Upgrading dc5800 Workstation, need help!

[Adam2398]

Hi,

As the title suggests, I'm looking to upgrade a dc5800 workstation which I've inherited from my work and I've got a few compatibility questions. I'm looking to upgrade the RAM from 2 - 4gb, the graphics card and the processor possibly and this is what I'm wondering...

1. The graphics cards shown here, aren't great really. I'm aware that the gpu's are limited by size, but is there a better list of more compatible, newer graphics cards for it, mid - top end?

2. I'm guessing that any 775 socket processor would be compatible if I wanted to get a quad in there or similar?

3. I've seen the dc5800 RAM upgrades, but is there any better types which anybody could recommend?

I will be doing high cpu-loading optimising of algorithmic strategies which are a notorious computer/laptop killers. Is the standard case/cooling up to something like this? Or am I better looking to change the case to something bigger with better cooling.

Any help will be appriciated!

Thanks.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

I have attached the link to the quickspecs on your dc5800. You can do the upgrades to the supported hardware depending on what form factor you have tower or SFF which you didn't mention.

http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/12863_ca/12863_ca.pdf

Processor upgrades can be found on page 8 of the document. You may have to flash the bios to the latest version if you want to upgrade the processor. Review the BIOS release notes/revision history for your PC here:

http://h20000.www2.hp.com/bizsupport/TechSupport/SoftwareDescription.jsp?lang=en&cc=us&prodTypeId=12...

Memory configurations can be found on page 9 and 10 of the document.

Video upgrades can be found on page 15 of the document. If you prefer to use a different card than what is listed, then you should constrain yourself to the power supply limitiations of either system. The tower has a more powerful P/S than the SFF and you will have to get a low profile video card for the SFF as well.

Hope this helps,

Paul

[Adam2398]

Hi Paul, 

Thanks for the advice. 

Sorry I should have mentioned it's a tower. Does that mean that I'm not restricted by size with the GPU? The ones which are in that document aren't the best, I'm looking for 1gb minimum. If I'm not restricted by size, does that mean that I can go for any PCIe x16 which doesn't exceed the power supply of the of the standard PSU?

Do you know if the tower has good enough standard cooling if I was putting a quad processor and better RAM/GPU in?

Lastly, I don't have to get the HP RAM do I? I can use any PC2 6400 DDR2 dual channel ram?

Thanks.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

Hi:

You can put in any GPU you want as long as you keep it within a reasonable range of the P/S. I don't think a video card with 1 MB of memory should be an issue.  Any pcie 2.0 or 1.0 will be fine. Not sure about PCIE 2.1 cards. Also, I haven't looked at your BIOS setup manual. If you get a card with onboard HDMI, there needs to be audio settings in the bios of Enable and Auto at a minumum. If there is no Enable setting your video card with HDMI has will have onboard sound and will disable your computer's onboard sound card. So, you go into the BIOS and change the onboard audio settings from Auto to Enable so sound can be played via either device. No Enable setting in BIOS, don't get an HDMI video card if you want sound out of your PC speakers.

You may want to look up parts for your PC on the HP parts website. I highly doubt you will need a different heat sink/ fan if you go with the quad core, but since I haven't looked, I can't say for sure.  On the hp business desktops, I have upgraded there was only 1 heat sink/fan combo which worked for them all.  So, again I think you should be OK.

You can use any PC2-6400 RAM. Go to the Crucial website and get the specs for the RAM you need. Then I recommend you get the generic Crucial RAM from NewEgg.com. That's what I use for Dell and HP PC's. Never had a problem. I get my video cards from NewEgg as well. They have the best prices around.

http://www.crucial.com/

Paul

[asavage]

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@Paul_Tikkanen wrote:

http://h18000.www1.hp.com/products/quickspecs/12863_ca/12863_ca.pdf

Memory configurations can be found on page 9 and 10 of the document.

---

I just picked up a cast-off dc5800 SFF.  Every online memory configurator I've accessed states that this rig maxes at 8Gb, but that document above says 16GB:

(larger version of pic: link)

(larger version of pic: link)

Which is correct for dc5800: 8Gb or 16Gb max?

[Paul_Tikkanen]

This is what the chipset specs from Intel state...Max is 8 GB.

http://ark.intel.com/products/31917/Intel-82Q33-Graphics-and-Memory-Controller

Besides, 4 x 4 GB of PC2-6400 memory would cost over $100 a stick ($400).

[asavage]

Thanks for that link.  It's interesting that the QuickSpecs have those two 16Gb references.

[Paul_Tikkanen]

You're very welcome.

Yes it is.

Especially since the dc7800, which is basically the same model as the dc5800, but has the slightly better Q35 chipset shows 8 GB is the max.  See page 11.

http://www8.hp.com/h20195/v2/GetDocument.aspx?docname=c04287277

The dc7900 CMT/SFF has an Intel Series 4 chipset and that can take 4 x 4 GB of PC2-6400 memory.

That is why I got an 8000 Elite CMT instead.  It has the same chipset as the dc7900, but has DDR3 memory, making it relatively cheap to max mine out to 16 GB.

[turbo212]

hi..

i have 3 hp dc 5800, to all 3 i put Q9650 Intel Quad core..

only 1 of the hp need to upgrade the microcode ( upgrade the bios)

i find on internet  sp51245

then install the microcode.. taht run unders DOS to install