HP Menlo 843F Motherboard Upgrade Advice

[arsentek]

So I typically build desktops. Typically with Ryzen processors and discrete graphics cards. This is a slim form factor my mother purchased. I want to see what I can accomplish with it.

I threw some extra RAM I had in which doubled what she had, but I was thinking of tracking down some 8GB sticks at 2666 because that seems to be the max it handles. Can it handle faster speeds? Is there a point to using faster speeds with Intel. It won't be used for gaming.

I want to get rid of the mechanical drive. I threw this in the m.2 slot and it did nothing. https://amzn.to/3d5sc1s

What am I looking for in an m.2 drive so that it will be compatible? Or should I go the PCIE route?

I 'm planning on getting an Intel Core i5-8400, anything I should know about this processor? I've only ever used AMD.

[old_geekster · Accepted solution]

@arsentek , welcome to the Community.

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@arsentek wrote:

So I typically build desktops. Typically with Ryzen processors and discrete graphics cards. This is a slim form factor my mother purchased. I want to see what I can accomplish with it.

I threw some extra RAM I had in which doubled what she had, but I was thinking of tracking down some 8GB sticks at 2666 because that seems to be the max it handles. Can it handle faster speeds? Is there a point to using faster speeds with Intel. It won't be used for gaming. The maximum memory supported by the motherboard is 8 GB: https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/hp-slim-290-p0000-desktop-pc-series/19390524/model/23205936/doc...

See the section titled "Memory upgrade information.

I want to get rid of the mechanical drive. I threw this in the m.2 slot and it did nothing. https://amzn.to/3d5sc1s

What am I looking for in an m.2 drive so that it will be compatible? Or should I go the PCIE route? First, your link is not working.  There is one M.2 socket 3, 2280 type for SSD on the motherboard.  However, it doesn't state which key it is: key M (NVMe) or B+M (SATA): https://www.atpinc.com/blog/what-is-m.2-M-B-BM-key-socket-3

You can check the socket to see which one that it matches in the link that I provided.  I like Samsung M.2, SSD's, because the seem to work better with the HP BIOS/UEFI.  Also, they have their Data Migration software to help you clone the HDD and their Magician software to tweak the M.2 once it is installed for the best performance.

I 'm planning on getting an Intel Core i5-8400, anything I should know about this processor? I've only ever used AMD. The i5-8400 is the fastest processor that is compatible with the motherboard.  Here are the specifications for it from Intel: https://ark.intel.com/content/www/us/en/ark/products/126687/intel-core-i5-8400-processor-9m-cache-up...

As you will see, the maximum speed of the memory is DDR4-2666.  Here is the Product Specification page for the computer: https://support.hp.com/us-en/product/hp-slim-290-p0000-desktop-pc-series/19390524/model/23205936/doc...

It has all of the other information that you will need for the computer.  You can look at the Motherboard Specifications to see the diagram.

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Upgrading to a discrete video card is difficult because the power supply unit (PSU) is only 180W.  This is not enough for any of the newer cards.  The motherboard is HP proprietary.  So, it doesn't have a standard 24-pin ATX power connector.

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