Upgrading son's Omen Gaming PC from 1070 to RTX3060

[cyberkryten]

My son got an HP Omen with his summer earnings from Uni in 2018 and I'm trying to figure out if it can be upgraded to a newer card without too much hassle and replacing everything.

If I could see the PC, I'm sure I can figure it/measure stuff but he's 100+ miles away so that's not an option.  I've been building/upgrading PCs for 25+ years, but haven't done a gaming PC build for about 5 years so am a bit out of touch on what's needed.

Currently it has a GTX1070 8GB card in it, which is fine but not so good on newer games.

From what I can tell, the case is OK and new card should fit and the Tampa2 motherboard shouldn't be an issue, CPU is OK and RAM should be fine, though I can upgrade RAM and put in a bigger SSD easily enough. 

What I'm not sure about is the power supply.  Has anyone put an RTX30xx gen card into an Omen machine from 2018?

PSU on the specs says it is a 500w one, so I'd guess that would struggle under load and I'm not sure if it even has the right connectors for the new cards. 

The RTX3060 requires 550w, RTX3060Ti is 600w but I can't remember how easy it would be to put a higher power third party PSU inside the case.  I'm guessing its standard but also know OEMs do sometimes make it difficult!

Of course, this is all assuming I can actually get hold of a card for him in the next few weeks for his birthday.

thanks,

[old_geekster]

@cyberkryten , welcome to the Community.

Here is a HP Knowledge Base article that will tell you what to consider when upgrading the video card.  There are three main considerations: 1) the length of the card, 2) the wattage required to operate it properly and 3) does the power supply unit (PSU) have the necessary PCIe 1x6-pin, 1x8-pin or both connectors.  The length of the card is important because there should be enough space for the card to get good airflow.  The article tells you how to measure the space.  The case on the 880 series of computers is mid-size.  The 3000 series cards create a lot of heat.

I believe that the 500W PSU in his computer will most likely have a 1x6+2 PCIe power connector.  You can use a standard ATX PSU with no problems.  You should measure the existing PSU to assure the one you buy will fit into the space provided.  Not all of the PSU's are the same size.

So, my recommendations are:  look at a video card with no more than two fans.  This should allow for good airflow.  A three fan model may fit, but will fill the space.  Buy a PSU that will allow for extra power for peak requirements.  Also, a modular PSU will allow him to use only the cables that are absolutely necessary.  This will help with the airflow.

Good luck on getting these components for his birthday!

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[cyberkryten]

Thanks, I know the standard stuff, I've been upgrading/building PCs for many years but my issue is that his Omen is 100+ miles away so it isn't easy to for me to inspect/measure, so I was hoping to get an answer from someone that's upgraded to an RTX30xx series card.  I don't really want to send him the card and then find it needs other bits as well.

If no-one has, then I guess I'll have to IOU him it (may happen anyway due to stock levels) and wait until he's allowed to come home after lockdown ends (UK) so I can do it for him.