[SOLVED] Upgrading from NVIDIA GeForce GT 730

Nov 25, 2021
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Hi all, looking to upgrade my sons PC to improve it for gaming - any advice on best budget upgrades, esp graphics card? PC specs here https://support.hp.com/au-en/document/c06080868

Would like to transfer it all into new gaming case with upgrades - possible? nightmare?

Motherboard Lincs
Processor Intel Core i5-8400
Memory 8 GB
Video graphics
NVIDIA GeForce GT 730
Hard drive 2 TB
Power supply
Internal 180 W PSU
More info here
https://support.hp.com/au-en/document/c06080868

thanks all!
 
Solution
Depending on exactly which GT730 you have, even using Intel 9th Gen igpu (as pathetic as that is) is a step up in performance. The 730's are rebranded 630's and many are rebrand of a rebranded Fermi GT430/440. Truly sad 10-11 year old gpu guts. As it stands, the igpu in that 8th Gen cpu stands a good chance of similar performance to that GT730, so pretty much Anything will be an upgrade.

To power any decent sized gpu will require a new psu. A decent 550w/650w will power anything in the budget-mid range class.

16Gb of ram, 2x8Gb sticks. Choice of speeds is generally 3200MHz or 3600MHz, depending on the cpu chosen.

Your i5 is pushing it. Granted it's a 6core cpu, but it's realistically slower than a 3-legged pooch. Something like an...

Karadjgne

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Depending on exactly which GT730 you have, even using Intel 9th Gen igpu (as pathetic as that is) is a step up in performance. The 730's are rebranded 630's and many are rebrand of a rebranded Fermi GT430/440. Truly sad 10-11 year old gpu guts. As it stands, the igpu in that 8th Gen cpu stands a good chance of similar performance to that GT730, so pretty much Anything will be an upgrade.

To power any decent sized gpu will require a new psu. A decent 550w/650w will power anything in the budget-mid range class.

16Gb of ram, 2x8Gb sticks. Choice of speeds is generally 3200MHz or 3600MHz, depending on the cpu chosen.

Your i5 is pushing it. Granted it's a 6core cpu, but it's realistically slower than a 3-legged pooch. Something like an i5-11400 won't break the bank and does very well for gaming. The only 8th Gen cpu worth anything of value in keeping is the i7-8700k since it's 6 cores/ 12 threads and larger Lcache can multi-task enough to maintain decent speeds in newer games. Anything less is a quickly diminishing return on investment.

Of course a decent motherboard will be required to match the socket, anything newer than 9th gen will.

HDD are slow, very slow. Not only to boot, but in loading anything from games, new maps or scenes, drop times etc. A decent SSD will do wonders to bring speeds up with everything from Windows snappiness and responses, to load times for multi-player drops.

That pc isn't so much as needing an upgrade, but basically starting over, the only thing I'd keep would be the HDD for mass storage and little used games. Sorry.
 
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Solution
Nov 25, 2021
2
0
10
Depending on exactly which GT730 you have, even using Intel 9th Gen igpu (as pathetic as that is) is a step up in performance. The 730's are rebranded 630's and many are rebrand of a rebranded Fermi GT430/440. Truly sad 10-11 year old gpu guts. As it stands, the igpu in that 8th Gen cpu stands a good chance of similar performance to that GT730, so pretty much Anything will be an upgrade.

To power any decent sized gpu will require a new psu. A decent 550w/650w will power anything in the budget-mid range class.

16Gb of ram, 2x8Gb sticks. Choice of speeds is generally 3200MHz or 3600MHz, depending on the cpu chosen.

Your i5 is pushing it. Granted it's a 6core cpu, but it's realistically slower than a 3-legged pooch. Something like an i5-11400 won't break the bank and does very well for gaming.

Of course a decent motherboard will be required to match the socket, anything newer than 9th gen will.

HDD are slow, very slow. Not only to boot, but in loading anything from games, new maps or scenes, drop times etc. A decent SSD will do wonders to bring speeds up with everything from Windows snappiness and responses, to load times for multi-player drops.

That pc isn't so much as needing an upgrade, but basically starting over, the only thing I'd keep would be the HDD for mass storage and little used games. Sorry.

Thank you for taking the time to reply, much appreciated!

So the only reasonable upgrade that would make any real difference would be an SSD? Increasing RAM looks easy too. I agree that we should probably start over, but the cost of even a budget gaming PCs is extreme.

He only plays roblox and minecraft etc now. So was thinking about taking all the components from HP case, putting it in a gaming case with more RAM and SSD and using that for a while. Then when he gets older use the case to house all new motherboard, graphics card etc.

Plan?
 

Karadjgne

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That would be difficult. HP tend to use a bunch of proprietary stuff, like connectors for the front panel stuff, power switch etc. They'll also use non-standard motherboards, so the rear i/o doesn't always line up right. And then there's the power supply itself, unless it happens to be atx standard then it may not work out with the mounting.

It's one of the many traits of HP, Dell, Lenovo, Sony and other big-brand prebuilts, they don't want you to upgrade, they want you to replace and their view is that if you wanted better, you needed to buy the better model in the first place.

Move to SSD, nice start. Stick the OS on it, can handle roblix and minecraft too if it's decent size. Try for a 1Tb, they get better performance and last longer than the smaller drives.

