WHat video card can i add to a sff 5100

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by Nexus_, Jul 7, 2015.

  1. Nexus_

    Nexus_ Staff Sergeant

    I have an old sff 5100 hp desktop, which is running a pentium 4.

    To some this might seem like junk already but i actually like tweaking some older hardware and working with it.

    What video card can i put on this that will allow me to put dual display and possibly hdmi? i had some spare video cards but this motherboard uses even older video cards

    I didn't really want to spend more than 20ish for the video card, the psu is only 240 watts.

    I had some older spare memory and a ssd so i was thinking of using this machine as a linux machine and not really for windows. Hopefully if someone does recommend a video card it can be compatible with linux mint 17 or zorin 9 lite.

    Would an asus ASUS AH3450 work on my pc?
     
  2. Xernicus

    Xernicus Private E-2

    If you're looking to run *nix on that machine, then I'd suggest an Nvidia card, simply for the drivers and support.

    What kind of expandability does that machine have? The most I could get out of a web search was that it had a 1x PCIe slot. I remember when I used P4 HP workstations (I had a d530 microtower), and it had an AGP slot, and a few legacy PCI slots.
     
  3. Nexus_

    Nexus_ Staff Sergeant

    The problem is that i cannot find any nvidia cards for this type of slot well nothing else other than 64 mb cards

    SInce the desktop is a small form factor i need a low profile card otherwise it won't fit.

    I only been able to find ati video cards which are fine for me as long as they will work. Like i stated i don't really plan on using windows on this machine

    I attached a picture of my slot
     

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  4. Digerati

    Digerati Major Geek Extraordinaire

    I found where it has for expansion card slots 1 PCI Express and 1 PCI. But sadly, I cannot find what type PCIe slot it is.

    But thanks to your screen shot, I see it looks like a PCIe x 1. You would be better off with a PCI card.

    That ASUS will not work because it is AGP.

    Any of these "should" fit. Just make sure if they say "low profile ready" that they come with the necessary low profile bracket. And of course, that your PSU can support it.
     
  5. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Of the cards linked by Digerati, the GT610 or HD5450 would be the better choices, newer designs (DX11) + DDR3.
     
  6. Nexus_

    Nexus_ Staff Sergeant

    are you guys sure those video cards would work because i am looking at those gold contacts on those cards and back at my picture i posted and the video card i mentioned in my opening post seems to more or less match up with the line

    The video cards being suggested have 3 parts to them 1 little one on the end , one long one in the middle and and little part at the front i hope they would fit because it doesn't seem like it would with the picture i provided.

    Is there a video card i can also get for the small black port on top of the pci slots?
     
  7. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

  8. Nexus_

    Nexus_ Staff Sergeant

    What does this mean?

    If i get either a jaton video 339, or the jaton 6200 i should be fine?

    And for the small pci slot i would be good with a Zotac ZT-60607-10L?
     
  9. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

    The photo of your motherboard/slots shows that a long PCIe x1 card will likely foul 2 of the other components there - it probably won't fit.

    The Jaton 339 is a pretty recent design, it should be much better than any older design card like a 6200.
     
  10. Nexus_

    Nexus_ Staff Sergeant

    what about the zotac card?

    The only thing that concerns me about the jaton 339 is that in the picture i posted of my pci slot it shows a long row with a small one in the front. The jaton 339 has a long row in the middle and 2 short ones in the front and back

    I would be disappointing to buy this only for it not to work.

    I saw a couple of reviews regarding the zotac card and people stated it works find for mint linux etc.. which is what i was planning on using ( not windows).

    not too sure if the zotac would work in my MOBO though as in if it would read it
     
  11. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

    The Zotac should be fine, it's DX 11 + OpenGL 4.2 so it's a more up to date design than the Jaton 339 (all specifications + Jaton's own specs http://www.jaton.com/VGA/graphics_card_detail.php?pid=161 point to it being a PCI card), which is DX 11 but only OpenGL 3.2.

    I see a comment "Avoid like the plague if you care to every use Linux." about the Zotac in the NewEgg reviews.

    You'll need to study measurements for any card to ensure that they fit in your case, otherwise your 'board's age (ancient it isn't) suggests that all the later design cards in that list should work fine (at least with Windows - you'll need to dig deeper for *nix comparability).
     
  12. Nexus_

    Nexus_ Staff Sergeant

    i went with the Zotac ZT-60607-10L as it was newer than the rest and also conveninetly more cost effective.

    Actually the older cards i saw from there on ebay were $30-$60 used... for old 128 mb-256 cards too..

    When i got the card i too thought it wasn't going to work but it just barely fits, it sits right on top of the green coil and there is just a few mm in space between the fan that spins and that heatsink.

    It seems to work fine in windows i haven't test linux yet ( which is what i was going to use it for).

    I got this one brand new with damaged packaging for $22
     
  13. Nexus_

    Nexus_ Staff Sergeant

    My video card works fine in linux as well it was actually easy to configure.

    I ran across a slight problem though i Maxed out the memory to 4 gb ( 4x1 gb sticks) the operating system sees all 4 gigs but my bios only sees 3200 mb and only uses 3 gb.

