I'm wanting to upgrade my HP ENVY Desktop TE01-2250xt CTO

[Angelmaat]

I'm wanting to upgrade my desktop starting with ram, but I don't know how to go about it. None of the assistant packages mention help with upgrading the computer and I want to do it right. I'm hoping to a piece at a time. The motherboard and case would probably be next. When I was ordering my computer, I was told that it would be easy to upgrade, but looking inside the case gave me pause. It's small and cramped and I'm not sure what to do first. I want to be more hands on in putting together my upgraded computer, but I don't know where to start. Advice would be welcome. 😃

Baseboard Product - 8860 (When I looked inside as i was cleaning dust out, the motherboard did say Stark on it.

400 W Gold efficiency power - I ran into some trouble finding the P/N # (I had to open the case and read it upside down and between all the chinese) It said Product Number L76557-001 . Because it didn't match the numbers you gave me I got the model number - PA-3401-2HA and above those it said 400W CDT20EPA9

[NonSequitur777]

@Angelmaat,

Welcome to our HP community forum!

I would be happy to assist.  To that end, I'll need some more info from you.

Your HP ENVY Desktop TE01-2250xt CTO (1K4F1AV) is either fitted with a Stark motherboard (SSID: 8860) or an Erica6 motherboard (SSID: 8906). Please type in: System Information in your Windows search bar and look to the right of "BaseBoard Product" and let me know what it says.

In addition, your desktop is either powered with a 310-watt power supply (p/n: L10875-800) or a 400-watt power supply, with p/n: L69242-800. Please let me know what you got.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[Angelmaat]

@NonSequitur777

Thank You for your quick response.  Sorry about the delay getting to you, I've been ill.

I edited my above post with the information you asked for to the best of my ability. Let me know if I got it wrong and what else I can do to help you to advise me.

[NonSequitur777]

@Angelmaat,

Outstanding -no worries, you're doing great, and I appreciate your follow up post!

So, here are some recommendations for your review: upgrade your RAM with 2 x 16GB of DDR4 PC4-23400, 2933 MHz, Non-ECC, Unbuffered, DIMM (UDIMM), 288-pin RAM sticks. Since DDR4 2933 UDIMM RAM is difficult to find, most people, including myself, would use 3200 MHz (PC4-25600) UDIMM RAM, which will automatically "bridge" ('down throttle') to 2933 MHz which is the RAM speed your desktop is capable of. One very good and affordable RAM-kit option would be this 2x16GB dual-rank (2Rx8) RAM: https://www.amazon.com/Timetec-3200MHz-PC4-25600-Unbuffered-Computer/dp/B07QRVNB26/ref=sr_1_2?crid=1....  Dual-rank RAM performs faster compared with single-rank in almost all applications.

In terms of graphics cards, with a 400-watt power supply, you'll have plenty of performance/budget options.  What were you thinking in terms of graphics expectations/power, and how much would you be willing to spend on a GPU?

In terms of processor upgrade, the best processor for your motherboard would either be an i7-11700, or an i7-11700F, the latter does not have integrated graphics, but would depend on a separate graphics card.

I assume that your primary (boot) drive is an M.2 NVMe SSD, which is the fastest storage drive option.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[Angelmaat]

@NonSequitur777

The RAM looks great, but due to problems with several people I know getting faulty parts from Amazon, I've been recommended to go through NewEgg. They are the same price there as well, though I haven't ordered them yet.

I currently have a NVIDIA® GeForce RTX™ 3060 (12 GB GDDR6 dedicated) and I would like to upgrade, but am unsure what the motherboard can take and how much room is in the envy case. I wouldn't go above a 3080 and I've heard that an 3070ti is just as good as a 3080. But all of that is just guesswork on my part, so I do need some guidance.

As regards to the i7-11700F - I'm concerned that several reviewers said that it had an overheating problem and the cooler that comes with it isn't strong enough. As you must know, there isn't much room in the small Envy case for a cooler and I would appreciate your thoughts on the matter

I do have the a 1 terabyte M.2 SSD as my primary (boot) drive with a 2 terabyte HDD as secondary.

[NonSequitur777 · Accepted solution]

@Angelmaat,

Newegg is a great company, go for it.

An RTX 3060 12GB is about as good as can be powered by a 400-watt power supply, so I would leave that as it is.

An RTX 3070 Ti requires at least a 700-watt power supply.

Well, the i7-11700 / i7-11700F processors have 65-watt TDPs, just like an i5-11400.  The higher temperatures reported by some users are likely caused by poor/insufficient airflow and by playing certain games, such as Warzone, which are known to heat up things more so than other games.

And by the way, when some people talk about "overheating", sometimes they think that 84-89°C counts as such: no, it does not. Yes, it's toasty, but modern processors like the 11th gen Intel processors should be able to handle these temps just fine.

Anyway, my recommendations to keep CPU temps under control:

1.) First of all, improve the airflow through your desktop and especially through your CPU heatsink.  You can do this by adding one or more chassis cooling fans and by upgrading your CPU heatsink -I'll post some pictures of how I have done that in various desktops.  Trust me, there is always a place or places to add an 80 or 90mm cooling fan [BE CREATIVE - think outside the box! (pun intended)], even in an Envy, such as here (externally):

Yes, in addition to a fitting diameter cooling fan (90x90mm?) + finger guard/grille, it will require cutting/drilling a small access point (just 7mm x 11mm) for the 4-pin PWM cooling fan connector, and a 4-pin PWM cooling fan splitter cable, but once installed blowing air IN, instead of having just a passive air-intake, you just substantially improved the airflow through your case.

2.) Apply fresh/better quality thermal paste on your processor, such as Arctic MX-2.

3.) Adhere to these general rules: 8 Tips to Prevent Gaming PC from Overheating - CyberPowerPC.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[Angelmaat]

@NonSequitur777

Thank you so much for your help! I really appreciate the time you took to help me!

I don't currently have the resources to cut/drill into my case, but it I will keep it in mind for the future. In the meantime, I have a friend who can help me with fans, I think.

[NonSequitur777]

@Angelmaat,

Here are just three examples of close to a dozen modified legacy HP desktops I have upgraded the last 2+ years:

Cooling Solution exhibit #1: In addition to upgrading the CPU heatsink/cooling fan combo in my HP Z2 Tower G4 Workstation, you can see three of the added four 90x90mm blue LED cooling fans (two behind the front panel and one internally placed in the side panel above the CPU) all blowing air in:

Cooling Solution exhibit #2:

Sorry for the dust: here is my mothballed HP ProDesk 600 G4 MT (Mini Tower) with two externally positioned high-performance cooling fans also both blowing air in (exhausting air out through the front):

Cooling Solution exhibit #3:

A souped-up HP EliteDesk G1 TWR (Tower) with one internally fitted 90x90mm cooling fan on the side panel blowing air in also directly over the CPU heatsink in order to adequately cool the famed "Devil's Canyon" processor (i7-4790K) :

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777