[SOLVED] 10/100 on board ethernet ? HP a6330f

[muhumudali]

I'm not sure if this is the right place to place my question or not but I'll give it a try ....I have a HP a6330f desk top pc . It's been a very good computer for me the last 10 years. It still has Vista on it , over the years I have upgraded the ram and added a video card. 500 gigabyte hd at 7200rpms , i don't play games and I'm more so just a internet surfer type and like to mess with my photos and what not. That's about it. Over the years I've only used maybe 150 total gigs of space on the hd. I just upgraded my internet provider and I'm getting 400 mbps .....but I'm not ....it's basically only giving me 95 mbps solidly pretty much all the time. After doing what homework I could it's looking like I need a new pc with a 1000 mbps card or on board type situation for the ethernet ......my question is this .....if I bought a 10/100/100 pci ethernet card and added it to my motherboard and plugged that into my router would it then allow me closer to the the 400 mbps that is coming to me or is there more to it then that ? Thank you all for time and know how.

 

[COLGeek]

Yes, that would increase your throughput. However, given the age of the system and its relative performance, it will be of limited value in terms of overall performance. The other issue could be your router. Does it have "gig-ether" ports?

 

[jsmithepa]

Yeah upgrade this HP, but EVERYTHING between you and the ISP may also need upgrading: Modem, WIFI router, Switch(es).

You are asking, do all these pieces have gigabit ports? THEY MUST.

 

[muhumudali]

Yes it should be it's a Sagemcom Fast 5260 router .........I don't think it would cost me much more then 20 bucks to add a card but I realize this old man is behind the times for sure .......if I got the card and it showed me a lot more then 95 mbps i think I could live with it ......I figure this old pc has been pretty good to me for 10 years .......I would like to think they make them better nowadays ? From the looks of things 200.00 could step me up to a Windows 10 machine with all up to date stuff for a guy like me ? ......I appreciate your answers here .....sounds like a crap shoot to me thus far .....either roll the dice and see how things work out or just concentrate on a new system .......I'm just one with a fixed income and I just hate to waste money.

 

[COLGeek]

I would recommend saving money for an eventual new system. She has lasted for 10 years with this limitation.

 

[muhumudali]

I'm sure your right ColGeek at least from my own experience . I feel fortunate . 20 years I've had computers now . I still have a lap top Dell Latitude D 630 thats over 10 years old and still is working very well as well as a old XP Pen 4 tower that I got in 2005 also still working just really slow and how that goes. I just bought a PCI E 10/100/1000 card for under 10 bucks. I should receive it in a few days ......it's time to clean out this machine anyway so I figured I'd give it a shot. I will surely check back in with my results .......for what I do and even the 95 mbps is pretty good .....weather I'm paying for the 400 mbps or not. My wife is getting almost 300 mbps on here smartphone off the wifi side of things (my phones to old) so I'm pretty happy with that. thanks again for now.

 

[COLGeek]

Good luck. Come back for any additional assistance needed.

 

[muhumudali]

Well I got the gigabyte card yesterday .....started my annual blow out and clean of the machine and moved my memory around as usual . I added the card with ease ..........Oh My ! For the first time in over 10 years she wouldn't turn on ! ??? I looked all over the place thinking I may have knocked a wire loose or what not only to find out that I didn't .......damn I thought ! So I took the board out and retried the unit and no power again ......What did I do ? I'm guess one of two things here , either my 300 watt power supply that was neve really beat on over the years died or the card may have fried my mother board or both ........I read there was a test I could do with a few of the wires from the ps to the main plug in to the motherboard.....connect two wires from there , if the fan works the power supply is good , if it don't work then it's the ps , now if it works some say I fried the mother board ......can't much win here for losing. But I took my shot with the Ethernet card and I obviously lost. And you guys did warn me in your own kind of ways. I'm still grateful for all the answers I got from you guys. I can't thank you enough. Time for newer machine. Damn ! (all for the need of speed) )-:

 

[COLGeek]

You can swap another PSU into your rig and get a quick assessment whether it is just the PSU or something else.

You can try this. Disconnect the power cable from the PSU. Wait a few minutes and then reconnect the power cable. Try powering on again.

 

[muhumudali]

No such luck there CG .......for grinnies I put that gigabyte card in my old Pen 4 ......just needed some drivers ...it worked ! but the poor girl couldn't handle the speed either way. I only got around 50mbps on both the card and the onboard ethernet connect. I'm guessing the processors were just not there or the chemistry of it all ? I was thinking about another PSU as you noted ........crap shoot for me. I really enjoyed that HP a6330f .......it was just right for my music , pictures and video .....Do you think a i3 would be a step up for me ? I only say that because my money is funny. thanks again for the response

 

[COLGeek]

Yes, a modern (or fairly modern) i3 would be a step up (significantly) over the previous AMD based rig. What do you have in mind?

