just bought an SFF HP to turn into a gaming rig, and i need some advice
Posted by WhoIsJazzJay@reddit | buildapc | View on Reddit | 21 comments
i just bought an Elitedesk 800 G4 used. it’s running an i7-8700 and 16 GB of stock RAM from HP. it also has a stock 512 GB NVMe SSD (might be SATA in an NVM form factor tho? idk). i’m planning on putting an RTX A2000 in there.
basically i’m copying this build, but my i7 is one generation newer + PSU is bigger. since my GPU runs solely from my PCIe slot, power draw should not be an issue as my PSU is 250 W.
this is my first gaming PC, and i haven’t owned a windows PC since 2015 because i switched to Macbooks for personal/creative usage. i have many questions lol:
1) i know the mobo is an LGA 1151, but how do i know which revision it is?
2) what’s the best generation/speed/amount of RAM i can upgrade to?
3) is there a way i can adjust fan speeds for the CPU and/or GPU? i couldn’t find such settings when i was digging around the BIOS, and i wanna make sure i don’t run into overheating issues considering the SFF.
4) i’m planning on adding an Intel AX200 wi-fi card…will that work?
5) is it really necessary to have a separate boot drive from your secondary drive?
6) if i did get a secondary drive, should i get a high capacity NVMe SSD or save money by going with a 2.5” SATA SSD?
7) is there any additional cooling i can add? better CPU fan? opening up all the PCIe slots to allow more air in?
8) is it a bad idea to buy a used GPU? i know these A2000s are used a lot for mining…would an old mining card be bad for gaming?
9) is a Computer Upgrade King GPU fine, or should i try to get a PNY if possible?
10) i’m planning on taking apart my CPU and applying some Corsair XTM50 thermal paste i got from BestBuy. should i do the same w the GPU when i get it? i’ve also heard that Nvidia cheaped out on the thermal pads. should i change those on the GPU as well??
11) is there any useful software i should use/install to check on my computer’s performance? all i know about is Task Manager and MSI Afterburner
sorry i know that’s a lot of questions, but i’d appreciate y’all helping ya girl out!! <3
Glittering-While-518@reddit
Hey man,
I've done this with my partners PC. This is honestly the cheapest most budget friendly way to get started into gaming IMHO.
1, Mobo is a HP L22110-001.
2, Ram wise I threw in a 3200 unit but i'm pretty s ure it read it as a 2666.
3, No real issues with overheating! But if you're that worried about it go and drill some holes on the side of the case and use something like old stocking and stretch it out to act as a filter!
4, not sure sorry only ever use ethernet for these.
5,not necessary but it's nice and keeps everything clear.
6, I'd honestly go Sata, mostly because there's Heaps of secondhand cheap satas around :)
7, check 3
8, Nope! it's a great Idea! but do be aware of the seller make sure they have good reviews and honest if it was used for mining. Just do your due diligence when inspecting the card.
9, can't coimment as we only have mainstream GPU in NZ
10, CPu is a great idea! Gpu depending on how hand you are but certainly a great idea too!
11, Go install Hwinfo it's probably the best monitor app there is :).
If you're ever wanting to upgrade to aa different case it's super easy to do aswell!
I've just slapped my partners g2 into a mid itx case and it's honestly pretty easy!
Happy to help more if needed just DM!
WhoIsJazzJay@reddit (OP)
preciate this, i ended up selling ending and just building an ITX rig myself. the temps were way too high with the RTX A2000, even when i got one of the upgraded HP heat sinks for the CPU. the lack of case fans and proper airflow just made the SFF tower practically useless lmao. in theory the components were fine, but they were def throttling due to thermals
NovaN00b@reddit
Wish I saw this earlier, would’ve told you the same thing. Did this with a single slot rx6400 low profile about a year ago. Would be fine for about 20 mins, then start stuttering, found it to be throttling. No connectors for additional mini fans either (not that I’d want it cos when it hit 78 degrees it started sounding like a jet engine spooling up) but made additional cooling options other than drilling a few more holes out of the question.
Glittering-While-518@reddit
Ah that's a bummer to hear!
That's alright though always good to try and think of different ways you can get a PC together!
Maybe a challenge you can try again in the future!
