a I7-3770 will likely go for less than $500. Couldn't build an I7 system for anywhere near that with an OS.
--
“Any claim that the root of a problem is simple should be treated the same as a claim that the root of a problem is Bigfoot. Simplicity and Bigfoot are found in the real world with about the same frequency.” – David Wong

Not likely, no. I built an i5 system for around $550, though I don't recall if it had an OS or not. It was also very barebones, just the minimums (though I did try and shoot for a good price ratio on things like the HDD, such as a 1TB costing only $10 or $20 more than the cheapie 500GB, things like that.

Hey, that's really cool. Yeah, at 1366 x 768. GPU usage in LOTRO is 30-50 % just running around with all the eye-candy on, but frame rate not great. GPU even clocks down from 1050 Mhz to half that at times. Thanks for the tip. Hadn't seen that program before.
--
“Any claim that the root of a problem is simple should be treated the same as a claim that the root of a problem is Bigfoot. Simplicity and Bigfoot are found in the real world with about the same frequency.” – David Wong

The one I listed with a I7-3770 will likely go for less than $500

You won't beat that then. It has a decent power supply for a midrange graphics card as well. A copy of windows alone is $100.

W00T ! Took the advice, and my patience paid off. The surplus store on EBay (they must have had a truckload of HP Envy H8 1419 and H8 1569 computers for some reason (mafia hijacked truck? Who cares?)) came through. They were auctioning off half a dozen a day. Kept getting outbid, but won one of the 1419s for a little over 400 CDN$. Couldn't get the i7-3770 processor alone for much less than $300, nevermind with a mobo and ram. I'm excited. I'll throw in my nvidia 650 and should be good for a year or two.

Now....

Who wants to buy a used HP m7760n?
--
“Any claim that the root of a problem is simple should be treated the same as a claim that the root of a problem is Bigfoot. Simplicity and Bigfoot are found in the real world with about the same frequency.” – David Wong

Grats! You're right, CPU and OS alone and that budget is blown lol.

I do!

Thanks for this - I was able to snag a H8-1569 for $420

All I can say is, I am never going to use PayPal again if I can avoid it. I never bought anything from EBay before, and they have some policy of sending things through the "eCheque" system. The money has been out of my chequing account since Friday of last week, but PayPal still hasn't paid the seller, and may not until the 24th. Nonsense. I could send the money by Pony Express faster..... So my new PC hasn't even shipped yet.... Annoyed.
--
“Any claim that the root of a problem is simple should be treated the same as a claim that the root of a problem is Bigfoot. Simplicity and Bigfoot are found in the real world with about the same frequency.” – David Wong

Having sold stuff on ebay before, I've noticed that echeck thing once or twice and my experience as a seller was the same as yours. It was a glorified pain in the ass. It really seemed like somewhere someone had to cut a paper check and actually hand deliver it, it took that long. No clue why it takes that long. I've got my bank account and CC linked to my personal PayPal account and no matter whether it comes from ACH draft on bank account or CC, it leaves my account within a day or two and is in the seller's hands immediately.

I really don't use PayPal much at all, and didn't have a CC linked, just my bank account. I would have just paid with Mastercard (or Interac) directly to the seller, but they only accepted PayPal. Live and learn I guess. Hell. They are one town over from me. Could have just driven over with cash.......
--
“Any claim that the root of a problem is simple should be treated the same as a claim that the root of a problem is Bigfoot. Simplicity and Bigfoot are found in the real world with about the same frequency.” – David Wong

Well. Finally got it to play with. Seems speedy, and there wasn't a scratch on it, was reset to factory boot state. A couple problems, the video was a bit scrambled. Think that was just a card unseating problem from shipping. Re-seated and seems fine now.

Plus I tried putting my GTX 650 in. No video signal at all. Think that might be UEFI. Although the card is nearly brand new. Will have to research a bit unless anyone has ideas to try out.
--
“Any claim that the root of a problem is simple should be treated the same as a claim that the root of a problem is Bigfoot. Simplicity and Bigfoot are found in the real world with about the same frequency.” – David Wong

The card won't care one way or the other whether the system is UEFI or BIOS. Are all the supplementary power cables hooked up? Verify the card in the old computer just to be sure it's still good and something odd didn't happen during swap over.

Most 650 cards have a 6 pin pci-e power connection. Did you connect that? I agree that I would try to confirm that the 650 works. The fact that you mention that, as well as having a graphics problem with another card makes me uneasy.

