adding Wi-Fi to prebuilt without using USB dongle

[Tom_nerd]

reccomending this PC for a friend:

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/scan-home-office-pro-intel-core-i7-12700f-16gb-ddr4-2gb-nvidia-gt-730-1tb-ssd-win-11-pro-see-info

(doing general office work on it, nothing demanding, just wants it to work for a long time)

he then said he needed Wi-Fi, although doesnt want to use a USB Wi-Fi dongle as he's had some break in the past. I was wondering if a PCIe Wi-Fi card would work.

Motherboard used in the pre-built: ASUS PRIME H610M-K D4

Case used in the pre-built: Antec VSK2000

 

I think it'll work, although I'll have to swap it out for a low profile bracket.

[GrapoFruit]

29 minutes ago, Tom_nerd said:

I was wondering if a PCIe Wi-Fi card would work.

Its should work aslong as there is space. I personally use a wifi card my self, it works wonders. I have a pretty tight case my self so i dont see how it wouldnt work. 

[Alex Atkin UK]

50 minutes ago, Tom_nerd said:

reccomending this PC for a friend:

https://www.scan.co.uk/products/scan-home-office-pro-intel-core-i7-12700f-16gb-ddr4-2gb-nvidia-gt-730-1tb-ssd-win-11-pro-see-info

(doing general office work on it, nothing demanding, just wants it to work for a long time)

he then said he needed Wi-Fi, although doesnt want to use a USB Wi-Fi dongle as he's had some break in the past. I was wondering if a PCIe Wi-Fi card would work.

Motherboard used in the pre-built: ASUS PRIME H610M-K D4

Case used in the pre-built: Antec VSK2000

 

I think it'll work, although I'll have to swap it out for a low profile bracket.

If your friend cares about electricity cost then getting a model with an iGPU is a better idea than that in my opinion.

 

While a low-end dGPU probably has a fairly low idle power consumption, it also will be missing a lot of acceleration such as modern video codecs, causing the CPU to work harder and use a LOT more power.  I'd also be wary of how long that GPU will continue to get driver updates.

 

Its also weird they use the 12700F (they must have a huge stock of those as Scan seem to like using them, it was all they had when I got my 12th gen motherboard bundle) as I'd expect it to almost certainly thermal throttle in that case as I get pretty close when maxed out on mine using a Dark Rock 2 cooler in a much larger case on stock settings.

 

But to your actual question then yes, an Intel AX200 or AX210 based PCIe card should work fine such as https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ziyituod-Bluetooth5-0-2974Mbps-Wireless-Bluetooth/dp/B07Z1W8Y16/

 

Although it might be worth getting a model with the antennas on a cable so it can be moved from the back of the PC where reception can be bad unless the router is behind the PC also.

[Tom_nerd]

18 minutes ago, Alex Atkin UK said:

But to your actual question then yes, an Intel AX200 or AX210 based PCIe card should work fine such as https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ziyituod-Bluetooth5-0-2974Mbps-Wireless-Bluetooth/dp/B07Z1W8Y16/

 

two questions about that Wi-Fi card:

1. will that definately have a low profile adapter?

2. It mentions this: does that mean that without a CD drive I cant install the drivers, or is it plug and play?

 

Thanks in advance,

Tom

[Tom_nerd]

23 minutes ago, GrapoFruit said:

Its should work aslong as there is space. I personally use a wifi card my self, it works wonders. I have a pretty tight case my self so i dont see how it wouldnt work. 

Did you have to use a low profile bracket, if so which one did you use, as I want to make sure I get one with a LP bracket.

[Alex Atkin UK]

2 minutes ago, Tom_nerd said:

two questions about that Wi-Fi card:

1. will that definately have a low profile adapter?

2. It mentions this: does that mean that without a CD drive I cant install the drivers, or is it plug and play?

 

Thanks in advance,

Tom

Yes, it shows it at the bottom of the page, although I think most if not all AX200/AX210 adapters do.

You do not need a CD, its mental they are saying this.  At worst you plug it into ethernet and download the drivers from Intels website which I would always recommend over any other method.

[GrapoFruit]

29 minutes ago, Tom_nerd said:

Did you have to use a low profile bracket, if so which one did you use, as I want to make sure I get one with a LP bracket.

I did, I have the TP-Link Archer TX50E. Works wonders.