Power Supply Upgrade for HP Pavilion Slimline s5220f

[Donald Bronson]

Dear Tom's Hardware community:

1. What upgrades, if any, can I "pop in" to my HP Pavilion Slimline s5220f?
2. Would I have better options if I was to also replace my motherboard, and, if so, what might they be?

P.S.: The current power supply model I have in my computer is an HP TFX0220D5WA 220W power supply.

Thanks!

 

[markwp]

You are pretty hamstrung by that power supply. Slim line supplies are not plentiful, and the one you have probably would not support anything more than a modest gpu upgrade. As far as changing the motherboard, if you do that you will need to buy a new install of windows. Your current windows is "married" to your motherboard and cannot be transferred.

If you are looking to slowly upgrade, start with a decent mid-tower atx case and a solid atx psu from corsair, seasonic antec, etc.

Depending on what you want to try to accomplish, the size of the psu will vary. If you give us an idea of where you want to be, we can give you some suggestions. As far as major upgrades, IMO you would be much better off thinking along the lines of a new build. Your m/b, cpu and ram are well "aged" and upgrading them would not be a worthwhile expense.

Mark

 

[namdlo]

Putting your power supply part number into Amazon comes up with a few options for replacement - nothing larger than 400W.

Mark is exactly right you might be fighting an unwinnable fight if you try to upgrade your existing.

 

[Donald Bronson]

Depending on what you want to try to accomplish, the size of the psu will vary. If you give us an idea of where you want to be, we can give you some suggestions. As far as major upgrades, IMO you would be much better off thinking along the lines of a new build. Your m/b, cpu and ram are well "aged" and upgrading them would not be a worthwhile expense.

Mark

I am, in fact, planning to do a new build this summer, which I will be using for game development and 3D modeling. I was hoping to upgrade the "old desktop" to give it a lease on life and also make it a little bit better for light gaming and moderate 3D modeling (Blender and UDK being the most strenuous applications I would be running). Obviously, since it will not be my main PC, and its primary use will remain web browsing/casual gaming/streaming/word processing, I am looking to make these upgrades on a budget. I am hoping to put an NVIDIA GPU in it, ideally one that can be used for CUDA if at all possible. I'm not sure if I can fit anything decent in my available space (single-slot, less than or equal to 6.5" long, under 4" tall), but I'd like to try. I figured that this might necessitate a PSU upgrade. I'm also considering possibly upgrading RAM (which would mean upgrading mobo), but only if I can do so for a budget price. Like you said, it's not worth sinking piles of money into this. I am considering a maximum of $200-$300 for any/all of replacing/upgrading motherboard, RAM, CPU, and PSU as well as installing a GPU. I'm not even sure I'd be willing to spend that much. It would have to be really worth it. Like I said, I'm already doing a new build (my first, actually), so the budget is pretty tight.

 

[markwp]

I would be hard pressed to even come up with suggestions. A slimline (mini-itx) is going to be ~$60 for 350w; a low profile nvidia card ~30-80. As far as a new cpu, there are only a few supported by your m/b. A core2 duo E7500 is ~80. So we are already ~$200. The moment you change your m/b, add in the price of a new windows install @$100.

If it were me, I'd save the money and put it in the new rig.

Mark

 

[Donald Bronson]

If it were me, I'd save the money and put it in the new rig.

Thanks Mark. I'll probably take that advice.

 

[markwp]

Good luck with the new build. C'mon back if you have more questions.

Please mark this thread solved if you are done.

Mark