The GTX 650 is a Zotac card, and doesn't need supplementary power. I was surprised that it didn't, but really, there aren't any external power connectors, and still works in the old system. But I think the problem may lie in the the way the slots are configured.

Nothing in the manual about how to remove that extra bit of metal (in the pic) above the card shown here. The Zotac GTX 650 is a double wide card, and that piece would have to go for cooling, I think. Also it may be interfering with how the card seats.

Is it possible that the case/motherboard can't handle a double wide card? In the pic below it has the AMD 7570 that came with it in it (which is working fine, if a little slower than I'd like for gaming).

If I'm understanding it, you want to remove the steel from the slot above?

Where it seats at the bottom of the slot is 4 semi-circles - these if you twist the peice of steel, or better flat blade screwdriver to space the gap will snap the points to allow removal of the cover in place, or you can use tooling and be more professional and then just clean the steel tags.

Either way, it is easy to remove them, but if you start on a file to clean remember the steel filings and don't let them get near those electronics.
--
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing - Edmund Burke

Hmmm.... Was googling and found someone with a similar issue, same ) motherboard, Similar replacement card too . I'll have to try this when I get home from work.

»h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Desktop-Au···/2297401

Original post.

quote:

---

Hi.

I just purchased this machine and it has a nice processor and good ram, but comes with a lacking video card (HD7570). I would like to upgrade the video card to one of the better cards I have from my old machines (Gigabyte GTX 660 ti and an Evga GTS 250). When I install either of these cards though, I don't get any video output. I can hear the system booting and the hard drive working, so all seems fine there.

This machine comes with a 460W PSU, which should be enough to run either of these cards, but no go. To rule out the power supply, I tried out an aftermarket OCZ 600W PSU, but had the same result. Both cards work in my old machine, so I know the cards are good.

---

quote:

---

This is now working. The resolution was to disable secure boot and enable legacy support (both were required).

Also of note, I had to remove the Radeon HD7570 PCI Express card that shipped with the PC and use the onboard Video to change the BIOS settings as the settings would keep reverting with the HD7570 in place. Once the BIOS settings were in though, the new video card worked perfectly.

---

UEFI maybe stopping the bios change to allow the card to start communications, especially if from an AMD/ATI to Nvidia, due to driver addressing. I would not think legacy would need to be applied though?

Once up and running and it settles and the old drivers removed, I bet UEFI can be enabled again to protect the new setup.
--
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing - Edmund Burke

Had to do exactly as the guy suggested. Disabled UEFI and the card just gave long beeps. Once I enabled legacy it recognized the GTX 650. Getting drivers now. You say I can re-enable it in BIOS later?

Glad I sorted out the video. The GTX 650 a far better card....

I can't see why not, UEFI is designed to protect the hardware, drivers and settings in place to stop external modification once the computer is setup and running.
But with HP anything is possible.
An email to ask?

Legacy, there is nothing legacy about the PCIex16 gen 3 slot.
That one has me stumped on why legacy is required.
Maybe email support and ask why, as I think once you have drivers in place legacy could be turned off, but, and it is a big but; if the firmware is only set to use "legacy" to stop the onboard GPU then it's a HP firmware design and there is nothing you can do.
Maybe one of the gurus can enlighten us on that if HP support will not give an answer.
--
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing - Edmund Burke

Apparently the BIOS on the video card needs to be UEFI enabled. A help article at nVidia said the same.

»nvidia.custhelp.com/app/answers/···ows-8-pc

When I re-enabled it, same thing. Beeped at me on boot. Which was a pain, had to reinstall the old card just to set the bios back.

In reading on Zotac's site (my card manufacturer), they are working on firmware upgrades to make that card UEFI compatible.

I don't know why the OEMs signed up for this "Secure Boot" nonsense. Their costs in support must be huge, collectively. Upgrading a video card hardly a novel thing for a customer to do. Oh well. Seems to function fine as it is.
--
“Any claim that the root of a problem is simple should be treated the same as a claim that the root of a problem is Bigfoot. Simplicity and Bigfoot are found in the real world with about the same frequency.” – David Wong

Thanks for the journey of trial and error.

It might help others out there knowing Secure Boot isn't a defined product yet, as I gather a lot of hardware vendors are still to do enough R&D to utilize it.
--
The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing - Edmund Burke