advice on upgrading processor for HP A6010n (P5LP-LE Leonite MOtherboard)

[jdherman]

@Ejwalla

So, it looks like the 6700 is the best processor this old mobo can handle. Correct? 

I was really hoping to get a dual core (at least) that supported hyperthreading. But from my research, it looks like a no-go unless the Intel® Pentium® Processor Extreme Edition 955 is supported.

Next, you mention that you maxed out the video card. What card did you use?

The mobo has a PCI Express x16 1.0 slot, but can not support PCI-E 2.1 or beyond because of BIOS limitations. PCI-E 2.0 is as "new" of a card it can support. I tried putting in a Radeon HD 5770, but I think the 5xxx series is all PCI-E 2.1, and the system wouldn't post.

Perhaps this means I need to try an ATI Radeon 4xxx series card, or NVDIA GeForce 9xxx series card. As far as I can tell these are 2.0 but not 2.1 cards. I can't figure out how to tell which video boards are 2.0 vs. 2.1

Appreciate any help.

[old_geekster]

@jdherman

Since this thread is over 2 years old, it would be better to start your own thread under Desktops.  Once a thread is this old, unless someone like me has posted to it, it won't get any coverage.

[JakeKay]

RAM = 4 x 1GB of PC2-5300 @ 667 MHz (32-bit Windows was recognizing about 3.5 Gigs of that)

Graphics card = nVidia GT 730 card (low power requirement and decent performance)

I chose the nVidia GT 730 for our upgrade project on this machine. It was chosen largely for its lower power requirements and acceptable performance. Power is a big consideration as this computer has a fairly small power supply. You could upgrade the power supply and get a more powerful graphics card but you may end up bumping into another bottleneck.

My friend has been using the upgraded machine now since last Christmas and he is happy with its performance. More recently I talked him into a monitor upgrade (his old one was very poor) and we went with a nice 22-inch, 1920x1080 BenQ model. The GT 730 and the new monitor are getting along very well. We ran Far Cry on this setup and it ran fine with excellent resolution and no ghosting.

[jdherman]

@JakeKay

I'm shocked that the nVidia GT 730 works on the P5LP-LE Leonite since that video card series was introduced in 2013/14. I'd expect that it would be a PCIe 2.1 or higher card and not PCIe 2.0.

Forgive me for asking, but are you sure you upgraded an HP Pavilion a6010n with a P5LP-LE Leonite-GL8E motherboard? I never expected a modern video card to work with this system because of the PCIe 2.0 limitation that the HP BIOS imposes.

If you are running on that system, would you please tell me which brand and model of card you bought? I'd love a link to be sure I know exactly which one you bought. TIA.

I did upgrade the power supply, so I could get a more powerful card. How did you determine which card would work in this system? I could use that same approach to find a card with the maximum number of CUDA cores.

I'm building this system as a project with my 5-year old son and the computer will be 100% used for running the BOINC project, not gaming. The more CUDA cores, the better when running BOINC.

Also, you did use the Intel® Core™2 Duo Processor E6700, right?  

As far as I can tell that's the fastest CPU this mobo can handle. True?

Appreciate your thoughts.

[JakeKay]

This is the exact card we bought for this machine:

PNY GeForce GT 730 DirectX 12 (feature 11_0) VCGGT7301D5LXPB 1GB 64-Bit GDDR5 PCI Express 2.0 Low Profile Ready Video Card

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16814133542

It's currently selling on Newegg for $55. plus a mfr. rebate offer of $10. Final price = $45.

We got the same deal last December but it was $5. more back then.

Most of this stuff is backwards compatible. I think I have run a PCIe 2.0 card in a PCIe 1.0 mobo as well as a PCIe 3.0 card in a PCIe 2.0 mobo (but don't quote me on those, I would have to go back and verify it all). I also think that only AMD cards went to PCIe 2.1. All the nVidia cards I remember were v. 2.0 only, then v. 3.0.

As for the CPU, we went with the E6700 @ 2.66 GHz and it worked fine, no drama. The E6600 CPU @ 2.40 GHz is also a fine choice. I think you would be hard pressed to notice a performance difference, or even meaasure a difference for that matter. Both of those are noticeably faster than the stock CPU (a 1.8 GHz Core2Duo chip, maybe it was E4300).

[jdherman]

@JakeKay

Thanks very much for your feedback. I just bought that video card and that CPU. It'll be a fun project. 

I think the most important thing I learned was when you said " I also think that only AMD cards went to PCIe 2.1. All the nVidia cards I remember were v. 2.0 only, then v. 3.0". The two video cards I was trying were both AMD and both 2.1. I didn't know that NVIDIA never moved to 2.1.

I'll try to remember to post back here after I get the components installed.

Thanks again.