Question HP Pavilion 570-p0xx Upgrade/Replacement

[johnsoner13]

Hi, my friend has an HP Pavilion 570-p0xx PC with an i5 7400 and integrated graphics. It has a 180w PSU. I upgraded my PC a while back and so I have
Zotac GTX 1060 6GB AMP! Edition GPU
MSI Z170A KRAIT GAMING 3X motherboard
16 gigs of 2x8 2666 mhz Corsair Vengeance ram
laying around. At first, we were planning on giving him just my GTX 1060 and the ram and have him buy some 600w EVGA white power supply from best buy. However, after some research, we realized the case/motherboard will only work with single slot cards.

My question is now, what would be the best possible way for us to upgrade his system for the cheapest price? He has almost no money and all of it would be toward buying the new PSU. Would it be practical to just install his i5 7400 into my motherboard (after a bios flash) and install the GPU, ram, and his drives and hook it up to the PSU without a case, and have it laying there somewhat like some kind of janky test bench? It would be used for gaming/schoolwork.

Any help would be greatly appreciated. Thanks

 

[tennis2]

I'm not seeing anything that would suggest that mobo and case can only take a single slot GPU. In fact, here's an HP Pavilion 570 p050 with a GTX 1060 and a Corsair TX650M

 

[johnsoner13]

I'm not seeing anything that would suggest that mobo and case can only take a single slot GPU.

https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Deskt...ion-570-p0xx-GPU-and-PSU-Upgrade/td-p/6722167
This is what made me think that; however, my friend has sent me a few images of the inside and it looks like it would fit, but the link I just shared really gives me doubts.

 

[Phaaze88]

Yeah, but... look how CLOSE that is in the picture.
That setup in the pic is dumb though - the psu and gpu fan are fighting against each other for air within that tiny space...

 

[tennis2]

I see the 24 pin power connection MIGHT block a longer (typical dual fan) dual slot GPU. And certainly the USB3 front panel header which is slightly further away.

Looks like the pic I linked is the way to go about it, with one of the "mITX" single fan GTX1060s.

As far as the GPU and PSU fans fighting each other. Perhaps, but there's 1 to 1.5 slots between the two components. Nobody ever said OEM upgrades were easy.

 

[Phaaze88]

Yeah, OEM upgrades are limiting.

I'm just a little paranoid.

 

[tennis2]

Nice thing here is that they already own all the hardware they're trying to transfer in, so aside from 30 minutes to get everything installed and buttoned up, it's a free try.

The Zotac AMP 1060 isn't terribly long for a dual fan card.

 

[KnuxKitsune]

I see the 24 pin power connection MIGHT block a longer (typical dual fan) dual slot GPU. And certainly the USB3 front panel header which is slightly further away.

Looks like the pic I linked is the way to go about it, with one of the "mITX" single fan GTX1060s.

As far as the GPU and PSU fans fighting each other. Perhaps, but there's 1 to 1.5 slots between the two components. Nobody ever said OEM upgrades were easy.

I'm going to be experimenting with one of these I just ordered second-hand. I'd like to fit a Radeon RX 580 8GB into it, but I also have a single fan EVGA GTX 1060 6GB. I would just need to get myself another Dremel. I lost my last one when I moved 3 years ago. It takes a micro-ATX power supply by default. The person who did the mod used a full-ATX power supply, so I'd assume a micro-ATX would allow more space for airflow.

Looking at the inside of the case, I also considered using a PCIe x16 extension and finding a way to mount the video card sideways to avoid the 24pin connector altogether. I recall someone measured the space from the back of the case to the 24pin connector to be 6.25 inches (159mm), so any card around that length or shorter should be fine. The card I'd like to use, the MSI Radeon 580 Armor 8G OC, is 110mm longer.

It seems silly to do all this, but I wanted a small rig I could take with me for VR without spending a lot of money.

 

[tennis2]

I've never heard of a microATX PSU. Perhaps you're referring to SFX / SFX-L (with an adapter of course). Sure, of course that would work since it's smaller, but there's a picture in this thread showing an ATX PSU fitting just fine also.

 

[KnuxKitsune]

My computer finally arrived, so I got to work on it. That RX 580 was far too long to fit, so I swapped the GTX 1060 6GB in my main rig with it. I ended up just taking the shroud off the GPU instead of cutting it, though I started doing so. There was just enough room that I was able to put the optical drive back into it, which it's basically just filling the hole as the SFX (It was listed as "MICRO ATX") PSU does not have a mini SATA power connector for it. I have the screw on the expansion bay cover pulling double duty to also hold the hard drive in place. I was testing as I went. It does have a 120GB M.2 SSD installed, so I didn't necessarily need the hard drive. However, I was able to cram most the hardware back into the case, including the drive cage to give extra rigidity to the case.

 

[tennis2]

Your SFX PSU didn't come with an ATX adapter bracket? Only attaching it with one screw is going to make it pretty flimsy when inserting/removing the power cable from it.

Your mechanical hard drive is attached by one screw, sitting on top of the drive cage? Might wanna throw some foam padding between the two to keep vibrations to a minimum (for longevity and noise reasons).

The optical drive doesn't have a standard SATA power plug? (just like the one that goes into the hdd)

 

[KnuxKitsune]

Your SFX PSU didn't come with an ATX adapter bracket? Only attaching it with one screw is going to make it pretty flimsy when inserting/removing the power cable from it.

Your mechanical hard drive is attached by one screw, sitting on top of the drive cage? Might wanna throw some foam padding between the two to keep vibrations to a minimum (for longevity and noise reasons).

The optical drive doesn't have a standard SATA power plug? (just like the one that goes into the hdd)

The hard drive isn't sitting on the drive cage, it's sitting on the PSU. I hold the PSU against the top of the case when I plug in the power cable. It is a bit flimsy, but I make sure that it's firmly inserted before powering on. I went to reconnect the optical drive, and the power connector was about half size, so I couldn't connect it with the 500W PSU (the OEM is 180W). I'll try moving stuff around to see if I can secure the HDD and PSU better.

 

[tennis2]

Oh duh, sorry, got confused.

Yeah, I think if you had an SSD, letting it rest on the [single-screw-connected] PSU wouldn't be a big deal, but I'd caution against it with a HDD. IF you must stick with the HDD in that layout, make sure the case is in a secure place where it won't get bumped and get a small layer of foam between the two.

 

[KnuxKitsune]

I moved the HDD back to the drive bracket. It's now secured with four screws. It missed the GPU power by millimeters. I also have the PSU better secured now, with zip ties and screws.

 

[tennis2]

If you've got a drill and a jigsaw, you can make your own SFX to ATX adapter plate out of some 22-26 Gauge sheet metal from you local hardware store. Would certainly be less janky.

Love the plastic tab BTW, haha.