Then-Acanthisitta-61@reddit
I have the same system for gaming however I wanted to try and upgrade the power supply. Is anything else available besides the 250watt?
WhoIsJazzJay@reddit (OP)
i ended up selling everything and building a proper gaming PC tbh. the issue with swapping PSUs is that most of the stuff HP makes is proprietary, so you’d need to find a PSU that was used the SFF EliteDesks that used the higher wattage CPUs like the 8700K
zippymageewazoo@reddit
Do you think you could have upgraded just the ram and put in a lower end graphics card for lower end gaming?
WhoIsJazzJay@reddit (OP)
i prolly could have, but i have no idea if the thermals would still be bad
zippymageewazoo@reddit
Thermals like the unit was not cooling efficiently enough?
WhoIsJazzJay@reddit (OP)
yeah the thermals sucked because the CPU draws fresh air from outside but the GPU doesn’t really have a source to draw fresh air from. you could maybe make a custom mesh side panel but i wasn’t about to put up with all that
zippymageewazoo@reddit
Ah good to know. Thank you for your replies, much appreciated from a rookie.
WhoIsJazzJay@reddit (OP)
hey i was a rookie when i attempting this exact build so i’m glad to help. if you still wanna save some bread by building an old Dell/HP/Lenovo PC, i’d just recommend doing it with a full size one rather than a SFF model. way better options for cooling and you could prolly do a full size GPU rather than being confined to SFF cards. way more GPU options that way which gives you more chances to find something solid for a good price on eBay/FB marketplace
MrMotofy@reddit
u/WhoIsJazzJay Do you know if the I7-8700/K can be used in any of the Gen's SFF? I have a G2 I was considering throwing one into but want to make sure it was an option first.
Then it seems to accept higher speed RAM, but it will still run at any of the slower stuff too right? Do the boards accept the faster RAM too or what's the limitation?
WhoIsJazzJay@reddit (OP)
my G4 SFF came with an i7 8700 (non K). idk the max RAM speed but it’s whatever the 8700 maxes out at
MrMotofy@reddit
Yea I've noticed it's a more rare option it seems, on the newer generations. But wasn't sure if there's other hardware requirements or what
WhoIsJazzJay@reddit (OP)
yeah i know more about AMD when it comes to RAM clocking, i’m not really all that experienced w Intel. plus the HP OEM BIOS/mobo is pretty restrictive w what you can change, so idek if you can push clock speeds higher than what the i7-8700 is limited to according to Intel
MrMotofy@reddit
Yea, well what I wasn't sure about is the older CPU's are lower speed RAM. So throw an 8700 in there. Rated for 2666 RAM, will that memory work in an older board etc. Is there a board restriction, Bios restriction, or is it just CPU.
WhoIsJazzJay@reddit (OP)
i would double check on the HP forums, but i’m pretty sure older HP boards have restrictions on putting a newer CPU on an older board. the BIOS is very locked down, so idek if the CPU can be a limiting factor since the BIOS doesn’t let you touch memory timing settings
MrMotofy@reddit
I guess worst case a G4 board is $20-25 so if it doesn't work...
Glittering-While-518@reddit
Hey Man, I just toyed around with a spare unit of mine (hp prodesk with an i7 6700) not so long ago.
I actually ended up taking it off the case and using it on a barebone test rig.
I capped it out at 64GB DDR4 and I Ran an Rx6600.
The only reason i got it going was to use an Auxiliary PSU just for the GPU.
I wouldn't recommend this setup just because you have to turn off the PSU for the GPU each time you turn off the pc.
But to my surprise it actually worked out pretty well I ran it for a couple of weeks Stress testing / Bench marking different games and it was stable.
I spent roughly $350NZD for everything $200 for the gpu and $100 ram / psu $50for PC.
For roughly $400NZD it's definitely worth the hassle as long as you dont expect it to look like your typical "gaming Pc"
Glittering-While-518@reddit
In another Note,
I have another Prodesk i7 6700 with a gtx1650 still in the original case running 16gb Ram and honestly can't fault it. it's being used as our Racing Sim Rig and it's handling most games pretty nicely you just have to keep on top of maintenance ie. dusting off the case and re applying thermal paste on the cpu. I can send photos of this unit later on if you'd like but there is plenty of YT Videos on this