    A whole gb isn't being used and documentation lists this pc as supporting 4 gb.
    Its not like the onboard video is using a whole gigabyte..

    Any reason as to why its not detecting my other gb? I am not mixing memory either i have 32 bit operating system(S) but even then i should get about 3.7
     
  14. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Not sure how the OS ignores the BIOS RAM total, it's usually the other way around; BIOS sees the full 4GB but the OS uses ~3.5GB.

    Windows x86 will set aside a chunk of memory for any gfx card, 2x 1GB cards might leave less than 2GB usable.
     
  15. Nexus_

    Nexus_ Staff Sergeant

    that's a bummer, however this video card made the visuals 20x better and the pc operates much better that and with the ssd drive i put it can run some things at par with my i5 desktop

    its not like i could use 64 bit anyways this processor is only 32 bit but that missing gigabyte is something i was hoping to use.

    is the intel pentium 4 530 suppose to run hot normally? Mine idles around 55c and doing basic tasks it reaches 60, granted its 86 F in my house usually right now but i have seen it go to the mid 60's when i start multitasking to a mid range level.
     
  16. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Yes, many of the P4s had a reputation for running hot, yours has a TCASE limit of 67.7°C so you want to try to keep under that; check whether you can improve the cooling throughput of the case, ensure the fans aren't dusty/obstructed, etc.
     
  17. Nexus_

    Nexus_ Staff Sergeant

    I cleaned the whole computer from the inside when i was upgrading he video card and hard drive so i know the fans are basically spotless.

    The temperatures seem to get quite hot enough for me to note if i accidentally touch the case its pretty hot.

    Now being that this computer is nearly a dacade old i think possibly i might need to re apply thermal compound. If the thermal compound doesn't fix the issue what is a ( quiet) cpu cooler someone would recommend that isn't too expensive?

    For extra cooling i took off all the panels from the back and also took out the dvd drive ( i hardly even use it anyways). Temperature wise it didn't seem to make much of a difference.
     
  18. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

    A Hyper 212 EVO takes some beating, fits most everything (so could be seen as an investment), about $35 at NewEgg:
     
  19. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Scratch the Hyper, I'd forgotten this was an SFF case, it'd never fit.
     
  20. Nexus_

    Nexus_ Staff Sergeant

    I was thinking of still buying it for a future i7 build it looks like its very weel rated.

    I bought some artic mx-4 which appears to be rated great, i cleaned my heatsink and cpu of the dried up thermal paste. It was kind of dry and i applied new thermal paste after i cleaned the cpu

    I made sure i didn't put too much and i spread the paste with a credit card. I looked at videos online and it looks like i put the right amount.

    I waited like 5 minutes then put the heatsink back on and powered the computer on. I ran the speedfan temperature and it looks like the temperature didn't change at all...

    Also i will admit i cleaned off the old thermal paste with hand sanitizer ( 70% alcohol) i did not have any rubbing or isopropyl alcohol and i was too lazy go buy and buy some or wait until tommorow.

    The temperature i am posting in just doing regular browsing , when i put it under load medium load it reaches close to 60C and when i start playing some games it goes to 62 C

    The sff case probably doesn't help either, i don't have space for another case due to the casing nor do i believe my motherboard has any extra ports for another fan.

    What i can do is possible add another fan and have it powered by a usb port, i removed the dvd drive so i can probably mount a fan there and connect it through a usb port from the front.

    Being that this pc is close to a decade old though i am kind of reluctant to add anymore money to it in upgrades. The memory i maxed out i got for free from a co worker and even i had spent money on it it would have been $10-$12 for all 4 1 gb sticks..

    I am having trouble updating the bios to 1.10 or even 1.09 i run the bios update from windows which i downloaded from the hp website but it does nothing
     

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  21. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Assuming it already has a case fan, try removing/reversing it as test, I worked on one SFF that ran cooler with the fan the 'wrong' way round.
     
  22. Nexus_

    Nexus_ Staff Sergeant

    I removed it and reversed it and it didn't make a difference but when put it back the way it was the temperatures are now 2c lower so i guess that helped a bit.

    I have an issue upgrading the bios its on 1.07 and i want to upgrade it to 1.10 however when i run the file on windows it never completes says '' disk A missing aborting''

    Also ever since i maxed out the memory to 4 gb i have the annoying system change black screen appear every time i turn on the computer. It says a hardware change has been detected press f1 to save changes which i do but the message always pops up when i restart my pc.
     
  23. satrow

    satrow Major Geek Extraordinaire

    It reads like the BIOS upgrade needs to be run from the floppy drive?

    If you enter the BIOS and then save the settings yet on a fresh boot the same message happens, it's likely that the motherboard battery cell needs changing.
     
  24. Nexus_

    Nexus_ Staff Sergeant

    I don't even have a floppy drive anymore though

    The save configuration only happens when i go above 3 gb , the message always pops up regardless of changing the cmos battery to a new one. This is why i was also trying to update the bios maybe it would solve this issue
     

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