Pavilion desktop upgrade

[J-R1023]

Hello,

   I have an older HP Pavilion 6670t desktop that has not been used for a few years now. I am thinking of putting it back in use as a basic entry level music producing/email/YT video watching machine. Specs are: Intel i5 - 650 dual core, 6GB DDR3 - 1333Mhz SDRAM, 750GB SATA hard drive, Nvidia GeForce 1030 graphics card running Windows 10. It currently will not output a display (black screen - no wording). I would be looking to only spend a few hundred dollars to get it in working order. I understand there would be many other options that if I "spent a little more money" , would be better options. But, that's not in the cards right now. So, any helpful advice fixing this box would be appreciated.

[NonSequitur777]

@J-R1023,

Welcome to our HP community forum!

I assume that the integrated graphics of your HP Pavilion p6670t still works, and that only your graphics card is defective -please verify.

If that is the case, I would consider buying a GTX 750 Ti 2GB, which you can buy for under $30 via a trusted eBay Seller: https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_from=R40&_nkw=gtx+750+ti&_sacat=0&LH_BIN=1&LH_ItemCondition=1000%7C....

In addition, I would consider upgrading your RAM: your MSI 2A9C motherboard can be fitted with up to 4 x 4 GB of DDR3 PC3-10600, 1333 MHz, Non-ECC, Unbuffered, DIMM (UDIMM), 240-pin RAM sticks (with 64-bit OS), which you can purchase inexpensively for under $28, such as through this trusted eBay Seller: https://www.ebay.com/itm/384250293608?epid=141743297&itmmeta=01J1WS0BA898JS3KN0TWQDSXTC&hash=item597....

And there you go: a new lease for life for under $60, give or take a dollar.

And if you really want to splurge, consider upgrading your processor to an Intel i5-680, which will set you back just $9 via this trusted eBay Seller: Intel Core i5-680 3.6GHz Dual-Core 4MB SLBTM CPU Processors LGA1156 | eBay.

Hope this was helpful.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[J-R1023]

Hello NonSequitur777,

  Thank you for the warm welcome and the excellent advice. Really informative and appreciated. 

To your point on checking the integrated graphics....I have not checked that. WIP.....

On your advice though, I have purchased the graphics card you had mentioned...awaiting arrival.. 

If the IGC is bad, what do you suggest? Assuming all is good, do you have HD suggestions? Would like a faster one if possible and I have a little budget left over thanks to your suggestions!

[NonSequitur777]

@J-R1023,

You are quite welcome, glad to be able to assist a fellow-legacy desktop whisperer!

My question about your current processor was to make sure it works. If its integrated graphics is defective, that doesn't matter when you got a working discrete graphics card installed.

Btw, are you going to upgrade your RAM and CPU as I suggested if only because they are very inexpensive?

Lastly, what do mean by "HD" upgrade?

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[J-R1023]

So, I was able to find an old cord to plug into the DVI port and into a monitor.  Still no video output so I am assuming it's dead. So, I guess that renders the other updates useless now. But yes, I intended to do all of the upgrades you mentioned. Although I have yet to replace a chip, I would think there are a bevy of YT videos to walk me through it. The other upgrade I was mentioning was the Hard Drive.

[NonSequitur777]

@J-R1023,

Interesting: this could mean that your motherboard has gone bad.

If this is the case, you could buy a replacement motherboard for your HP Pavilion P6670t CTO Desktop PC (XM547AV)

(yea, I had to do that a couple of times), which, according to HP PartSurfer, either has p/n: p/n: 612500-001 or 612501-001:

However, looking at the manual, you probably got p/n: 612501-001 (with 2 RAM slots) :

You can buy a replacement motherboard online, such as this purchase option via a trusted eBay Seller: HP M2N68-LA AM3 DDR3 612502-001 612501-001 570876-001 Socket DDR3 Motherboard | eBay. If, however, you got p/n: 612500-001, (with 4 RAM slots) you can purchase one also via a trusted eBay Seller: HP 612500-001 Pro 3130 MT LGA1156 DDR3 SDRAM Desktop Motherboard W/ i5-760 SLBRP | eBay.

As far as a hard drive is concerned, I would suggest getting a SATA SSD for your primary (boot) drive -because the I/O speeds are so much better compared with an HDD.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[J-R1023]

Hello NonSequitur777,

   Looking inside, I see that I have the 4 RAM slot board. Of which 3 are used currently of the 2GB type. So, adding the 4 x 4GB you recommended would be a great improvement!

    Motherboard swap.....that sounds like its pretty involved not having done anything like that previously. Hopefully there are some tutorials online that I could utilize for that. 

[NonSequitur777]

@J-R1023,

A motherboard swap is actually pretty straightforward: unplug power/data cables, unscrew the motherboard, remove, and screw the replacement motherboard back in place.  Afterwards, you would have to reinstall Windows, which constitutes the most work.  All of which is explained in detail in various YouTube videos.

Look, I mentioned that your motherboard could be defective, but there could be other reason(s) why you are not getting a boot signal on your monitor.  For example, your motherboard could be just fine, and it could be your power supply that has died on you.  Meaning, I would troubleshoot before concluding that your motherboard has gone bad.

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777

[J-R1023]

Hello NonSequitur777,

   I thought an update was appropriate.....

I have been able to correct my display issue with the great advice you have provided. What was needed was the extra parts I did not have at the time of starting down this path. Long story short, the RAM sticks I had I guess were bad. I purchased the ones you had suggested and put them in and all is up and running again...albeit slowly due to the mess my kids made of the thing. But, currently installing a fresh Windows load to hopefully solve that issue. Many thanks for the help! I really appreciate it!

    Best regards,

                             J-R1023

[NonSequitur777 · Accepted solution]

@J-R1023,

Outstanding!

Glad to hear you got a working PC platform again!

Kind Regards,

NonSequitur777