 

[muhumudali]

well if I can avoid another video card that would be OK ....like I said , most of what I do is music , pictures and videos and the internet ......I have a decent ips monitor and I really do appreciate seeing good quality pictures and hd videos . I do not do any thing that requires heavy duty processing concerning video editing and all that. I keep it all as simple as possible . I been looking at some refurb machines but I'm just not sure .....Maybe I will need a video card ? but like I said , if there is a on board video card that would give me the quality that I had that would work out fine for me. I been feeling the sting a little about losing my a6330f for now .....but without a doubt in my mind , I am sure behind the times as is and I have managed to get around it but it's looking like my time has come .....I'm guessing it would only have to be a step or two up from where I was before.

 

[COLGeek]

i3s have integrated video and should meet your basic needs. If you are looking at any particular systems, feel free to post a link here and we can assess for you.

 

[muhumudali]

Well it's been over a year ......6 months ago I finally got a cheap ps to see if it might bring my HP back to life and it did ! .....So I tried that Ethernet gigabyte card and it worked great as well . I'm thinking I might have should have asked you guys first but I got tired of looking after weeks .......Do you think this machine will be enough for my needs ? Thanks a lot for all the help .........https://www.newegg.com/lenovo-thinkcentre-m73-business-desktops-workstations/p/N82E16883994651

 

[muhumudali]

Lenovo Desktop Computer ThinkCentre M73 Intel Core i5 4th Gen 4570 (3.20 GHz) 16 GB DDR3 512 GB SSD Intel HD Graphics 4600 Windows 10 Pro 64-bit

 

[COLGeek]

That is a solid, workhorse system that will run for years. The PSU is only 280w, so if gaming is of interest, you'll have to upgrade the PSU to support a stronger GPU.

 

[muhumudali]

Thanks CG ........I won't be gaming so hopefully things will work out for me. I also purchased this monitor
Acer SB220Q bi 21.5 inches Full HD (1920 x 1080) IPS Ultra-Thin Zero Frame Monitor (HDMI & VGA port),Black .....hopefully I will be satisfied with the match up .

 

[COLGeek]

Should be okay. Enjoy.

 

[muhumudali]

Couple of questions CG .......turns out the ips monitor I got only has hdmi and a vga plug in but the pc only has vga and display port ......will getting a hdmi to display port cable help me in clarity over the vga to vga ? Also about the video card .....I don't game and I didn't with my older pc but I did have a video card that never gave me any problems (it's all about the clarity for me) You are right about the machine only having a 280 watt ps .....without upgrading the ps .....could I still run a smaller powered video card that will work in the name of clarity ? if so , might you suggest one ? So far Windows 10 pro and this newer pc has worked amazing well ! .....I had no idea just how much I was behind the times when it came to speed . I'm very impressed. Thanks again for your time or for anyone one else that might like to chime in.

 

[COLGeek]

Yes, the better connection would be HDMI/DP (even with an adapter). Something like a GTX 1050ti would be okay with the 280w PSU (nothing that requires an external PCIe power connection) as long as you don't trying overclocking it.

 

[muhumudali]

Thank you CG ......I got the cable I needed and it seems to work OK , is it better as far as my eyes go ? Not really to sure about that but it's at least the better connection . I looked at the video card you suggested and it's a bit more then I could afford , I have bought used before and did alright with them on my last machine . Maybe I'm just looking for the clarity that I had before and my eyes just ain't what they used to be ? I have also tried to find the Lenovo mother board in this machine but just haven't found one on line .....to help me with the pci spots and what I can use .......Do you think this would help me ? again , I'm not looking for gaming just better clarity for pic's and videos if need me . I often ask myself now if I'm just a dog chasing his own tail ...thanks again for your time and now how. https://www.ebay.com/itm/EVGA-Nvidi...rentrq:251ad3711720a9c45a3a1aceff930518|iid:1

 

[COLGeek]

The GT730 will be stronger than the integrated video controller for most uses and should be okay with your current PSU.

 

[muhumudali]

Thank you CG , just to say , what you guys do on this site and helping others along the way is just top notch in my book. There is truly a lot to know when it comes to computer science and after 23 years I'm lucky if this 60 year old has even scratched the service .....You have a very impressive resume there . It's special that you can take the time to help others . I'm grateful for the Internet and over the years I have found out that there are still a lot of good people in this world . Often times I hope in one way or the other that I can pay it forward when the opportunities present themselves the best that I can. Did I read correctly that Windows 10 Pro will recognize a new video card with out me going into the bios ? Thanks again CG .....

 

[COLGeek]

Your system should detect the new GPU when installed (without you changing the BIOS). Just be sure to connect your display to the new GPU (vice the motherboard video connectors) when you install it.

Windows should also detect the new device and install drivers for it. You can also get the most current drivers directly from Nvidia (recommended) and install those.

https://www.nvidia.com/Download/driverResults.aspx/159423/en-us

 

[muhumudali]

Excellent CG ! ......Let cha know how things go . Thanks