You are pretty much stuck for graphics with that 180w psu, it won't support larger gpus at all. And you might be motherboard limited. HP has a nasty habit of restricting the pcie slot to 25w, instead of the industry standard of 75w. Further preventing upgrades, even to the gpu.
 

punkncat

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Yeah, agree with @Karadjgne ...don't chase your tail trying to move HP prebuilt components into a standard case, or meaningful component replacements.

If you wish to get a start on something usable and save some cash, consider purchasing a branded motherboard that would support the 8th gen i5 in the current machine, a case which supports the motherboard format you decide on (mATX is the most cost effective both ways).

Get a decent PSU and case.

You could shave off some cost by reusing the RAM, but will have to consider a decent kit of matched dual channel RAM.

Get an SSD for the OS and use the HDD you current have installed as storage in the new build.

Re-use the GPU in current. Keep an eye open for something like a 960 or better/newer with under 4GB memory. Also consider the PSU you purchase based on that.

More than likely that the OS will not transfer from the HP in the new build, but you can utilize W10 unlicensed with some restrictions on personalization and a watermark.

Think you could pull most of the above off at sub $200 with only a small increase in performance for such as gaming. Much more responsive running from solid state storage. In spite of the small performance difference for now, your selections could put you in a great place for upgrades at a later point. 8th gen mobo will support 9th gen with a BIOS update, and a better GPU would go a long way.
 
Something like an i5-11400 won't break the bank and does very well for gaming.
GamerDadDownUnder
The 11400 is faster than the 5600G for gaming with a discrete GPU installed, like a GTX 1650 Super or better. However, I would argue that a Ryzen 5 5600G could be a better buy for a bit more since its iGPU something like 50-100% faster than the 11400 iGPU. Paired with DDR4 3200 CL14 or 3600 CL16 would make for a pretty decent lower end graphics gaming system until a GPU can be found for a reasonable price. 3200 CL16 or 3600 CL18 would make for a cheaper, but still good upgrade.

The actual performance difference with a GPU installed is not huge between both CPUs and is still going to be much better than the i5-8400.
 
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Karadjgne

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My only issue with Ryzen, is it's more of an advanced cpu. To get the performance out of one isn't that hard, IF you have an understanding of exactly what you are getting into. For the technologically challenged, Intel is plug and play.

But, the Vega graphics on a 5600G are equitable to a GT1030, so a massive upgrade for gpu in reality over the GT730.

It all depends on the comfort level of the builder and the ability to navigate bios and understand its relationships.
 
you can move a HP prebuilt in a new case; dont believe the "oh you need a whole new build" stuff.

the i5 8400 is a decent CPU and can keep up with many modern GPUs.

first thing to look at is : do you want to buy a new case?

to determine if you actualy need one you will need to measure and see if an upgraded GPU and PSU will fit (sorry but most likely not).

getting a new case, psu, and GPU would be a fantastic way for you and your son to get into the fun of PC building being all hot swap items, and would do so without having to break the bank for an uneccessary upgrade.

Recommendations:
  • new case (whatever you like, i prefer fractal; small form and good airflow options)
  • new PSU (80+ bronze at absolute minimum and recommended upgrade watt depending on manufacturer specification for the GPU you decide on)
  • new GPU ( 2060 would be a good balance and will be fine with a 600W PSU and the rest ofthe components listed. )
  • upgrade RAM (this isnt a must but recommended to be at minimum 16G; assure compatibility before purchasing)

cheers!
 
you can move a HP prebuilt in a new case; dont believe the "oh you need a whole new build" stuff.

the i5 8400 is a decent CPU and can keep up with many modern GPUs.

first thing to look at is : do you want to buy a new case?

to determine if you actualy need one you will need to measure and see if an upgraded GPU and PSU will fit (sorry but most likely not).

getting a new case, psu, and GPU would be a fantastic way for you and your son to get into the fun of PC building being all hot swap items, and would do so without having to break the bank for an uneccessary upgrade.

Recommendations:
  • new case (whatever you like, i prefer fractal; small form and good airflow options)
  • new PSU (80+ bronze at absolute minimum and recommended upgrade watt depending on manufacturer specification for the GPU you decide on)
  • new GPU ( 2060 would be a good balance and will be fine with a 600W PSU and the rest ofthe components listed. )
  • upgrade RAM (this isnt a must but recommended to be at minimum 16G; assure compatibility before purchasing)
cheers!
The specific motherboard (Lincs 843B) in the OPs system is not going to fit in a standard ATX case and you can't just throw in a new motherboard because it won't have the headers for front panel buttons or ports. All of that is built into the motherboard, because HP and Dell like to design electronics waste to destroy the planet instead of reusable parts. The motherboard also needs an adapter for a standard ATX PSU.

That leaves two "reasonable" options. Buy a new motherboard for the CPU to install into a new case with a new power supply and maybe buy at least a GT 1030 GDDR5 2GB or just build a new system with a new Ryzen 5 5600G or Ryzen 7 5700G, both of which will be much more suited to decent or low graphics settings 1080p gaming without having to try to find a GPU at a price that isn't insane.

Reusing as many parts from the HP system as possible would help lower the price.