Reusing an HP case?

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lcoyke90

Commendable
Jul 5, 2017
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Hey guys,
I've had this HP desktop sitting in my closet for a while now. https://support.hp.com/ca-en/document/c01852858
It was my main PC until around the time of Fallout 4's release...(November 10, 2015) and discovered soon after that the motherboard wasn't up-gradable to a Phenom II X6....plus the video card...9800gts was very old.....so I decided to build a new rig, and have been wondering what to do with my old pc.....I saw this motherboard that would be a good fit....as I do have a 1035t (95w) or could buy a used FX 4300, then add extra ddr3 and ddr2 memory I have laying around...https://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16813157581
Do you think it will work? I could always throw my good, used EVGA 400watt psu, 500gb hard drive and a Geforce GTX 1050 to make it a good budget friendly gaming computer....thoughts?
 
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ko888


There's no reason why you can't do...
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According to HP, this case is a
Mid-size ATX

Height: 38.7 cm (15.23 inches)
Width: 17.5 cm (6.89 inches)
Length: 41.4 cm (16.29 inches)

Bay size

Total Bays*
13.33 cm (5.25 inch)

2
8.89 cm (3.5 inch)

3
* Bays may be occupied by existing hardware.
 
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That HP mini tower computer case is made specifically for micro ATX form factor motherboards. The ASRock N68C-GS4 FX motherboard should have no problem fitting into that computer case. I worked on my sister's HP Pavilion, that uses that exact same computer case, just last week. It definitely uses the industry standard micro ATX mounting hole positions and spacing.

Pegatron, the company that made the original HP Pavilion p6210f Desktop PC M2N78-LA (Violet) motherboard, is the parent company of ASRock.
 
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Perfect! Now, should I buy an FX 4300, or re-use my AMD Phenom II x6 1035t, paired with a spare Geforce GT 610 as a light gaming/Netflix/Youtube PC? I am going to wait on the GTX 1050, and upgrade later.

Here's the card I currently have (for now) https://www.amazon.com/dp/B00847TPH0/ref=twister_B00UCUOUJK?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1
It should do just fine for the time being.
 
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The phenom is better than the fx so go with that.
 
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What you currently have will get you up and running.

A GeForce GTX 1050 will have 15x the performance of your current GeForce GT 610.

The AMD FX-4300 Vishera will give you a more responsive system.
 
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ASRock N68C-GS4 FX 95W Socket AM3+ / AM3 / AM2+ / AM2 processors NVIDIA GeForce 7025 / nForce 630a Micro ATX AMD Motherboard 49.99
+
AMD FX-4300 Vishera Quad-Core 3.8 GHz Socket AM3+ 95W FD4300WMHKBOX Desktop Processor 69.99

Grand total: (Including Shipping) = $121.97 Not a bad price to extend life on an aging desktop.
 
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I am using a FX6300 in my main (non-gaming) rig, and it is more than adequate. I also have a Phenom II x6 1045T processor in my ProTools Audio Recording rig. I haven't used any FX 8XXX processors, but you can go to Passmark to compare the various processors "scores" based on actual uploaded user tests.
 
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Some caveats to repurposing an old HP case:

Generally these don't have reset buttons, if that's important to you

You will usually need to move pins around for LED lights and power + speaker connections. An aftermarket case will have easily reversible 2-pin connectors for these while OEM often assembles them all into one block. You can use a pick to extract the pins from the block to move them around.

Unlike an aftermarket case, the standoffs are usually nonremovable with the motherboard tray just punched up to reach the OEM motherboard mounting locations. If these line up with your aftermarket motherboard's holes, great!. If one or two are missing just leave them alone. However if one or two are extra and touch the bottom of the motherboard where they shouldn't, either bash those down or heavily insulate them with heavy tape. Let's just say there are many industry standards when it comes to ATX variants, and aftermarket cases are designed to accommodate multiple ones.

OEM cases are often very poorly ventilated which can be cheaply remedied by the simple expedient of simply leaving one or more of the drive bay covers off. If it's a full-ATX OEM case you could even leave three covers off and insert a 140mm exhaust fan in their place.
 
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Aside, I looked into doing this with several HP cases (i7-920 and Q6600 based).

The IO shield is not removable, so you will need to do some cutting to let your MB based IO come out the back of the case.

The IO headers are not standard for power, etc. You will need to do some splicing.

Net for me, YMMV: I spent $100 on a Fractal Design r4 case. Couldn't be happier. It is much cooler and somewhat quieter. I'm sure you can make the MB fit in the HP case, but for me the effort for the result was just not worth it.
 
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The rear I/O shield of the HP Pavilion p6210f Desktop PC is definitely removable and replaceable.

HP-Pavilion-P6210F-Mini-Tower-System-Athlon-II-X4-26GHz-6GB-Ram.jpg
 
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My bad, responded to the wrong person...someone else suggested I should look for an FX 6300 or anything in the 8xxx series instead of buying a 4300, but it's not supported by the motherboard..But yes, the HP P6210f I/O shield is currently removable...
 
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FWIW: My HP cases looked the same. The rectangular IO shield that comes with the MB and is pushed into the case was soldered into the case for both the cases I checked. You can remove the MB, but if the IO from the new MB does not line up with the old holes (and it will not) you will need to cut out the old IO shield and find some way of attaching the new IO shield from your MB. (I suspect they soldered it in to avoid returns where the shield fell out during shipping).
 
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I would not reuse the case. I'm a systems\network engineer and partners with HP. We sell HP products all the time.

There is a few proprietary components in an HP system. Mainly the design\layout of the motherboard and the PSU. You need to make sure these parts are not proprietary design or you will not be able to fit a normal motherboard or PSU into this case.

Plus they aren't really designed to provide high airflow. It is OK in normal airflow, but not the best.

If you are planning on gaming with this thing... I would strongly advise against it.
 
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I was the one who suggested a 6300, based on this information, if I have the right motherboard referenced:

http://www.cpu-upgrade.com/mb-ASRock/N68C-GS4_FX.html
 
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The OP is going by ASRock's published CPU Support List.

http://www.asrock.com/mb/NVIDIA/N68C-GS4%20FX/?cat=CPU
 
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I see. I didn't notice that the list I linked to wasn't ASRock's. I just cut/pasted the motherboard name into my Chrome searchbar and this list came up. I wonder if the official ASRock support list just wasn't updated since it was first published (like RAM support lists are sometimes not updated). I guess the OP could contact ASRock if they are thinking of getting a FX6xxx or 8xxx processor.
 
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Here's a video of a guy who successfully replaced his failed HP Pavillon P6320f (M2N78-LA Motherboard) with a Gigabyte GA-78LMT-USB3, it seemed to work for him. Do you think I should do the same and buy an FX 6300 processor, or 8xxx, if it is supported?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdHvQMOhsxI
 
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There's no reason why you can't do the same. The GA-78LMT-USB3 (rev. 6.0) motherboard does support Socket AM3+ CPUs like the FX-8370, FX-8370E, FX-8350, FX-6350, FX-6300, ..., etc.

https://www.gigabyte.com/Motherboard/GA-78LMT-USB3-rev-60#support-cpu
 
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