Video Card (and other) Upgrades For An HP Pavilion Elite HPE-510t

[aaleaman]

Hi... First of all, I just want to say that these forums have been an invaluable resource for me in my quest to upgrade my current PC. Lots of good answers, and always right at the top of Google's search results, so you guys have been super helpful. Definitely a very different experience from what I had when I bought my last PC from a company that rhymes with "hell".

I do still have a few specifc questions, though, and figured I'd throw them out to let the experts weigh in... For the record, I have an HP Pavilion Elite HPE-510t with all stock parts except the video card, which is currently an ATI FirePro v4800. I'm running three 20" monitors (1 DVI and 2 Display Port at the moment, but that can be flexible). I also do some moderate gaming (MMOs, not FPS) and watch a lot of Netflix...

1. I'm definitely looking to upgrade my video card, but I'm not sure what will actually fit. I am prepared to upgrade the PSU as well (probably to the Corsair CX-600 recommended elsewhere on this forum), so power shouldn't be an issue. And money isn't a huge issue either, as long as the card is under $500 or so. I've been looking at some of the newer cards (like a GTX 680 or even the brand new 770), but I'm concerned that they either won't physically fit in the case, or won't be compatible with the motherboard (which appears to be PCIe 1.0? Or am I reading that wrong?). So basically, my ultimate question is: what is the best possible graphics card I could utilize given my current case, motherboard and potentially upgraded power supply? If it matters, SLI is doable but not preferred.

2. I'm also planning to add additional RAM. The specs page for my PC on the HP Support Site says it takes DDR3 1600 PC3 10600, but everything I'm finding in RAM these days is DDR 3 1600 PC3 12800. Will my motherboard/PC support the 12800 or do I need to keep hunting to find 10600 sticks?

3. And finally, I'm also going to put in a Samsung 840 Pro SSD. Do you know if the motherboard supports the appropriate SATA connectors for the 6gb speeds? The specs page just says "SATA", and doesn't specify version.

Any help you could give me on these questions would be greatly appreciated. This computer has served me well for a few years now, and I'm hoping to keep it for a few years more. Thanks in advance and have a great day...

Aaron

[lasvegaswireman · Accepted solution]

Here are the original factory specs and configurable options for your HP Pavilion Elite HPE-510t CTO Desktop Computer and here are the specs for its IPISB-CH (Cleveland) motherboard. According to the specs, the motherboard uses the Intel® H67 Express Chipset which supports a v2.0 PCIe x16 expansion slot and SATAII (SATA2) 3Gbs.

1)  SLI is not "doable", so no need to go there. GeForce GTX 680 cards are going to be long, maybe too long. You will need to measure the space available from the rear of the case forward along the PCIe x16 slot to determine what can be installed. You may have to step it down a notch or two... until you find one that fits. The Corsair CX600 is a great choice and will fit, although you may wish to purchase the CX600M instead. The CX600M is modular and allow much better cable management and therefore the potential for better airflow.

2)  As for the memory, the specs state;

Four 240-pin DDR3 DIMM sockets
Supports PC3 10600 (1333 MHz) DDR3 DIMMs
Non-ECC memory only, unbuffered

So... two sets of most of these (2 x 4GB) 240-Pin DDR3 SDRAM DDR3 1333 (PC3 10600) Desktop Memory Kits should do the trick. You can also go to the Crucial.com website and use two of their "Guaranteed-compatible memory upgrade".

3) Your computer supports SATAII (3Gbs) speeds and that is the best it will do. However, the SATA connector is the same as what is found on a SATAIII SSD and it should be backwards compatible with your computer.

Please send KUDOS

[aaleaman]

Awesome. Thank you!

I've already switched my order to the modular PSU and picked out the RAM. Now I just need to measure for the video card. I've also provisionally downgraded to a GTX 760, pending the results with my measuring tape tonight. Nvidia lists that one at 9.5 inches, which it appears others have had success with in this case.

Kudos sent...